2e:null 2f:["$","title",null,{"children":"[Brick]-by-[Brick] | Michael Bricknell | Observable"}] 34:T55a,# the concept: You store **your data**, in a text file, on **your computer**. (...it sounded way more revolutionary in my head) - no more spreadsheets! - no more tech dependencies! - let's reclaim data! - _(keep your data local)_ ## [-->[brick-by-brick]<--](https://clatteringbrigs.github.io/portal/dist/brick-parser.html) The beauty here is that any **[brick]**, is modular, organize it as what makes the most **sense to you**. Organize **your notes** in one text file.

(an example of a line of "frogs")  
[brick] => frog|frog|frog

`[+|👤|<1>|George Bricknal|My great-great grandfather]`
Each line is a customizable notation where each "value" or **`|frog|`** is an encoding of the 5 W's. (who, what, where, when, why). The default frogs are listed below. - **[binary frog]** _(plus, minus(default))_ (-) exclude, keep the note (+) include it in the data system - **[shorthand frog]** _(emoji, number, text)_ must be unique to the file system, categorical - groups - containers - shelves - **[aliases frog]** _(`<`emoji, number, text`>`)_ requires a left and a right tag ``, must have no spaces (-/minus sign) between all characters, unique - **[datetime frog]** _(YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS(default)_, you pick see https://d3js.org/d3-time-format) - **[linkage frog]** _(@alias/@`<`alias`>`)_ 35:[{"id":"42a61e5288176e2d9fd548f10c608f8a3d96f2236d317569fdf95e4c0f7ca02467e2d29012e9a805f73d03709621721e494b34c76e0ab77faee4f82adf884be8","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/42a61e5288176e2d9fd548f10c608f8a3d96f2236d317569fdf95e4c0f7ca02467e2d29012e9a805f73d03709621721e494b34c76e0ab77faee4f82adf884be8","name":"3435ac60-e632-4017-a04b-8cc1de41fa4f_text.gif","type":"image/gif","lastModified":1749310789974.782,"size":352307}] 32:{"id":"a28946723a15a219","slug":"brick-by-brick","title":"[Brick]-by-[Brick]","thumbnail":"a9b7e81ba6d21b37a4181fee13827df79d674bb7050b43bbb18a8dc8587ddf16","access_level":"public","create_time":"$D2025-06-04T14:48:55.215Z","update_time":"$D2026-09-18T19:54:23.658Z","view_time":null,"first_public_time":"$D2025-06-06T18:49:47.448Z","has_unpublished_edits":null,"fork":false,"stars":1,"starred":false,"owner":{"type":"team","id":"aa36944c9e64c088","login":"mbrickmaps","name":"Michael Bricknell","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/2f0578a8eeb34ee1c8a3bd6be41477c4bc13989c0c53551154178a64c9f2945f","tier":"pro_2024"},"version":1336,"publish_version":null,"role":null,"authored":false,"authors":[{"type":"individual","id":"8a8aec8a4dd1da2d","login":"mbrickmaps","name":"Michael Bricknell","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/669d4a33f00b7dbf619507bedb374f580b5457ee3c0717ba47d37e4869518958","tier":null}],"members":[{"type":"individual","id":"8a8aec8a4dd1da2d","login":"mbrickmaps","name":"Michael Bricknell","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/669d4a33f00b7dbf619507bedb374f580b5457ee3c0717ba47d37e4869518958","tier":null,"role":"editor"},{"type":"team","id":"aa36944c9e64c088","login":"mbrickmaps","name":"Michael Bricknell","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/2f0578a8eeb34ee1c8a3bd6be41477c4bc13989c0c53551154178a64c9f2945f","tier":"pro_2024","role":"editor"}],"comments":[],"custom_thumbnail":true,"trashed":false,"lapsed":null,"subscribed":null,"forks":0,"collection":{"id":"50906241d55409c7","slug":"geneaology","title":"Geneaology","owner":{"id":"aa36944c9e64c088","login":"mbrickmaps","name":"Michael Bricknell"}},"type":"notebook","body":{"title":"[Brick]-by-[Brick]","cells":[{"id":0,"value":"# [Brick]-by-[Brick]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1233,"value":"~~https://www.brick-by-brick.net~~ \n~~https://clatteringbrigs.github.io/portal/dist/brick-parser.html~~\nhttps://mbricknell.com/brick-by-brick/","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1010,"value":"FileAttachment(\"3435ac60-e632-4017-a04b-8cc1de41fa4f_text.gif\").image()","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":467,"value":"Do you have difficulty keeping track of things? \nHaving trouble with keeping your conspiracy theories straight? \nThose red yarns aren't doing it for ya or your fridge door just too small? \nDo you wonder what does my data tell me when I'm not present. \nor ...Maybe computers are your _forté_.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1225,"value":"[Visit Clatteringbrigs - For other stuff](https://linktr.ee/clatteringbrigs?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=fd802999-056e-461a-9ec7-a3898eb8ed16)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1015,"value":"Take Genealogy 👨‍👩‍👦🌳🔍 for example. \n - Hierarchical\n - Spatial\n - Temporal\n - the _truth_ is out there...\n\n_History theorist onced believed, that aliens... brought us a ground breaking technology ...the brick._\n\n# ` --> 🧱 [brick]` \n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":431,"value":"$34","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":817,"value":"## [optional file]\n- The config file.\n- this will override the default template\n- [visibility]|[shorthand]|[datetime]|[alias]|[text]|[linkage]\n- where **[bricks]** are stored (_name it whatever_) \n \nbricks.txt \nmy-symbols.txt \nfamily-config.txt \nnotation.txt \nbricknal-bricks.txt \ngenealogy-setup.txt\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":845,"value":"### One [frog] \n#### One [idea]-[state]-[concept]-[entity]-[fact]-[nugget]-[theory]\n```\nbricks.txt \n# default frogs\n[binary]|[shorthand]|[datetime]|[alias]|[text]|[linkage]\n\n[+,-]|[👤,person,p,P]|[alias]|[text]|[text]|[linkage]\n[+,-]|[👶,birth,b,B]|[alias]|[date]||[linkage]\n[+,-]|[🔔,marriage,wed,m]|[alias+alias]|[date]||[linkage]\n[+,-]|[📍,location,place,l]|[alias]|[text]|[linkage]\n```","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":829,"value":"All below are valid lines:\n```\n+|👤|<3>|John Smith|\n\n+|person||John Smith|\n\n+|p||John Smith|\n\n+|P||John Smith|\n```","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":663,"value":"# [👁️] | [👤👶🔔📍] | [🆔] | [📅⏰] | [🔗]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":341,"value":"As I'm developing this, the format is expected to evolve, but the idea is to be able to load the file on the client side, preventing any private data from being stored on a server. But instead the txt files will tie into an ecosystem of custom visualizations. \n(https://clatteringbrigs.substack.com/p/tracking-down-a-bricknal-1)\n(https://clatteringbrigs.substack.com/p/tracking-down-a-bricknal-2)\n(https://clatteringbrigs.substack.com/p/tracking-down-a-bricknal-3)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":43,"value":"emojiLegend = html`

