main
The main program of Effort Log is a simple window providing the user with information about the running logging.
The main window in EffortLog consists of various elements which described in detail below. Its main purpose is to maintain a simple interface to provide the user about the current project he or she is logging to and when the next scheduled logging event will be. Except of the menubar and the toolbar, there are no elements which need user interaction. The main window looks like the following:
A simple menubar provides the user with information about the program.
Log current effort
Starts a questionnaire for logging the current effort. This can be useful e.g. if the user wants to log earlier than the specified logging interval.
Read current log file
Opens the current log file for quickly reading through it.
About
Display information about EffortLog including the version and author of the program.
Help
Open the help window displaying the contents of the EffortLog help.
A simple toolbar provides quick access to to functions of the menubar and information about the currently active project.
A statusbar in the lower part of the main window provides the user with information about the running program. The statusbar displays a message with the following information:
- Indicator if the program is running.
- A timer in form of a progress bar until the next event.
- The time of the next scheduled logging event.
This message can be overwritten by tooltips when hovering with the mouse pointer over a button.
The log file viewer consists of a convenient tree view to allow for a quick overview over preject's activities and milestones during the active development. It can be used to review the main development efforts and performance improvements. The activities are grouped by date and hold their identifier, comment, activity, development duration in minutes and if available the according milestone(s). If a milestone exists for the activity, the type of milestone with the respective performance measure is displayed. The respective activities of a date can be viewed by clicking on the date in the first column of the viewer and can be hidden by clicking it again. A close button is located in the lower right of the window. Note that this window holds a viewer only. No changes to the underlying log file can be made. The log file viewer can look like the following:
