jeremy125 / Note-Station-to-markdown

The cross-patform script that converts notes from Synology Note Station to markdown files

This script will convert notes from Synology Note Station to plain-text markdown notes.
The script is written in Python and should work on any desktop platform. It's tested on Linux and Windows 7.

After conversion you will get:

1. Directories named like exported notebooks;
2. Notes in those directories as markdown-syntax plain text files with all in-line images in-place;
3. Assigned tags and links to attachments at the beginning of note text;
4. All images and attached files in media sub-directories inside notebook directories.

Local installation

1. The script requires Python 3.5+ and pandoc installed on your system. Get the install package or use the package manager of your OS.
2. Put nsx2md.py to the directory, where you want to convert notes.
3. (Linux only, optional) Give nsx2md.py execute permission.

Usage

1. Export your Synology Note Station notebooks by: Setting -> Import and Export -> Export. You will get .nsx file.
2. Adjust .nsx file permission if required. Mine was readable only by owner user.
3. Copy .nsx file(s) to the directory where you've put nsx2md.py.
4. Run nsx2md.py or python nsx2md.py to convert all .nsx files in the directory. It won't delete them.

... or run nsx2md.py path/to/export.nsx to convert a specific file. Converted notes will appear where the file is.

That means nsx2md.py can be located anywhere as long as you specify the file you want to convert.

Docker setup

build Docker image

docker build -t nsx2md .

run the docker image

docker run -it -v "$PWD:/nsx2md nsx2md <file.nsx>

Optional settings

Inside the script you can make some adjustments to the link format and notes metadata:
links_as_URI - True for file://link%20target style links, False for /link target style links;
absolute_links - True for absolute links, False for relative links;
media_dir_name - name of the directory inside the produced directory where all images and attachments will be stored;
md_file_ext - extension for produced markdown syntax note files;
insert_title - True to insert note title as a markdown heading at the first line, False to disable;
insert_ctime - True to insert note creation time to the beginning of the note text, False to disable;
insert_mtime - True to insert note modification time to the beginning of the note text, False to disable;
creation_date_in_filename - True to insert note creation time to the note file name, False to disable;
tag_prepend - string to prepend each tag in a tag list inside the note, default is empty;
tag_delimiter - string to delimit tags, default is comma separated list;
no_spaces_in_tags - True to replace spaces in tag names with '_', False to keep spaces.

For QOwnNotes users

There are several ways to get tags from converted notes to work in QOwnNotes:

Import tags to QOwnNotes native way

1. Convert .nsx files with default nsx2md.py settings;
2. Add notebook directories produced by nsx2md.py as QOwnNotes note folders;
3. Set one of these note folders as current;
4. Enable provided import_tags.qml script in QOwnNotes (Note -> Settings -> Scripting) (remove_tag_line.py should be at the same directory);
5. The script will add 2 new buttons and menu items:
   1. Import tags - to import tags from the tag lines of all the notes in the current note folder
   2. Remove tag lines - to remove the tag lines from all the notes in the current folder
6. Use the buttons in the according order, any previous QOwnNotes tag data for the note folder will be lost;
7. Move to the next note folder produced by nsx2md.py, repeat #5;
8. Disable import_tags.qml script. That is obligatory.

"@tag tagging in note text (experimental)" QOwnNotes script

1. For default @ tag prepends use the following nsx2md.py settings:

tag_prepend = '@'  # string to prepend each tag in a tag list inside the note, default is empty
tag_delimiter = ' '  # string to delimit tags, default is comma separated list
no_spaces_in_tags = True  # True to replace spaces in tag names with '_', False to keep spaces

2. Convert .nsx files;
3. Add notebook directories produced by nsx2md.py as QOwnNotes note folders.