freeplane-python-io

This package provides the user a convenient way to create, read, update and delete information stored inside Freeplan mindmap files. As an alternative or an enhancement to working with mindmaps through the original graphical user interface (GUI) which is provided by the brilliant Freeplane Mindmap Editor, this package was designed to implement an application programming interface (API) for Python as well as a command line interface (CLI) both to interact with Freeplane mindmap files, directly.

These are the main features of the package:

transparent handling of different mindmap file versions

different freeplane file versions are handled seamlessly. even old Freemind mindmaps should work.

management of each node's creation and modification dates

dates will be translated into human-readable date strings. when creating or modifying nodes, the correct dates will be set.

search and find nodes within a mindmap

based on the node's id, core text, attributes, details, notes, link or icons any node can be found within a mindmap using the mindmap's or node's find_nodes or find_children methods.

navigate through the mindmap trees

based on the node object's parent, children, next and get_child_by_index attributes / methods it is possible to reach every node from every starting point within the mindmap.

modify information within arbitrary nodes

the original attributes of each node (core text / html as plaintext, notes, details, link, icons, ...) can be read and modified. by using the node's set_attribute, get_attribute and attribute methods, the Freeplane' node attributes can be accessed.

manage node links

hyperlinks between nodes within the same mindmap as well as accross different mindmaps are dealt with by using the hyperlink attribute of a node object.

set and manage node styles

in Freeplane, "styles" are used to set and manage the design of nodes. using the styles attribute and the add_style attribute of a map object or the style attribute of a node object, the management is done.

create and manage arrow links

besides hyperlinks, "arrow links" can be used to connect nodes on (this time on a visual level). the node object's add_arrowlink method helps connecting nodes visually.

installation

pip install freeplane-io

usage

import freeplane




#
# load existing mindmap
#

# in order to access a mindmap, you first have to open it using
# the following function. please provide a valid path to your
# already existing Freeplane mindmap within the argument of the
# following function.

# load
mindmap = freeplane.Mindmap('./example_IN.mm')

# show available node styles
mindmap.styles




#
# check for GTD tasks
#

# there is a Freeplane addon "GTD+" which uses exclamation mark
# icons as identifiers for a GTD element within a Freeplane
# mindmap. In order to get a list of all these GTD elements,
# you can use the following method.

tasks = mindmap.find_nodes(icon=freeplane.ICON_EXCLAMATION)




#
# search for any core text
#

# in order to search the whole mindmap for a specific text string
# expected within the core section of a node, the following
# method can be used.

# search whole mindmap for "test"
nodes = mindmap.find_nodes(core="test", exact=True)

# search whole mindmap with regular expression
if not nodes:
    nodes = mindmap.find_nodes(core=r"t[a-z]+t", regex=True)

# search whole mindmap for "test", "tEST", ...
if not nodes:
    nodes = mindmap.find_nodes(core="test")

# get first node from list
node = nodes[0]

# printout its plain text
print(node.plaintext)




#
# write into existing mindmap
#

# modify test node's core text and color
node.plaintext = 'found and changed'

# create a test style
mindmap.add_style("test", {"bgcolor": "#999999"})

# set test style in node
node.style = "test"




#
# save mindmap
#

mindmap.save('./example_OUT.mm')

development

As a user of this package or a developer, you are welcome to contribute to this project. Contribution may happen in different ways. Here are a couple of examples:

• use the features within your own application and create an issue if you want something fixed.
• create a new issue to announce and discuss an idea, or ask a question.
• create an issue if you want something changed. Your request will be openly discussed and might lead into a code change.
• create a unittest if you see some feature has not been tested, yet. See unittesting for details.
• create a new feature if you want to add more features. Please, discuss it, first. I might support you.

unittesting

If you want to test your locally changed code, please add a unittest for the changed aspect of the respective feature and test that aspect, before you create a pull request for integrating both, the tests and the changes into the code base. Here is the structure to be respected when working with tests:

+-------+
+ Box   +
+-------+

... here comes an ASCII diagram

.. graphviz::

   digraph G {
    A -> B;
    B -> C;

documentation

For more information, please visit our documentation at ReadTheDocs.