timetracking

What's this for?

This script will update the Team Python timetracking spreadsheet with the current time. On the first run of the day, the script updates the start time. After that, when start time has already been filled, each additional run keeps updating the end time.

Requirements

Install the required pip packages:

pip3 install --upgrade oauth2client gspread

In the Google spreadsheet, make sure that the Google service account you have the credentials for has permission to edit the spreadsheet and the worksheet you want to edit.

Usage

python3 timetrack.py [--start | --end] <spreadsheet-id> <worksheet-name> <path-to-credentials-json>

With example arguments:

python3 timetrack.py 1HYUt1Y0UVAvGLRsBb6Esbsj6hnc3hI0XmHHHzbRlbnb James /home/james/credentials.json

The --start and --end flags can be used to force the script to update a specific field. When omitted, the script works as explained in section "What's this for".

Ask another team member for the credentials file. The spreadsheet id you'll find in the spreadsheet URL.

Setup for easy usage

To make running the script easier, I recommend creating a shell script in your path (or an alias) that runs the script with the correct configuration for you. For instance, have a file called ~/bin/timetrack with the following content (edit the arguments though):

#!/usr/bin/env bash

python3 /home/james/dev/timetracking/timetrack.py 1HYUt1Y0UVAvGLRsBb6Esbsj6hnc3hI0XmHHHzbRlbnb James /home/james/credentials.json

Make the script executable with

chmod +x ~/bin/timetrack

After this, you can simply run the script by running

timetrack

Run automation

Make the following cronjob (edit the path to the shell script's path that you set up for yourself earlier):

*/15 * * * * ~/bin/timetrack >/dev/null 2>&1

Also configure your machine to run timetrack once on startup so you don't lose the first 15 minutes of the day.

If you are feeling lazy, or are using an inferior operating system like macOS where it is hard to configure things to run at startup, consider using only the cronjob, but running it more often, e.g. every minute:

* * * * * ~/bin/timetrack >/dev/null 2>&1

If you don't want the spreadsheet to be updated on Saturdays and Sundays, use the following cronjob:

* * * * 1-5 ~/bin/timetrack >/dev/null 2>&1