Re: stability of toc links

[Samuel Wales]

hi trs,

thank you.  i can imagine that could be useful for a lot of users, but
for me, as i said in my op, "short of adding custom id
or id to everything" --- i didn't want to add custom id.  i will try
to clarify why in case it is useful.

in addition to performance, and clutter, there is a semantic issue in
my case.  typically, if i see that there is a properties drawer, i
know that it is there because of an org id or a manual custom id or a
special purpose of my own.  if i know it, i don't need to open it.

however, adding custom id automatically for so many links means that
there is a new meaning for properties drawers [namely, for stable
linking done automatically].  i would have to open the drawer to
determine if i personally wanted something there.

and thus, the extra properties drawers would cause effort and
distraction in this semantic sense, where i would be opening them
because i would be thinking "did i really have a reason to add a
properties drawer here? i don't recall so... better check"

also, there is the issue that if i decide not to include something in
the toc, it will still have a properties drawer lying around.


in the op, i was not looking for a solution for one blog post, but
thought a general solution for all org users might be possible.

and this would likely be at the html level, probably by using e.g.
header text, fuzzy or strict hashes, or a combination.

when tec posted his html level code, it looked like the right type of
solution to the problem.  i have not tried it, however.

i hope that clarifies.  tec said he originally did not get much
interest.  then there was interest on this thread.  then nothing.


On 4/29/21, TRS-80 <lists.trs-80@isnotmyreal.name> wrote:
> On 2021-04-21 19:30, Samuel Wales wrote:
>> as it has been a long time my original post is
>>
>> Message
>> ID   <CAJcAo8tXVW39h18FUXLtwoDYNKQsFHqCp+YDiyWfLee29B1PRw@mail.gmail.com>
>>
>> and the content is
>>
>> ===
>> when you link to a section using toc, you get a link like
>>
>>
>> https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com/2020/02/crimes-against-humanity_3.html#org080f0ab
>>
>> will these links break if somebody copies them and pastes them
>> elsewhere?  what if you add a section?
>>
>> there doesn't seem to be a perfect solution, short of adding custom id
>> or id to everything, but perhaps a fuzzy hash of the header and
>> contents of the section could be used?  or a strict hash of the
>> header?  is anything like this being done?  just curious.
>
> My "quick and dirty" solution was to make a function to map over each
> heading and assign a custom ID based on the text of the heading.  It
> only assigned one if one did not exist already (so in case you had
> done any manual adjustments they would not be overwritten).
>
> I had posted it very early in the thread, but it did not seem to gain
> much interest.  It was not posted as a "long term and proper solution
> to be included into Orgmode" but rather a quick and easy workaround in
> the meantime.
>
> Cheers,
> TRS-80
>
>


-- 
The Kafka Pandemic

Please learn what misopathy is.
https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-some-diseases-are-wronged.html