From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Karl Voit Subject: Re: [Orgmode] Re: contact management in org-mode? Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:57:26 +0200 Message-ID: <2012-07-20T02-47-22@devnull.Karl-Voit.at> References: <20091025023410.GK2357@thinkpad.adamsinfoserv.com> <87pr86tywd.wl%ucecesf@ucl.ac.uk> <87zl7arynb.fsf@dynapse.com> <20091029173640.GM28398@thinkpad.adamsinfoserv.com> <7bef1f890910291300o2e063d58h9d620278a6472032@mail.gmail.com> <20091031031059.GF23167@thinkpad.adamsinfoserv.com> <20091031032607.GG23167@thinkpad.adamsinfoserv.com> <20091120143235.GB3439@thinkpad.adamsinfoserv.com> <20120719111050.GO27588@cardamom.adamsinfoserv.com> Reply-To: news1142@Karl-Voit.at Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:50336) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Ss1XM-0006ka-VY for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:57:45 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Ss1XL-0001KP-N2 for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:57:44 -0400 Received: from plane.gmane.org ([80.91.229.3]:58461) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Ss1XL-0001KH-CC for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:57:43 -0400 Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Ss1XK-00088m-1Q for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:57:42 +0200 Received: from mail.michael-prokop.at ([88.198.6.110]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:57:41 +0200 Received: from news1142 by mail.michael-prokop.at with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:57:41 +0200 List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org Hi Russell! * Russell Adams wrote: > > First, I've found myself very lax updating my Contacts.org file. This is no technical issue :-) > With a moderately large contact file column mode goes so slowly I > find myself reluctant to use it. Thus my contact list is now > significantly out of date despite my successful integration with > mutt. I do not use column mode (yet). So far I am using the inevitable yasnippet templates to create an entry and manually filling out the properties. > Another issue with column view is that I can't make the first column > (ie: Name!) sticky, so if I scroll right while filling in fields I > have no idea who I'm working on. Editing individual fields in the > property drawer is moderately ok. > > The final killer is lack of sync. Oh this is also something which I could not resolve yet. Although I do think that given the fact that I am OK with a working export mechanism (instead of 2-way sync), it should not be that complicated to write a short tool that exports names, email addresses and phone numbers (I really do not want more information than these on my phone) in a format that Google can import. Not a very good solution but I was thinking about this one for myself. > I have lbdb capturing incoming email addresses, and I find I use > it constantly without thinking about it. I typically get contact > information in signature lines with my customers and I've found > myself doing fast searching in mutt and using a recent email > instead of using Contacts.org. No sync with my Google account > means my phone now has an independent contact list again. I also love mutt and lbdb. Since I started to maintain my contacts in Org-mode and not in .mutt_aliases and lbdb can query my contacts.org, I am pretty happy with this situation. Loose contacts get into my system via lbdb and close contacts get their Org-mode entry. > I did see someone created a org-contacts.el based on the format, but > their site is now offline. > > So after a three year experiment, I think I can say my org-mode > contact management has failed. This is it? What about having the possibility to use references to contacts within Org-mode? I use them all the time. What about organizing contacts in a hierarchy like family trees. I can not resemble any other contact manager where it is that easy as in Org-mode. What about the possibility to mix TODOs and events with contact? I love the fact that I can add appointments with my dentist below his contact-headline ... and add a TODO if I have to transfer him money or something like that. These are all features that lets me accept missing sync features and so forth. > Thus I pose the question: What is a valid contact manager for a > console-mode user with sync, fast searching and update? Anyway, I am curious what other options are out there :-) -- Karl Voit