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* Automatic Update of Org files
@ 2009-02-05 22:03 Mark Elston
  2009-02-05 22:40 ` Samuel Wales
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Mark Elston @ 2009-02-05 22:03 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Org Mode List

Its amazing what you can do with this package!

I have weekly meetings I attend where we take a look at
different sources of status information.  We have an action
item list in an Excel file, an issue tracking list in Test
Track (from Seapine Software) and a project schedule in
Microsoft Project.

I decided I didn't like looking in three (or sometimes more)
different files to collect the tasks I (and my group) had coming
up so I wrote a Perl script to query those sources and write
the results into different Org files.

It all works great and now C-c a a reads these files and
prints any upcoming deadlines from these tasks in my
agenda.  What a terrific way to keep track of assigned
tasks.

There is a drawback, however.  Once these files are created
I would like to add notes to them and have these notes persist.
Unfortunately, right now I don't have any way of doing this
as these files get overwritten when I run my Perl script again.

So, does anyone have any ideas about how to go about a task
like this?  Is there some way to, for example, write information
to a 'temporary' Org file and "merge" the info?  I would not want
to write this in Perl and I don't know elisp well enough to try
anything like this that way either.

Perhaps I am looking for too much.  But I have gotten spoiled with
such a great package.

Mark

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-05 22:03 Automatic Update of Org files Mark Elston
@ 2009-02-05 22:40 ` Samuel Wales
  2009-02-05 23:13   ` Mark Elston
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Samuel Wales @ 2009-02-05 22:40 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: m.elston; +Cc: Org Mode List

IIUC, source is not under your complete control.  You need it orgified
but also annotated.  There are various annotation mechanisms.  My
comments on the remember redesign might be relevant.

You could consider going backward.  Have your org file contain links
to the read-only stuff.  Put entry IDs in the read-only stuff.

Dunno if this helps.

Here is something I had lying around:

Another feature is to have org-registry show on the mode
line when a link points to the current buffer's object (w3m
page, file, dired, etc.).  You click on it to go to the org
file link.  See my remember suggestions in a previous thred
for more re annotations, bookmarks, and registry.

I proposed this before:

=== snip

Extension #2 to the bookmark idea.

My idea is to always have annotations available for
emacs-w3m, dired, files, like org-annotate-file, just with
more modes.

You can see in the mode line that whatever buffer you are in
has an annotation, and you can make an annotation.  You can
also go to the annotation.

The annotations are stored in an org file anywhere in the
hierarchy.  Thus, if you want, annotations on a doctor's web
site can be stored in the entry for that doctor that is in
your org file.  If you visit that web site from any source,
even Google, the mode line says that it is annotated.  Then
you can pull up that entry with a command.

Likewise with files or dired or whatever.  For example, you
can comment org.el or /etc/passwd without having to modify
them.

Remember code seems a plausible place to arrange for
choosing a location and putting a note into it.  Annotations
are like bookmarks with text that also go the other
direction.  It's natural to combine the idea of a bookmark
and the idea of an annotation.

You might want the mode line to say "there is bookmark to
this (web page, file, etc.)" as one character and "there is
a text note about this" as another character.  Thus, if you
have annotated a file and the file is unmodified, you will
see "-u:--!!" and if you have merely bookmarked the location
without commenting on it, then you will see "-u:--!-".
=== snip


-- 
For personal and corporate gain, myalgic encephalomyelitis denialists
are knowingly causing massive suffering and 25-years-early death by
grossly corrupting science.
http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/What_Is_ME_What_Is_CFS.htm

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-05 22:40 ` Samuel Wales
@ 2009-02-05 23:13   ` Mark Elston
  2009-02-06 15:19     ` David Thole
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Mark Elston @ 2009-02-05 23:13 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Samuel Wales; +Cc: Org Mode List

Samuel,

Thanks for the info.  I will have to digest this and see if it
fits.

