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| author | eeeickythump <devnull@localhost> | 2011-05-21 00:10:34 +1200 |
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| committer | eeeickythump <devnull@localhost> | 2011-05-21 00:10:34 +1200 |
| commit | 1c77d6cf3ace2de1e9c6b7b6f53ec2a93935ee6a (patch) | |
| tree | 3383dfbc2b341b17a417c80a72c21c3673c7e35d /README.org | |
| parent | e7ffd8e6eb290bd2053e100a483ddd9e012dcb33 (diff) | |
| download | org-drill-1c77d6cf3ace2de1e9c6b7b6f53ec2a93935ee6a.tar.gz org-drill-1c77d6cf3ace2de1e9c6b7b6f53ec2a93935ee6a.zip | |
Removed old doc files (renamed).2.3.2
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diff --git a/README.org b/README.org deleted file mode 100755 index e79a208..0000000 --- a/README.org +++ /dev/null @@ -1,911 +0,0 @@ -# -*- mode: org; coding: utf-8-unix -*- -#+STARTUP: showall -#+OPTIONS: num:nil -#+TITLE: Org-Drill -#+AUTHOR: Paul Sexton - -* Synopsis - - -Org-Drill is an extension for [[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/][GNU Emacs]] [[http://orgmode.org/][Org mode]]. Org-Drill uses a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition][spaced -repetition]] algorithm to conduct interactive "drill sessions", using org files -as sources of facts to be memorised. Each topic is treated as a "flash -card". The material to be remembered is presented to the student in random -order. The student rates his or her recall of each item, and this information -is fed back to =org-learn= to schedule the item for later revision. - -Each drill session can be restricted to topics in the current buffer -(default), one or several files, all agenda files, or a subtree. A single -topic can also be drilled. - -Different "topic types" can be defined, which present their information to the -student in different ways. - -For more on the spaced repetition algorithm, and examples of other programs -that use it, see: -- [[http://supermemo.com/index.htm][SuperMemo]] (see descriptions of the SM2, SM5 and SM8 algorithms) -- [[http://ichi2.net/anki/][Anki]] -- [[http://mnemosyne-proj.org/index.php][Mnemosyne]] - -Org-Drill comes bundled with Org mode, in the "contrib" directory. Org-Drill -also has its own repository, which is updated more regularly than the bundled -version. The repository is at: - -http://bitbucket.org/eeeickythump/org-drill - - -* Installation - - -Put the following in your =.emacs=. You will also need to make sure that Org's -"contrib/lisp" directory is in the emacs load-path. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(require 'org-drill) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - - -* Demonstration - - -Load the file [[file:spanish.org][spanish.org]]. Press =M-x= and run the function =org-drill=. Follow -the prompts at the bottom of the screen. - -When the drill finishes, you can look at =spanish.org= to get some idea of how -drill topics are written. - - -* Writing the questions - - -Org-Drill uses org mode topics as 'drill items'. To be used as a drill item, -the topic must have a tag that matches the value of -=org-drill-question-tag=. This is =:drill:= by default. Any other org topics -will be ignored. - -Drill items can have other drill items as children. When a drill item is being -tested, the contents of any child drill items will be hidden. - -You don't need to schedule the topics initially. Unscheduled items are -considered to be 'new' and ready for memorisation. - -How should 'drill topics' be structured? Any org topic is a legal drill topic --- it will simply be shown with all subheadings collapsed, so that only the -material beneath the main item heading is visible. After pressing a key, any -hidden subheadings will be revealed, and you will be asked to rate your -"recall" of the item. - -This will be adequate for some items, but usually you will want to write items -where you have more control over what information is hidden from the user for -recall purposes. For this reason, some other card types are defined, including: -- [[Two-sided cards]] -- [[Multi-sided cards]] -- [[Multi-cloze cards]] -- [[User-defined card types]] - -*A note about comments:* In org mode, comment lines start with '#'. The rest of -the line is ignored by Org (apart from some special cases). You may sometimes -want to put material in comments which you do not want to see when you are -being tested on the item. For this reason, comments are always rendered -invisible while items are being tested. - - -** Simple topics - - -The simplest drill topic has no special structure. When such a topic is -presented during a drill session, any subheadings are "collapsed" with their -contents hidden. So, you could include the question as text beneath the main -heading, and the answer within a subheading. For example: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Item :drill: -What is the capital city of Estonia? - -** The Answer -Tallinn. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -When this item is presented for review, the text beneath the main heading will -be visible, but the contents of the subheading ("The Answer") will be hidden. - - -** Cloze deletion - - -Cloze deletion can be used in any drill topic regardless of whether it is -otherwise 'simple', or is one of the specialised topic types discussed -below. To use cloze deletion, one or more parts of the body of the topic is -marked as /cloze text/ by surrounding it with single square brackets, [like -so]. When the topic is presented for review, the text within square brackets -will be obscured. The text is then revealed after the user presses a key. For -example: - - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Item :drill: -The capital city of Estonia is [Tallinn]. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -During review, the user will see: - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -The capital city of Estonia is @<font style="background-color: blue;" color="cyan"> -@<tt>[...]