Simplified generation of OmniCourse descriptors
Ulysses is a web application - packaged as a standalone CLI script - dedicated to the simplified generation of OmniCourse work descriptors.
More precisely, the user can input lines using a compact format - one line per work - and the app will try to fetch the missing information from the supported official websites.
Ulysses becomes essential as one completes more and more works while keeping track of them with OmniCourse.
To install Ulysses, you should install it as a global package:
npm install --global @giancosta86/ulyssesor
yarn global add @giancosta86/ulyssesAdditionally, please ensure that the directory used by your package manager to install binary scripts is in your PATH environment variable; in the case of Yarn, such directory is provided by the command:
yarn global binThen, to start the app:
ulysses [<port>]where:
- port is optional and defaults to 2000
To stop the app, press CTRL+C in the terminal.
Ulysses reads a minimalist log of works: each non-empty line must adhere to a specific format and will be converted to an OmniCourse work descriptor in JSON format; empty lines and spaces between line components are ignored, as well as lines starting with //.
This is the expected line format:
<completion date>: ["<title between double quotes>"] [<url not between double quotes>] [!"<kind>"] #<learning time>
where:
-
completion date is mandatory and can be written as:
-
<day>/<month>, assuming the year is the current one
-
<day>/<month>/<year>, which is the most complete format
-
* - meaning that the work has no completion date yet - because it's in progress
-
-
title is optional but, if present, must be enclosed in double quotes
-
url is optional but recommended: if the URL belongs to a supported didactic provider, it is used to fetch missing information such as the title and the learning time. It must not be enclosed in quotes
-
kind is an arbitrary string, between double quotes
-
learning time is optional but, if declared, must be prefixed by a # symbol. Its overall format is:
#<hours>h<minutes>
where hours and minutes are mandatory, arbitrary numbers (even 0), separated by the letter h
What matters is that - with or without the aid of the URL - the line enables Ulysses to gather enough information to create an OmniCourse work descriptor - that is, the title and the learning time in minutes, with the additional constraint of the completion date.
To see Ulysses in action, you could input the following text, then click Run:
// Ulysses supports a variety of didactic portals: in this case,
// the title and the learning time of each work are automatically fetched from its page
18/5: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/cryptography-big-picture
23/6: https://www.packtpub.com/product/hands-on-data-structures-and-algorithms-in-rust-video/9781839211942
29/4: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_ted_s_secret_to_great_public_speaking !"Talk"
// If a work does not belong to a supported didactic portal,
//both its title and the learning time are mandatory elements.
//The URL, in this case, becomes optional
24/8: "Introduction to Redux with TypeScript" https://speakerdeck.com/giancosta86/introduction-to-redux-with-typescript #3h30
// Works not having a URL are supported as well
17/9: "Philosophy - A very ancient book" #20h0
// There are also hybrid cases: for example, the URL of a book published
// onto a didactic portal enables the app to fetch its title,
//but the learning time remains a mandatory element
21/10: https://www.packtpub.com/product/c-9-and-net-5-modern-cross-platform-development-fifth-edition/9781800568105 #11h30