Question re CATEGORY and Agenda Views

Question re CATEGORY and Agenda Views

[Markus Heller]

Hello,

I apologize if this is RTFM, i couldn't find the answer.  Maybe it's 
also because of a misconception on my part.

I have a .org file with the following setup (HEAVILY inspired by Bernt 
Hansen, http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html):

* ABC1
   :PROPERTIES:
     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
     :PROJECT:  ABC1
   :END:
** STARTED Find bugs
** STARTED Fix bugs

* ABC2
   :PROPERTIES:
     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
     :PROJECT:  ABC2
   :END:
** STARTED Find bugs
** STARTED Fix bugs

So I have 2 different projects with identical tasks.  If I bring up the 
agenda and list all STARTED tasks, I get a list that looks like:

Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:
Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:

So the first column is taken from the CATEGORY property.  How can I 
change this so that the actual project is displayed in the agenda view? 
  I would expect that I'd have to use the PROJECT property, but how do I 
do this?  Or is my whole idea flawed?

Thanks and Cheers
Markus

Re: Question re CATEGORY and Agenda Views

[Matt Lundin]

Markus Heller <hellerm2@gmail.com> writes:

> I apologize if this is RTFM, i couldn't find the answer.  Maybe it's
> also because of a misconception on my part.
>
> I have a .org file with the following setup (HEAVILY inspired by Bernt
> Hansen, http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html):
>
> * ABC1
>   :PROPERTIES:
>     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
>     :PROJECT:  ABC1
>   :END:
> ** STARTED Find bugs
> ** STARTED Fix bugs
>
> * ABC2
>   :PROPERTIES:
>     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
>     :PROJECT:  ABC2
>   :END:
> ** STARTED Find bugs
> ** STARTED Fix bugs
>
> So I have 2 different projects with identical tasks.  If I bring up
> the agenda and list all STARTED tasks, I get a list that looks like:
>
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:
>
> So the first column is taken from the CATEGORY property.  How can I
> change this so that the actual project is displayed in the agenda
> view? I would expect that I'd have to use the PROJECT property, but
> how do I do this?  Or is my whole idea flawed?

By default, the first item in an agenda line is the CATEGORY. You can
change the appearance of agenda lines by setting
org-agenda-prefix-format, though you will not be able to display an
arbitrary property such as PROJECT. (AFAIK, you are limited to category,
tag, time of day, and scheduling information.)

There is no default functionality for a PROJECT property in org-mode.

Here are a few options I can think of:

1. Use the CATEGORY to designate the project (perhaps make BUGFIXES a
   tag).

2. Set up a column view for the agenda that allows you to view the
   project property.

3. Use a tag to designate the project. This would allow you to filter
   the agenda by project.

4. Use follow mode in the agenda to see the context (i.e., the project
   heading).

Hope this helps.

Matt

Re: Question re CATEGORY and Agenda Views

[Sebastian Rose]

Markus Heller <hellerm2@gmail.com> writes:
> Hello,
>
> I apologize if this is RTFM, i couldn't find the answer.  Maybe it's also
> because of a misconception on my part.
>
> I have a .org file with the following setup (HEAVILY inspired by Bernt Hansen,
> http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html):
>
> * ABC1
>   :PROPERTIES:
>     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
>     :PROJECT:  ABC1
>   :END:
> ** STARTED Find bugs
> ** STARTED Fix bugs
>
> * ABC2
>   :PROPERTIES:
>     :CATEGORY: Bugfixes
>     :PROJECT:  ABC2
>   :END:
> ** STARTED Find bugs
> ** STARTED Fix bugs
>
> So I have 2 different projects with identical tasks.  If I bring up the agenda
> and list all STARTED tasks, I get a list that looks like:
>
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Find bugs                  :NEXT:
> Bugfixes:   STARTED Fix bugs                   :NEXT:
>
> So the first column is taken from the CATEGORY property.  How can I change this
> so that the actual project is displayed in the agenda view? I would expect that
> I'd have to use the PROJECT property, but how do I do this?  Or is my whole idea
> flawed?


* Files

  To  be honest,  I  never used  the  CATEGORY property  at all,  simply
  because that's a  kind of information I need to see  anyway and to put
  that information into a drawer is counterproductive. I'm still waiting
  for the day/mail when I apprehend the use of CATEGORY ;)

  Instead, I  use one file per  customer (or even project)  and the file
  name is  seen in  the agenda.  So  I would  have an `ABC1.org'  and an
  `ABC2.org'  [fn:1].  If  I  don't  use  one  of  those  files  anymore
  (everything is DONE and the customer is not likely to call anymore), I
  remove the file from the list of my agenda files.
  

* Headlines
  
  "Fix Bugs"  is my job, so  why should I  have a to-do entry  with that
  title in  one of  my files?  It wouldn't say  anything about  the task
  without  context. That said,  I would  have to  expand the  entry when
  visiting the Org-file, just to find out what that entry is all about.

  In short, I use headlines that actually say something about the task.

  That way, never ran into  an issue with two identical headlines. While
  the headline  of two  entries could be  identical, the to-do  state of
  those entries will be different. One of them will be DONE and thus not
  show up in the agenda.

  As an example, a  bug could show up again for some  reason, but I have
  to  add  a new  entry,  because  the old  one  is  billed already  and
  therefore DONE.

  For small things that go in my organizer.org, I use tags which show up
  in the agenda, too.




Best wishes

   Sebastian  




Footnotes:

[fn:1] Note, that those files do not  need to live in your `org-directory', but
       could live in your projects workspace if you prefer.

Re: Question re CATEGORY and Agenda Views

[Markus Heller]

Sebastian Rose wrote:
> Markus Heller <hellerm2@gmail.com> writes:

[long reply snipped]

> 


Thanks Sebastian,

your reply gave me some stuff to think about.  Exactly what I was 
looking for.  I'll see how I'm going to go about this ...

Also thanks to Matt for his reply!

Cheers
Markus