@</tt>@</font>. -#+END_QUOTE - -When the user presses a key, the text "Tallinn" will become visible. - - -** Clozed text hints - - -Clozed text can contain a "hint" about the answer. If the text surrounded -by single square brackets contains a `|' character (vertical bar), all text -after that character is treated as a hint. During testing, the hint text will -be visible when the rest of the text is hidden, and invisible when the rest of -the text is visible. - -Example: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -Type 1 hypersensitivity reactions are mediated by [immunoglobulin E|molecule] -and [mast cells|cell type]. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -Type 1 hypersensitivity reactions are mediated by -@<font style="background-color: blue;" color="cyan"> -@<tt>[molecule...]@</tt>@</font> -and @<font style="background-color: blue;" color="cyan"> -@<tt>[cell type...]@</tt>@</font>. -#+END_QUOTE - - -** Two-sided cards -# <<Two-sided cards>> - -The remaining topic types all use the topic property, =DRILL_CARD_TYPE=. This -property tells =org-drill= which function to use to present the topic during -review. If this property has the value =twosided= then the topic is treated as -a "two sided card". When a two sided card is reviewed, /one of the first two/ -subheadings within the topic will be visible -- all other -subheadings will be hidden. - -Two-sided cards are meant to emulate the type of flipcard where either side is -useful as test material (for example, a card with a word in a foreign language -on one side, and its translation on the other). - -A two sided card can have more than 2 subheadings, but all subheadings after -the first two are considered as "notes" and will always be hidden during topic -review. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Noun :drill: - :PROPERTIES: - :DRILL_CARD_TYPE: twosided - :END: - -Translate this word. - -** Spanish -la mujer - -** English -the woman - -** Example sentence -¿Quién fue esa mujer? -Who was that woman? -#+END_EXAMPLE - -In this example, the user will be shown the main text -- "Translate this word" --- and either 'la mujer', /or/ 'the woman', at random. The section 'Example -sentence' will never be shown until after the user presses a key, because it is -not one of the first two 'sides' of the topic. - - -** Multi-sided cards -# <<Multi-sided cards>> - - -The =multisided= card type is similar to =twosided=, except that any -subheading has a chance of being presented during the topic review. One -subheading is always shown and all others are always hidden. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Noun :drill: - :PROPERTIES: - :DRILL_CARD_TYPE: multisided - :END: - -Translate. - -** Spanish -la mesa - -** English -the table - -** Picture -[[file:table.jpg][PICTURE]] -#+END_EXAMPLE - -The user will be shown the main text and either 'la mujer', /or/ 'the woman', -/or/ a picture of a table. - - -** Multi-cloze cards -# <<Multi-cloze cards>> - - -Often, you will wish to create cards out of sentences that express several -facts, such as the following: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, which is located in the -North Island and has a population of about 400,000. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -There is more than one fact in this statement -- you could create a single -'simple' card with all the facts marked as cloze text, like so: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -The capital city of [New Zealand] is [Wellington], which is located in -the [North|North/South] Island and has a population of about [400,000]. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -But this card will be difficult to remember. If you get just one of the 4 -hidden facts wrong, you will fail the card. A card like this is likely to -become a [[leeches][leech]]. - -A better way to express all these facts using 'simple' cards is to create -several cards, with one fact per card. You might end up with something -like this: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Fact -The capital city of [New Zealand] is Wellington, which has a population of -about 400,000. - -* Fact -The capital city of New Zealand is [Wellington], which has a population of -about 400,000. - -* Fact -The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, which has a population of -about [400,000]. - -* Fact -The capital city of [New Zealand] is Wellington, which is located in the -the North Island. - -* Fact -The capital city of New Zealand is [Wellington], which is located in -the North Island. - -* Fact -The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, which is located in -the [North|North/South] Island. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -However, this is really cumbersome. Multicloze card types exist for this -situation. Multicloze cards behave like 'simple' cards, except that when there -is more than one area marked as cloze text, some but not all of the areas -can be hidden. There are several types of predefined multicloze card: - -1. =hide1cloze= -- one of the marked areas is hidden during review; the others - all remain visible. The hidden text area is chosen randomly at each review. - (Note: this type used to be called 'multicloze', and that card type is - retained as a synonym for 'hide1cloze'.) -2. =show1cloze= -- only one of the marked areas is visible during review; all - the others are hidden. The hidden text area is chosen randomly at each - review. -3. =hide2cloze= -- like hide1cloze, but 2 marked pieces of text will be hidden, - and the rest will be visible. -4. =show2cloze= -- like show1cloze, but 2 marked pieces of text will be visible, - the rest are hidden. - -There are also some types of multicloze card where some pieces have an -increased or decreased chance of being hidden. These are intended for use when -studying languages: generally it is easy to translate a foreign-language -sentence into your own language if you have met it before, but it is much -harder to translate in the other direction. Therefore, you will want to test -the harder direction more often. -5. =hide1_firstmore= -- only one of the marked pieces of text will be - hidden. 