Actions and timers in the new version

[Dan]

In the new version, there will no longer be a dedicated item type, action, as in the current release. Instead, tasks, events and records can have one or more @u (used time) entries in addition to the previous @e (extent) entry.  The used time entry is a (period, datetime) tuple with the interpretation that the "period" ending at "datetime" was "used" on the item. A special accounting method will be provided by the new version to aggregate such @u entries by month and the @i index entry of the item and produce reports similar to the current action reports using the summary of the item as the summary. With index entries of the form "account:project", for example, reports would  aggregate used time by month, account and project.

The work flow for using a timer to create an @u entry is first to select a task, event or record and then press T to start a timer. Subsequent T presses pause and restart the timer and, finally, ^T (control-T) stops the timer and adds an @u entry with the elapsed time and the time stamp at which the timer was stopped.

[lawquest]

Sounds good.

John

[Dan]

The timer is implemented in the latest version on github. It will add an @u period: datetime (used time) entry to the selected item. The entry means that a "period" of time spent was recorded at "datetime".  Time spent reports that group by month do so based on the datetime entry.

To use the timer, select the item to which the entry is to be appended and press "T" to start the timer. "0m*" will appear in the status bar indicating that 0 minutes have been spent so far and, from the "*", that the timer is running. Subsequent "T" presses will alternately pause and restart the timer. When paused, "!" replaces "*" in the status bar. Pressing "Ctrl-T" brings up a dialog with the current elapsed time and asks if you want to record the time and clear the timer. Responding "Yes" records the used time using the elapsed time and current datetime and then clears the timer. Responding "No" closes the dialog and leaves the status of the timer unchanged.

Used time entries can, of course, be made manually without using the timer.