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ToucanCreative  
#1 Posted : Monday, August 27, 2012 4:13:25 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Posts: 10
Location: Australia

As briefly discussed in the General Comments forums, but thought I would add it here as I see this as being a very powerful feature in automating the entire time tracking/timesheet process for those working for multiple clients on multiple projects doing multiple tasks.

Currently, our folder structure is as follows:

"Drive:/ClientName/ProjectName/Task/File.xxx"

What I would love is to set up a project in MT where I can set the ClientName as Tag1, ProjectName as Tag2, and Task as Tag3. MT should recognise the file location and then Autotag according to the Tag rules.

I understand some file types allow this, but the majority don't and therefore still requires a lot of manual tagging.

And of course when it comes to Timesheet, I can then filter the time spent on the entire Client's portfolio, a specific project, or even the amount of time spent on a particular task purely based on the files I am working on for that client.

This is the only thing that is really holding me back from purchasing a pro licence currently, as I can see a lot of potential in ManicTime's autotagging capabilities! Keep it up!
ondrej  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, August 28, 2012 10:47:21 PM(UTC)
ondrej

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This can be done by creating automatic tag from Documents timeline. In bottom-left window below timelines, there are shown all Visual Studio Solution files, on which you worked, including full path to .sln file. Right-click desired item and select Add to AutoTag. In next step you will be able to specify more detailed rule for automatic tag, including path, where .sln file must be located.
admin  
#3 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:41:24 AM(UTC)
admin

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If I understand you correctly, the problem is that you don't get a full path for all the files you work with? This is going to be a problem, I doubt we will ever be able to make this work.

The second thing you mentioned is an ability to auto tag based on the path? So it would take elements from the path and use them for autotag?

I would be interested to know if we can make it work as it is, or if there is something we could do to make it work for you. If you like, we could do a skype call or something to see if we can make it work.

Which apps are you using primarily?
ToucanCreative  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:56:03 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Location: Australia

Originally Posted by: admin Go to Quoted Post
If I understand you correctly, the problem is that you don't get a full path for all the files you work with? This is going to be a problem, I doubt we will ever be able to make this work.


That's right. Only a select few programs are listed with their full path, and I am able to do exactly what I want with them for those particular paths.

ie. I have the following Autotag rules set up for files that do show the full path:

AutoTag 1: Drive:/Client

AutoTag 2: Drive:/Client/Project

AutoTag 3: Drive:/Client/Project/Task

This allows me to see how long I have spent doing work for the client (Tag 1), how long I have spent on a project for that client (Tag 2) and how long I have been spending doing a specific task for that client's project (Tag 3) all based on the active file I'm working in.

Quote:
The second thing you mentioned is an ability to auto tag based on the path? So it would take elements from the path and use them for autotag?


Spot on, as described above, this would be immensely useful in automating the entire timesheeting process so that no manual entries would ever need to be made. I'm not the programmer obviously, but I'm curious as to why you believe it's not possible to attain the full path of files that are in use. It's like MT needs to access the file properties of a particular file to identify the full path location as you see it in Explorer and then track/match that file to the currently open application that has the matching file name.

As identified in the past, the files that are successful in this approach are those that show the full file path in the application's title bar.


Quote:
Which apps are you using primarily?


The primary apps we use are 3ds Max 2012, Photoshop CS5.5, AfterEffects CS5.5, Premiere CS5.5, Microsoft Word, Notepad, Microsoft Outlook (not really applicable in this instance), FileZilla, Windows Media Player, Quicktime, and there are a few others we use on occasion that are mainly plugins for the work pipeline.
admin  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 9:42:21 AM(UTC)
admin

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Quote:
This allows me to see how long I have spent doing work for the client (Tag 1), how long I have spent on a project for that client (Tag 2) and how long I have been spending doing a specific task for that client's project (Tag 3) all based on the active file I'm working in.

So you have different tags for Client, then different for Project... For example
c:/Client1 - Autotag Client 1
c:/Client2 - Autotag Client 2
..

Then the same thing for Projects and Tasks?

We could do something about this, so for example you would write a regular expression for autotag, not autotags themselves. In this case you would then probably only need one autotag.

Quote:
I'm not the programmer obviously, but I'm curious as to why you believe it's not possible to attain the full path of files that are in use. It's like MT needs to access the file properties of a particular file to identify the full path location as you see it in Explorer and then track/match that file to the currently open application that has the matching file name.


We could do something like this, but you would first need to limit it to a folder, so it wont scan the whole drive. And it wouldn't work if it finds any duplicates.
ToucanCreative  
#6 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 9:58:20 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

Rank: Member

Joined: 7/26/2012(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Australia

Originally Posted by: admin Go to Quoted Post
Quote:
This allows me to see how long I have spent doing work for the client (Tag 1), how long I have spent on a project for that client (Tag 2) and how long I have been spending doing a specific task for that client's project (Tag 3) all based on the active file I'm working in.

