% hledger_timedot(5)
%
% February 2016

# NAME

hledger_timedot - time logging format

# DESCRIPTION

Timedot is a plain text format for logging dated, categorised quantities (eg time), supported by hledger.
It is convenient for approximate and retroactive time logging,
eg when the real-time clock-in/out required with a timeclock file is too precise or too interruptive.
It can be formatted like a bar chart, making clear at a glance where time was spent.

Though called "timedot", the format does not specify the commodity being logged, so could represent other dated, quantifiable things.
Eg you could record a single-entry journal of financial transactions, perhaps slightly more conveniently than with hledger_journal(5) format.

## Format

A timedot file contains a series of day entries.
A day entry begins with a date, and is followed by category/quantity pairs, one per line.
Dates are hledger-style [simple date](#simple-dates) (see hledger_journal(5)).
Categories are hledger-style account names, optionally indented.
There must be at least two spaces between the category and the quantity.
Quantities can be written in two ways:

1. a series of dots (period characters).
   Each dot represents "a quarter" - eg, a quarter hour.
   Spaces can be used to group dots into hours, for easier counting.

2. a number (integer or decimal), representing "units" - eg, hours.
   A good alternative when dots are cumbersome.
   (A number also can record negative quantities.)

Blank lines and lines beginning with #, ; or * are ignored.
An example:

```timedot
# on this day, 6h was spent on client work, 1.5h on haskell FOSS work, etc.
2016/2/1
inc:client1   .... .... .... .... .... ....
fos:haskell   .... .. 
biz:research  .

2016/2/2
inc:client1   .... ....
biz:research  .
```

Or with numbers:

```timedot
2016/2/1
inc:client1   6
fos:haskell   1.5
biz:research  .25
```

I prefer . (period) for separating account components:

```timedot
2016/2/3
fos.hledger.timedot  4
biz.research         1
```

hledger requires : (colon), so rewrite them with --alias:

```shell
$ hledger -f t.timedot --alias /\\./=: bal -W
```

[default year directives](#default-year) may be used.

Here is a
[sample.timedot](https://raw.github.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/data/sample.timedot).
<!-- to download and some queries to try: -->

<!-- ```shell -->
<!-- $ hledger -f sample.timedot balance                               # current time balances -->
<!-- $ hledger -f sample.timedot register -p 2009/3                    # sessions in march 2009 -->
<!-- $ hledger -f sample.timedot register -p weekly --depth 1 --empty  # time summary by week -->
<!-- ``` -->