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[gnu-emacs] / doc / misc / todo-mode.texi

\input texinfo.tex   @c -*-texinfo-*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename ../../info/todo-mode
@settitle Todo Mode User Manual
@syncodeindex fn cp
@syncodeindex vr cp
@syncodeindex ky cp
@c %**end of header

@copying
Copyright @copyright{} 2013-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

@quotation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.  A copy of the license
is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.

(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
modify this GNU manual.''
@end quotation
@end copying

@dircategory Emacs misc features
@direntry
* Todo Mode: (todo-mode).       Make and maintain todo lists.
@end direntry

@titlepage
@title Todo Mode User Manual
@subtitle Facilities for making and maintaining todo lists.

@author Stephen Berman
@page

@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@insertcopying
@end titlepage

@contents

@ifnottex

@node Top
@top Todo Mode User Manual

This manual describes the version of Todo mode first appearing in
Emacs 24.4.

@insertcopying
@end ifnottex

@menu
* Overview::
* Todo Mode Entry Points::
* Key Binding Conventions::
* Navigation::                  Moving within and between categories.
* Editing::                     Adding, deleting and changing todo
                                  files, categories and items.
* Todo Archives::               Files of done todo items.
* Marked Items::                Acting on multiple items simultaneously.
* Todo Categories Mode::        Table of categories and item counts.
* Searching for Items::
* Todo Filtered Items Mode::    Making virtual categories of items from
                                  different categories and files.
* Todo Display Features::
* Printing Todo Buffers::
* Legacy Todo Mode Files::      Converting old-style todo files.

* GNU Free Documentation License::

@detailmenu
--- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Overview

* Levels of Organization::
* Todo Items as Diary Entries::

Editing

* File Editing::
* Category Editing::
* Item Editing::

Item Editing

* Inserting New Items::
* Editing Item Headers and Text::
* Relocating and Removing Items::

Relocating and Removing Items

* Reprioritizing Items::
* Moving and Deleting Items::
* Done Items::

Todo Archives

* Creating and Visiting Archives::
* Todo Archive Mode::

Todo Categories Mode

* Table of Item Counts::
* Reordering Categories::

Todo Filtered Items Mode

* Filtering Items::
* Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands::
* Files of Filtered Items::

Todo Display Features

* Faces::
* Item Prefix::
* Other Display Commands and Options::
@end detailmenu
@end menu

@node Overview, Todo Mode Entry Points, Top, Top
@chapter Overview

The Todo mode package provides facilities for making and maintaining
todo lists.  A todo list is a list of todo items---things to do (in the
widest sense)---arranged in order of priority, with the highest priority
item at the top of the list and the lowest priority item at the bottom.

This manual describes the Todo mode user interface.  Todo mode comprises
a large number of commands and user options for creating, displaying,
navigating and editing todo lists, distributed across five major modes.
The principle major mode is Todo mode; the other four (Todo Edit mode,
Todo Archive mode, Todo Categories mode, and Todo Filtered Items mode)
are subsidiary to and accessible from Todo mode.

This version of Todo mode greatly expands on, and in significant ways
differs from, the original version; for details and consequences of the
most important differences, @ref{Legacy Todo Mode Files}.

@menu
* Levels of Organization::
* Todo Items as Diary Entries::
@end menu

@node Levels of Organization, Todo Items as Diary Entries, , Overview
@section Levels of Organization

In Todo mode each todo list is identified with a named category, so you
can group together thematically related todo items.  Each category is
stored in a file, which thus provides a further level of organization.
You can create as many todo files, and in each as many categories, as
you want.

All todo files reside in a single directory, whose location is specified
by the user option @code{todo-directory}.  This directory may also
contain other types of Todo files, which are discussed later
(@pxref{Todo Archive Mode} and @ref{Todo Filtered Items Mode}).  Emacs
recognizes Todo files by their extension, so when you visit the files
the buffer is in the appropriate mode and the current category is
correctly displayed.

When you use a Todo mode command to create a todo file, the extension
@samp{.todo} is automatically added to the base name you choose (as a
rule, this name is also used for the other types of Todo files, which
have their own extensions).  As a user, you only have to deal with the
base name of a Todo file.

When you create a new todo file, you must also add at least one category
to it, and each todo item belongs to a category.  It is not possible to
have an uncategorized todo list, but you can always make a catch-all
category with a generic name like ``Todo'', which is in fact the default
name assigned to the first category when you create a new todo file, if
you don't provide a different name; you can change the default by
customizing @code{todo-initial-category}.

The most basic level of organization is the todo item itself, since it
contains the information about what you want to do.  As detailed in
subsequent sections of this manual, most Todo mode commands and user
options concern ways of classifying and deploying this information by
associating various kinds of metadata with it, e.g., the category it
belongs to, its priority, whether it is to be included in the Emacs
diary, date and time stamps, whether it is done or still to do.

@node Todo Items as Diary Entries, , Levels of Organization, Overview
@section Todo Items as Diary Entries

Each todo item is also a potential diary item: if you include a todo
file in the Emacs diary file (@pxref{Fancy Diary Display,,, emacs}), the
Fancy Diary display will show those todo items that are not marked with
@code{todo-nondiary-marker}.  This effectively augments the Emacs diary
with categorized diary entries.  For the various options available for
making a todo item a diary entry, see @ref{Inserting New Items} and
@ref{Editing Item Headers and Text}.

To ensure the proper display of todo items in the Fancy Diary display,
they must have the format of diary entries, i.e., they have to begin
with a date string recognized by the Emacs diary,@footnote{Two types of
dates recognized by the Emacs diary are not supported in the current
Todo mode implementation: sexp diary entries and date strings in which
the year is omitted (however, the latter type is equivalent to using
@samp{*} for an arbitrary year, which Todo mode does support).} and if
they are longer than one line, all lines but the first must begin with
white space.  Todo mode ensures that these requirements are satisfied
(@pxref{Other Display Commands and Options}).

The Fancy Diary display is also Todo mode aware: if it contains an item
from a Todo mode file, clicking or typing @key{RET} on this item will
switch to the buffer visiting that file and properly display the item's
category, with point on the item.

@node Todo Mode Entry Points, Key Binding Conventions, Overview, Top
@chapter Todo Mode Entry Points

To initialize your first todo file, invoke the command @code{todo-show}.
This prompts you for a file name (defaulting to the value of
@code{todo-initial-file}), prompts you for the name of the first
category (defaulting to the value of @code{todo-initial-category}),
creates and visits the file and displays the category in Todo mode, and
then prompts you to enter the first item.  If you choose not to enter an
item now, simply type @kbd{C-g}, which leaves the category empty but
otherwise well-formed.  If you prefer not to be prompted to enter an
item on adding a new category, disable the option
@code{todo-add-item-if-new-category}.

Once at least one todo file exists, invoking @code{todo-show} enters
Todo mode.  Invoked with a prefix argument, the command prompts for
which todo file to visit.  Otherwise, the first invocation of this
command after loading the Todo mode package visits the default todo file
(option @code{todo-default-todo-file}) and shows its first category.
(You can get a different display with the first invocation of
@code{todo-show} by customizing the option @code{todo-show-first};
@pxref{Todo Categories Mode} and @ref{Files of Filtered Items}.)

If you leave Todo mode and later invoke @code{todo-show} to re-enter it,
by default this returns you to the current (i.e., last displayed)
category of the current todo file, which is the one in the most recently
selected and still live buffer visiting a todo file.  If you disable the
option @code{todo-show-current-file}, then non-initial invocations of
@code{todo-show} always return to the first or current category of the
default todo file.

If you want to enter Todo mode and go directly to a specific category
instead the first or current category in the current or default todo
file, use the command @code{todo-jump-to-category}; @ref{Navigation}, for
details.  You can also enter Todo mode by invoking a todo item insertion
command; @ref{Inserting New Items}, for details.

