Osmo recurring tasks

Using applications, configuring, problems
Post Reply
Message
Author
f_stiens
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu 04 Mar 2010, 03:29

Osmo recurring tasks

#1 Post by f_stiens »

I'm hoping someone knows how to enter a recurring task in Osmo. The fields under the Advanced tab are confusing to me and despite my best attempts I keep failing in what should be a simple job. Thanks in advance.

Frank

User avatar
Béèm
Posts: 11763
Joined: Wed 22 Nov 2006, 00:47
Location: Brussels IBM Thinkpad R40, 256MB, 20GB, WiFi ipw2100. Frugal Lin'N'Win

#2 Post by Béèm »

There is no need to repeat a question after half an hour it won't speed a reply. So can you edit the other post and delete everything and put deleted - double posting in the subject.
Time savers:
Find packages in a snap and install using Puppy Package Manager (Menu).
[url=http://puppylinux.org/wikka/HomePage]Consult Wikka[/url]
Use peppyy's [url=http://wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html]puppysearch[/url]

npierce
Posts: 858
Joined: Tue 29 Dec 2009, 01:40

#3 Post by npierce »

f_stiens wrote:The fields under the Advanced tab are confusing . . .
Yes. Some of them are hardly what one would call "intuitive". I experimented with them for awhile and was getting no further than you did. Eventually I dug up a few hints on the Web, then experimented some more, and think that I may now be able to offer my notes on those fields. (Just be aware that I am new to this myself, and haven't fully tested this (especially since it is hard to properly test in one day a task that repeats once a month!).)

After the notes on the fields, are more notes about how to actually use recurrent tasks. Since that is even less intuitive than the fields, you should probably read to the end before experimenting.


Notes on Osmo (0.2.8) Tasks ->New Task -> Advanced - - -

Alarm warning:

This allows you to request a warning ahead of the time that the task is due. Note that you should set this to one minute more than the warning time desired. For instance, for a 5 minute warning set Minutes to 6. (Before I realized this bug was here, I thought that this feature didn't work at all because I was testing it with a value of 1 minute and so never got any warning at all.)

Postpone time:

I believe that the code that supports this feature is not included in the version supplied with Puppy 4.3.1. That code requires stuff that Puppy doesn't include. Of course, I could be wrong.

Alarm command:

This is where you put the command to run to remind you that you have a life beyond your computer. For instance:

Code: Select all

xmessage "Time to walk the dog."
Note that there is also a "Global notification command" under Options->Tasks. That command will be run for any task. For instance,

Code: Select all

aplay /usr/share/audio/2barks.au

Recurrent task:

This is broken down into two subsections: Time period and Date period. You should probably use only one or the other of these sets of fields. I've not had good results when trying to mix them.

Time Period

This is for tasks that repeat during the day.

"Start" and "End" define the period during the day when the task recurs.

"Interval" defines the frequency that it recurs.

For instance, if you spend the hours from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM trying to fathom the mysteries of how to use undocumented software, and you need to take a pain reliever every four hours to deal with the resulting headaches, you could set the fields like this:

------------------------------------
Start Hour: 9 Minute: 0
End Hour: 17 Minute: 0
Interval Hour: 4 Minute: 0
------------------------------------

Date period

This is for tasks that repeat once a day or less frequently, and always at the same time of day.

"Days" and "Months" define the frequency that it recurs (like "Interval" fields in Time Period, but confusingly not so labeled here).

"Repeat" defines the number of times the task will be repeated. If left at zero, it will be repeated forever.

"Repeat in the following days" allows you to tell Osmo that you have no intention whatsoever of dealing with this task on your days off, if any. Simply un-check the appropriate days.

Options

"Ignore alarm when task expired offline" will tell Osmo to assume that you are a good person and will attend to your task even when Osmo isn't there to remind you (such as when your computer is off). By checking this box, Osmo won't nag you about something that you did (or should have done) while it wasn't running.