One concern I have with this approach (and I may not have fully
grasped what you intended) is that the original source files have
the current information like deadlines, etc that I want used
when creating my agenda for the week.  If I want more information
about the agenda item I will navigate to it and hit <Return> which
takes me to the generated Org file.  Once there, I would like to
be able to add notes as necessary.

Alternatively, I suppose I could navigate to the notes if there is
a simple mechanism for this.  I don't really understand all you
described below but I will try playing with it and see what comes
out.

Mark

* Samuel Wales wrote (on 2/5/2009 2:40 PM):
> IIUC, source is not under your complete control.  You need it orgified
> but also annotated.  There are various annotation mechanisms.  My
> comments on the remember redesign might be relevant.
> 
> You could consider going backward.  Have your org file contain links
> to the read-only stuff.  Put entry IDs in the read-only stuff.
> 
> Dunno if this helps.
> 
> Here is something I had lying around:
> 
> Another feature is to have org-registry show on the mode
> line when a link points to the current buffer's object (w3m
> page, file, dired, etc.).  You click on it to go to the org
> file link.  See my remember suggestions in a previous thred
> for more re annotations, bookmarks, and registry.
> 
> I proposed this before:
> 
> === snip
> 
> Extension #2 to the bookmark idea.
> 
> My idea is to always have annotations available for
> emacs-w3m, dired, files, like org-annotate-file, just with
> more modes.
> 
> You can see in the mode line that whatever buffer you are in
> has an annotation, and you can make an annotation.  You can
> also go to the annotation.
> 
> The annotations are stored in an org file anywhere in the
> hierarchy.  Thus, if you want, annotations on a doctor's web
> site can be stored in the entry for that doctor that is in
> your org file.  If you visit that web site from any source,
> even Google, the mode line says that it is annotated.  Then
> you can pull up that entry with a command.
> 
> Likewise with files or dired or whatever.  For example, you
> can comment org.el or /etc/passwd without having to modify
> them.
> 
> Remember code seems a plausible place to arrange for
> choosing a location and putting a note into it.  Annotations
> are like bookmarks with text that also go the other
> direction.  It's natural to combine the idea of a bookmark
> and the idea of an annotation.
> 
> You might want the mode line to say "there is bookmark to
> this (web page, file, etc.)" as one character and "there is
> a text note about this" as another character.  Thus, if you
> have annotated a file and the file is unmodified, you will
> see "-u:--!!" and if you have merely bookmarked the location
> without commenting on it, then you will see "-u:--!-".
> === snip
> 
> 

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-05 23:13   ` Mark Elston
@ 2009-02-06 15:19     ` David Thole
  2009-02-06 18:54       ` Mark Elston
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: David Thole @ 2009-02-06 15:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: m.elston; +Cc: Org Mode List


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Something I've been working on and am continuing to work on is kinda a
middleware script like what you're doing.  It's in python now - and have a
few who contacted me personally who are interested in this once I get the
refactor complete.

Basically what I've done is try to merge stuff in from our Redmine system
here (Redmine is another ticket tracking system).  The workflow I came up
with, at least for the script is:

1.  Query redmine, get all my assigned issues.
2.  Open the org file, read and parse through everything in there (currently
it goes for the dates that I have for scheduled, and I want to eventually
get it so that all the notes as well as time logging will be captured too.
3.  Merge the two sources together (I use two hashed arrays, basically it's
something like array[ISSUEID] = array, where the second array contain
inforamtion such as the title, project, due date, date scheduled, etc).  I
use rules such as that the deadlines are determined in the Redmine system,
so that takes priority over my due date - but the date scheduled would be
captured, and the state (TODO/DONE/ETC). The status is determined,
currently, within Redmine - I haven't figured out a good way yet on dealing
with that yet.

Kinda on my wishlist:

1. A "postback" to Redmine, say I update the status to complete, I wouldn't
mind if there was a good way to push that information to redmine, using my
comments in my ticket to add perhaps - or maybe allowing for a certain type
of tag.
2. To handle notes, the checked sub-items that can occur, etc.

It's still a work in progress, but part of my work is to try and allow a
more pluggable system so that other ticket management systems can be
represented.