The most convenient way to use these commands to enter Todo mode is to
define global key bindings for them in your init file.  Good choices are
for @code{todo-show} and @code{todo-jump-to-category} are @kbd{C-c t}
and @kbd{C-c j}, since these commands are bound to @kbd{t} and @kbd{j},
respectively, in Todo mode.  For invoking item insertion from outside of
Todo mode, it is useful to bind @code{todo-insertion-map}, which is the
key map containing the bindings of all Todo item insertion commands, to
@kbd{C-c i}, since it is bound to @kbd{i} in Todo mode; to complete the
invocation, supply the rest of the key sequence (@pxref{Inserting New
Items}).

You can also visit a Todo file via @code{find-file} or Dired, like any
other file, and since Emacs recognizes it, the buffer will automatically
be in the appropriate Todo mode.  Moreover, as long as the command you
use to visit the file is listed in the option
@code{todo-visit-files-commands} (which by default contains
@code{find-file} and @code{dired-find-file}), it will also correctly
display the file's first category on first visiting the file (otherwise
you have to use one of the commands for navigating between categories in
order to get a proper display).

You can leave Todo mode by typing @kbd{q} (@code{todo-quit}), which
buries the current todo file buffer.  Doing this also saves any changes
you have made to the file, and leaves both the file and the category
that was displayed on quitting current for subsequent Todo mode commands
(unless the buffer made current by quitting is visiting another file and
category in Todo mode, in which case the latter become current for Todo
mode commands).

@node Key Binding Conventions, Navigation, Todo Mode Entry Points, Top
@chapter Key Binding Conventions

For Todo mode commands to function properly, it is essential to maintain
the correct format at all three levels of organization---item, category,
and file.  Todo mode tries to minimize the risk of format corruption by
hiding certain parts of the format from the user, making the buffer
read-only and suppressing the self-insertion keys.  Consequently, it is
normally impossible to make changes to your todo files without
explicitly invoking Todo mode commands.

A beneficial side effect of this restrictiveness is that you can invoke
almost all Todo commands by typing ordinary printing characters, either
singly or in specified sequences, without using modifier keys, except
for the shift key for capitalization and the raw prefix argument
@kbd{C-u}; numeric prefix arguments can be entered just by typing a
number key.

The predefined key bindings in Todo are more or less mnemonic.  As a
rule, key sequences beginning with @kbd{C} are bound to commands
applying to categories, sequences beginning with @kbd{F} apply to
(non-archive) file-level commands, and those beginning with @kbd{A}
apply to archives (a special type of Todo file; @ref{Todo Archive
Mode}).  Todo commands applying to items, which constitute the majority,
are bound to lower case key sequences.

@node Navigation, Editing, Key Binding Conventions, Top
@chapter Navigation

The navigation commands are for making another todo file, category, or
item the current one by moving point to it.@footnote{Many editing
commands can also do this by side effect, but since that is not their
main function, they are not included in this section.} Since these
commands are likely to be used frequently and repetitively, it is
convenient for their key bindings to be single lower case keys, even for
navigation commands applying to categories and files.

Two of the navigation commands were already mentioned in the section on
Todo mode entry points:

@table @kbd

@item t
Display another todo file in the selected window (@code{todo-show}).
When you invoke this command in Todo mode, it prompts for a file name,
which you can choose via minibuffer completion (like invoking
@code{todo-show} with a prefix argument outside of Todo mode).  If a
buffer is already visiting that file, it displays its current category;
if invoking @kbd{t} opens the file, it display its first category (by
default; see the option @code{todo-show-first} for other possibilities).

@item j
Display another todo category in the selected window
(@code{todo-jump-to-category}).  When you invoke this command, it
prompts for a category name, which you can choose via minibuffer
completion.  The candidates for completion include the categories in the
current todo file as well as those in the files listed in the option
@code{todo-category-completions-files}.  If you type @key{RET} without
choosing a category, the current category of the current todo file is
automatically selected (this can be a useful shortcut when you invoke
@code{todo-jump-to-category} outside of Todo mode).  If you type the
name of a non-existing category, you can add this to the file as a new
category and jump to it.  If you invoke this command with a prefix
argument, it first you prompts for which todo file to jump to (which you
can also choose with minibuffer completion) and then for which category
from that file; in this case, completion is only against the categories
in the selected file.
@end table

It is also convenient to navigate back and forth sequentially between
the categories of a single todo file.  The categories of a todo file are
numbered consecutively starting with @samp{1}.@footnote{A category's
number is automatically assigned when the category is created: the
category is appended to the end of the file, so its number is simply the
highest until another category is added.  There is no command in Todo
mode to reorder the numbering of the categories in a todo file, but this
is possible from the file's table of categories; @ref{Todo Categories
Mode}.}  The current category's number and name appear in the mode line.

@table @kbd

@item f
Move point to the first item of the category numerically directly
following the current category (@code{todo-forward-category}).

@item b
Move point to the first item of the category numerically directly
preceding the current category (@code{todo-backward-category}).
@end table

With @kbd{f} and @kbd{b} you can cycle through the categories, so for example,
if the last category is current and you type @kbd{f}, then the first
category becomes current.

You can also navigate between the items in the current category:

@table @kbd

@item n
Move point down to the next item below the current one (i.e., to the
item with the next lower priority) (@code{todo-next-item}).

@item p
Move point up to the item directly above the current one (i.e., to the
item with the next higher priority) (@code{todo-previous-item}).
@end table

These commands also accept a positive numeric prefix argument; e.g.,
typing @kbd{5 n} or @kbd{5 p} navigates in one step to the item five items lower
or higher than the current one.

Navigation to other types of Todo files is discussed in the relevant
sections below.

@node Editing, Todo Archives, Navigation, Top
@chapter Editing

Editing in Todo mode means making structural or textual changes at one
of the levels of organization (file, category, or item).  Structural
editing includes adding, relocating and removing, textual editing includes
renaming files or categories and changing an item's content or date, or
adding certain kinds of marks or tags to items.  To save changes you
make to the current todo file, type @kbd{s} (@code{todo-save}).  Changes
are also saved on quitting Todo mode with @kbd{q}.

@menu
* File Editing::
* Category Editing::
* Item Editing::
@end menu

@node File Editing, Category Editing, , Editing
@section File Editing and Todo Edit Mode

There are four file-level editing commands:

@table @kbd

@item F a
Add a new todo file (@code{todo-add-file}).  This command prompts for a
name and creates the file in @code{todo-directory}, adding the
@samp{.todo} extension (so you should not include the extension in the
name you enter).  The command also prompts for the file's first category and, if
option @code{todo-add-item-if-new-category} is enabled (the default),
for that category's first item.

@item F r
Rename the current todo file (@code{todo-rename-file}).  If called with
a prefix argument, prompt for a todo file and rename it.  If the todo
file has an archive (@pxref{Todo Archive Mode}) or there are
corresponding filtered items files (@pxref{Todo Filtered Items Mode}),
this command renames these accordingly.  If there are live buffers
visiting any of these files, the command also rename them accordingly.

@item F k
Delete the current todo file (@code{todo-delete-file}).@footnote{The key
binding of this command is mnemonic for ``kill'' to parallel the binding
@kbd{k} for item deletion, since @kbd{d} is bound to another item
editing command (@pxref{Done Items}).}  If the todo file has an archive
(@pxref{Todo Archive Mode}), prompt whether to delete that as well.
This command also kill the buffers visiting the deleted files.

@item F e
This command (@code{todo-edit-file}) changes the buffer's major mode to
Todo Edit mode.  In this mode the entire file is visible, the buffer is
writeable and you can use the self-insertion keys and standard Emacs
editing commands to make changes.  To return to Todo mode, type @kbd{C-x
C-q} (@code{todo-edit-quit}).

The command @kbd{F e} is not intended for normal editing of items and
categories, as it circumvents the restrictions that Todo imposes to
protect against file format corruption (i.e., all categories, not just
the current one, and all internal formatting are exposed and editable).
It is provided primarily as a convenience for two types of use cases
that are likely to arise infrequently.  One is to be able to use
standard Emacs commands like @code{query-replace} to replace a piece of
text that occurs in different categories throughout the file.  The other
use case is to recover from a mistake, such as accidentally deleting an
item, since this cannot be undone in Todo mode.

Using @kbd{C-x C-q} to quit Todo Edit mode provides a measure of safety,
since it runs a file format check, signaling an error if the format has
become invalid.  However, this check cannot tell if the number of items
changed, which could result in the file containing inconsistent
information (see the cautionary note in @ref{Reordering Categories}, for
more details).  For this reason @kbd{F e} should be used with caution.
@end table

@node Category Editing, Item Editing, File Editing, Editing
@section Category Editing

The following commands are available for editing at the category level
(for additional category-editing commands, which are extensions of item
commands, @pxref{Editing Item Headers and Text}):

@table @kbd

@item C a
Add a new category to the current todo file and make that category
current (@code{todo-add-category}).  If called with a prefix argument,
prompt for a file name and add the new category to that file.  This
command is similar to using @kbd{j}, but it only accepts category names
that are not the name of an existing category in the file.

@item C r
Rename the current category (@code{todo-rename-category}).  If this
category's file has an archive (@pxref{Todo Archive Mode}) with a
corresponding category, rename the category there as well.

@item C m
Move the current category (with all its items) to another todo file
(@code{todo-move-category}).  If this category's file has an archive
(@pxref{Todo Archive Mode}) with a corresponding category, this command
also moves that category to the archive file corresponding to the moved
to todo file; if there is no such archive file, the command creates it
and adds the category.

@item C k
Delete the current category (@code{todo-delete-category}).@footnote{This
binding is mnemonic for ``kill'' to parallel the binding @kbd{k} for
item deletion, since @kbd{d} is bound to another item editing command
(@pxref{Done Items}).}  To delete a category that contains items, you
have to confirm your intent; if the category is empty, deletion is
immediate.

@item C g
Merge the items of one category into another category, delete the first
category and make the second category current
(@code{todo-merge-category}).  If both the first and second categories
also have archived items (@pxref{Todo Archive Mode}), merge the former
to the latter.  If only the first category has archived items, rename
the archive category to the merged to category.  Minibuffer completion
of the name of the category merged to works as with the navigation
command @kbd{j}, and as with that command, passing a prefix argument,
i.e., typing @kbd{C-u C g}, prompts for a file and confines merging to a
category in that file.
@end table

@node Item Editing, , Category Editing, Editing
@section Item Editing

Todo mode provides a wide variety of commands for adding and textually
changing items, as well as for deleting and relocating items.

@menu
* Inserting New Items::
* Editing Item Headers and Text::
* Relocating and Removing Items::
@end menu

@node  Inserting New Items, Editing Item Headers and Text, , Item Editing
@subsection Inserting New Items

There are many commands for adding new todo items.  The command names
contain the word ``insert'' instead of ``add'' and their key bindings are
sequences beginning with @kbd{i}.  The motivation for this terminology is
that speaking of adding an item to a category suggests appending it to
the top or bottom, whereas you can insert an item into the category
anywhere, giving each new item any priority in the list.

@table @kbd

@item i i
This is the basic command for inserting new items into a category
(@code{todo-insert-item}).  Called without a prefix argument, it prompts
for the text of the item and its priority (a number between 1 and one
more than the number of items already in the category), both of which
you enter in the minibuffer, and inserts the item into the current
category of the current todo file at the position in the list
corresponding to the priority you chose.  Called with one prefix
argument, it also prompts for a category, and called with two prefix
arguments, it prompts for both a file and a category from that file, and
inserts the item accordingly.  Category name completion works as with
the navigation command @kbd{j}.
@end table

Each invocation of @kbd{i i} adds a header string to the item, which
includes at least the current date in the same format used by
@code{diary-insert-entry} (@pxref{Date Formats,,, emacs}).  You can
control what other information is included in the header by customizing
the following options:

@itemize @bullet

@item
@code{todo-always-add-time-string} is for including or omitting the
current time.  The time string is omitted by default.

@item
@code{todo-include-in-diary} is for specifying whether the item appears
in the Fancy Diary display by adding or omitting
@code{todo-nondiary-marker}.  By default, new todo items are marked for
exclusion from the diary.

@item
@code{todo-diary-nonmarking} is for adding or omitting
@code{diary-nonmarking-symbol} to items displayed in the diary, to
control whether they are marked in the calendar (@pxref{Format of Diary
File,,, emacs}).  By default, todo items that are diary entries are
marked in the calendar.
@end itemize

Instead of always adding the same header information to a new item, you
can use more specific insertion commands that let you decide what to
include in the item header each time you insert a new item.  And instead
of always being prompted to choose the new item's priority, you can
invoke a command to insert it at the position (hence with the priority)
of the item at point.  Finally, instead of always typing the text of the
new item in the minibuffer, you can invoke a command that makes the
selected region in an Emacs buffer automatically become the new item's
text.  The following paragraphs discuss how to invoke these commands by
typing certain key sequences.

There are eight parameters of item insertion in Todo mode, six
concerning the item header, and one each concerning its priority and its
text.  Each unique combination of these parameters produces a different
insertion command.  The command @kbd{i i} realizes one of these
combinations.  For the commands that realize the remaining combinations
it is convenient to associate each parameter with a mnemonically chosen
key.  Then by typing certain sequences of these keys, you complete the
insertion command invocation that realizes the specified combination.
As with @kbd{i i}, the effect of many of these commands also depends on
the values of the item insertion options mentioned above (see the
examples below).

Here is a list of the parameters and their associated keys, in the order
in which you must type them when building a key sequence (this order
roughly reflects the order in which the corresponding parts of the item
occur in a category listing):

@enumerate

@item
@kbd{y} for diary (non)inclusion;
@item
@kbd{k} for adding or omitting `diary-nonmarking-symbol';
@item
@kbd{c} for adding the date header by clicking a date in the Emacs
calendar, or@*
@kbd{d} for interactively entering the date header as a string of year,
month and day number components in the minibuffer, or@*
@kbd{n} for interactively entering the date header as a weekday name in
the minibuffer;
@item
@kbd{t} for adding a time string to the header in the minibuffer
(including the empty string, which amounts to omitting the time);
@item
@kbd{h} for inserting the new item in the position of the item at point
(``here''), or@*
@kbd{r} to use the text of the selected region as the item's text.
@end enumerate

Each insertion command key sequence begins (disregarding prefix
arguments) with @kbd{i}, followed by one or more of these eight keys, in
the order listed.  But as you can see in the above table, since some of
the insertion parameters are mutually exclusive, they occupy only five
positions, so the complete (unprefixed) sequences are maximally six keys
long.  Shorter sequences are also possible, since a parameter may be
omitted.  But since the order in any key sequence is fixed, if the last
key in the sequence could be followed by another insertion key, i.e., if
the last key is not @kbd{h} or @kbd{r}, it has to be doubled to complete
the sequence, otherwise it would be interpreted as a prefix sequence
(this is why the binding for the basic item insertion command is @kbd{i
i} and not @kbd{i}).

Here are some examples of item insertion command key sequences:

@itemize @bullet

@item
@kbd{i h} inserts a new item at the position of the item at point (pushing
the latter down) with a header containing the current date and,
depending on the values of the mentioned options, possibly the current
time and diary-related markings.
@item
@kbd{i y h} does the same as the preceding command, except that
@code{todo-nondiary-marker} is added if @code{todo-include-in-diary} is
non-nil and omitted if that option is nil; that is, the diary key @kbd{y}
overrides the setting of this option.
@item
@kbd{i y t h} does the same as the preceding command, except that it
prompts for a time string instead of automatically inserting the
current time; however, typing @key{RET} at the prompt returns the
current time if @code{todo-always-add-time-string} is non-nil, otherwise
the empty string (i.e., no time string).
@item
@kbd{i y t t} does the same as the preceding command, except that it
prompts for the item's priority and inserts it accordingly.
@end itemize

Note that the commands whose key sequences include @kbd{y}, @kbd{k} or @kbd{t}
reverse the effect of the options @code{todo-include-in-diary},
@code{todo-diary-nonmarking} and @code{todo-always-add-time-string},
respectively, thus temporarily overriding their values.

The names of the item insertion commands correspond to their key
bindings, e.g., @kbd{i h} is bound to @code{todo-insert-item-here}, @kbd{i y h} to
@code{todo-insert-item-diary-here}, etc.  But since there are so many
combinations, instead of trying to memorize either the names or the key
sequences, you can, as usual, just type an initial part of a key
sequence (minimally @kbd{i}), followed by @kbd{C-h} to see the valid
completions.

An alternative to using the key @kbd{c} for choosing the item's date
from the calendar is also available: if point is on a date in the
calendar, typing @kbd{i t} (@code{todo-insert-item-from-calendar}) will
prompt for a new item and its priority and insert it in the current
category.  Like @kbd{i i} and the other item insertion commands, this
also accepts one or two prefix arguments for choosing the category via
minibuffer completion.  Note, however, that the key sequence @kbd{i t}
is not defined in Todo mode but in the Calendar mode keymap.  It is a
convenient shortcut if you happen to be using the calendar when you
decide to make a new todo item.  (Contrast this with a command like
@kbd{i c c}, which pops open the calendar after you have entered the
item's text, and then you can choose a date from the calendar.)

There is one more item insertion command, which does not derive from the
item insertion parameters:

@table @kbd

@item i p
This command (@code{todo-copy-item}) makes a complete copy of the item
at point, including its header, prompts for its priority in the current
category and inserts it accordingly.
@end table

@noindent
This command is useful for quickly adding a todo item whose text or
header you want to differ only partly from that of an existing item:
after inserting the copy, you can quickly edit it as needed by using
commands described in the next section.

@node  Editing Item Headers and Text, Relocating and Removing Items, Inserting New Items, Item Editing
@subsection Editing Item Headers and Text

There are a number of commands for editing an existing item's text or
header; these commands are bound to key sequences with @kbd{e}.

There are two commands for editing an item's text (and manually editing
its header), one appropriate for short items and simple edits and one
better suited for more complex changes or for editing lengthy items:

@table @kbd

@item e e
Edit the text of the current item in the minibuffer
(@code{todo-edit-item}).  If called with a prefix argument (@kbd{C-u e
e}), the item's header is also included in the minibuffer and so can be
edited manually.

@item e m
Edit the text of the current item in a special buffer in Todo Edit mode
(@code{todo-edit-multiline-item}).  When you have finished editing, type
@kbd{C-x C-q} to return to Todo mode; this runs a format check to ensure
the item is well-formed.@footnote{Unlike the command @kbd{F e}
(@pxref{File Editing}), @kbd{e m} does not expose you to the risk of
putting the file in an inconsistent state, since it puts only the
current item in Todo Edit mode.}
@end table

A number of commands are available for interactively editing all or part
of the item header, permitting quick edits and helping avoid formatting
errors.

The following three commands are for editing any or all of the year,
month and day components of a date header:

@table @kbd

@item e d t
Successively prompt for changes to the date's year, month and
day number, and if the option @code{todo-always-add-time-string} is
non-nil, also for editing the time string (see also @kbd{e t} below).

@item e d a
Change the date to today's date.

@item e d c
This command pops up the Emacs calendar, and after you type @key{RET} on
a date in the calendar makes that date the item's date.
@end table

@noindent
You can also use these commands on items whose date header consists of a
weekday name, which then changes to a header with year, month and day
components.

Each of the following three commands, in contrast to the preceding
three, changes only a single date component and has no effect on a date
header consisting of a weekday name:

@table @kbd
@item e d y
@itemx e d m
@itemx e d d
Prompt for changing just the year, month or day number, respectively; if
invoked with a positive or negative numeric prefix argument, directly
increment or decrement the date component accordingly and automatically
adjust the other date component if necessary.  For example, if the date
string is ``January 1, 2013'', typing @kbd{- 3 e d d} results in
``December 29, 2012''.
@end table

@table @kbd
@item e d n
Prompt for a weekday name and make it the item's date header.  Note that
this replaces an existing date string, it does not add the day name to
the date string.

@item e t
Edit just the item's time string.  A time string can be added both to a
date string and to a weekday name.  If you type @key{RET} at the
prompt, this omits a time string from the header, or deletes an existing
time string.

@item e y y
Change the item's diary inclusion status by adding or removing
@code{todo-nondiary-marker}.

@item e y k
Change the item's diary marking status by adding or removing
@code{diary-nonmarking-symbol} (this command has an effect only if the
item is not marked for exclusion from the diary).
@end table

@noindent
Parallel to the latter two item-level commands are the
following category-level commands:

@table @kbd

@item C e y
@itemx C e k
Add @code{todo-nondiary-marker} and @code{diary-nonmarking-symbol},
respectively, to all todo items in the current category; if invoked with
a prefix argument, these markings are removed from all items in the
category.
@end table

@node  Relocating and Removing Items,  , Editing Item Headers and Text, Item Editing
@subsection Relocating and Removing Items

In addition to inserting a new todo item and changing the text or header
of an existing item, you can also move an item to another category
(i.e., recategorize it), change its priority within its category, delete
it from the category and file, or mark it as a ``done'' item, which
removes it from the todo list but does not delete it.

@menu
* Reprioritizing Items::
* Moving and Deleting Items::
* Done Items::
@end menu

@node Reprioritizing Items, Moving and Deleting Items, , Relocating and Removing Items
@subsubsection Reprioritizing Items

There are three ways to change a todo item's priority:

@table @kbd

@item r
Raise the current item's priority by one, exchanging its position in the list
with that of the item directly above it (@code{todo-raise-item-priority}).

@item l
Lower the current item's priority by one, exchanging its position in the list
with that of the item directly below it (@code{todo-lower-item-priority}).

@item #
Prompt for a number and relocate the item to the corresponding position
in the list (@code{todo-set-item-priority}).  For example, entering
@kbd{3} at the prompt makes the item the third in the category, i.e.,
gives it third highest priority.  You can also pass the desired priority
as a numeric prefix argument, e.g., @kbd{3 #} gives the item third
highest priority without prompting.  (Prefix arguments have no effect
with @kbd{r} or @kbd{l}.)
@end table

@node Moving and Deleting Items, Done Items, Reprioritizing Items, Relocating and Removing Items
@subsubsection Moving and Deleting Items

You can move an item to another category, thereby recategorizing it:

@table @kbd

@item m
Move the item at point to another category (@code{todo-move-item}).
This prompts for a category to move the item to, displays that category,
prompts for the priority of the moved item in the category moved to and
inserts the item accordingly.  Minibuffer completion of the name of the
category moved to works as with the navigation command @kbd{j}, and as
with that command, passing a prefix argument prompts for a file and
moves the item to a category in that file; and if the category name you
enter is new, then you are asked whether to add the category to the
file, and if you affirm, the item is moved to the new category.
@end table

You delete an item, thereby permanently removing it:

@table @kbd

@item k
Delete the todo item at point (@code{todo-delete-item}; the binding is
mnemonic for ``kill'', since @kbd{d} is used for marking items as done
(@pxref{Done Items}); but note that @kbd{k} does not put the item into
the kill ring).  This command requires confirmation that you want to
delete the item, since you cannot undo the deletion in Todo mode.  (You
could use @kbd{F e} to recover the item, but be aware that this would
put the file in an inconsistent state, which you can recover from, but
not without a risk; cf.@: the cautionary note in @ref{Reordering
Categories}.)
@end table

@quotation Note
Todo commands that require user confirmation, such as @kbd{k}, use a
modified form of @code{y-or-n-p}, which by default only accepts @kbd{y}
or @kbd{Y}, but not @key{SPC}, as an affirmative answer.  This is to
diminish the risk of unintentionally executing the command, which is
especially important with commands that do deletion, since there is no
Todo command to undo a deletion.  If you want to be able to use SPC for
confirmation, enable the option @code{todo-y-with-space}.
@end quotation

@node Done Items, , Moving and Deleting Items, Relocating and Removing Items
@subsubsection Done Items

When the activity or thing that a todo item is about has been done, it
is natural to eliminate the item from the todo list.  But instead of
deleting it permanently, you may prefer to keep a record of your
accomplishments by marking the item as done.  In Todo mode, this removes
the done item from the todo list, so as not to clutter it up, and stores
it elsewhere.  Such stored items form a record or diary of things done.
The Todo package provides two such stores: the ``done items'' section of
a Todo category, described here, and done item archives (@pxref{Todo
Archive Mode}).

