[Orgmode] Org-mode collaborative (multiple users working on the same set of files)

[Sébastien Vauban]

Hi Eric, Benjamen, Daniel, and all,

>>> [...] What do you think about all this?

Thanks to get the debate launched. I was fearing to stay alone ;-)

Regarding the clocked times:

>> I just read this and before nobody answers, I'll give you a small POC
>> that should work for you. As far as I can tell it doesn't break
>> anything.
>>
>> (defun org-clock-out-mark-clock ()
>>   (unless remove (insert (format " (%s)" user-full-name))))
>>
>> (add-hook 'org-clock-out-hook 'org-clock-out-mark-clock)

Yep, this seems to work perfectly -- did not catch any conflict yet, but usage
time still low.

Example results:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
* My sub-project
  :LOGBOOK:
  CLOCK: [2010-06-14 Mon 09:15]--[2010-06-14 Mon 10:11] =>  0:56 (Sebastien 
Vauban)
  - Test.
  :END:
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Your proposed format seems nice to me.

Regarding other features, like state changes:

>> I [...] ask for [...] an identifier (something like `org-user-identifier')
>> to be added to the clock lines, so that we can filter based on the user,
>> when multiple people have clocked in the same documents.
>
> [...] I have been using org-mode files as a point of collaboration on a
> couple of projects (including org-babel [1]) and I think a generalization of
> something like your proposed `org-user-identifier' variable could be very
> useful for many of the org meta-data items associated with headlines.

Thanks for adding this in the loop. Of course, same combat...


> For example, it would be great to record the user responsible for every
> TODO state change, so that something like
>
>   ** DONE Org-babel should work well when indented
>      - State "DONE"       from "TODO"       [2010-06-10 Thu 15:48]
>
> would instead be
>
>   ** DONE Org-babel should work well when indented
>      - State "DONE"       from "TODO"       by eschulte       [2010-06-10 Thu 
> 15:48]

That'd be great. I now dream of the ability to get a "revision history" to be
easily inserted at the begin of a document, like all pros do.


> I think this would be very helpful, and anything that encourages the
> spread of Org-mode usage through co-workers is a big win.

I am sure this is a *must* for collaborative work, for being able to spread
the word. And I'm sure we're very close to get it -- like the above
proposition of Benjamen.

But, for being useful, it absolutely needs to be in the common base of Org, as
default behavior. If I need all my co-workers to add my specifics to their Org
customization, it's lost.

Best regards and thanks for your ideas.

Seb

-- 
Sébastien Vauban