Still working on the refactoring..let me know if this interests you at all.

-David

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Mark Elston <m.elston@advantest-ard.com>wrote:

> Samuel,
>
> Thanks for the info.  I will have to digest this and see if it
> fits.
>
> One concern I have with this approach (and I may not have fully
> grasped what you intended) is that the original source files have
> the current information like deadlines, etc that I want used
> when creating my agenda for the week.  If I want more information
> about the agenda item I will navigate to it and hit <Return> which
> takes me to the generated Org file.  Once there, I would like to
> be able to add notes as necessary.
>
> Alternatively, I suppose I could navigate to the notes if there is
> a simple mechanism for this.  I don't really understand all you
> described below but I will try playing with it and see what comes
> out.
>
> Mark
>
> * Samuel Wales wrote (on 2/5/2009 2:40 PM):
>
>  IIUC, source is not under your complete control.  You need it orgified
>> but also annotated.  There are various annotation mechanisms.  My
>> comments on the remember redesign might be relevant.
>>
>> You could consider going backward.  Have your org file contain links
>> to the read-only stuff.  Put entry IDs in the read-only stuff.
>>
>> Dunno if this helps.
>>
>> Here is something I had lying around:
>>
>> Another feature is to have org-registry show on the mode
>> line when a link points to the current buffer's object (w3m
>> page, file, dired, etc.).  You click on it to go to the org
>> file link.  See my remember suggestions in a previous thred
>> for more re annotations, bookmarks, and registry.
>>
>> I proposed this before:
>>
>> === snip
>>
>> Extension #2 to the bookmark idea.
>>
>> My idea is to always have annotations available for
>> emacs-w3m, dired, files, like org-annotate-file, just with
>> more modes.
>>
>> You can see in the mode line that whatever buffer you are in
>> has an annotation, and you can make an annotation.  You can
>> also go to the annotation.
>>
>> The annotations are stored in an org file anywhere in the
>> hierarchy.  Thus, if you want, annotations on a doctor's web
>> site can be stored in the entry for that doctor that is in
>> your org file.  If you visit that web site from any source,
>> even Google, the mode line says that it is annotated.  Then
>> you can pull up that entry with a command.
>>
>> Likewise with files or dired or whatever.  For example, you
>> can comment org.el or /etc/passwd without having to modify
>> them.
>>
>> Remember code seems a plausible place to arrange for
>> choosing a location and putting a note into it.  Annotations
>> are like bookmarks with text that also go the other
>> direction.  It's natural to combine the idea of a bookmark
>> and the idea of an annotation.
>>
>> You might want the mode line to say "there is bookmark to
>> this (web page, file, etc.)" as one character and "there is
>> a text note about this" as another character.  Thus, if you
>> have annotated a file and the file is unmodified, you will
>> see "-u:--!!" and if you have merely bookmarked the location
>> without commenting on it, then you will see "-u:--!-".
>> === snip
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode
>

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-06 15:19     ` David Thole
@ 2009-02-06 18:54       ` Mark Elston
  2009-02-06 19:34         ` Manish
  2009-02-07  5:37         ` William Henney
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: Mark Elston @ 2009-02-06 18:54 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: David Thole; +Cc: Org Mode List

David,

This sound interesting and similar to what I am doing.  I didn't
want to have to parse the Org file but it may be that I have no
choice in the matter.

I may be able to make some of this easier on myself by putting all
(or most) generated information in a block of some kind that allows
me to keep it as text without having to really 'parse' it.  This would
make the 'merge' process simpler.

As for your wishlist items I am not so concerned with the 'postback'
as I am not just looking at my own issues but those in my group as
well.  I won't mark something as done until it has been completed
in TestTrack.

My biggest concern is keeping any notes I add to items I have extracted
from these various sources during an update process.

I tried the org-registry package mentioned by Samuel but it didn't
load and initialize.  I am not sure but I think it may be due to the
fact that my 'org-agenda-files' variable is set to a directory and not
a list of files.

