Copyright (c) 2005 The TST Team
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
TST has been created for a working environment where multiple workers need an automated system to track the time they spend on their tasks and use it to create reports. It's not a control system, but a tool: you can always modify the data. Veracity is user's responsibility.
The interface has been created with GTK+, a library to create graphic interfaces that works on diverse platforms. Guidelines have been followed to create the different elements of the interface so that it is consistent, simple and intuitive. There is no functionality bloat, because the objective was to do the minimum and do it right.
A MySQL database, also available for diverse platforms, is used to manage data. It allows to save data on an external server or in a local server. So, each user's data can be saved in a centralized fashion or in their own system, depending on their necessities.
Python is the used programming language. It's an interpreted language that runs on a lot of platforms with which you can use the other mentioned technologies (GTK+ and MySQL) installing the necessary libraries.
It has been tested on these platforms:
TST has been translated to various languages using the gettext function that comes with Python. The interface language will change depending on the operating system configuration.
The available languages are:
TST is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
There has to be a computer running a MySQL server to serve users. If they have to use TST from other computers, MySQL has to be configured to accept network connections. Maybe you'll need to increase the number of simultaneous connections that can be handled, depending on the number of users.
You must install the following packages in this order:
Refer to each package's documentation in order to install it correctly.
TST is distributed with a Python distutils script. So you can install it this way:
tar xzvf tst10-1.0.x.tar.gz cd tst10-1.0.x python setup.py install
Where x is the revision number.
In order to install the MySQL server and its dependencies on a Debian GNU/Linux system, run:
apt-get install mysql-server
If it has to be used from other machines, you must modify the file /etc/mysql/my.cnf so that MySQL accepts TCP/IP connections. In old versions you had to comment out the line:
skip-networking
This way:
#skip-networking
But in newer versions you have to change the line:
bind-address = 127.0.0.1
To:
bind-address = a.b.c.d
Where a.b.c.d is the IP address of the server.
Once the file is modified, you have to restart MySQL:
/etc/init.d/mysql restart
To install TST on a Debian GNU/Linux system you can use the official .deb packages:
dpkg -i tst10-pyXY_1.0.Z_all.deb
Where XY is the Python default version and Z is the TST revision number. If there are dependency problems, run:
apt-get install -f
The necessary packages will be installed.
To install MySQL for Microsoft Windows, run the MySQL installer. The default configuration is ready to accept TCP/IP connections, so you will not need to modify the configuration in order to serve through the network.
To install TST for Microsoft Windows, you must run the installers of the packages it depends on in the order mentioned in the Generic Installation section.
The package installers created with Python 2.3 seem to have a bug that shows up when approaching the end of the installation. It seems that the error appears when the installer is running from a network or read-only unit. One solution is to use installers created with Python 2.4, and the other is to copy the installers to the unit where they'll be installed and run them from there.
In Microsoft Windows 98 systems there can be problems if there is no HOME or HOMEPATH variable set in the environment. To fix this, you must add the following line to C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET HOME=C:\
In systems previous to Microsoft Windows XP there can functionality problems if the GTK+ theme is wimp, because of not finding the default font. One solution is to change the theme with the tool installed by GTK+. The other solution is to set the font that GTK+ will use by adding the following line to the file %HOMEPATH%\.gtkrc-2.0:
gtk-font-name = "Tahoma 8"
In order to close a window you can use the Esc key. Closing a window supposes cancelling what had been done and returning to the previous window. Closing the last windows supposes exiting the program.
It is said that an element of the interface has the focus when receives keystrokes. If you want to change the focus you can use the Tab key to go to the next element or the Shift+Tab combination to go to the previous one.
Some interface elements (like the text box) intercept the Tab key, so when you want to change the focus you have to press Shift+Tab.
If you want to activate a button or an item of a list once it has focus you can use the Enter key or the Space key.
Some buttons can be activated by the Enter key without having focus. This is possible on windows with just one button on the bottom if the element that has focus doesn't intercept the Enter key.
Once a list has focus, it can be browsed with the direction keys.
To delete a selected item of a list you can use the Del key. A menu with the option delete will appear. If you want to cancel you can use the Esc key. If you want to continue you have to select the delete option with the direction keys and active it with the Enter key or the Space key.
When an error happens a message appears on the bottom of the active window, an audible warning is emitted and the icon at the left of the message blinks.
Some error messages have a number on its tail. This is the MySQL error code. So, if you want to know exactly why an error happened, you have to refer to the MySQL documentation.
In front of an error you have two options: to fix what needs to be fixed and to try again what raised the error or to cancel (to close the window).
The administrator's program, tst10-admin, is used to manage the users that are going to use TST.
When you run tst10-admin the configuration window shows up. This window contains two fields: the user name and the password.
These data depend on the configuration of the MySQL server. You have to enter the name of a user with permissions to create and drop tables and grant and reflush privileges, for example root, and his password.
If the MySQL server isn't running locally, you have to include the server after the user name separated by an at sign (@), for example, if the user name is root and the server is 192.168.0.1: root@192.168.0.1.
If the MySQL server is running on a non-standard port, you have to include the port after the server separated by a colon (:), for example, if the user name is root, the server is 192.168.0.1 and the port is 1234: root@192.168.0.1:1234.
