MySQL for ToDo lists?

Question

I regularly have lists such as "To-do" and "Done-works". It would be useful if it worked something like:

mysql add-to-column-in-table "Blog corrected"

mysql read-column-in-table-where-match-blog "Blog"

Can I use MySQL for the job? Are you using it for day-to-day things?

[Clarification] I need to organize my things to tables. I have over thirty dirrerent To-Do lists alone. They have different relations to other lists. They are cumbersome to organise, and some lists tend to get old.

A reason for the question is that I am unsure of the configuration on Ubuntu. There are too many mysql-files, such as "mysql-admin" and "mysql-common". I need some simple package that is easy-to-use and easy-to-get-started. It should work only locally.

Answer 1

I'm not sure I actually understand your question. Would you be able to clarify it?

You certainly can use mysql (or any database) to make a todo list. At one end of the spectrum, you could make it a single table, with two fields:

todo (id, description)

And just add and delete from the list as you go:

INSERT INTO `todo` (`description`) VALUES ('buy milk');
DELETE FROM `todo` WHERE `id` = 3;

You could then add some flags so you can track items after they're completed:

todo (id, description, isDone)    -- isDone would be a 0 or 1

And then to find all your todos:

SELECT description FROM todo WHERE isDone = 0;

You could continually add new features to it, like dates, categories, urgency levels, tasks and subtasks (eg: Make Breakfast could have subtasks of "Buy milk", "Toast bread" ...), etc etc. Just choose what's appropriate for your needs. In any case, MySQL will have you covered.

Ps: Don't forget the power of Notepad for these tasks.

Answer 2

You could use MySQL or better yet you could use SQLite3 (you won't need to run a process and its fast).

If all you want is a text-based todo list you can run on the command-line I'd check out Gina Trapani's todo.txt. You'd get most of the benefits of a querying a database but with a nice CLI that's optimized for todo related activities (querying dates, contexts, etc.)