Re: Time Stamps?

[Bernt Hansen <bernt@norang.ca>]

David Frascone <dave@frascone.com> writes:

> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Bernt Hansen <bernt@norang.ca> wrote:
>
>     David Frascone <dave@frascone.com> writes:
>    
>     >  1. Can I make all timestamps put the time?  In other words, can I
>     >  make C-c ! always do the same thing as C-u C-c !
>     >
>    
>     I use a key binding for this:  f9-t which creates a timestamp like this
>     at point.  [2010-05-03 Mon 14:52]  The binding for that is documented at
>     http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html#sec-15_21
>
> Duh.  Sorry.  I thought there would be a way to do it with just a
> command, and, at first glance, didn't grok what you were doing with
> the func.  Consider it stolen.  I'm going to re-map something to it. 
> I don't like using Function keys, because when I am using my macbook
> w/o a keyboard, I have to hit a Fn button to get those.  But, I'll map
> it to something.  I do like your f9 map, so, maybe I'll use M-9 or
> something like that.

Steal away :)  I'm sure you can change the function to always put in the
time if that's what you really want to do but there's no configuration
to implement that currently AFAICT.

>     >  2. Where should I put the timestamp?  Where do you guys think it
>     >  looks best?  Before the text?  After?  Still getting a feel for
>     >  things.
>    
>     Anywhere in the body of the text works fine for me.  My remember
>     templates put the timestamp after the clock drawer
>    
>      * TODO blah
>      :CLOCK:...
>      [2010-05-03 Mon 14:59]
>      [[link to stuff]]
>    
>     but anywhere will work - it's just text.
>
> Right.  I understand where it gets put.  But, now I want to add some
> notes.  Where would you put it?  (And, I know I'm just asking your
> opinion, because it is all just text -- I just really like your setup,
> so I'm using it as my starting point.

I just put them at the top and leave them there.  Any further detail is
either inline in the body following it or as notes in a LOGBOOK drawer.
>
> So, for example, here's an entry I took today with a call, refiled it,
> then re-edited it.  Names have been changed to protect the guilty
>
> some_company.org:
> -----
> * Title for issue customer is having
> ** WAITING Phone %:name - %:Some Company -                       :PHONE:WAITING:
>    - State "WAITING"    from ""           [2010-05-03 Mon 11:19] \\
>      Waiting on data from Customer
>    :CLOCK:
>    :END:
>    Got a call from Customer this am.  He is having problems blah blah.
>    Will call him back in 10-15
>    Contact Info: 800-555-5555
>    [2010-05-03 Mon]
> ** Talked to Customer again.
> [2010-05-03 Mon 11:19]
> Conclusion:  Probable Diagnosis here.  Customer is going to reboot and send
> me more data.
> *** System Information
> **** Some System
>      1 Gb Data File
>      60 Threads
>      Other System Data
> **** Performance
>      9-20 Mb/Sec
> **** Configuration
>      Raid 0 over 4 drives
>      16 Gb RAM
>      Blah Blah
> **** Symptoms
>      computer hangs.  windows Explorer hangs trying to look at filesystem.
> -----
>
> So, this was the result of two calls, captured with remember-phone,
> then re-filed into the some_company.org file.  I put the datestamps up
> top, but I'm not sure if I like them there.  What do you think of that
> setup?   

I use the datestamp to record when the remember task was created (ie
when did I first hear about it).  You can probably put it inside a
drawer if you want to hide it -- I've never tried that.  For me it's
just an indication of how old the task is (ie. when the task was
created)

>
>     >
>     >  3. Clocking.  That site does a lot of it, and I mostly like it.  But,
>     >     I'm not sure how I should clock in in the AM.  Almost always, I
>     >     try to enter something quickly with remember, and I haven't
>     >     started a clock yet.  I'm considering taking out the timing stuff
>     >     now . . . any pointers?
>    
>     The first thing I do when I clock-in in the morning is hit either f9-o
>     or f9-m to clock in my organization or read mail task (depending on
>     which one I start first).  From there remember tasks interrupt the clock
>     temporarily and clocking continues on whatever I work on until I
>     manually clock out.
>
> I will re-read the clocking portion . . I really like stamping
> EVERYTHING, so that I can generate weekly reports easily (This is
> where I wasted my time)
>
> I've also got to integrate, somehow, references to my livescribe pen
> (annotated conference call notes).  And, it'll be nice to backdate
> conference calls so that even if I dont' log them, I can log them
> later.  I know I can . . it's just coming up with an easy way to do
> it.

I use clocking data to report or track 'what I worked on and when'.
My clock data is also my timestamp for what I did and I view the results
in log mode in the agenda (C-c a l) and in clock reports for reporting
to the boss.

I clock stuff in all the time and for short periods... things that take
less than a minute to do end up creating empty clock drawers which isn't
all that nice to deal with.  I have a hook that removes those now on
clock-out but I haven't had time to update my org-mode document yet with
the details.  Hopefully I'll get to that soon.

In case you want it the short version is here:

,----
| (defun bh/remove-empty-drawer-on-clock-out ()
|   (interactive)
|   (save-excursion
|     (beginning-of-line 0)
|     (org-remove-empty-drawer-at "CLOCK" (point))))
| 
| (add-hook 'org-clock-out-hook 'bh/remove-empty-drawer-on-clock-out 'append)
| 
`----

Regards,
Bernt