@table @kbd

@item d
This command (@code{todo-item-done}) removes the todo item at point from
the todo list, appends to the original header a header consisting of
@code{todo-done-string} (by default ``DONE '') and the current date, and
if @code{todo-always-add-time-string} is enabled, also the current time,
and adds the resulting done item to the top of the done items section of
the category.  Invoked with a prefix argument, it also prompts you to
enter a comment, which is appended to the end of the done item, prefixed
with @code{todo-comment-string} (by default ``COMMENT: '').
@end table

A category's done items section is located below the last todo (i.e.,
not done) item in the category.  By default this section is hidden from
view.  There are two commands for viewing and hiding done items; since
these are toggle commands, for convenience they also have a single key
binding:

@table @kbd

@item C v
@itemx v
Make the done items section of the current category visible if it is
hidden, or hide it if it is visible
(@code{todo-toggle-view-done-items}).  If you always want to see the
done items section on entering a category, enable the option
@code{todo-show-with-done}; you can still use @kbd{C v} or @kbd{v} to
hide (and unhide) it.

@item F V
@itemx V
Toggle the standard category display in the current todo file, i.e.,
display only the done items section of each category in the file, or if
this is visible, hide it again and display only the todo items section
(@code{todo-toggle-view-done-only}).
@end table

Three editing commands for done items are available:

@table @kbd

@item e c
If you type this command (@code{todo-edit-done-item-comment}) when point is
on a done item that has a comment, you can edit the text of the
comment.  If you invoke it with a prefix argument (@kbd{C-u e c}), the
comment is deleted on confirmation.  If the done item does not have a
comment, this command allows you to add one.

@item m
Move the done item at point to the top of the done items section of
another category (@code{todo-move-item}).  This is useful in case, after
having relocated an item to its category's done items section, you
create a category that is better suited to the content of the done item
than its current category, so you can recategorize the done item.

@item u
If you decide the done item at point is not done after all, this command
``undoes'' it, i.e., restores it to the todo list of its category, with
the priority you choose for it (@code{todo-item-undone}).  If the done
item has a comment, you are asked whether to delete it from the restored
item.
@end table

@node Todo Archives, Marked Items, Editing, Top
@chapter Todo Archives

When the done items section of a category itself starts to become
cluttered, or if you just want to store some accomplished todo items in
a separate file, you can move them to a Todo archive.  This is a file
with exactly the same structure as a todo file, i.e., divided into
categories, but differs in that the categories contain only done items.
Todo archives reside, like todo files, in @code{todo-directory} but have
the extension @samp{.toda} instead of @samp{.todo}.

@menu
* Creating and Visiting Archives::
* Todo Archive Mode::
@end menu

@node Creating and Visiting Archives, Todo Archive Mode, , Todo Archives
@section Creating and Visiting Archives

Todo mode provides the following command for archiving items:

@table @kbd

@item A d
This command (@code{todo-archive-done-item}) archives the done item at point.
Invoked with a prefix argument, it archives all done items in the
current todo category.  If an archive for the current todo file
already exists and contains a category with the same name as the
current todo category, then this command moves the done item to the
top of the corresponding archive category.  If the archive exists but
it does not have a corresponding category, this command creates the
category in the archive and moves the done item to it.  If no archive
for the todo file exists, the command creates both the archive file,
using the same base name as that of the todo file, as well as the
category, and moves the done item to it.
@end table

Typing @kbd{A d} is also the only way within the Todo mode package to
create an archive file and its categories.  Consequently, as a rule each
archive file corresponds to exactly one todo file and has the same base
name as this file, and each category in an archive file corresponds to
and has the same name as a category in the corresponding todo file.
Exceptions can only arise if you delete a todo file but not the
corresponding archive, or if you delete a category in a todo file that
has a corresponding category in an archive.

You might be inclined to do the latter if you have archived all the
items from a given todo category and you don't plan to add new items to
it.  In particular, if you have numerous such empty categories in a todo
file, this can make sequential navigation in the file annoying.  You can
avoid this annoyance by deleting these categories, but only at the cost
of putting the todo file out of synch with the archive file.

You may find it preferable not to delete empty todo categories but to
enable the option @code{todo-skip-archived-categories}.  When this is
non-nil, such empty todo categories are skipped over by the sequential
category navigation commands @kbd{f} and @kbd{b}, so they don't distract you
while navigating and you maintain the structural correspondence between
todo and archive files (you can also still jump to empty todo categories
with @kbd{j}).

If you rename a todo category that has a corresponding category in an
archive, the archive category is also automatically identically renamed.
Likewise, if you move such a todo category to another file; in this
case, if there is no archive file corresponding to the todo file the
category is moved to, then the archive is automatically created and the
archived category is moved to it.

There are two commands in Todo mode for visiting archive files:

@table @kbd

@item A f
Switch to a buffer displaying the archived category corresponding to the
current todo category (@code{todo-find-archive}).  If the todo category
has no archived items, the command asks if you want to visit the archive
anyway.  If there is no archive for this todo file, it asks if you want
to visit another archive, which you can select via minibuffer
completion.

@item A c
Choose an archive to visit, whether or not the current todo file has an
archive (@code{todo-choose-archive}).
@end table

As with todo files, you can also visit a Todo archive by invoking a
standard Emacs file-visiting command; this displays the first (on the
initial invocation) or current category of the archive.

@node Todo Archive Mode, , Creating and Visiting Archives, Todo Archives
@section Todo Archive Mode

When you visit a Todo archive, the buffer is in Todo Archive mode.  It
displays categories just as in Todo mode, except that they only contain
done items.  It provides the same sequential navigation commands as
Todo mode: @kbd{f} and @kbd{b} navigate between the categories of the current
archive, and @kbd{n} and @kbd{p} navigate between the done items of the current
archive category.

The commands @kbd{t} and @kbd{j} are also available in Todo Archive
mode, and they work the same as in Todo mode, which means they can only
be used to return to Todo mode: @kbd{t} prompt for and switch to a todo
file, and with @kbd{j} you can only jump to a todo category.  These
commands exclude archives because an archive file has the same base name
as the corresponding todo file, and category name completion uses only
the base names, so the commands cannot know which type of file you want
to visit.  For this reason, there is a special command in Todo Archive
mode for jumping to another archive category or visiting another archive
file:

@table @kbd

@item a
This command (@code{todo-jump-to-archive-category}) prompts for a category in the
current archive and jumps to it.  Called with a prefix argument, it
prompts for another archive, then for a category in it and jumps to
that category.
@end table

None of the Todo mode editing commands are available in Todo Archive
mode, since archives are meant to be static records of accomplished todo
items.  Should you, however, archive an item by mistake or simply change
your mind about the archival status of an item, you can ``unarchive'' it:

@table @kbd

@item u
Restore the done item at point to the top of the done items section of
the corresponding category in the corresponding todo file, i.e., an
unarchived item remains a done item (@code{todo-unarchive-items}).  When
the last item in an archive category has been unarchived, the category
is automatically deleted from the archive.  If this was the only
category in the archive, the archive file is also automatically deleted.
@end table

Since it is natural to visit an archive from the corresponding todo
file, it would be convenient to easily return to the todo file when you
have finished browsing the archive.  If you type `q' to quit Todo
Archive mode, this switches to the corresponding todo file and shows the
todo category corresponding to the archive category you were just
visiting.

