content/projects/t.html @ 37c769f2a211
Final tweaks
author |
Steve Losh <steve@stevelosh.com> |
date |
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 19:48:12 +0000 |
parents |
cafc6c1cfb95 |
children |
(none) |
{% extends "_post.html" %}
{% hyde
title: "t"
snip: "A command-line todo list manager for people that want to <em>finish</em> tasks, not organize them."
created: 2009-09-11 19:03:29
%}
{% block article %}
`t` is a command-line todo list manager for people that want to *finish*
tasks, not organize them.
The code is in a [Mercurial repository][] on [BitBucket][].
[BitBucket]: http://bitbucket.org/
![Screenshot of t](/media/images/projects/t/t-screenshot.png "Screenshot of t")
[TOC]
Why t?
------
Yeah, I know, *another* command-line todo list manager. Several others already
exist ([todo.txt][] and [TaskWarrior][] come to mind), so why make another
one?
[todo.txt]: http://ginatrapani.github.com/todo.txt-cli/
[TaskWarrior]: http://taskwarrior.org/projects/show/taskwarrior/
### It Does the Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work
Todo.txt and TaskWarrior are feature-packed. They let you tag tasks, split
them into projects, set priorities, order them, color-code them, and much
more.
**That's the problem.**
It's easy to say "I'll just organize my todo list a bit" and spend 15 minutes
tagging your tasks. In those 15 minutes you probably could have *finished* a
couple of them.
`t` was inspired by [j][]. It's simple, messy, has almost no features, and is
extremely effective at the one thing it does. With `t` the only way to make
your todo list prettier is to **finish some damn tasks**.
[j]: http://github.com/rupa/j2/
### It's Flexible
`t`'s simplicity makes it extremely flexible.
Want to edit a bunch of tasks at once? Open the list in a text editor.
Want to view the lists on a computer that doesn't have `t` installed? Open the
list in a text editor.
Want to synchronize the list across a couple of computers? Keep your task
lists in a [Dropbox][] folder.
Want to use it as a distributed bug tracking system like [BugsEverywhere][]?
Make the task list a `bugs` file in the project repository.
[Dropbox]: https://www.getdropbox.com/
[BugsEverywhere]: http://bugseverywhere.org/
### It Plays Nice with Version Control
Other systems keep your tasks in a plain text file. This is a good thing, and
`t` follows their lead.
However, some of them append new tasks to the end of the file when you create
them. This is not good if you're using a version control system to let more
than one person edit a todo list. If two people add a task and then try to
merge, they'll get a conflict and have to resolve it manually.
`t` uses random IDs (actually SHA1 hashes) to order the todo list files. Once
the list has a couple of tasks in it, adding more is far less likely to cause
a merge conflict because the list is sorted.
Installing t
------------
`t` requires [Python][] 2.5 or newer, and some form of UNIX-like shell (bash
works well). It works on Linux, OS X, and Windows (with [Cygwin][]).
[Python]: {{links.python}}
[Cygwin]: http://www.cygwin.com/
Installing and setting up `t` will take about one minute.
First, [download][] the newest version or clone the Mercurial repository ( `hg
clone http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/` ). Put it anywhere you like.
[download]: http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/get/tip.zip
Next, decide where you want to keep your todo lists. I put mine in `~/tasks`.
Create that directory:
:::text
mkdir ~/tasks
Finally, set up an alias to run `t`. Put something like this in your
`~/.bashrc` file:
:::bash
alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list tasks'
Make sure you run `source ~/.bashrc` or restart your terminal window to make
the alias take effect.
Using t
-------
`t` is quick and easy to use.
### Add a Task
To add a task, use `t [task description]`:
:::console
$ t Clean the apartment.
$ t Write chapter 10 of the novel.
$ t Buy more beer.
$
### List Your Tasks
Listing your tasks is even easier -- just use `t`:
:::console
$ t
9 - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the apartment.
31 - Write chapter 10 of the novel.
$
`t` will list all of your unfinished tasks and their IDs.
### Finish a Task
After you're done with something, use `t -f ID` to finish it:
:::console
$ t -f 31
$ t
9 - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the apartment.
$
### Edit a Task
Sometimes you might want to change the wording of a task. You can use `t -e ID
[new description]` to do that:
:::console
$ t -e 30 Clean the entire apartment.
$ t
9 - Buy more beer.
30 - Clean the entire apartment.
$
Yes, nerds, you can use sed-style substitution strings:
:::console
$ t -e 9 /more/a lot more/
$ t
9 - Buy a lot more beer.
30 - Clean the entire apartment.
$
### Delete the Task List if it's Empty
If you keep your task list in a visible place (like your desktop) you might
want it to be deleted if there are no tasks in it. To do this automatically
you can use the `--delete-if-empty` option in your alias:
:::bash
alias t='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/Desktop --list todo.txt --delete-if-empty'
Tips and Tricks
---------------
`t` might be simple, but it can do a lot of interesting things.
### Count Your Tasks
Counting your tasks is simple using the `wc` program:
:::console
$ t | wc -l
2
$
### Put Your Task Count in Your Bash Prompt
Want a count of your tasks right in your prompt? Edit your `~/.bashrc` file:
:::bash
export PS1="[$(t | wc -l | sed -e's/ *//')] $PS1"
Now you've got a prompt that looks something like this:
:::console
[2] $ t -f 30
[1] $ t Feed the cat.
[2] $
### Multiple Lists
`t` is for people that want to *do* tasks, not organize them. With that said,
sometimes it's useful to be able to have at least *one* level of organization.
To split up your tasks into different lists you can add a few more aliases:
:::bash
alias g='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list groceries'
alias m='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list music-to-buy'
alias w='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir ~/tasks --list wines-to-try'
### Distributed Bugtracking
Like the idea of distributed bug trackers like [BugsEverywhere][], but don't
want to use such a heavyweight system? You can use `t` instead.
Add another alias to your `~/.bashrc` file:
:::bash
alias b='python ~/path/to/t.py --task-dir . --list bugs'
Now when you're in your project directory you can use `b` to manage the list
of bugs/tasks for that project. Add the `bugs` file to version control and
you're all set.
Even people without `t` installed can view the bug list, because it's plain
text.
Problems, Contributions, Etc
----------------------------
`t` was hacked together in a couple of nights to fit my needs. If you use it
and find a bug, please let me know.
If you want to request a feature feel free, but remember that `t` is meant to
be simple. If you need anything beyond the basics you might want to look at
[todo.txt][] or [TaskWarrior][] instead. They're great tools with lots of
bells and whistles.
If you want to contribute code to `t`, that's great! Fork the [Mercurial
repository][] on BitBucket or the [git mirror][] on GitHub and send me a pull
request.
[Mercurial repository]: http://bitbucket.org/sjl/t/
[git mirror]: http://github.com/sjl/t/
{% endblock %}