\n ${Object.entries(emojiCategories).map(\n ([emoji, desc]) => html`

[${emoji}] : [${desc}]

`\n )}\n

`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":4,"value":"default_data = `\n+|👤||John Smith|My great-great grandfather\n+|👤||Mary Jones|Came from Ireland\n+|👶||1823-03-15\n+|🔔|

|1845-06-20|@ \n+|📍||St. Mary's Church|54.4889, -0.6098\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":6,"value":"parsed = {\n const lines = file_data.split(\"\\n\").filter((l) => l.trim());\n return lines.map((line, index) => {\n const parts = line.split(\"|\");\n\n return {\n line: index + 1,\n flag: parts[0], // Keep the original -/+ marker\n emoji: parts[1],\n link: parts[2], // could be date, person ID, relationship\n label: parts[3],\n meta: parts[4],\n data: line\n };\n });\n}","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":15,"value":"viewof selectedType = Inputs.select(\n [...new Set(parsed.filter((d) => d.flag === \"+\").map((d) => d.emoji))],\n { label: \"Filter by event type\" }\n)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":48,"value":"filteredEvents = parsed.filter((d) => !selectedType || d.emoji === selectedType)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":9,"value":"people = parsed\n .filter((d) => d.emoji === \"👤\")\n .reduce((acc, p) => {\n const line = p.link.match(/<([^>]+)>/)?.[1];\n if (line) {\n acc[line] = {\n line,\n label: p.label || \"\",\n meta: p.meta || \"\",\n emoji: p.emoji,\n data: p.data\n };\n }\n return acc;\n }, {})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":183,"value":"---","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":671,"value":"# [FROGS]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":356,"value":"# 👁️ | [Binary frog]\n- **binary** \n- **+/-**\n \n`\"-\" excluded (default)` \n`\"+\" included` \n\nif you ever hit a brick... wall, no worries leave it turned off from the system \"-\". \nMeaning if you don't have a person to link a notation to, you can still keep notes.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":117,"value":"# 👤👶🔔📍| [Shorthand frog]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":629,"value":"you define the shorthand","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1059,"value":"```\n[👤,person,p,P]\n[🪦,deaths,d,D]\n[👶,birth,b,B]\n[🔔,marriage,wed,m]\n[📍,location,place,l]\n```","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":243,"value":"# 🆔 | [Who/What/Where] | [Alias frog]\n- `` -use lower `` `a unique <{alpha:numerical}>`\n- `, , <2nd>, , <🎖-grumpy-cat-🇪🇸>` \n- `<123-fake-street>`,``,``,``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":564,"value":"# 🔗 | [Who/What/Where] | [Linkage frog]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":641,"value":"- @`` link to an alias you create. ``\n- @``@``\n- @tag (_this might be best_)\n- ~~@5, link to line 5~~\n- ~~@1,8,19 link to line 1,8,19~~\n- ~~@5:17 link from 5 to 17~~\n- ~~@filename.5 link to another file line 5 (_future_)~~\n- ~~@filename.5:8 link to another file line 5 to line 8 (_future_)~~\n- ~~@date link to a datetime filter (_future_)~~","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":536,"value":"# 📍 | [Where] | [location (geom) frog]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":292,"value":"- location (decimal percision determines confidence)\n- `@`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":352,"value":"latitude, longitude (right click on Google Maps), lat/lng only\n~~~\n+|📍||Scotland|55, -4 \n+|📍||Dundee|56.5, -3.0 \n+|📍||Longforgan|56.43, -3.07 \n+|📍||St. Mary's Church|56.4620, -2.9707`\n~~~\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":643,"value":"# 📅⏰| [When] | [Datetime frog]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1183,"value":"(YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS(default)), \nyour pick see https://d3js.org/d3-time-format)\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":650,"value":"time is optional (_HH:MM:SS_) only used as a timestamp\n- 1880\n- 1880-01\n- 1880-04-23\n- 2025-06-06 1:58:00 (A timestamp indicates the present)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":788,"value":"# Advanced Concepts","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":801,"value":"\"inheritance\" (_maybe_?)