Text expand

This plugin will search files using Obsidian search functionality and then paste the result. The output can be customized using template feature.

Table of Contents

• Basic usage
• Search functionality
• Template engines
  • eta
  • sequences
    • Available sequences

How to use

• You should wrap your search request like that

    ```expander
    SEARCH_QUERY
    ```

• Open command palette (Ctrl + P)
• Find and run Text expand: expand command
• It should search and put results below the wrapped request

Search functionality

First line in expander code block is always a search request. You can leave it empty to use results from search panel as is.

Once searching, plugin waits some time (configurable) and extract results from search panel to template engine.

Template engines

eta template engine

You can use eta template engine for managing results.

## <%= it.current.frontmatter.title %>

<% it.files.forEach(file => { %>
   - <%= file.link %> 
<% }) %>

Use it object to access search results and fields for current file.

Path	Type	Description
it.current	FileParameters	Info about current file
it.files	Array	Info about files in search panel

FileParameters type has those fields.

Name	Type	Description	Example
basename	string	Name of the file	Obsidian
name	string	Full name of the file with extension	Obsidian.md
content	string	Content of the file	Obsidian\nContent of the file.
extension	string	Extension of the file	.md
link	string	Wiki or MD link (depends on Obsidian's settings)	[[Obsidian]]
path	string	Relative to vault root path to the file	resources/Obsidian.md
frontmatter	Object	Returns all values from frontmatter	{ title: "Obsidian", author: MrJackphil }
stat	Object	File stats returned by Obsidian	{ ctime: 1654089929073, mtime: 1654871855121, size: 1712 }
links	Array	Array with links in the file
headings	Array	Array with headings in the file
sections	Array	Array with section of the file
listItems	Array	Array with list items of the file

sequence template engine (LEGACY)

Using template feature you can customize an output.

• Put template below the SEARCH_QUERY line
• Put a cursor inside code block with a template
• Open command palette (Ctrl+P) and find Text expand: expand command

To create a list:

```expander
SEARCH_QUERY
- [[$filename]]
```

or to create a table:

```expander
SEARCH_QUERY
^|Filename|Content|
^|---|---|
|$filename|$lines:1|
```

Syntax looks like that:

```expander
SEARCH_QUERY
^This is a header
This line will be repeated for each file
Also, [[$filename]] <- this will be a link
>This is a footer
```

• Line prepended with ^ is a header. It will be added at the top of the list
• Line prepended with > is a footer. It will be added at the bottom of the list
• Line with no special symbol at start will be repeated for each file. Also, all special sequences will be replaced.

Special sequences

Regexp	Description	Usage example
$filename	a basename of a file	$filename
$link	wikilink	$link
$searchresult	the context displayed in the Obsidian search, depending on the amount of context that is selected in the search window	$searchresult
$matchline	the line which contains the search query	$matchline
$matchline:NUMBER	the line which contains the search query and NUMBER lines after and before matched line	$matchline:10
$matchline:+NUMBER	the line which contains the search query and NUMBER lines after matched line	$matchline:+10
$matchline:COUNT:LIMIT	the line which contains the search query and NUMBER lines around and limit line by LIMIT characters	$matchline:0:10
$lines	the full content of the file	$lines
$lines:NUMBER	NUMBER lines from the file	$lines:10
$ext	extension of the file
$created
$size
$parent	parent folder
$path	path to file
$frontmatter:NAME	frontmatter value from field NAME
$header:##	all headers as links
$header:###HEADER	headers as links	$header:##Ideas $header:"## Plugins for Obsidian"
$blocks	all blocks paths from the note as links

Settings

• Delay (default: 100ms) - the plugin don't wait until search completed. It waits for a delay and paste result after that.
• Line ending (default: <-->) - how will looks like the line below the expanded content
• Default template (default: - [[$filename]]) - how will look the expanded content when no template provided
• Prefixes - which prefix to use to recognize header/footer in template section

Install

• Just use built-in plugin manager and find Text expand plugin

Manually

• You need Obsidian v0.9.18+ for latest version of plugin
• Get the Latest release
• Extract files and place them to your vault's plugins folder: <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/
• Reload Obsidian
• If prompted about Safe Mode, you can disable safe mode and enable the plugin. Otherwise, head to Settings, third-party plugins, make sure safe mode is off and enable the plugin from there.