The command @kbd{F k} (@pxref{File Editing}) is also available in Todo
Archive mode.  It deletes the current archive file and prompts you
whether to delete the corresponding todo file.

@node Marked Items, Todo Categories Mode, Todo Archives, Top
@chapter Marked Items

For many item editing commands it can make sense and be convenient to
apply them simultaneously to more than one item in the current category.
Todo facilitates this by means of marked items.

@table @kbd

@item *
Mark the item at point if it is unmarked, and remove the mark it is
already marked (@code{todo-toggle-mark-item}).  The mark is a string
specified by the option @code{todo-item-mark} (by default @samp{*})
appended in front of the item header (more precisely, in front of the
item's priority number or prefix; see @ref{Todo Display Features}, for
details of the latter).  After marking the current item, the command
advances point to the next item.  It also accepts a numeric prefix
argument, which allows toggling the mark of multiple consecutive items.

@item C *
Mark all todo items in the current category.

@item C u
Unmark all todo item in the current category.
@end table

You can also use the last two commands to mark or unmark all done items in
the category, but only when only the done items section is being
displayed, i.e., after invoking @kbd{C V} or @kbd{V}.

The following commands operate on marked items: @kbd{k} (deleting), @kbd{m}
(moving to another category), @kbd{d} (moving to the done items section;
note that @kbd{C-u d} adds the same comment to all marked items), @kbd{A d}
(archiving), @kbd{u} (both in Todo mode for undoing a done item and in
Todo Archive mode for unarchiving an item), as well as the commands for
editing the item header (those beginning with the prefix @kbd{e d} as well
as @kbd{e t}, @kbd{e y y} and @kbd{e y k}).  The item insertion, textual editing and
priority changing commands do not operate on marked items.

If you use @kbd{m}, @kbd{d}, @kbd{A d} or @kbd{u} on multiple noncontiguous marked
items, the relocated items retain their relative order but are now
listed consecutively en bloc.

You can mark both todo and done items, but note that only @kbd{m} can apply
to both; other commands only affect either marked todo or marked done
items, so if both types of items are marked, invoking these commands
has no effect and informs you of your erroneous attempt.

@node Todo Categories Mode, Searching for Items, Marked Items, Top
@chapter Todo Categories Mode

It can be helpful to have a compact overview of the categories in a todo
file and the types of items it contains; Todo provides a tabular view
of this information.

@table @kbd

@item F c
Typing this command (@code{todo-show-categories-table}) in Todo mode or Todo
Archive mode switches to a buffer displaying a table that gives an
overview of the categories in the current todo or archive file.  This
buffer is in Todo Categories mode.
@end table

The table consists of a column containing the names of the categories in
the file, followed by columns containing counts of certain types of
items in each category.  With todo files there are four count types: all
todo (i.e., not done) items, diary items (i.e., those todo items lacking
the @code{todo-nondiary-marker}, which hence can appear in the Fancy Diary
display), done (but not archived) items, and archived items.  With
archive files all items are done, so the table only has a column for
this count.  The final row of the table gives total item counts across
all categories in the file.

Aside from explicitly invoking @kbd{F c} to display the table of
categories, you can also arrange to have it displayed on the first
invocation of @code{todo-show} for a given file (i.e., either using
@code{todo-show} to initiate a Todo session, or calling it in Todo mode
to visit another todo file).  To do this customize the option
@code{todo-show-first}.

@menu
* Table of Item Counts::
* Reordering Categories::
@end menu

@node Table of Item Counts, Reordering Categories, , Todo Categories Mode
@section Table of Item Counts

Above each column of the table is a labeled button you can press by
clicking with the mouse or by typing @key{RET} on it.  Pressing an item
count button sorts the table alternately in ascending or descending
order according to the type of count.  Pressing the category button
alternates between the initial numerical order of the categories and
alphabetical order.  In numerical order the column of category names is
preceded by a column containing the corresponding category numbers; this
column is not displayed in the alphabetical listing.  Instead of
pressing the buttons, you can also sort the table by typing the
following keys:

@itemize

@item @kbd{c}
to sort by category numerically or alphabetically;
@item @kbd{t}
to sort by todo item counts;
@item @kbd{y}
to sort by diary item counts;
@item @kbd{d}
to sort by done item counts;
@item @kbd{a}
to sort by archived item counts.
@end itemize

Each row of the table is also buttonized; pressing one of these exits
the buffer (killing it), returns to the buffer of the file from which
you had invoked `F c', and displays the category that was named in the
row button you pressed (i.e., pressing this button jumps to that
category).  However, if the category named in the row is in a todo file
and all of its items have been archived, and you have enabled the option
@code{todo-skip-archived-categories}, then pressing the button jumps to
the archive category instead of the empty todo category.  You can
recognize such categories by their items counts in the table---all
columns but the archived one have counts of zero---and in addition,
their lines in the table are also distinguished from the others by a
different face.

You can navigate around the table:

@table @kbd

@item n
@itemx @key{TAB}
Advance point to the next button.

@item p
@itemx S-@key{TAB}
Put point on the previous button.
@end table

These commands are cyclic, e.g. when point is on the last button,
pressing @kbd{n} moves it to the first button.

Typing @kbd{q} exits Todo Categories mode, killing the buffer and returning
to the current category in the Todo mode or Todo Archive mode buffer
from which you had invoked @kbd{F c}.

@node Reordering Categories, , Table of Item Counts, Todo Categories Mode
@section Reordering Categories

Todo Categories mode provide commands with which you can change the
numbering of the categories in the current file.  This renumbering has
the effect of reordering the categories for sequential navigation by
@kbd{f} and @kbd{b} in Todo mode and Todo Archive mode.  These commands
are only operative when the table displays the categories in their
numerical order.  They work just like reprioritizing items in Todo mode,
hence have the same key bindings:

@table @kbd

@item r
Raise the current line of the table (the one the cursor is on),
decreasing the category's number by one (@code{todo-raise-category}).
This command exchanges lines, and hence the numbers, of the category at
point and the one above it before invoking the command.

@item l
Lower the current line of the table, increasing the category's number by
one (@code{todo-lower-category}).  This command exchanges lines, and
hence the numbers, of the category at point and the one below it before
invoking the command.

@item #
Prompt for a number between 1 and the number of categories in the file
and reorder the table accordingly (@code{todo-set-category-number}).  If
called with a numeric prefix argument within the allowed range, reorder
the table without prompting.
@end table

The reordering done by these commands remains in effect when you return
to Todo mode or Todo Archive mode and, as long as you save the todo
or archive file after reordering, in subsequent sessions as well.

@quotation @strong{Caution}
It is important to be aware that renumbering the categories does not
change the textual order of the categories in the file.  This is
significant if you should invoke @kbd{F e} to edit the entire file
manually and in so doing alter the number of items in a category: this
will make the item count shown in the table of categories of this file
inconsistent with the actual number.  You can repair this inconsistency
by invoking the command @code{todo-repair-categories-sexp} (which lacks
a key binding, since it is meant to be a rarely needed rescue
operation).  But this will revert any renumbering of the categories you
have made, so you will have to renumber them again.  This is the reason
why you should exercise caution when using @kbd{F e}.
@end quotation

@node Searching for Items, Todo Filtered Items Mode, Todo Categories Mode, Top
@chapter Searching for Items

It can be useful to be able to locate and examine all todo items that
fit certain criteria, regardless of which category they belong to.  One
way to do this in Todo mode is by sequentially searching in the file:

@table @kbd

@item S
This command (@code{todo-search}; the key is capital @kbd{S}) prompts for a
regular expression, searches from the beginning of the current todo file
and displays the category containing the first match it finds, with the
match highlighted.  If there are further matches, a message saying how
many are left is displayed and you are asked if you want to go to the
next match.  When you reach the last match, or if you decide not to go
to further matches, you are asked whether the match highlighting should
be removed.