Notes on using recurrent tasks in Osmo - - -

First it should be noted that Osmo does not fill your calendar with every iteration of your recurrent tasks. That is to say, if you set a task to be done every Monday, you won't see a mark on all the Mondays on your calendar, just the next Monday.

Next Monday, after completing the task and marking it done, click on the toolbar icon with the blue arrow that points southeast (the one that says "Change due date to next date" when you hover over it with the pointer). The new due date will appear. (Note that it may not appear on the Calendar tab until you refresh the calendar -- such as by clicking the "Today" icon on the Calendar toolbar.)


Again, I've not tested all of this. This is how it seems to work, based on testing of tasks with intervals of minutes. I just started looking at this today, so have been unable to test tasks with intervals of days.

And there do seem to be some flaky bugs. For instance, with multiple recurring tasks, I find that Osmo is often confused about which "Done" box I am clicking on.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

--npierce

P.S. We aren't the only ones confused. Here are a few items I found:

Osmo-pim-friends] newbie question about recurrent tasks

[Osmo-pim-friends] Task repetition

[Osmo-pim-friends] recurring tasks

npierce
Posts: 858
Joined: Tue 29 Dec 2009, 01:40

#4 Post by npierce »

UPDATE: I reported the alarm warning bug mentioned in my previous post to one of the Osmo developers, who fixed it yesterday in their SVN repository. So that bug should be gone from future releases.

f_stiens
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu 04 Mar 2010, 03:29

#5 Post by f_stiens »

Thank you for the reply, npierce . You've gone above and beyond.

I've had some success with Osmo based on your instructions. I was trying to schedule things weekly and not having the task appear on the calendar the following week(s) was confusing me. I've still not had any success with the sound and text notifications but have not spent a lot of time pursuing this. I'll reread your instructions.

I am using puppy on my Aspire One and scheduling is an important application for me. So I'm encouraged that I'll be able to make this work.

Thanks again,

f_stiens

npierce
Posts: 858
Joined: Tue 29 Dec 2009, 01:40

#6 Post by npierce »

You are welcome, f_steins. I'm glad you are having some success, and hope you have more.

To get the standard sound notifications to work, I think you may need to go to Options -> General, look under Helpers, and change the "Sound player" setting to

Code: Select all

aplay %s
Puppy 4.3.1 (and maybe others) doesn't have play.

Pelo

Just to re-activate the subject

#7 Post by Pelo »

Bugs are known, we wait for corrective steps ahead.
Dates are trunk after export.
Osmo would be a very fine tool without these light bugs.
As I use several distros, I can't transfer information between them. So i use OSMO as a database managing my Puppies : Who, Where, How much.
But when is not usable.
Would be fine too adding who is in charge of the task.
OSmo seems not be very popular, because of the lack of claims.
Attachments
Lego.jpg
(63.71 KiB) Downloaded 2134 times

proebler
Posts: 178
Joined: Tue 24 Jan 2012, 11:15
Location: TAS

#8 Post by proebler »

I agree, Osmo is not very intuitive.

On a Ubuntu system
I had to install sox package [sound], using Synaptic.

This allows playing of sound via the console and Osmo.

After additional download of
libsox-fmt-mp3
now also works for mp3
before wav was ok already

play /usr/share/sounds/osmo/alarm.wav

I hope this helps
proebler

Pelo

Thanks for info abount sound

#9 Post by Pelo »

Sur un système Ubuntu
J'ai dû installer le paquet sox [de son], en utilisant Synaptic.
Cela permet de jouer de son via la console et Osmo.

Après téléchargement supplémentaire de
libsox-fmt-mp3
fonctionne désormais aussi pour mp3
avant wav était ok déjà
lire / usr / share / sounds / osmo / alarm.wav
Merci
I stuck the path (play ..... path) i shalll see.
Attachments
image-2.jpg
link to be repaired
(42.72 KiB) Downloaded 1849 times

Post Reply