You say you are using Python.  I have used Perl since I found a SOAP
package for Perl and I haven't seen one for Python and I need it for
accessing TestTrack.  I would prefer Python otherwise.

I would be interested in seeing what you have.  It may give me some
ideas.

Mark

* David Thole wrote (on 2/6/2009 7:19 AM):
> Something I've been working on and am continuing to work on is kinda a 
> middleware script like what you're doing.  It's in python now - and have 
> a few who contacted me personally who are interested in this once I get 
> the refactor complete.
> 
> Basically what I've done is try to merge stuff in from our Redmine 
> system here (Redmine is another ticket tracking system).  The workflow I 
> came up with, at least for the script is:
> 
> 1.  Query redmine, get all my assigned issues.
> 2.  Open the org file, read and parse through everything in there 
> (currently it goes for the dates that I have for scheduled, and I want 
> to eventually get it so that all the notes as well as time logging will 
> be captured too.
> 3.  Merge the two sources together (I use two hashed arrays, basically 
> it's something like array[ISSUEID] = array, where the second array 
> contain inforamtion such as the title, project, due date, date 
> scheduled, etc).  I use rules such as that the deadlines are determined 
> in the Redmine system, so that takes priority over my due date - but the 
> date scheduled would be captured, and the state (TODO/DONE/ETC). The 
> status is determined, currently, within Redmine - I haven't figured out 
> a good way yet on dealing with that yet.
> 
> Kinda on my wishlist:
> 
> 1. A "postback" to Redmine, say I update the status to complete, I 
> wouldn't mind if there was a good way to push that information to 
> redmine, using my comments in my ticket to add perhaps - or maybe 
> allowing for a certain type of tag.
> 2. To handle notes, the checked sub-items that can occur, etc.
> 
> It's still a work in progress, but part of my work is to try and allow a 
> more pluggable system so that other ticket management systems can be 
> represented.
> 
> Still working on the refactoring..let me know if this interests you at all.
> 
> -David
> 
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Mark Elston <m.elston@advantest-ard.com 
> <mailto:m.elston@advantest-ard.com>> wrote:
> 
>     Samuel,
> 
>     Thanks for the info.  I will have to digest this and see if it
>     fits.
> 
>     One concern I have with this approach (and I may not have fully
>     grasped what you intended) is that the original source files have
>     the current information like deadlines, etc that I want used
>     when creating my agenda for the week.  If I want more information
>     about the agenda item I will navigate to it and hit <Return> which
>     takes me to the generated Org file.  Once there, I would like to
>     be able to add notes as necessary.
> 
>     Alternatively, I suppose I could navigate to the notes if there is
>     a simple mechanism for this.  I don't really understand all you
>     described below but I will try playing with it and see what comes
>     out.
> 
>     Mark
> 
>     * Samuel Wales wrote (on 2/5/2009 2:40 PM):
> 
>         IIUC, source is not under your complete control.  You need it
>         orgified
>         but also annotated.  There are various annotation mechanisms.  My
>         comments on the remember redesign might be relevant.
> 
>         You could consider going backward.  Have your org file contain links
>         to the read-only stuff.  Put entry IDs in the read-only stuff.
> 
>         Dunno if this helps.
> 
>         Here is something I had lying around:
> 
>         Another feature is to have org-registry show on the mode
>         line when a link points to the current buffer's object (w3m
>         page, file, dired, etc.).  You click on it to go to the org
>         file link.  See my remember suggestions in a previous thred
>         for more re annotations, bookmarks, and registry.
> 
>         I proposed this before:
> 
>         === snip
> 
>         Extension #2 to the bookmark idea.
> 
>         My idea is to always have annotations available for
>         emacs-w3m, dired, files, like org-annotate-file, just with
>         more modes.
> 
>         You can see in the mode line that whatever buffer you are in
>         has an annotation, and you can make an annotation.  You can
>         also go to the annotation.
> 
>         The annotations are stored in an org file anywhere in the
>         hierarchy.  Thus, if you want, annotations on a doctor's web
>         site can be stored in the entry for that doctor that is in
>         your org file.  If you visit that web site from any source,
>         even Google, the mode line says that it is annotated.  Then
>         you can pull up that entry with a command.
> 
>         Likewise with files or dired or whatever.  For example, you
>         can comment org.el or /etc/passwd without having to modify
>         them.
> 
>         Remember code seems a plausible place to arrange for
>         choosing a location and putting a note into it.  Annotations
>         are like bookmarks with text that also go the other
>         direction.  It's natural to combine the idea of a bookmark
>         and the idea of an annotation.
> 
>         You might want the mode line to say "there is bookmark to
>         this (web page, file, etc.)" as one character and "there is
>         a text note about this" as another character.  Thus, if you
>         have annotated a file and the file is unmodified, you will
>         see "-u:--!!" and if you have merely bookmarked the location
>         without commenting on it, then you will see "-u:--!-".
>         === snip
> 
> 
> 
> 
>     _______________________________________________
>     Emacs-orgmode mailing list
>     Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
>     Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org <mailto:Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
>     http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode
> 
> 

