batchchange.txt question

[lawquest]

etm is great for making quick notes of time spent on a particular
project. But I often don't remember the particulars of a name. For
example, seemingly always in a hurry, I will put in @c Jones on one
day and @c Jones-guardianship a day or two later, though they both are
intended to refer to the same client project. It just seems faster
that way than relying on the pull down menus. However, I pay for that
sloppiness later, when I am organizing the data. Is there some way
to restrict batchchange to particular date ranges? For example, I
often want to make some batch changes for a particular month.
However, batchchange as I know it attempts to change all entries in
the data base. Better yet, is there someway to include the
functionality of batchchange in etm?

[Dan]

John,

The new version of etm will offer an improved version of completion. As illustrated above, when you enter @c a list of possible completions will automatically pop up below your entry and then, as you type further characters, the list will continuously shrink to show only those which still match. Pressing either tab or return inserts the selected completion. These completions come from a 'words' file in your etmrc directory; there is an example below.

----- words ------
@c home
@c office
@c phone
@k client_a:project_1
@k client_a:project_2
@t blue
@t red
 
Note that any @? sequence can be completed in this way.  Hopefully, this will eliminate your need for batch changes.

-Dan

[lawquest]

Pretty slick! I love it. As my life now revolves around etm in large
part, I am, as with the last major change, possessed of a mind set
that stops just short of trepidation. Yet, after a while, I welcomed
the new (then) version of etm and very am happy with it now. It
sounds to me as if etm-2 will make a similar leap. Improvements come
with a learning curve. Life comes with a learning curve.

Anyway, I am excited to make the conversion as soon as you think etm-2
is reliable enough for prime time use. I doubt I should be one of the
testors, as my etm is live and working. I rely upon it too much to
take much risk. And am very busy right now.

The improved notes ability is likely going to enable me to better use
etm for trial preparation. Perhaps even cross examination. I look
forward to etm-2 and to exploring its capabilities.

John



On May 3, 5:29 am, Dan <dnlg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FIpJhmsVs2o/T6J3N2DvhVI/AAAAAAAAAn...><https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8p-KzD5zr7Y/T6J3e6P0qrI/AAAAAAAAAn...>

>
> John,
>
> The new version of etm will offer an improved version of completion. As

> illustrated above, when you enter @c a list of possible completions will *
> automatically* pop up below your entry and then, as you type further

[Dan]

Not to worry, etm 2 is many months from prime time.

[lawquest]

Not sure I understand the proposed completion utility. To explain:
As a practical matter, it is rare to deal with the issues pertaining
to more than 5 to 10 clients a day. However, there is a back and
forth process, from this client to that and sometimes to different
tasks/projects for the same client..( I realize I am not using proper
terminology) Despite the "pause" feature on the timer, it usually
isn't practical to use it. At least in my hectic practice. I start
this and then the phone rings and/or someone comes in, or I realize I
should have started something else. Restarting the timer doesn't
track the time on matters handled during the pause. I don't think. I
suppose I could start additional versions of ETM. Don't think that
would work and/or be very practical.

Is it your idea to have completion complete the prior entry, or one of
them? If so, closing out a timed entry would not be much of a problem
as I could, using completion, recreate it to, say, the point of
difference. For example, a typical entry of mine would look like this
on current etm.

~ tcs w joe and emails to and from susan re timing of joe's depo @d
2012-05-09 @e +0:24 @z US/Pacific @c 1932-Smith

In the new version, if I put in the info backwards, i.e.

@d 2012-05-09 @z US/Pacific @c 1932-Smith ~ tcs w joe and emails to
and from susan re timing of joe's depo @e +0:24

could I use completion @d and have it copy the prior entry? Then I
could delete the variable (~ tcs w joe and ....etc.. @e 24) and enter
just the new data pertaining to that client.

Reflecting now after undertaking the exercise necessary to make this
post, I bet it would be easier to just modify the first entry so I put
both variables first (~ and @e), then, when I return to it, copy the
common (back) part of the original entry (@c, @z @d), do a shift-a,
paste, and the insert the new variable information (~ and @e), e.g.

~ prepare for deposition, @e 48 @d 2012-05-09 @z US/Pacific @c 1932-
Smith

I would have to remember to put in the variable information first when
doing my time. But once I got the hang of it, it could speed up the
process and therefore perhaps make it (time-keeping) more honest.
Funny how a day goes, busy every minute on various client's stuff for,
say, 6 hours, and then at 5 pm when looking back over the day's
activities, and adding up the time, I only end up with 2 to 4 hours of
billable time. Its better, I think, to show the time in the monthly
client invoice, no matter whether productive or not, and THEN discount
at billing time if it doesn't seem that there is enough quality time
to justify the billing total.

[Dan]

John,

As I mentioned above, the completions come from a list you create in a special 'words' file:

----- words ------
@c home
@c office
@c phone
@k client_a:project_1
@k client_a:project_2
@t blue
@t red
 

When you are creating or editing any kind of entry, not just an action, and type '@c', as soon as the 'c' is entered a list of possible completions from your words list will pop up. With the above, you would see a list containing '@c home', '@c office' and '@c phone'. If you then enter a space character the list would not change but as soon as you enter, e.g., 'o' (so that you now have entered '@c o') then the list would shrink to just the one matching entry, '@c office'. Pressing either tab or enter would then cause your entry of '@c o' to be replaced by '@c office'. Alternatively, you could extend your entry to, say, '@c on', and the list would disappear since there is nothing that matches in your words list. Something like '@c online' could be entered in this manner even though it is not in your words list. Similarly, entering '@k c' would pop up a list containing '@k client_a:project_1', and '@k client_a:project_2' and you could either continue typing or you could use the cursor keys to select  either item and press either tab or enter to replace your entry with the selected item.

Note that the completion is only for the @c, @k, @t or other such entries that you have place in your words file. Nothing is 'completed' but the single '@?' entry you are typing and the completion has nothing to do with any prior entries you may have made - save for additions to your 'words' file.

-Dan

[lawquest]

Thanks,

I am looking forward to the new version of etm.

John