My workflow as of December 2019

Workflow.org

My Workflow (December 2019)

What is this guide?

This guide provides instructions on how to recreate my workflow (December 2019). The instructions are specific to my system and the current date. I would generally recommend installing the latest version of any software.

System information

                         ....::::       Eric Nguyen@DESKTOP-NCV8RUN
                 ....::::::::::::       OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
        ....:::: ::::::::::::::::       Kernel: 10.0.18362
....:::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Uptime: 0d 21h 47m 16s
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Motherboard: LENOVO LNVNB161216
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Shell: PowerShell 5.1.18362.145
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Resolution: 3840 x 2160
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Window Manager: DWM
................ ................       Font: Segoe UI
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
:::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       RAM: 5404MB / 16199 MB (33%)
'''':::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::       Disk C: 330GB / 476GB (69%)
        '''':::: ::::::::::::::::       Disk K: 0GB / 250GB (0%)
                 ''''::::::::::::
                         ''''::::

Software

The following is an overview of software that I like to use.

Development

Data science

• Anaconda

Text editor/IDE

• Neovim
• Visual Studio Code

Terminal emulator

• Windows Terminal (Preview)

Document viewing and editing

Document editing

• GNU Emacs

PDF viewer

• Okular

School

• Microsoft Word

Graphics

Math/science

• draw.io

Image editing

• GIMP

Vector art

• Gravit Designer

Music

Locally installed music

• WinAmp

Streaming

• Spotify
• YouTube Music

Password management

• Bitwarden

Programming

Math/science

• Julia
• Python
• R

Java

• OpenJDK 13

Web browsers (by preference)

1. Microsoft Edge Beta (Chromium)
2. Opera
3. Firefox

Window tiling

• PowerToys

Setting up Spacemacs + org-mode

What is this?

Spacemacs is a configuration framework for the Emacs text editor. It essentially makes Emacs easier to configure, saving you a lot of time. org-mode is a mode within Spacemacs that allows you to comfortably edit .org files. .org is a great plaintext format for writing and organizing documents.

Things to know

What is %USERPROFILE%?

%USERPROFILE% is Windows environment variable which specifies the current user’s home directory. E.g. my %USERPROFILE% would return C:/Users/Eric because my user name on Windows is Eric.

What is Evil mode?

Evil mode is an “extensible vi layer” for Emacs. What the hell does that mean?

vi is a popular text editor known for its modal nature. What the hell does that mean? Well, it’s not like a regular text editor that you may be used to such as Notepad. There are three main modes you should know as a beginner.

1. Normal mode (the default mode, keys: Esc)
   • Allows you to navigate, save, exit and basically everything the other modes don’t allow you to do.
2. Insert mode (keys: i, a, Shift+a)
   • Allows you to insert text into the file.
3. Visual mode (key: v)
   • Allows you select text within the file and manipulate the selected text.

What is MikTeX?

MikTeX is a distribution of typesetting systems TeX/LaTeX specifically for Windows systems. I primarily use this for generating .pdf files from my .org files.

How to use Evil mode (i.e. vi keybindings)

Switching modes

The default mode is normal mode. To switch to another mode, you must do so from normal mode.

i → insert mode

v → visual mode

Esc → normal mode

Save & Quit

In normal mode, type :w to write the file, :q to quit the file, and :wq to write and quit the file.

Navigation

In normal mode, use h to move left, j to move down, k to move up, and l to move right. You can increase the magnitude at which your cursor moves by typing the specific number and then the navigating key. E.g. 10 j will move the cursor down 10 times and 7 l will move the cursor right 7 times.

Inserting text

Switch to insert mode.

Copy text

Switch to visual mode. Select the text you want to copy using the navigating keys.

y → yank (copy) (note: this will not copy the text to your system’s clipboard)

Paste text

In normal mode, hit p.

Instructions

Install the Emacs 26.3

1. Visit a nearby GNU mirror, http://mirrors.kernel.org/gnu/emacs/windows/emacs-26/
2. Download emacs-26.3-x86_64.zip.
3. Once done downloading, open the file location in File Explorer and extract it to %USERPROFILE%/AppData/Local.
4. Create a shortcut for runemacs.exe and rename it to Emacs 26.3.
5. Move the shortcut to %USERPROFILE%/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs.
6. Test to see if Emacs shows up in your Start Menu and it runs properly. If it does, congrats! You successfully installed Emacs.

Set a HOME variable

1. Search for “Edit environment variables for your account” using Windows Search. Typically, searching for “var” should suffice for the result to show up.
2. In the User Variables section, check to see if you have a HOME variable. If not, you’ll need to create a new variable called HOME and then set its value to %USERPROFILE%.
3. Once you’re done, just click OK until both dialogs close.

Installing Spacemacs

1. If you have Git Bash installed, it’s easy as running git clone https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs ~/.emacs.d in your terminal. If you don’t have Git Bash installed, visit the link from that command. This should take you to Spacemacs’ GitHub repository.
2. On the GitHub page, find the green Download Button and then Download ZIP.
3. Extract the ZIP into your %USERPROFILE% and name the extracted directory .emacs.d.
4. Run Emacs and check to see if Spacemacs shows. If it does, it should prompt you to select which options you want to install for your Spacemacs configuration.
5. Hit RETURN/ENTER for each item to install the default Spacemacs configuration. This will install Evil mode.

Installing MikTeX

1. https://miktex.org/download