Saturday, January 29, 2005
Multi-level tasks definitely coming your way soon in Memoranda
A basic implementation of multi-level tasks for Memoranda has been completed. It is now committed to the CVS and it's being tested.
This feature has been asked for by quite a number of users in the mailing list and it got worked on after Michael Bernadsky came up with a relatively simple way to do it.
A summary of the implemented features:
1. The agenda page was changed to allow recursive expansion and
closing of parent class nodes. Click the (+) and (-) beside the parent
task
2. To add a subtask, select and right click on the parent task in the
task panel and select "Add sub task"
3. The task panel will only show top level tasks by default from now on
4. To drill down to the sub-tasks, select and right click on the
parent task in the task panel and select "List sub tasks"
5. To back-out of a task and go up one level, right click anywhere on
the task table and click "Parent task"
6. In terms of data validation, very little is being done. One of the
very few examples is that you cannot delete a parent task while it has
sub-tasks. In terms of dates, effort and completion, there is no
validation at all. This is DELIBERATE. I want to keep the system
flexible so that people can enter whatever values they want.
7. However, for those who want to keep their project numbers tight all
the time, select the parent task, right click "calculate task data"
and you can do the following:
a. make all the start/end dates consistent. i.e. if sub-task start
date is earlier than parents, the parent's start date will be moved
forward
b. make all the "effort" fields consistent. Parent task's effort
field will be taken from a total of the sub-task's "effort" fields
c. Calculate all parent task's task completion. This is weighted
by the effort of each task. If no effort is filled in, the task is
assumed to have 1hr of effort.
Watch out for it in the next release!
A basic implementation of multi-level tasks for Memoranda has been completed. It is now committed to the CVS and it's being tested.
This feature has been asked for by quite a number of users in the mailing list and it got worked on after Michael Bernadsky came up with a relatively simple way to do it.
A summary of the implemented features:
1. The agenda page was changed to allow recursive expansion and
closing of parent class nodes. Click the (+) and (-) beside the parent
task
2. To add a subtask, select and right click on the parent task in the
task panel and select "Add sub task"
3. The task panel will only show top level tasks by default from now on
4. To drill down to the sub-tasks, select and right click on the
parent task in the task panel and select "List sub tasks"
5. To back-out of a task and go up one level, right click anywhere on
the task table and click "Parent task"
6. In terms of data validation, very little is being done. One of the
very few examples is that you cannot delete a parent task while it has
sub-tasks. In terms of dates, effort and completion, there is no
validation at all. This is DELIBERATE. I want to keep the system
flexible so that people can enter whatever values they want.
7. However, for those who want to keep their project numbers tight all
the time, select the parent task, right click "calculate task data"
and you can do the following:
a. make all the start/end dates consistent. i.e. if sub-task start
date is earlier than parents, the parent's start date will be moved
forward
b. make all the "effort" fields consistent. Parent task's effort
field will be taken from a total of the sub-task's "effort" fields
c. Calculate all parent task's task completion. This is weighted
by the effort of each task. If no effort is filled in, the task is
assumed to have 1hr of effort.
Watch out for it in the next release!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Multi-level tasks for Memoranda
The power of the Open Source development model is in the way it taps the ideas and efforts of many people all around the world. What originally started as a "wishlist" feature became a feature that we can start implementing immediately, thanks to users who care enough to think about how a problem can be solved with the minimum effort.
Multi-level tasks is going to be such a cool feature because it's such a true reflection of how we work. Within big projects can always be broken down into sub-projects which in turn have their own sub-tasks.
With my hectic schedule, I don't know how long it'll take me to do this if I'm gonna be doing this on my own, but with the Open Source model, well.... I know I won't be on my own...
The power of the Open Source development model is in the way it taps the ideas and efforts of many people all around the world. What originally started as a "wishlist" feature became a feature that we can start implementing immediately, thanks to users who care enough to think about how a problem can be solved with the minimum effort.
Multi-level tasks is going to be such a cool feature because it's such a true reflection of how we work. Within big projects can always be broken down into sub-projects which in turn have their own sub-tasks.
With my hectic schedule, I don't know how long it'll take me to do this if I'm gonna be doing this on my own, but with the Open Source model, well.... I know I won't be on my own...
Remote Administration of Windows Servers from Linux!
I never thought this would be possible but I just found out today that with the "rdesktop" program, you can actually remotely administer a windows application by bringing the windows desktop onto X Windows!
No special configuration needed, just "rdesktop server_host" and viola, the windows desktop is on your X Windows.
Well, you learn something new everyday!
I never thought this would be possible but I just found out today that with the "rdesktop" program, you can actually remotely administer a windows application by bringing the windows desktop onto X Windows!
No special configuration needed, just "rdesktop server_host" and viola, the windows desktop is on your X Windows.
Well, you learn something new everyday!
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
BSOD!! Arghh!!
Having used Linux mainly for the past few years, my notebook was the first time I used a Windows machine regularly. And for the first six months, Win XP seems to have given me the impression that it was much more stable than earlier Windows versions. No BSOD (blue screen of deaths) at all for the first six months. Well, six months down the road, I've been getting my first few BSODs! Sigh, I guess some things still haven't changed.
My Linux workstation at work is still up and running for weeks though!
Having used Linux mainly for the past few years, my notebook was the first time I used a Windows machine regularly. And for the first six months, Win XP seems to have given me the impression that it was much more stable than earlier Windows versions. No BSOD (blue screen of deaths) at all for the first six months. Well, six months down the road, I've been getting my first few BSODs! Sigh, I guess some things still haven't changed.
My Linux workstation at work is still up and running for weeks though!