Once you have entered the data, you have to click the connect button. If everything goes well, the configuration window will disappear and the user list will show up.
When exiting the program, connection data is saved in a file named .tst10-adminrc in your home directory. This way, next time you run tst10-admin there will be no need to enter the user name (nor the server nor the port if they're necessary), because it will be loaded automatically. The password is not saved for security reasons.
You can exit the program by closing the configuration window or the user list window.
To add a new user you have to click the add user button at the user list window. The new user window will show up. This window has two fields: the user name and the password.
The user name cannot be left blank and is limited to 10 alphanumeric characters. There cannot be two users with the same user name.
The password has no length limit and can be left blank.
If you want to cancel the creation of the new user, you have to close the window.
Once the data is entered, you have to click the save button. If everything goes well, the new user window will disappear and you'll be back to the user list window.
If you want to modify an existing user you have to double click its name at the user list window. The edit user window will show up. This window has two fields: the user name and the password.
The user name cannot be modified.
The password field is empty, so, you're not editing its previous password but you're replacing it.
If you want to cancel the modification of the user, you have to close the window.
To save the changes you have to click the save button. If everything goes well, the edit user window will disappear and you'll be back to the user list window.
If you want to delete an existing user, you have to click its name with the right button at the user list window. A menu with the delete item will show up.
If you want to cancel the deletion, you have to click outside delete.
When you click delete the user is deleted and the list is updated.
The user's program, tst10, is used to track the time you spend working on your projects and generate simple reports.
When you run tst10 the configuration window shows up. This window contains two fields: the user name and the password.
You have to enter the user name (and the password) of a user that has been created with the administrator's program, tst10-admin.
If the MySQL server isn't running locally, you have to include the server after the user name separated by an at sign (@), for example, if the user name is jpf and the server is 192.168.0.1: jpf@192.168.0.1.
If the MySQL server is running on a non-standard port, you have to include the port after the server separated by a colon (:), for example, if the user name is jpf, the server is 192.168.0.1 and the port is 1234: jpf@192.168.0.1:1234.
Once you have entered the data, you have to click the connect button. If everything goes well, the configuration window will disappear and the task list will show up.
When exiting the program, connection data is saved in a file named .tst10rc in your home directory. This way, next time you run tst10 there will be no need to enter the user name (nor the server nor the port if they're necessary), because it will be loaded automatically. The password is not saved for security reasons.
You can exit the program by closing the configuration window or the task list window.
To add a new task you have to click the add task button at the task list window. The new task window will show up. This window has two fields: the task name and the notes.
The task name is limited to 32 bytes and cannot be left blank. There cannot be two tasks with the same name.
The notes have no length limit and can be left blank.
If you want to cancel the creation of the new task, you have to close the window.
To save the new task you have to click the save button. If everything goes well, the new task window will disappear and you'll be back to the task list window.
To modify a task you have to double click its name in the task list window. The edit task window will show up. It has two fields: the task name and the notes.
If you want to cancel the task modification, you have to close the window.
In order to save the changes made to the task, you have to click the save button. If everything goes well, the edit task window will disappear and you'll be back to the task list window.
To delete a task you have to click its name with the right button in the task list window. A menu with the delete option will show up.
If you want to cancel the deletion, you have to click outside delete.
Clicking delete deletes the task (and its related work sessions) and updates the list.
To create a new work session you have to select a task in the task list window and click the new work session button. The task list window will disappear and the work bar will show up.
The work bar has a button that lets you move it, a counter that can be paused and resumed and a finish button.
While the counter is on, the finish button will be disabled. If the counter is paused more than 10 seconds, it'll blink to get the user's attention.
To finish the work session, you have to click the finish button. The work bar will disappear and the new work session window will show up.
In the new work session window there is a text box for the detail of what was done during the work session, a calendar for the date and three fields for the hours, the minutes and the seconds.
The detail has no length limit and can be left blank.
The date will be set to the current date. It can be modified.
The value of hours, minutes and seconds will be set to the value of the counter of the work bar. The three fields can be modified in the 00:00:00 - 23:59:59 range.
If you want to cancel the creation of the new work session, you have to close the window.
To save the new work session, you have to click the save button. If everything goes well the new work session window will disappear and you'll be back to the task list window.
To modify a work session you have to double click it in the task list window. The edit work session window will show up. It has the same elements that the new work session window has.
If you want to cancel the work session modification, you have to close the window.
To save the changes made to the work session you have to click the save button. If everything goes well the edit work session window will disappear and you'll be back to the task list window.
To delete a work session you have to click it with the right button in the task list window. A menu with the delete option will show up.
If you want to cancel the deletion, you have to click outside delete.
Clicking delete deletes the work session and updates the list.
To create a report you have to select a task and click the create report button in the task list window. The report window will show up. It has two calendars (beginning and end) and a text box with the report.
The beginning and the end will be set depending on the date of the first and last work session of the task, respectively. When you change them the report is updated with the new filter.
The report cannot be modified.
To cancel you have to close the window.
To copy the report to the clipboard you have to click the copy button. The report window will disappear and you'll be back to the task list window.
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