@item X
This command (@code{todo-clear-matches}) removes any highlighting added by @kbd{S}.
This is so you can leave the matches highlighted at the end of the
search and remove the highlighting later.
@end table

These commands are also available in Todo Archive mode.

@node Todo Filtered Items Mode, Todo Display Features, Searching for Items, Top
@chapter Todo Filtered Items Mode

A more powerful alternative to sequential searching is item filtering,
by which items from different categories that match specified criteria
are gathered and displayed in a new buffer as a kind of virtual
category in a distinct mode, Todo Filtered Items mode.

@menu
* Filtering Items::
* Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands::
* Files of Filtered Items::
@end menu

@node Filtering Items, Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands, , Todo Filtered Items Mode
@section Filtering Items

Todo mode provides three ways to filter items: a general filter for
items matching a user-entered regular expression, as with the search
command; and two specific filters, one for diary-displayable items
(i.e., those lacking @code{todo-nondiary-marker}) and one for top
priority items (more on the latter below).  The commands for each
filter come in pairs, one for filtering just the current todo file and
one for filtering a user-specified list of todo files.  Thus, there
are six item filtering commands:@footnote{The use of @kbd{F} in the key
sequences of these commands naturally recalls ``filter'', but is also
consistent with the Todo mode mnemonic key binding convention, since the
commands involve one or more whole files.}

@itemize @bullet

@item
@kbd{F x x} (@code{todo-filter-regexp-items})
@item
@kbd{F x m} (@code{todo-filter-regexp-items-multifile})
@item
@kbd{F y y} (@code{todo-filter-diary-items})
@item
@kbd{F y m} (@code{todo-filter-diary-items-multifile})
@item
@kbd{F t t} (@code{todo-filter-top-priorities})
@item
@kbd{F t m} (@code{todo-filter-top-priorities-multifile})
@end itemize

There are two ways to specify which files the multifile filtering
commands apply to.  If there are files you want to filter every time you
use these commands, customize the option @code{todo-filter-files}.  If you
leave this option empty (the default), invoking a multifile filtering
command pops up a buffer similar to the Customization buffer for
@code{todo-filter-files}, in which you can select files to filter just for
this invocation.

Diary and top priority items are by definition non-done todo items, but
when filtering by regular expression, you can extend the scope of the
command to done items by enabling the option @code{todo-filter-done-items}.
Then @kbd{F x x} and @kbd{F x m} will gather both matching todo and matching
done items (including done items from any archive files corresponding to
the selected todo files) into the virtual category of filtered items.

There are several ways to specify how many items in each category count
as top priorities and hence get filtered by @kbd{F t t} and @kbd{F t m}:

@itemize @bullet

@item
The option @code{todo-top-priorities} specifies a single default number
for all categories and all todo files; its default value is 1, which
means just the highest priority item in every category is filtered,
unless otherwise specified.
@item
The option @code{todo-top-priorities-overrides} lists file-wide overrides
of @code{todo-top-priorities} as well as category-specific overrides.  It
is empty by default.  However, using the Custom facility to set this
option would be tedious and error-prone, so instead you should use the
commands @kbd{F t s} and @kbd{C t s}.  The former sets (i.e., overrides) the
default number of top priorities for all categories in the current
todo file, and the latter sets the number of top priorities for the
current category.  To exclude a category or file from filtering by @kbd{F t t}
and @kbd{F t m}, set the number to @samp{0}.
@item
You can invoke `F t t' and `F t m' with a numeric prefix argument,
which specifies the number of top priorities in each category just for
this invocation, overriding both @code{todo-top-priorities-overrides} and
@code{todo-top-priorities}.
@end itemize

@node Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands, Files of Filtered Items, Filtering Items, Todo Filtered Items Mode
@section Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands

The output of the item filtering commands looks similar to a regular
Todo category, but it is not contained in any todo file and does not
have a name on being created, so it is not a ``real'' category but a
``virtual'' category.  Another difference is the lack of a done items
section; either there are no done items in the list (when the filtered
items are diary or top priority items), or these are displayed in the
same list as todo items (if you filtered by regular expression and
allowed done items).  A further difference is that the items have an
additional header, between the item's date/time header and its text,
specifying which category (and if you invoked a multifile command, also
which file) the item comes from, and if you filtered by regular
expression, also whether the item comes from a Todo archive.

The sequential item navigation commands @kbd{n} and @kbd{p} work the same in
Todo Filtered Items mode as in Todo mode, as do the file and category
jumping commands @kbd{t} and @kbd{j}; however, the sequential category
navigation commands are unavailable, since virtual categories of
filtered items are not ordered with respect to ``real'' categories.  In
addition, Todo Filtered Items mode provides a special navigation
command:

@table @kbd

@item g
@itemx @key{RET}
If you type this command (@code{todo-go-to-source-item}) with point on a
filtered item, the buffer switches to the item's source file (in Todo
mode or Todo Archive mode, as the case may be) and displays its
category, with point on the item.
@end table

Filtered items cannot be textually edited, moved to another category,
marked done or archived like items in a real todo category, since these
would then be out of synch with each other.  But there is one type of
editing command that does work in Todo Filtered Items mode: changing an
item's priority:

@table @kbd

@item r
@itemx l
@itemx #
These commands raise, lower, or set, respectively, the current item's
priority in the virtual category.
@end table

@noindent
Using these commands, you can create a cross-category (and even
cross-file) prioritized list of filtered items.  However, there is a
restriction on these commands in Todo Filtered Items mode: you cannot
change the relative priorities of items from the same real category,
since that would make the filtered list inconsistent with the source
todo list.

@node Files of Filtered Items, , Todo Filtered Items Mode Commands, Todo Filtered Items Mode
@section Files of Filtered Items

Typing @kbd{s} in Todo Filtered Items mode saves the buffer of filtered
items to a file in @code{todo-directory}.  Files of items filtered by
regular expression have the extension @samp{.todr}, those with filtered
diary items have the extension @samp{.tody} and those with filtered top
priorities have the extension @samp{.todt}.  The extensions are added
automatically the first time you save the buffer to a file.

With filtered top priority or diary items, the file is automatically
named on first saving it, using as the base name either the same base
name as the single todo file it was generated from, or combining the
base names of the todo files used in multifile filtering commands.
With items filtered by regular expression, it can be useful to save
separate lists generated from the same file(s) using different regular
expressions, so when saving such a list, you are prompted for a short
identifying string to add to the file name.

When you invoke one of the item filtering commands without a prefix
argument and a corresponding file already exists, the command visits
this file (if, for the current file or chosen files, there are multiple
files of items filtered by regular expression, you are prompted to
choose one).  To force generation of a new filtered list, invoke the
command with a prefix argument (in the case of top priority items,
either numeric as described above, or the raw prefix argument @kbd{C-u} to
use the values of @code{todo-top-priorities-overrides} or
@code{todo-top-priorities}).

Aside from explicitly invoking an item filtering command to display a
saved list of items filtered by a given method from given todo files,
there are two other ways to visit a saved file of filtered items:

@table @kbd
@item F f
Visit a saved file of filtered items, which you choose via minibuffer
completion (@code{todo-find-filtered-items-file}).
@end table

@itemize @bullet
@item
As with tables of categories, by customizing @code{todo-show-first} you
can have the first invocation of @code{todo-show} for a given todo file
display the corresponding saved file of filtered items.  If there is
no saved filtered items list for the file, @code{todo-show} simply
defaults to visiting the file and displaying its first category, as
usual.
@end itemize

The command @kbd{F k} (@pxref{File Editing}) is also available in Todo
Filtered Items mode.  It deletes the current filtered items file.

