Category Archives: Project management

Generating headings for project files

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I use the free software AutoHotkey (AHK) for automation of many things. One of those things is generating headings for my project file. I developed a simple AHK-script that asks me for the project name, the topic and then inserts the heading with additional information like my name, my E-mail address and a keyword for subversion.

The script is quite simple and I have adopted it for headings for several project files (tex, R and gams). The only difference being the characters used to comment out a line.

Here is the script

… Read the rest “Generating headings for project files”

Backing up your subversion repository on a remote Windows server using batch files

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My subversion repository is on a server by Webfaction (probably the best and cheapest way to host your repository. I have 100 Gigabyte space). I used to have a backup script that would save the backup on the same server, which then was transferred to my Windows 8 computer. Because I wanted to replace the complete backup with a new one, I ran into problems, as the backup procress was taking to much of the server CPU. Support pointed me to svnradmin, which is a tool comming with the command tools of tortoisesvn (otherwise you will find these tools on … Read the rest “Backing up your subversion repository on a remote Windows server using batch files”

Using Org-mode to keep track of your project files

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For every project I work on I have a org-file. Every file has the following structure:

  • Tasks
  • Repeat
  • Wait
  • Notes
  • Calls
  • Reading

I use remember-mode to capture tasks, notes and calls. Under the heading “Repeat” are tasks that are repeated on a regularly base. Under “Wait” are reminders for things I wait for (like a reply on an e-mail, an order, a call, etc.). These waits are also captured using org-remember (I have written about that in an earlier post). Under the heading “Reading” I have links to papers I am currently reading (using Bibtex; see an earlier post on … Read the rest “Using Org-mode to keep track of your project files”

Managing papers with Org-Mode and Reftex

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Writing papers means reading lots of papers, and I often lose track of all the papers I am reading: Where did I file a certain paper? Which paper did I start reading? Which paper might be interesting?

A reading list would be nice, but such a list should be easy to handle. I have all my papers catalogued in JabRef and use AucTex and RefTex for writing and Org-Mode for my tasks.The solution should therefore combine the strength of all three. I found a nice post on how to this (http://tincman.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/research-paper-management-with-emacs-org-mode-and-reftex/) and adopted it to my needs.

Here … Read the rest “Managing papers with Org-Mode and Reftex”

Scripts for automating commits and updates with Subversion

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Version control is good, but there are two possible pitfalls for me:
  1. In the morning, it can happen that I start working without updating my project. If this is a project I worked on, on  another computer the day before, as soon as I want to commit the new changes, I will have to merge all the changes in one file. Not a big issue, but unnessary work.
  2. Before I leave the office, I unfortunately often forget to commit.
 
I wrote a commit batch file that runs every two hours,  but the problem was that I manually had to
… Read the rest “Scripts for automating commits and updates with Subversion”