abandoning 'transient

Magit's transient package is too much NOT suited to my purposes.
I thought i could use it as a general-purpose menu system, but it
is too inflexible and unsuited to my particular needs.

going to DIY it

photo-gal.el

@@ -1,30 +1,100 @@
-(setq *photo-dir* (directory-file-name "/Users/jwd/bench/photos/"))
-(setq *operating-photo-dir* (concat *photo-dir* "-photogal"))
-(setq *my-tags* nil)
+(defvar *photogal/operating-photo-dir* nil)
+(defvar *photogal/all-photos* nil)
+(defvar *photogal/operating-table* nil)
 
-(setq *photogal-operating-table* (mapcar (lambda (photo)
-					    (cons (list 'photo) photo))
-					 (all-photos)))
-(defun photogal-add-tag (file tag)
-  (let ((tags (car (rassoc file *photogal-operating-table*))))
-    (setcar (rassoc file *photogal-operating-table*) (cons tag tags))))
 
-(delete-directory *operating-photo-dir* t)
-(copy-directory *photo-dir* *operating-photo-dir*)
+(defun photogal-init-operating-table ()
+       (setq *photogal/operating-table* (mapcar (lambda (photo)
+						  (cons (list 'photo) photo))
+						*photogal/all-photos*)))
 
-
-(defun all-photos ()
-  (directory-files *operating-photo-dir* t directory-files-no-dot-files-regexp))
-
-(all-photos)
+(require 'transient)
 
 (define-derived-mode photogal-mode text-mode "photogal"
   "Major mode for grouping and labeling images.")
 
-(defun photogal-init ()
+(setq photogal-raw-tags '(("s" . "selfie") ("c" . "cityscape")))
+
+(defun photogal-auto-tags ()
+  (let ((args (mapcar (lambda (tag) (list (car tag) " " (cdr tag))) photogal-raw-tags)))
+    (vconcat (cons "Arguments"
+		   args))))
+
+(setq photogal-tags
+      (photogal-auto-tags))
+(setq photogal-operations
+      [["Operations"
+	("RET" "Next"             photogal-next-file)
+	("P" "Previous"             photogal-prev-file)
+	("A" "Add new tag"        photogal-add-tag)]])
+
+
+(defvar photogal-default-directory "/Users/jwd/bench/photos/")
+
+
+(defun photogal (photo-dir)
+  (interactive (list (read-directory-name "where are ur photos? " 
+                                          photogal-default-directory)))
+  (message photo-dir)
+  (let ((photo-files-directory (directory-file-name photo-dir)))
+    (setq *photogal/operating-photo-dir* (concat photo-files-directory "-photogal"))
+    (setq *photogal/all-photos* (photogal-all-photos)))
+  (photogal-init-operating-table)
+  (photogal-init (photogal-current-file))
+  (photogal-categorize)
+  )
+
+
+(transient-define-prefix photogal-categorize ()
+  "Tag a photo."
+  photogal-tags
+  photogal-operations
   (interactive)
-  (let ((buf (get-buffer-create "photogal"))
-	(photos (all-photos)))
+  (setq *photogal-current-file* (photogal-current-file))
+  (transient-setup 'photogal-categorize))
+
+
+(defun photogal-all-photos ()
+  (message *photogal/operating-photo-dir*)
+  (directory-files *photogal/operating-photo-dir*
+		   t directory-files-no-dot-files-regexp))
+
+(defun photogal-current-file ()
+  (car *photogal/all-photos*))
+
+(defun photogal-add-tags-to-file (file tag)
+  (let ((tags (car (rassoc file *photogal/operating-table*))))
+    (setcar (rassoc file *photogal/operating-table*) (cons tag tags))))
+
+(defun photogal-get-tags-for-file (file)
+  (car (rassoc file *photogal/operating-table*)))
+
+(defun photogal-next-file ()
+  (interactive)
+  (let ((current-file (photogal-current-file)))
+    (mapcar (lambda (t-arg) (photogal-add-tags-to-file current-file t-arg))
+	    (transient-args 'photogal-categorize))
+    )
+
+  (setq *photogal/all-photos*
+	(append (cdr *photogal/all-photos*) (list (car *photogal/all-photos*))))
+  (photogal-init (photogal-current-file))
+  (photogal-categorize))
+
+(defun photogal-prev-file ()
+  (interactive)
+  (let ((current-file (photogal-current-file)))
+    (mapcar (lambda (t-arg) (photogal-add-tags-to-file current-file t-arg))
+	    (transient-args 'photogal-categorize))
+    )
+
+  (setq *photogal/all-photos*
+	(append (last *photogal/all-photos*) (butlast *photogal/all-photos*)))
+  (photogal-init (photogal-current-file))
+  (photogal-categorize))
+
+(defun photogal-init (photo-file-path)
+  (let ((buf (get-buffer-create "photogal")))
     (with-current-buffer buf
       (photogal-mode)
       (erase-buffer)
@@ -32,35 +102,13 @@
       (insert " ")
       (insert-image
        ;; (create-image (car photos) 'imagemagick nil :width (- (window-pixel-width) 75))
-       (create-image (car photos) 'imagemagick nil :height (/ (window-pixel-height) 2)))
+       (create-image photo-file-path
+		     'imagemagick nil :height (/ (window-pixel-height) 2)))
       (insert "\n\n")
+      (insert (format "%s" (photogal-get-tags-for-file photo-file-path)))
       )
-    buf)
-  (switch-to-buffer (get-buffer-create "photogal")))
-
-(defun photogal-selfie ()
-  (interactive)
-  (photogal-add-tag *photogal-current-file* "selfie")
-  (message *photogal-current-file*))
-
-(transient-define-prefix photogal-tag ()
-  [["Commit"
-    ("c" "Tag: selfie" photogal-selfie)]]
-  (interactive)
-  (setq *my-photo-args* (transient-args 'photogal-categorize))
-  (message (transient-args 'photogal-categorize))
-  (transient-setup 'photogal-tag))
-
-
-(setq photogal-raw-tags '(("s" . "selfie") ("c" . "cityscape")))
-
-(defun photogal-auto-tags ()
-  (let ((args (mapcar (lambda (tag) (list (car tag) " " (cdr tag))) photogal-raw-tags)))
-    (vconcat (cons "Arguments"
-		   args))))
+    (switch-to-buffer buf)))
 
-(setq photogal-tags
-      (photogal-auto-tags))
 
 (defun photogal-add-tag (new-tag new-tag-code)
   (interactive "sNew tag: \nsTag code: ")
@@ -70,24 +118,8 @@
   (eval `(transient-define-prefix photogal-categorize ()
 	   "Tag a photo."
 	   ,photogal-tags
-	   [["Tag"
-	     ("t" "Tag"         photogal-tag)
-	     ("a" "Add tag"     photogal-add-tag)]]
+	   ,photogal-operations
 	   (interactive)
-	   (setq *photogal-current-file* (car (all-photos)))
+	   (setq *photogal-current-file* (photogal-current-file))
 	   (transient-setup 'photogal-categorize)))
   (transient-setup 'photogal-categorize))
-
-(transient-define-prefix photogal-categorize ()
-  "Tag a photo."
-  photogal-tags
-  [["Tag"
-    ("t" "Tag"         photogal-tag)
-    ("a" "Add tag"     photogal-add-tag)]]
-  (interactive)
-  (setq *photogal-current-file* (car (all-photos)))
-  (transient-setup 'photogal-categorize))
-
-(photogal-categorize)
-
-(message *my-tags*)