PomoServer ReadMe

What is PomoServer

PomoServer is a Pomodoro Technique server program written in python and intended to replace using an egg timer and a paper list by allowing the user to specify a list of tasks in a data file which the service will arrange into a queue. The service will then take care of the timing, AND allow the user to manipulate the task list on the fly, marking tasks done, delaying them, etc.

PomoServer Parts

The application consists of two main pieces. pom_serv.py and pom.py.

The first piece, behaves like a daemon, but still must be run in the background. It spawns a daemon thread that listens for socket requests that immediately goes into the background while the program does all its timer waiting and pomodoro processing in the foreground.

Once the server has started pom.py can be used to interact with the running program. While rudimentary, a user can still see the available actions by running the program with no options specified.

Remember: you will have to manually kill the service or it will run to termination, You can either do so manually (kill) or you can use the stop option of the pom.py program (Note: the stop option performs some cleanup, so as a habit, it's always better to use this method to shut down the server).

What Needs to be Done

PomoServer still needs a fair amount of work. Currently, there are two main lines of development:

1. Convert the .py code into something more amenable to a background service. While this recipie is a place to start, it's not strictly necessary for the application to be a full-blown service UNLESS we impleneted a multi-user task list (would be kind of hot, TBH). The application currently uses the procname module to change the name of its process.
2. Enhancements to the Pomodoro task list are more than welcome. It would be great to move tasks around the list from the command line or add them n the fly.
3. Make the task files more robust (possibly using Configparser). All of this work can be done in loader.py and is therefore really low-impact towards the rest of the project.
4. Notification. As I wrote the initial version for the command line, I am spitting messages out with print. A more robust system that works well with window managers will greatly improve the application.
5. A graceful catch on crash that would save the task list in the event of failure would be amazing, as well. Probably hard to catch because of all the threading going on.

File Manifest and Structure

Utility Classes

• task.py : Task, TasQue <- deals with tasks and the ordered list
• pom_msg.py : PMsg <- Wrapper for messages destined for the server

Work Functions

• actions.py : basically runs command-line parsing. Most of the work is done in pom_server.py based on the messages sent from here.
• the_work.py : performs the actions related to tasks on prompting by the user (called by the server program when the client indicates that stuff needs doing).
• pom.py : just serves as a launcher
• pom_server.py : waits for messages, performs actions. the_work mostly does the task list manipulation. This file contains the meat of the server decision making.

A Final Note: Data Files

My initial .gitignore (and all of my subsequent ones) doesn't track *.dat files which I'm using to store task lists. Here's the inital file I'm working from:

# This is a file I am attempting to create some tasks
#Divider=|
#Some Tasks
task=Finances|Enter Stuff into Quicken|recur|inf
task=Pomo Task Files|Update the task files for pomodoro|recur|3
task=Empty Dishwasher|Speaks for Itself|once

All the lines marked with # are ignored (yay comments!), but tasks must be structured that way. The general format is:

task=[Task Name]|[Task Comment/Description]|[recur/once]|[inf/Times Recurring]

If the task is recuring you must indicate it with the 'recur' keyword AND you must provide a number of times for the task.