Book Simulator

A plugin for Obsidian (https://obsidian.md) that simulates a book view by combining multiple notes from a folder into a continuous reading experience. It uses the hierarchy of the folder to structure the chapters and sections of the book.

Features

• Vault Explorer: Browse your vault's folder structure in a dedicated sidebar (20% of the view)
• Book Renderer: View combined notes from a selected folder as a continuous book (80% of the view)
• Hierarchical Structure: Notes are organized hierarchically with proper heading adjustments
• Markdown Rendering: Uses Obsidian's native MarkdownRenderer for proper content display
• Easy Access: Open via ribbon icon, command palette, or file menu

How to Use

1. Open Book Simulator: Click the book icon in the left ribbon, or use the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P) and search for "Open Book Simulator"
2. Select a Folder: Click on any folder in the explorer panel on the left
3. Read: The right panel will display all notes from the selected folder (and its subfolders) combined into a single continuous book view

Installation

Using BRAT (Recommended for testing)

• Follow the steps mentioned here : https://github.com/tu2-atmanand/obsidian-book-simulator/releases/tag/0.1.1

From Obsidian Community Plugins (once released)

1. Open Settings → Community plugins
2. Search for "Book Simulator"
3. Click Install, then Enable

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js, styles.css, and manifest.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder named obsidian-book-simulator in your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory
3. Copy the downloaded files into this folder
4. Reload Obsidian
5. Enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins

Development

This project uses TypeScript and esbuild for bundling.

Setup

npm install

Development Build (with watch mode)

npm run dev

Production Build

npm run build

Project Structure

src/
  main.ts                          # Plugin entry point
  types.ts                         # TypeScript interfaces
  views/
    bookSimulatorView.ts          # Main view implementation
  components/
    virtualFileExplorer.ts        # File explorer component
    bookRenderer.ts               # Book rendering component
  utils/
    fileTreeUtils.ts              # File tree building utilities
    hierarchyGenerator.ts         # Markdown hierarchy generation

How It Works

1. The plugin creates a custom ItemView that splits into two panels
2. The left panel (20%) shows a virtual file explorer of your vault
3. When you select a folder, the right panel (80%) generates a combined markdown document
4. All markdown files in the folder (and subfolders) are combined with proper heading adjustments
5. The combined content is rendered using Obsidian's MarkdownRenderer API

License

GPL v3

Support

If you find this plugin helpful, consider supporting its development by making a donation!