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-06 18:54       ` Mark Elston
@ 2009-02-06 19:34         ` Manish
  2009-02-06 19:55           ` Mark Elston
  2009-02-07  5:37         ` William Henney
  1 sibling, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Manish @ 2009-02-06 19:34 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: m.elston; +Cc: Org Mode List

On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 12:24 AM, Mark Elston wrote:
[...]
> My biggest concern is keeping any notes I add to items I have
> extracted from these various sources during an update process.
>
> I tried the org-registry package mentioned by Samuel but it didn't
> load and initialize.

I haven't had a chance to use it but you could take a look at
contrib/lisp/org-annotate-file.el as well.  It seems to do something
similar.

-- 
Manish

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-06 19:34         ` Manish
@ 2009-02-06 19:55           ` Mark Elston
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: Mark Elston @ 2009-02-06 19:55 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Manish; +Cc: Org Mode List

Manish,

I actually have it printed out and am going through it.

One of the reasons I would prefer to keep notes *with* the
entries I generate is that I would like to eventually export
both the entries and notes to a file I can print out and take
with me to meetings.  Either LaTeX export or text export would
work.  In any case, I thought it would be simpler if everything
were in one place.

Both the org-registry and the org-annotate-file put notes separate
from the entries.  While this is OK for online work it is more
problematic when you want to create a set of notes to take to a
meeting.  At least it seems so to me.

Mark

* Manish wrote (on 2/6/2009 11:34 AM):
> On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 12:24 AM, Mark Elston wrote:
> [...]
>> My biggest concern is keeping any notes I add to items I have
>> extracted from these various sources during an update process.
>>
>> I tried the org-registry package mentioned by Samuel but it didn't
>> load and initialize.
> 
> I haven't had a chance to use it but you could take a look at
> contrib/lisp/org-annotate-file.el as well.  It seems to do something
> similar.
> 

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

* Re: Automatic Update of Org files
  2009-02-06 18:54       ` Mark Elston
  2009-02-06 19:34         ` Manish
@ 2009-02-07  5:37         ` William Henney
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: William Henney @ 2009-02-07  5:37 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: m.elston; +Cc: Org Mode List

Mark

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 12:54 PM, Mark Elston <m.elston@advantest-ard.com> wrote:
> You say you are using Python.  I have used Perl since I found a SOAP
> package for Perl and I haven't seen one for Python and I need it for
> accessing TestTrack.  I would prefer Python otherwise.

http://www.diveintopython.org/soap_web_services/

HTH

Will

-- 

  Dr William Henney, Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica,
  Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2009-02-07  5:38 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 8+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2009-02-05 22:03 Automatic Update of Org files Mark Elston
2009-02-05 22:40 ` Samuel Wales
2009-02-05 23:13   ` Mark Elston
2009-02-06 15:19     ` David Thole
2009-02-06 18:54       ` Mark Elston
2009-02-06 19:34         ` Manish
2009-02-06 19:55           ` Mark Elston
2009-02-07  5:37         ` William Henney

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