A script for data that imitates frontmatter

[TheRealWolfick]

The idea here is pretty simple. This script uses a stock template for frontmatter but will prefer the format of frontmatter you have already used in files for the folder you are creating the new file inside. It replicates the frontmatter structure of the most recent file in the folder, retaining any non boolean/false default values. The key here is that you can use just the one template for all your data!

It comes in three parts, the default template, and two user scripts that are abstracted away for simplicity.

Template

<%*
let title = await tp.system.prompt(`Title for new ${tp.file.folder(false)}`);

// Get titles and validate new title
let filesInFolder = tp.user.getFilesInFolder(tp);

if (filesInFolder.indexOf(title+'.md') > -1) {
	new tp.obsidian.Notice("File name already taken", 5000);
	tp.hooks.on_all_templates_executed(async () => {
		let file = tp.file.find_tfile(tp.file.path(true))
		if (file) await tp.app.vault.delete(file)
	});
	return null;
}

// initiate front matter
let fm = {
	title: title,
	type: "",
	ordered: false,
	description: "",
	"created-date": tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD HH-mm"),
	tags: "[]"
}

// get modified front matter of other file
if (filesInFolder.length > 1) {
	fm = await tp.user.getFmDictionary(tp, tp.file.folder(true) + "/" + filesInFolder[filesInFolder.length-2], fm);
} else {
	fm = await tp.user.getFmDictionary(tp, null, fm);
}

// Rename file
await tp.file.rename(title);
tR += fm;
%>

User Scripts

getFilesInFolder.js

/**
 * 
 * @param {import('templater-obsidian').TemplaterApi} tp
 */
function getFilesInFolder(tp) {
    const folder = tp.app.vault.getFolderByPath(tp.file.folder(true))
    if (folder) {
        const filesInFolder = folder.children.map(f => f.name)
        return filesInFolder
    }
}

module.exports = getFilesInFolder;

getFmDictionary.js

/**
 * 
 * @param {import('templater-obsidian').TemplaterApi} tp
 * @param {string} filepath
 * @param {Object} defaultFM
 */
async function getFmDictionary(tp, filepath, defaultFM) {
    if (!filepath) {
        let fm = `---\n`
        for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(defaultFM)) {
            fm += `${key}: ${value ? value : ''}\n`
        }
        fm += '---'
        return fm
    }
    const TFile = tp.app.vault.getFileByPath(filepath)
    if (TFile) {
        const frontmatter = (await tp.app.vault.read(TFile)).match(/---[\s\S]*---/)?.[0]
        if (frontmatter) {
            const tags = frontmatter.match(/(.*):/g)?.map(m => m.replace(":",""))
            let fm = "---\n"
            tags?.forEach((value, index) => {
                fm += `${value}: ${value in defaultFM ? defaultFM[value] : ''}\n`
            })
            fm += "---"
            return fm
        } else {
            console.log("FM ERROR: " + frontmatter)
        }
    } else {
        console.log("TFILE ERROR: " + TFile)
    }
}

module.exports = getFmDictionary;