So you have different tags for Client, then different for Project... For example
c:/Client1 - Autotag Client 1
c:/Client2 - Autotag Client 2
..

Then the same thing for Projects and Tasks?

We could do something about this, so for example you would write a regular expression for autotag, not autotags themselves. In this case you would then probably only need one autotag.


Yeah, that's right. We have multiple clients, each with multiple project, but the tasks will be consistent across all projects.

Quote:
Quote:
I'm not the programmer obviously, but I'm curious as to why you believe it's not possible to attain the full path of files that are in use. It's like MT needs to access the file properties of a particular file to identify the full path location as you see it in Explorer and then track/match that file to the currently open application that has the matching file name.


We could do something like this, but you would first need to limit it to a folder, so it wont scan the whole drive. And it wouldn't work if it finds any duplicates.



Duplicate files or folders? As mentioned, the task folders are consistent and therefore the same name across all projects. The files contained within will usually have different names however.

Interested to know what can be done, and I will be keen to try out your suggestions.

Thanks,

Matt

Edited by user Wednesday, August 29, 2012 10:00:16 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

admin  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 10:26:26 AM(UTC)
admin

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We'll try this when we find some time. I'll send you the files when we do.
ToucanCreative  
#8 Posted : Wednesday, August 29, 2012 10:29:11 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Joined: 7/26/2012(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Australia

Cool, thanks for hearing out my suggestion :) Will keep an eye out for your updates.

Matt
ToucanCreative  
#9 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 6:44:21 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Joined: 7/26/2012(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Australia

Originally Posted by: admin Go to Quoted Post
We'll try this when we find some time. I'll send you the files when we do.

Just checking in to see if there has been any progress on this. Really looking forward to having Manic Time be completely automated :)

Cheers,

Matt
admin  
#10 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 8:51:34 AM(UTC)
admin

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We will add the regular expression rules, so you will be able to name autotags based on path.

We wont add the folder search. Its just to inefficient. There can be duplicates, also every time there is a new file it needs to refresh the whole structure. So you would have to limit it not only to folders but probably by extension and apps. Otherwise it would do this for any app for which it can't extract the document.
I get that you would probably set it to a folder with a few files, but one could also set it to c: and it would constantly scan the drive.

The only thing I can suggest is that you name your files like
Client_Project_[existing name]. This would than work, and it will require less autotags as soon as we add the regular expression rules.

Sorry.
ToucanCreative  
#11 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 9:24:01 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Joined: 7/26/2012(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Australia

Originally Posted by: admin Go to Quoted Post
We will add the regular expression rules, so you will be able to name autotags based on path.

This sounds like what I'm after. It seems like it's really close to working, as it works as intended for those applications that do broadcast their location, but if only it worked with EVERY application.

Originally Posted by: admin Go to Quoted Post
The only thing I can suggest is that you name your files like
Client_Project_[existing name]. This would than work, and it will require less autotags as soon as we add the regular expression rules.

Sorry.


Yeah, that's quite unrealistic to name every file (there could be thousands per project), so that wouldn't work in our case. Also, is this what you're saying is the current solution, or the only solution?
admin  
#12 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 9:38:07 AM(UTC)
admin

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Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872

I'm saying that we can't make it work. I wish we could, believe me, but I really don't see a way.

Side question, does it work in 3ds max? I mean do you get a full path?
ToucanCreative  
#13 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 9:45:41 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Joined: 7/26/2012(UTC)
Posts: 10
Location: Australia

Ok. No, 3ds Max doesn't show the full path unfortunately. Same with many of the Adobe Creative Suite apps (except Premiere).

I guess it comes down to the development of each application on whether they decide to show the full path or just the file name, but maybe there is some windows registry mod that will allow all apps to show the full path... and therefore allow MT to do what I need it to do.

Such a shame, because it would really take all the effort out of manually tagging timesheets. I'm doing research here and there to see if there is any possible solution that might assist, so I will update this post if I find anything that might give any clues on how to make this feature consistent with all files/applications.

Cheers,

Matt
ToucanCreative  
#14 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 10:06:58 AM(UTC)
ToucanCreative

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Posts: 10
Location: Australia

I am by no means a software developer, and don't really have a clue... so I will leave it you to judge whether any of the resources I provide are of any use.

This looked like it might have some clues?
http://msdn.microsoft.co...windows/desktop/aa364963(v=vs.85).aspx
admin  
#15 Posted : Monday, September 24, 2012 12:35:51 PM(UTC)
admin

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Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872

This wont help.

From the help
Quote:
GetFullPathName merges the name of the current drive and directory with a specified file name to determine the full path and file name of a specified file.


It just creates a file path based on the current app dir. So if app is started in c:\test
and you give it a test.txt it will return
c:\test\test.txt

Edited by user Monday, September 24, 2012 12:36:53 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

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