Console / Android flat text file based TODO app
Rastodo/Rastatodo is a cross-platform Python script which parses a text file containing "To Do" items and displays them in the order of urgency and importance.
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Single flat text file backend. Easy to edit many items, and you can use your own backup/version control/synchronization systems to control how you want to manage the file.
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Supports multiple "types" of TODO list items, including appointments, "sleeping" items which won't appear until a specified time, "wishlist" items without a due date and more.
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Supports ANSI colour output when run from a terminal/console and a GUI interface on Android.
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Written in 100% Python, with the same script running both the Unix terminal and the Android GUI versions.
You'll need a .todo file (default location is $HOME/.todo); the -f option selects a file). Each line of this file should be:
- blank
- A comment (line starts with a #; ignored by the program)
- A category (just a name in square brackets)
- A todo item (format described later)
<[priority]> <[date YYYY-MM-DD]> \n
Some types do not have a priority, some don't have a date, some have both or neither.
Item types are represented by a single char:
t - Todo - No priority, simply has a date by which it must be done.
Equivalent to the old todo.c usage.
s - Sleeping - Priority is the number of days proximity before it
is shown in the output.
a - Appointment - These are handled the same as sleeping items, but
as you can filter on type this lets you easily show
only appointments in the output. They also display the
Weekday in the todo entry.
c - Constant - No date, the priority is number of days away this item
is "due".
w - Wishlist - No priority, No date. Wishlist items are effectively
infinity days away but are always shown (unless turned
off with the exclude types = wishlist option).
It is anticipated that more types will be added, in particular I intend to add recurring (r) and followup (f) items.
c0 always today (this doesn't have a category)
c1 always tomorrow (this doesn't have a category either)
[CS101 ]
t 2008-03-03 week 1 lab report
t 2008-03-10 week 2 cal report
[CS134 ]
c0 see lecturer about something asap
t 2008-03-15 assignment 1
[CS123 ]
a2 2008-03-05 12:30 appointment with lecturer about project
t 2008-03-15 project report 1 due
[new types]
a3 2008-03-04 doctor's appointment
s0 2008-03-02 do backups (this shows up only on the day)
c2 fix something soon
w fix something whenever
[birthdays]
a5 2008-02-11 Alice's birthday
a5 2008-01-21 Bob's birthday
Use the -h option to the script for a full list. The list below may be out of date.
You can use a partial long argument as long as it is unique (e.g. "--app" or even "--ap" instead of "--appointments")
-f FILE, --file=FILE File to parse (defaults to $HOME/.todo)
-e, --edit Invoke your $EDITOR on todo file
-r, --reverse Reversed order of sorting
--mono Monochrome output
--sort-cat Group by category
--all Shows all items, regardless of date and filtering
-d DAYS, --days=DAYS Days after which item will not be included
--only-types=TYPES Only include these types (string of letters)
--appointments Shows appointments only (equivalent to --only-types=a
--ex-types=EX_TYPES Exclude these types (string of letters)
--only-cat=ONLY_CAT Only include these categories (comma delimited)
--ex-cat=EX_CAT Exclude these categories (comma delimited)
--two-lines Newline before description (i.e. description is on its own line)
An unattractive but functional Android GUI is included (using list dialogs). The same script can be used from a terminal and on a droid device - it will use the GUI if it can import the Android module, otherwise it will use text output.
To run Python scripts on Android you will need Scripting Layer for Android (SL4A): https://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/
The default todo file location on Android is /sdcard/svncos/dotfiles/todo - because thats where I keep it (svncos is my Subversion directories). You might want to modify this or create a shortcut with the -f option to use another location.
Tap a category to view entries within that category, then back to return to the list of categories.
Pressing back at the category list will quit the script. Selecting an individual todo entry also quits the script at this stage, however in future versions this will open a dialog that lets you edit or delete that entry.
The lists are sorted with highest priority/urgency at the top.
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You can use a cronjob with rastodo piped through wc to collect statistics about how busy you are. Some RRDtool graphs of my TODO are at http://www.dylanleigh.net/stuff/todo/
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If you use Vim to edit your .todo file, in Normal Mode, Ctrl-A and Ctrl-X will increase/decrease the number under or to the right of the cursor. This makes it easy to change dates for things in Vim.
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I keep my .todo file in Subversion and use that to sync files between my assorted computers/phones/tablets; others have successfully used Bittorrent Sync, AeroFS, and Owncloud.
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There is no Android widget, and unless widget support is added to SL4A there won't be a dedicated one. However, on my phone I have built my own by using a script that runs Rastodo whenever I sync the todo file and pipes the output to a file. I then use the "Word Widget" (displays a plain text file) to display the output file on my home screen.
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The name "Rastodo" is derived from the previous version "Rastatodo" which was inspired by the red/yellow/green bands of colour output on earlier versions. (This has become less rastafarian as more colours and types were added).
Dylan Leigh - http://www.dylanleigh.net
Rastodo is a much-improved Python rewrite of Dylan's "Rastatodo" todo.c which was itself based on Emil Mikulic's todo.c (http://dmr.ath.cx/code/todo/todo.c).