eclipse task list TODOs and Mylyn

Question

I use eclipse 3.5 and just installed Mylyn 3.4.2. It's GREAT, but ....
When I open the old task list (// TODO), there is no menu option for defining a filter.
Instead, the Mylyn focus icon appears.

That would be OK - I only want to see the TODOs for my current Mylyn task - but I only see one // TODO - and there are a lot more in the files that are part of the task context.
Also, I still want to filter on the TODO text - i.e. I really want to see only // TODO CR_16 (this is old code and there are a lot of old TODOs in it).

So:

• (part 1) how can I get Mylyn to show me all of the TODOs in the files in the current task context?
• (part 2) how can I then filter these so I only see TODO CR_16?

Thank you, Kim

Answer 1

It turned out I just wasn't up to speed on Galileo/Tasks. For anyone else having this problem: You filter tasks in Galileo via the Configure contents option in the Task menu. You can define several different filters (e.g. match all TODO tags, match all FIXME tags, etc.) but be careful how you set the radio button at the bottom left: Match all configurations will, for instance, only show you all tasks that have both a TODO tag and a FIXME tag (which, in my case - and probably everyone else's - was exactly none ;-)

Now that I understand that, things work great: I don't need to use // TODO CR_16, but can just use // TODO, instead, and use my Mylyn task focus to show me just the TODOs in my current context.

One thing that still bugs me, though, is that when you do a clean on a project, the creation time of all eclipse tasks (not Mylyn tasks) is set to the current timestamp. Is this a known bug?

Thanks for the help, Kim

Answer 2

The reason for not seeing all TODOs in your task-focussed Todo-List is that the Mylyn context does not only filter on files. If you are editing class files the context goes down to methods. I guess your TODOs are in the body of a method. As long as the concreate method is not on your context you won't see the TODO entry.

A workaround is to disable the task-focus of your TODOs and to configure the contents of the TODO list to see only the TODOs of the selected element (your active editor in this case).

HTH Tom

Answer 3

In Tasks > Configure Contents... is a menu, when You Can configure Your own filters.

If You work in a big company, or on a big project the good idea is to filter not just "TODO", but "TODO" + your nickname, so You can see only Your tasks which are awaiting. Scope "On any item" will get You possibility to watch over a whole workspace.