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Why can't I display my task lists using the calendar view?

  • 1 reply
  • 2 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by Zenos

tbfhuser
tbfhuser
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There is (apparently) no calendar view for tasks. The choice of descriptors for these two (almost identical) objects is counter-intuitive, or (to use the latin term) 'backasswards', given the arbitrary (and frankly inexplicable) decision not to provide a calendar view for tasks.

For easily 99% of the people who want to use the Calendar add-on, their primary use is going to be tracking their personal todo-lists over time, not planning 'Events' which involve 'invitations' and invitees. The only solution currently (AFAIK) is to treat 'Events' as if they were todo-list entries. This problem has existed for years, and there have been numerous posts from users who would simply like to see their current tasks displayed on the calendar view.

Clearly, the 'Event-object' and the 'Task-object' are almost identical to begin with. Given that the purpose of object-oriented programming is to make it easy to leverage encapsulated functionality (like displaying data-objects using a variety of display paradigms, such as a 'tabular sequential list', or 'as line-items on a calendar template'), how difficult could it be to simply modify the calendar display function, such that it can accommodate either of the two primary data object types?

If anyone in your programming group can provide a link to a set of sources, with a well-defined provision list employing Linux/Ubuntu development tools, a bullet-proof 'make' script which works using those tools, and some general guidance as to where to find the relevant parts of the Lightning source code (in essence, the calendar-view display functions), I would be happy to take a shot at adding this functionality for you.

There is (apparently) no calendar view for tasks. The choice of descriptors for these two (almost identical) objects is counter-intuitive, or (to use the latin term) 'backasswards', given the arbitrary (and frankly inexplicable) decision not to provide a calendar view for tasks. For easily 99% of the people who want to use the Calendar add-on, their primary use is going to be tracking their personal todo-lists over time, not planning 'Events' which involve 'invitations' and invitees. The only solution currently (AFAIK) is to treat 'Events' as if they were todo-list entries. This problem has existed for years, and there have been numerous posts from users who would simply like to see their current tasks displayed on the calendar view. Clearly, the 'Event-object' and the 'Task-object' are almost identical to begin with. Given that the purpose of object-oriented programming is to make it easy to leverage encapsulated functionality (like displaying data-objects using a variety of display paradigms, such as a 'tabular sequential list', or 'as line-items on a calendar template'), how difficult could it be to simply modify the calendar display function, such that it can accommodate either of the two primary data object types? If anyone in your programming group can provide a link to a set of sources, with a well-defined provision list employing Linux/Ubuntu development tools, a bullet-proof 'make' script which works using those tools, and some general guidance as to where to find the relevant parts of the Lightning source code (in essence, the calendar-view display functions), I would be happy to take a shot at adding this functionality for you.

All Replies (1)

Zenos
Zenos
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For easily 99% of the people who want to use the Calendar add-on, their primary use is going to be tracking their personal todo-lists over time, not planning 'Events' which involve 'invitations' and invitees.
Really? Any formal statistics to back up this opinion?

I don't use Tasks. My working life revolves around events, aka meetings. In personal life, I have places to go to (appointments, more meetings) and other duties that revolve around those. All of these seem to me to be most usefully considered to be Events, not Tasks.

I believe that one problem is that the online calendars which you can sync Lightning to don't offer Tasks in a way that Lightning can use. A google calendar (in particular) can't do tasks. Nor does my other CalDAV-connected online calendar.

Are you talking about a local calendar, or one that is synced to an online resource? If the latter, what sync method do you use?

The side panel, accessed via F11, differentiates between tasks and events.