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":796,"value":"`+|📍|<42-dudhope-crest>|42 Dundhope Crest Rd.|56.463, -2.977`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":790,"value":"`+|📄|<1891-census>|Household at @<42-dudhope-crest>|@5:17`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":792,"value":"```\n5 +|✏️|1891|George|22\n6 +|✏️|1891|Margaret|60 \n7 +|✏️|1891|Maggie|16\n8 +|✏️|1891|Helen|20\n9 +|✏️|1891|James|35\n10 +|✏️|1891|Agnes|26\n11 +|✏️|1891|Elizabeth|64\n12 +|✏️|1891|James|64\n13 +|✏️|1891|Charles|58\n14 +|✏️|1891|John|32\n15 +|✏️|1891|Magaret|73\n16 +|✏️|1891|Alexander|40\n17 +|✏️|1891|Cathrine|35\n```","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1253,"value":"~~https://www.brick-by-brick.net~~ \nhttps://clatteringbrigs.github.io/portal/dist/brick-parser.html","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":580,"value":"---","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":582,"value":"# Here be Dragons.[🐲🐲🐲]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1320,"value":"https://www.quantamagazine.org/for-algorithms-a-little-memory-outweighs-a-lot-of-time-20250521/ \nSimulating Time With Square-Root Space* : Ryan Williams \nhttps://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.17779\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1256,"value":"Brick-by-brick not for you?\nTry \nhttps://johnnydecimal.com/","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":311,"value":"(Cognitive Dimensions of Notations | https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=4ca24a6a487c3fa92d60a17b760cc3515708896a)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":93,"value":"viewof timestamp = Inputs.button(\"Get Current Time\", {\n reduce: () => {\n const now = new Date();\n const year = now.getFullYear();\n const month = String(now.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, \"0\");\n const day = String(now.getDate()).padStart(2, \"0\");\n const hours = String(now.getHours()).padStart(2, \"0\");\n const minutes = String(now.getMinutes()).padStart(2, \"0\");\n const seconds = String(now.getSeconds()).padStart(2, \"0\");\n\n return `${year}-${month}-${day} ${hours}:${minutes}:${seconds}`;\n }\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":97,"value":"timestamp &&\n html`

${timestamp}

For: Research notes, TODOs, personal comments

Example: -|${timestamp}|🔍|Need to verify @15|

\n \n

`\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":21,"value":"viewof bricks = Inputs.file({\n label: \"upload your bricks (coming soon)\",\n accept: \".txt\"\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":24,"value":"file_data = bricks ? bricks.text() : default_data","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":551,"value":"textCategories = ({\n p: \"Person\",\n b: \"Birth\",\n wed: \"Marriage\",\n poi: \"Location\"\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":39,"value":"emojiCategories = ({\n \"👤\": \"Person\",\n \"👶\": \"Birth\",\n \"🔔\": \"Marriage\",\n \"📍\": \"Location\",\n \"🪦\": \"Deaths\"\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":541,"value":"unicodeCategories = ({\n \"●\": \"Person\", // U+25CF\n \"◊\": \"Birth\", // U+25CA\n \"∞\": \"Marriage\", // U+221E\n \"▲\": \"Location\" // U+25B2\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1242,"value":"## Terminology\n- Great Mason (Access Tier III, annual support)\n- Mason Journeyman (Access Tier II, monthly support)\n- Mason (Access Tier II, coffee support)\n- Apprentice (Access Tier I, everyone)\n- Masonry Tools (data tools)\n- Bond (a group of bricks)\n- Motar (?)\n- Brick (a notation)\n- Bricks (an object / a line)\n- Pallet (a file)\n- Foundation (a folder)\n\n\n- Alias\n- Symbol\n- Date/Time\n- Location\n ","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W35","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}} 33:"$32:body"