@node Todo Display Features, Printing Todo Buffers, Todo Filtered Items Mode, Top
@chapter Todo Display Features

You can change the appearance of Todo mode buffers in a variety of ways.

@menu
* Faces::
* Item Prefix::
* Other Display Commands and Options::
@end menu

@node Faces, Item Prefix, , Todo Display Features
@section Faces

Each of the Todo modes uses faces to distinguish various aspects of the
display, both structural and informational.  For example, the faces for
the date and time strings of todo item headers by default inherit the
attributes of the corresponding faces used by the Emacs diary; but when
the date and time of a Todo diary item (i.e., an item lacking
@code{todo-nondiary-marker}) is earlier than the current date and time,
they are displayed in a different face.  In this way, you can readily
recognize diary items that have ``expired'' and act accordingly (e.g.,
by tagging them as done or by updating the deadlines).

Another example of an informational face is the face used to distinguish
top priority items.  A third case is the face used in Todo Categories
mode to mark rows of the table containing categories with only archived
items.

The @code{todo-faces} customization group contains a complete list of
Todo mode faces and brief descriptions of their use.


@node Item Prefix, Other Display Commands and Options, Faces, Todo Display Features
@section Item Prefix

In the default display of (real or virtual) categories in Todo mode,
Todo Archive mode and Todo Filtered Item mode the items are visually
numbered in ascending order, starting with @samp{1} on the top item,
displayed to the left of its header (date/time string).  With todo items
the numbers indicate each item's priority in the list, so when you
reprioritize an item with @kbd{#} or move it with @kbd{m}, these numbers make
it easier to choose the item's new priority.  The numbering also lets
you to see at a glance how many items there are in the list.  When an
item is inserted, deleted, or moved, the numbering is automatically
updated.  In Todo mode, the todo and done items sections in each
category are separately numbered.

If you prefer not to have item numbering displayed, disable the option
@code{todo-number-prefix}; then the display of each item starts by default
simply with its header.  But you can also replace the numbering with a
visually distinctive string of your choice by customizing the option
@code{todo-prefix} (the empty string by default).  Another alternative is to
temporarily hide the item numbering:

@table @kbd

@item F N
@itemx N
Toggle between displaying item numbering and displaying the
@code{todo-prefix} string in the current Todo file (todo, archive, or
saved virtual category of filtered items.  This command also works in
buffers of filtered items that have not yet been written to a file.)
@end table

In the todo items section of each Todo mode category, the item prefix
(whether a priority number or a fixed string) of the top priority items
(determined as specified in @pxref{Filtering Items}) is displayed in a
different face from the prefix of the other items, so you see at a
glance how many items in the category are top priorities.

@node Other Display Commands and Options, , Item Prefix, Todo Display Features
@section Other Display Commands and Options

There are two additional toggle commands that affect display in the
current file:

@table @kbd

@item F h
@itemx h
Hide the item headers if visible, or show them if they are hidden.
With done items, only the done header (i.e. the done tag and date-time
string inserted when the item was marked done) is hidden, the original
date-time string is not. With filtered items, the category (or
category-file) tag is not hidden.

@item F H
@itemx H
Highlight the current item if unhighlighted, or remove its highlighting.
When item highlighting is enabled, it follows navigation by @kbd{n} or
@kbd{p}.  If you want to have current item highlighting by default,
enable the option @code{todo-highlight-item}.  @kbd{F H} or @kbd{H} will
still toggle it.
@end table

There are two options which affect the display of items whose content is
longer than one screen line:

@itemize @bullet{}

@item
@code{todo-indent-to-here} sets the amount of indentation for all lines
after the first in multiline todo items, which is necessary in order
for todo diary items to be fully visible in the Fancy Diary display.
The default indentation is 3 spaces.  For a uniform appearance this
option applies to all items, i.e., diary and nondiary todo items and
also done items.

@item
@code{todo-wrap-lines} allows you to choose, for the purposes of
insertion and editing, between treating multiline todo items as
containing multiple logical lines with hard line breaks or as multiple
visual lines using Visual Line mode; the latter is the default.  Since
multiparagraph items also contain hard line breaks in Visual Line mode,
for a uniform appearance this display shows indentation on wrapped lines
by using a wrap-prefix of @code{todo-indent-to-here} spaces.
@end itemize

The indentation inserted after a hard newline is actually a tab
character, and the Todo modes that display items bind @code{tab-width} to
@code{todo-indent-to-here}, so if you change the default value of the
latter, the next time you visit a Todo file, the indentation will
reflect your change.

By default, the todo and done items sections of a todo category are
visually separated by a line as wide as the window the buffer is
displayed in.  You can change the appearance and width of the separator
by customizing @code{todo-done-separator-string}; you can also change the
face of the separator string.

There are also several options for changing the appearance in Todo
Categories mode and Todo Filtered Items mode, beyond those mentioned
above in the sections on these modes; see the customization groups
@code{todo-categories} and @code{todo-filtered} for details.

@node Printing Todo Buffers, Legacy Todo Mode Files, Todo Display Features, Top
@chapter Printing Todo Buffers

If you print a Todo buffer using one of the standard Emacs printing
commands, it does not look exactly like what you see in the buffer.
This is because some of the display features are non-printable
(specifically, those using overlays, word-wrap and wrap-prefix).  Todo
mode provides two print commands that produce output which includes
printable counterparts of such display features:

@table @kbd

@item P B
Send the printable buffer output directly to your printer.

@item P F
Prompt for a file name and write the printable output to that file.
@end table

By default, Todo uses @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces} to make the
printable version; you can change this by setting the option
@code{todo-print-function}.

@node Legacy Todo Mode Files, GNU Free Documentation License, Printing Todo Buffers, Top
@chapter Legacy Todo Mode Files

Users of the original version of Todo mode will recognize from the
description in this user manual that, although the new version shares
with the original version the same basic user interface and handling of
todo items, there are some incompatible differences between them, such
as the done items sections (there are also other file format
incompatibilities behind the scenes that are normally not visible to
users).

The most significant incompatibility concerns the item prefix.  In the
earlier version of Todo mode the prefix was the initial part of the item
string itself, so in order for the item to be displayable in the Emacs
diary, the prefix had to be a date/time pattern recognizable by the
diary (although the todo item also has its own date/time header).
Moreover, since all items had the same prefix string in the original
version, this means that either only all or no items could appear in the
Fancy Diary display on any given date.  This considerably restricts the
practicality of including todo items in the diary.  In contrast, the
current version of Todo mode uses overlays for item priority numbering
or prefixes, and item-specific diary-compatible date/time headers and
special marks for todo items to be excluded from the diary, so you can
determine for each item whether and when it appears in the Fancy Diary
display.

Due to these incompatibilities, files created with the original version
of Todo mode cannot be displayed or edited with the current version.
However, this version provides a function that converts the two main
types of files used by the original version into new-style valid todo
and archive files, respectively, and saves them in
@code{todo-directory}.@footnote{The original version of Todo mode also
allowed saving a file of top priority items, but since you can readily
create such a file with the new version, which is also more flexible,
no conversion is provided for this file.}

This conversion function is automatically called the first time you
invoke @code{todo-show} (i.e., before you have created a todo file with
the new version), and if it finds the old-style files, it offers to
convert them, making them the first new-style todo and archive files.
If you choose not to convert the old-style files at this time, you can
do so later by invoking the command @code{todo-convert-legacy-files}
(there is no key binding for it, since it shouldn't be necessary to use
it often).  (A delicate part of the conversion concerns the customizable
format of item date/time headers in the old-style; see the documentation
string of @code{todo-todo-mode-date-time-regexp} for details.)

@node GNU Free Documentation License, , Legacy Todo Mode Files, Top
@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
@include doclicense.texi

@bye

@c End: