# File note TODO states **URL:** \ **Category:** How To\ **Created:** [July 24, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821 "2021-07-24T20:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![agibragimov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/agibragimov/32/589_2.png) [@agibragimov](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/agibragimov)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/1 "2021-07-24T20:14:22Z")
I just learned about a few handy functions org-roam-node struct adds: `org-roam-node-todo`, `org-roam-node-scheduled`, `org-roam-node-properties`, etc. It allows you to read some info about an Org-roam-node, e.g.: `(org-roam-node-scheduled (org-roam-node-at-point))` How is this useful? So, you can, for example, find all the nodes that are in “TODO”, like so: ```auto (org-roam-node-find nil nil (lambda (node) (string-equal "TODO" (org-roam-node-todo node)))) ``` Now, the problem is: That works only for nodes that are Org headings. It doesn’t seem to work with nodes that are note files. I can’t figure out a way to toggle TODO state for the entire file, I tried adding the property: ```auto :PROPERTIES: :ID: 48632DFE-8945-48C4-B101-430179FC79AA :TODO: TODO :END: #+title: Some title ``` That didn’t work because `(org-entry-properties)` doesn’t even see it. So my question is: **How do I set properties like TODO state, SCHEDULED and DEADLINE for the entire Org-roam node?** ---
**Author:** ![jethro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@jethro](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/jethro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/2 "2021-07-25T03:31:06Z")
You cannot, unfortunately. These are exclusively for headline nodes, since Org doesn’t provide syntax for this in the top-level files. ---
**Author:** ![alanz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/alanz/32/717_2.png) [@alanz](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/alanz)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:50pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/3 "2021-07-25T14:50:19Z")
There is a [blog post about managing TODO items in org-roam files](https://magnus.therning.org/2021-07-23-keeping-todo-items-in-org-roam-v2.html) that might help. ---
**Author:** ![agibragimov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/agibragimov/32/589_2.png) [@agibragimov](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/agibragimov)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/4 "2021-07-25T20:40:45Z")
Whoa, this is perfect. Basically, one can use `#+filetags: TODO` and the little snippet I posted has to be updated, and you can find all the nodes (either file notes or headings) with TODO, like so: ```auto (org-roam-node-find nil nil (lambda (node) (or (string-equal "TODO" (org-roam-node-todo node)) (seq-contains-p (org-roam-node-tags node) "TODO")))) ``` ---
**Author:** ![magthe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/magthe/32/851_2.png) [@magthe](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/magthe)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/5 "2021-07-26T04:47:37Z")
I’m glad you’re finding use for it. I’d love to hear of any other improvements and adjustments you make. ---
**Author:** ![agibragimov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/agibragimov/32/589_2.png) [@agibragimov](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/agibragimov)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 5:53am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/6 "2021-07-26T05:53:35Z")
> I’d love to hear of any other improvements and adjustments you make Of course. Here’s what I did: - I wrote a function to toggle TODO states in note-files - Advised org-todo function, now, it is possible to toggle TODO state with `C-c C-t`, and not only in the headings, but also the note-files - Improved “find-nodes-with-todo-state” Here’s the full set of functions, sorry @magthe, I slightly changed the names of those awesome helpers you wrote (for consistency with the rest of my config) ```auto (require 'dash) ;; filetag helpers borrowed from: ;; https://magnus.therning.org/2021-07-23-keeping-todo-items-in-org-roam-v2.html (defun org-roam/get-filetags () (split-string (or (org-roam-get-keyword "filetags") ""))) (defun org-roam/add-filetag (tag) (let* ((new-tags (cons tag (org-roam/get-filetags))) (new-tags-str (combine-and-quote-strings new-tags))) (org-roam-set-keyword "filetags" new-tags-str))) (defun org-roam/kill-filetag (tag) (let* ((new-tags (seq-difference (org-roam/get-filetags) `(,tag))) (new-tags-str (combine-and-quote-strings new-tags))) (org-roam-set-keyword "filetags" new-tags-str))) (defun org-roam/org-todo-keywords->list () (let ((lst (-partition-by (lambda (s) (string-equal s "|")) (seq-map (lambda (s) (replace-regexp-in-string "\(.*" "" s)) (cl-rest (car org-todo-keywords)))))) `(,(car lst) ,(caddr lst)))) (defun org-roam/find-nodes-with-todo-state (todo-state) "Finds all nodes with selected TODO state. For headings that would be regular Org-mode TODO cookie, for file notes it's managed with TODO filetag." (interactive "P") (let ((todo-state (or todo-state (completing-read "Choose TODO state" (-flatten (org-roam/org-todo-keywords->list)))))) (org-roam-node-find nil nil (lambda (node) (or (string-equal todo-state (org-roam-node-todo node)) (seq-contains-p (org-roam-node-tags node) todo-state) (seq-contains-p (org-roam-node-tags node) todo-state)))))) (defun org-roam/toggle-todo-state-in-node (&optional new-state) "Togggle TODO filetag in Org-roam node file." (interactive "P") (when (and (not (active-minibuffer-window)) (org-roam-file-p)) (let* ((all-states (-flatten (org-roam/org-todo-keywords->list))) (new-state (or new-state (completing-read "Choose TODO state" all-states))) (current (seq-find (lambda (tag) (seq-contains-p all-states tag)) (org-roam/get-filetags)))) (when current (org-roam/kill-filetag current)) (when (not (string-equal current new-state)) (org-roam/add-filetag new-state))))) (defun org-todo--around (old-fn &rest args) (if (and (not (active-minibuffer-window)) (org-roam-file-p) (not (ignore-errors (org-get-outline-path 'with-self?)))) (funcall 'org-roam/toggle-todo-state-in-node) (apply old-fn args))) (advice-add 'org-todo :around #'org-todo--around) ``` Thanks to your initial idea, I was able to take my TODO-fu to another level 🙂 This entire snippet is “fresh out of the press”; please let me know if I’ve missed something (most likely I have) ---
**Author:** ![agibragimov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/agibragimov/32/589_2.png) [@agibragimov](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/agibragimov)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/file-note-todo-states/1821/7 "2021-07-26T17:34:58Z")
Before this, I used a few Org-roam Nodes named: TODO 1, ONGOING, DONE, CANCELLED, and I’d add a link to a node (to designate its todo state). And then, to find all nodes that are in “TODO” state, I would navigate to the `* TODO` heading and toggle backlinks buffer. That’s pretty straightforward, simple, very “Org-Roamy” and has some benefits, like for example you can see all the items that are in todo state as a sub-section in the graph. But this new approach with filetags and vanilla Org todo states feels a bit more ergonomic. Of course, the austere simplicity of Org mode allows you to automate it and use both these ways, i.e., whenever you toggle TODO state (with `C-c C-t`) - it would add/remove/change link to the relevant todo state Org-Roam node. I’m not sure now if I end up using both ways, or would stick to one. But it’s nice to have different ways. * * * - 1 Actually, Org wouldn’t let me create a heading named “TODO”, so I used a different name and addded `:roam_alises: TODO`