.TH "hledger_timedot" "5" "April 2016" "" "hledger User Manuals"



.SH NAME
.PP
Timedot \- hledger\[aq]s human\-friendly time logging format
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
Timedot is a plain text format for logging dated, categorised quantities
(eg time), supported by hledger.
It is convenient for approximate and retroactive time logging, eg when
the real\-time clock\-in/out required with a timeclock file is too
precise or too interruptive.
It can be formatted like a bar chart, making clear at a glance where
time was spent.
.PP
Though called "timedot", the format does not specify the commodity being
logged, so could represent other dated, quantifiable things.
Eg you could record a single\-entry journal of financial transactions,
perhaps slightly more conveniently than with hledger_journal(5) format.
.SS Format
.PP
A timedot file contains a series of day entries.
A day entry begins with a date, and is followed by category/quantity
pairs, one per line.
Dates are hledger\-style simple dates (see hledger_journal(5)).
Categories are hledger\-style account names, optionally indented.
There must be at least two spaces between the category and the quantity.
Quantities can be written in two ways:
.IP "1." 3
a series of dots (period characters).
Each dot represents "a quarter" \- eg, a quarter hour.
Spaces can be used to group dots into hours, for easier counting.
.IP "2." 3
a number (integer or decimal), representing "units" \- eg, hours.
A good alternative when dots are cumbersome.
(A number also can record negative quantities.)
.PP
Blank lines and lines beginning with #, ; or * are ignored.
An example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ on\ this\ day,\ 6h\ was\ spent\ on\ client\ work,\ 1.5h\ on\ haskell\ FOSS\ work,\ etc.
2016/2/1
inc:client1\ \ \ ....\ ....\ ....\ ....\ ....\ ....
fos:haskell\ \ \ ....\ ..\ 
biz:research\ \ .

2016/2/2
inc:client1\ \ \ ....\ ....
biz:research\ \ .
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Or with numbers:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2016/2/3
inc:client1\ \ \ 4
fos:hledger\ \ \ 3
biz:research\ \ 1
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Reporting:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ t.timedot\ print\ date:2016/2/2
2016/02/02\ *
\ \ \ \ (inc:client1)\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2.00

2016/02/02\ *
\ \ \ \ (biz:research)\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.25
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ t.timedot\ bal\ \-\-daily\ \-\-tree
Balance\ changes\ in\ 2016/02/01\-2016/02/03:

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||\ \ 2016/02/01d\ \ 2016/02/02d\ \ 2016/02/03d\ 
============++========================================
\ biz\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.25\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.25\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1.00\ 
\ \ \ research\ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.25\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.25\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1.00\ 
\ fos\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1.50\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 3.00\ 
\ \ \ haskell\ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1.50\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ 
\ \ \ hledger\ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 3.00\ 
\ inc\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 6.00\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2.00\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4.00\ 
\ \ \ client1\ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 6.00\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2.00\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4.00\ 
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-++\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ||\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 7.75\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2.25\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 8.00\ 
\f[]
.fi
.PP
I prefer to use period for separating account components.
We can make this work with an account alias:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2016/2/4
fos.hledger.timedot\ \ 4
fos.ledger\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ..
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ t.timedot\ \-\-alias\ /\\\\./=:\ bal\ date:2016/2/4
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4.50\ \ fos
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4.00\ \ \ \ hledger:timedot
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 0.50\ \ \ \ ledger
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4.50
\f[]
.fi
.PP
default year directives may be used.
.PP
Here is a sample.timedot.


.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org
(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list)

.SH AUTHORS
Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors

.SH COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2007-2016 Simon Michael.
.br
Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.

.SH SEE ALSO
hledger(1), hledger\-ui(1), hledger\-web(1), hledger\-api(1),
hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timelog(5), hledger_timedot(5),
ledger(1)

http://hledger.org