PIM Integration for Editor with code folding

Hi all,

On the kde-pim mailing list there recently was a thread discussing the  
need to have a single place to collect all the information one needs to  
manage ones tasks/projects
( http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-pim&m=109428569108521&w=2 ). I fully agree  
with Heiko and Ingo in this respect. As such a tool does not exist today,  
we use a wide collection of more less separate tools:
- collecting contacts in KMail,
- web-links in some browser,
- appointments/todos in a third tool,
- messages in mail threads of endless length and
- additional information about project in (unstructured) text files

Each of these tools allow to structure the information it collects (mail  
folders, bookmark folders, todo categories, contact groups, ...) but still  
its a trouble to find the things I need, at least when a project grows to  
a substantial size (see [1]).

But there is a neat solution to this problem: using structured text with  
links to the respective
resources. That idea I propose here is entirely based on org-mode being  
written by Carsten Dominik  
(http://remote.science.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/org/). The only shortcoming  
(or major advantage ;-) of org-mode is, that it is for Emacs... and most  
people will sadly never come to convert to this editor...

So what org-mode offers and what I propose to implement in an KDE or plain  
Qt application is the integration of todo-lists, code-folding,  
diary-entries, dead-line tracking, web-links,... in a simple text file  
(see sample below!) The hierarchy is created by "*", "**", "***", ... as  
you type. If you load the file in Emacs with org-mode you can fold/unfold  
the hierarchy by pressing <tab>,<shift-tab> if the cursor is at the  
beginning of the line - you keep the overview easily. When you place the  
cursor on a "mailto:....."; entry and press C-c o the (external) mailtool  
starts up. Same with http:. When you press C-c t, the whole hierarchy is  
collapsed and only the nodes with active TODO items remain visibile. There  
is an integration with the emacs diary even, so it warns you when some  
deadline elapses... and all this neatly embedded in a single document  
where you can create a hierarchy and order to your needs... As everything  
is text you remain very flexible with manipulating it.

I would like to write an KDE or plain Qt application (or extend one;  
Kate?) that offers the same features with an integration to the KDE PIM  
applications. I do not think it's a huge thing, using the right base.  
After all it is an editor with code-folding and some links. Despite this I  
can assure you it is a tremendously useful tool: I see it every day with  
org-mode (thanks Carsten ;-).

For a future version I have some more ideas in mind, e.g. to maintain a  
history of changes that can easily be navigated (not simply undo/redo),  
but lasting over the whole change history of the file. Also, allowing  
members of a project group to share such a file (some locking mechanisms?)  
could be very usefull...

You see, there are lots of ideas. But before diving into details of  
implementation: is there anyone interested in using such a tool, believing  
in its usefulness and/or willing to support the development?

Bye,

  Oliver


PS: After typing this mail I found a tool for Windows - Cuecards - that  
adresses some of these issues. however, it is a hierarchical collection of  
individual nodes ("text cards") and does not represent a single text file.  
In my view this is a major disadvantage. Open source can do way better ;-)
http://www.mhst.net/cuecards2000/index.html

PPS: There is a similar tool (with the same shortcomings IMHO) for Linux:  
http://www.tuxcards.de/ It seems a number of people see the need for such  
a tool, right?


----------- sample file for org-mode ---------------------------------

PIM Integration for Kate or other Editor

* Global Idea

  To have single spot (in KDE?) to collect all information relevant for a
  project. Should be a text file similar to org-mode (emacs, see related
  projects below). Possibility to insert links (http, mail, LDAP, ...),

* General todo issuse

** DONE <2004-09-11 Sa> Announce idea at  mailto:kde-pim@xxxxxxxxxxxx
** TODO <2004-09-11 Sa> Write to mailto:kwrite-devel@xxxxxxx

** <2004-09-12 So> Discussion with Markus and Basti


* Relevant Contacts

** Kate Developers

    Christoph Cullmann mailto:cullmann@xxxxxxx

    Anders Lund        mailto:anders@xxxxxxxx

    Joseph Wenninger   mailto:jowenn@xxxxxxx
    (did the syntax highlighting I believe)

    Phlip              mailto:phlip_cpp@xxxxxxxxxxx
    Micheal Bart       mailto:michael.bartl1@xxxxxxxxx
        
** Related Projects

   org-mode:    http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/org/org.el

   Developer Carsten Dominik: mailto:dominik@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

   TODO talk to Carsten about the idea

* Interesting Technologies

** Wiki

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki#Jargon

    Wiki uses a very simple syntax that is quite close to the org-mode
    syntax. Could not that be a basis for integration with a wiki-engine?
    Would not that open the doors for group-collaboration, but with a  
*nice*
    frontend (code-folding editor with additional functions like todo-list
    tracking etc.?)

** WebDAV

   [...]

** XML

   [...]

** LDAP

   [...]


------------------- end of sample file -------------------      


[1] [Copied from http://docushare.xerox.com/ds30/ds30.html ]

    In today's business environment, effectively managing information can  
be
    an organization's greatest challenge -- and its greatest opportunity  
for
    improved performance. Industry statistics show that:
    - The average office worker spends 40% of their time looking for  
information
    - The average  document is copied or reproduced 11 times
    - When an employee leaves a company, 70% of their knowledge leaves  
with them


[2] org-mode: http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/org/org.el


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"To dare is to lose foothold a moment
 not to dare os to lose one self" by S.Kierkegaard