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cyounkins

Score: 0
Is anyone using this new version successfully on OS 2.2.1? I'm on an iTouch, and for me, all it does is crash when trying to launch. I'll try re-installing.

:-( I'm excited about instant sync. I might as well shell out for OS 3.0 so I can get copy and paste...
cyounkins

Score: 0
Posted by cyounkins:
class Task():
def is_subset_of_tags(self, search_tags):
for task_tag in self.tags:
if task_tag not in search_tags:
return False
return True


I guess you're stripping leading whitespace. Fine then. :P

class Task():
__def is_subset_of_tags(self, search_tags):
____for task_tag in self.tags:
______if task_tag not in search_tags:
________return False
____return True
cyounkins

Score: 0
Posted by Rory:
Simple boolean operators are clearly not good enough to match tasks based on a bunch of tabs, but it seems it would be pretty easy to match based on subsets.

For example, you may enter your current situation as the tags for home, phone and computer. It seems like it would be really easy to match any task whose tags are a subset of the supplied tags.

e.g. This would match all tasks with tags:

home
phone
computer
home phone


So I started to do this. I even wrote a python script to make the combinations for a given set of needs/tags.

Here are two issues I'm finding with using this:
1. Inputting them into the search fields is very tedious.
2. When using the "Tag is blah" tests, the order of the tags now matters. This is because Toodledo really has no support for multiple tags for a task. In your example above, a task tagged "phone home" would not be matched because the tags are reversed. :-( (One cannot use the "contains" clause because it will match tasks that have extra needs.)

Again, we come back to the fact that the current tag system and boolean search operators are not equipped to do this kind of subset testing. However, I do believe that an upgrade to the tag system, instead of contexts, will do exactly what I am looking for.
-------
So here's how we can upgrade the tag system to support the wonderful functionality of subset testing. First, enable the use of multiple tags for a given task, separated by commas. Now each word or phrase is a discrete tag for the given task, and ordering doesn't matter, except perhaps for sorting.

Next, add a "tags are a subset of" search functionality, where the user can specify a number of tags (in my case, things I have), and each task will be tested to see if its tags are a subset of the given search tags.

Here is some sample code to do this in python. "self" refers to the current object ("this" in Java). search_tags and self.tags are lists. The "in" operator tests if an item is in a list.

class Task():
def is_subset_of_tags(self, search_tags):
for task_tag in self.tags:
if task_tag not in search_tags:
return False
return True

------
Again, I'd like the dev team to know that I'd be willing to help them with this and other work with Toodledo for free. I love Toodledo and would like the chance to give back. While I'm excited about subset tag testing, I'm also a team player. :-)
cyounkins

Score: 0
Posted by Big KC:
It would be tempting to get overspecific. "Hmm. Practice guitar. For that, I need a guitar and a metronome."


Admittedly this is an issue, but I believe it would be quite useful with general needs. For myself, I would take my contexts and turn them into possible needs:

home, work, phone, computer, web

The real power of this comes when you combine them. For example, it allows you to drill down to the calls you should be doing at home, at work, or anywhere (in the car even).

If I accidentally set something like "rubber hose" for the task's needs, it would almost never be seen (Weekly review should catch it though!). Just as it is at the discretion of the user to organize with good folder names and/or contexts, it would be the user's responsibility to use logical needs.
cyounkins

Score: 0
Posted by thpope:
home AND (phone OR computer)

Wouldn't that give you what you want?


No. What about my tasks that simply require me to be at home but not have a phone or a computer? They will not be matched.

That way if you are searching for what you can do with two "needs" present, you could search tag is "need 1" or tag is "need 2" or tag is "need 1 need 2".


While this works, the complexity increases at an exponential rate with more needs. To do this with more than 2 needs is not feasible.
cyounkins

Score: 0
Posted by Anders:
I don't see why you couldn't use tags for this. It would certainly be better if the tag interface was improved, and you could easily select, and filter them. Still, using advanced search, you could get any group of them you want it seems to me. Maybe I am missing something.

~Anders


I see no way to use tags to accomplish this. Say I'm at home with a computer and phone. Searching using OR operators as in "Home or computer or phone" will return tasks that include one of the "have" items but may also contain other needs, like a task tagged with "work, phone". Searching using AND operators as in "Home and computer and phone" will only return tasks that have all those as needs and not one that needs "home, phone".

Boolean search operators are NOT enough to do the subset testing needed for this.
cyounkins

Score: 0
Hello! Let me start off by saying that I love GTD. It has truly improved my life. One of GTDs core principles is sorting by context: assigning tasks a context and filtering them to only the tasks you can do in your current contexts.

Look at your current contexts. How many of them can you not do right now? How many of them are misplaced in a nonsensical context to control that? Example: You put a personal call you want to do in @Home because you keep work calls in @Calls. The first problem: contexts don't provide enough granularity.

Another example: It's difficult to place tasks in a context like @Computer when you may need to be at a home computer or a work computer.

So how many contexts did you have to check? The second problem: you fit into multiple contexts at once, so you have to look at multiple screens for all your tasks, keeping a mental list of important ones.

So what's the solution? I believe we need to have a list of needs for each task. Example: home, phone would be the needs for your personal call. "work, computer" would be for tasks you need a computer at work.

When you are ready to do something, you tell Toodledo what you have. Example: You're at home at your desk, so you have "home, computer, web, phone". Toodledo looks at all your tasks, and for each one, if all needs are met (the needs are a subset of what you have), it displays the task. Quick buttons for the commonly used "have" lists like the one above would make it easy.

The result? You see ALL and ONLY the tasks that you can possibly do right now. No more mental lists while you skim contexts.

What do people think? What do the devs think? If the devs think it is a good idea but are unwilling to code it, I may be able to help with that. It does not appear that this subset checking is possible with the current tagging system.
cyounkins

Posted Jan 20, 2009 in: My Suggestions
Score: 0
Hello! I've been using Toodledo for quite a while now and I have a few suggestions for the devs.

Separate folders for the notebook and tasks - I have notes in a whole bunch of categories that I really don't want folders for in my tasks, because having those extra folders adds clutter. My GTD project support data is not and cannot be in Toodledo's notebook. I use the notebook for things like "Gift ideas", "Someday/Maybe", and "Books to read".

Delay rollover for a "day" until 2-3 am - As a college student, I sometimes have some late nights. Being able to delay a "day" rollover would help a lot.

Notebook app for iPhone / iPod touch - Right now I use Appigo notebook, but I would love to see an app from the Toodledo devs. Syncing and formatting could be improved.

That's all from me - thanks for listening!