I’ve been using it to create a more manageable list of what articles I’m planning to write for which markets in order of how “far along” they are and what their status is (pitched, drafted, published, etc).
dataview
table file.size, market
from "90 Articles"
where current-status = "seed"
sort file.size desc
I also combine it with the calendar plugin to list files created on a particular date:
dataview
list file.ctime
where file.ctime > this.file.day and file.ctime < (this.file.day + dur(1 day))
sort file.ctime asc
You can change ctime to mtime to get files last modified on a particular date but I find that to generally be less useful for me personally.
I also like to use dataview to help organize some of my fiction.
dataview
table year, length, status, protagonist, location, pitch
from ""
where universe = "Verraine" AND status != "deleted"
sort year asc
coupled with YAML at the top of my novel index notes and my short fiction along these lines:
---
universe: Verraine
year: 450
status: begun
protagonist: Jack
location: Efrenzan
length: short story
pitch: "A young soldier arrives home on leave to find the village he left behind devastated — and the girl who once spurned him, his only hope."
---
lets me create a very useful chronological list of stories that take place in a particular universe (I have three that I write in regularly, depending on genre: science fiction, urban fantasy, and second world epic fantasy).
For example:
Note that Irella is a link. I’m holding off refactoring everything to match that style because I’m hoping we’ll be able to assign “link” status on the dataview side instead of in the YAML and it’s not a huge deal right now, but you can do it by giving [[destination]] in the raw YAML. Obsidian won’t recognize it, but dataview does.
For individual novels, it also lets me create an incredibly helpful outline, like so:
dataview
table chapter, location, time, pitch
from ""
where (story = "Civil Mage") AND (chapter != "00") AND (status != "deleted")
sort chapter asc
where the YAML style would be:
---
story: "Civil Mage"
protagonist: "Irella"
length: "chapter"
chapter: "02"
section: 2 - Call to Adventure
status: "complete"
location: Oruku
time: day 0 (midsummer)
pitch: Irella attempts to gain support from the new Soveriegn, Valentia, but is rebuffed as a political liability and shuffled off to the minor, ceremonial role of tomb-builder.
---