Added tag semver for changeset a882490073a1
author |
Steve Losh <steve@dwaiter.com> |
date |
Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:44:13 -0400 |
parents |
c00fff9956e6 |
children |
(none) |
-*- markdown -*-
t
=======
`t` is a command-line todo list manager for people that want to *finish* tasks, not organize them.
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]: http://python.org/
[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:
mkdir ~/tasks
Finally, set up an alias to run `t`. Put something like this in your `~/.bashrc` file:
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]`:
$ 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`:
$ 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:
$ 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:
$ 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:
$ 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:
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:
$ 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:
export PS1="[$(t | wc -l | sed -e's/ *//')] $PS1"
Now you've got a prompt that looks something like this:
[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:
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:
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/