75% of the time (guaranteed), the /first/ piece is hidden; the rest - of the time, one of the other pieces is randomly hidden. -6. =show1_firstless= -- only one of the marked pieces of text will be - visible. Only 25% of the time (guaranteed) will the /first/ piece will be - visible; the rest of the time, one of the other pieces is randomly visible. -7. =show1_lastmore= -- only one of the marked pieces of text will be - visible. 75% of the time (guaranteed), the /last/ piece will be visible; - the rest of the time, one of the other pieces is randomly visible. - -So, for the above example, we can actually use the original 'bad' simple card, -but change its card type to 'hide1cloze'. Each time the card is presented for -review, one of 'New Zealand', 'Wellington', 'the South Island' or '400,000' -will be hidden. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -* Fact - :PROPERTIES: - :DRILL_CARD_TYPE: hide1cloze - :END: - -The capital city of [New Zealand] is [Wellington], which is located in -the [North|North/South] Island and has a population of about [400,000]. -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -** User-defined card types -# <<User-defined card types>> - - -Finally, you can write your own emacs lisp functions to define new kinds of -topics. Any new topic type will need to be added to -=org-drill-card-type-alist=, and cards using that topic type will need to have -it as the value of their =DRILL_CARD_TYPE= property. For examples, see the -functions at the end of org-drill.el -- these include: -- =org-drill-present-verb-conjugation=, which implements the 'conjugate' - card type. This asks the user to conjugate a verb in a particular tense. It - demonstrates how the appearance of an entry can be completely altered during - a drill session, both during testing and during the display of the answer. -- =org-drill-present-translate-number=, which uses a third-party emacs lisp - library ([[http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/spell-number.el][spell-number.el]]) to prompt the user to translate random numbers - to and from any language recognised by that library. -- =org-drill-present-spanish-verb=, which defines the new topic type - =spanish_verb=. This illustrates how a function can control which of an - item's subheadings are visible during the drill session. - -See the file [[file:spanish.org][spanish.org]] for a full set of example material, including examples -of all the card types discussed above. - - -** Empty cards - - -If the body of a drill item is completely empty (ignoring properties and child -items), then the item will be skipped during drill sessions. The purpose of -this behaviour is to allow you to paste in 'skeletons' of complex items, then -fill in missing information later. For example, you may wish to include an -empty drill item for each tense of a newly learned verb, then paste in the -actual conjugation later as you learn each tense. - -Note that if an item is empty, any child drill items will *not* be ignored, -unless they are empty as well. - -If you have an item with an empty body, but still want it to be included in a -drill session, put a brief comment ('# ...') in the item body. - - -* Running the drill session - - -Start a drill session with =M-x org-drill=. By default, this includes all -non-hidden topics in the current buffer. =org-drill= takes an optional -argument, SCOPE, which allows it to take drill items from other -sources. See [[scope][below]] for details. - -During a drill session, you will be presented with each item, then asked to -rate your recall of it by pressing a key between 0 and 5. The meaning of these -numbers is (taken from =org-learn=): - -| Quality | SuperMemo label | Fail? | Meaning | -|---------+-----------------+-------+------------------------------------------------------| -| 0 | NULL | Yes | Wrong, and the answer is unfamiliar when you see it. | -| 1 | BAD | Yes | Wrong answer. | -| 2 | FAIL | Yes | Almost, but not quite correct. | -| 3 | PASS | No | Correct answer, but with much effort. | -| 4 | GOOD | No | Correct answer, with a little thought. | -| 5 | BRIGHT | No | Correct answer, effortless. | - -You can press '?' at the prompt if you have trouble remembering what the -numbers 0--5 signify. - -At any time you can press 'q' to finish the drill early (your progress up to -that point will be saved), 's' to skip the current item without viewing the -answer, or 'e' to escape from the drill and jump to the current topic for -editing (again, your progress up to that point will be saved). - -After exiting the drill session with 'e' or 'q', you can resume where you left -off, using the command =org-drill-resume=. This will return you to the item -that you were viewing when you left the session. For example, if you are shown -an item and realise that it is poorly formulated, or contains an error, you can -press 'e' to leave the drill, then correct the item, then press -=M-x org-drill-resume= and continue where you left off. - -Note that 'drastic' edits, such as deleting or moving items, can sometimes -cause Org-Drill to "lose its place" in the file, preventing it from -successfully resuming the session. In that case you will need to start a new -session. - - -* Multiple sequential drill sessions - - -Org-Drill has to scan your entire item database each time you start a new drill -session. This can be slow if you have a large item collection. If you have a -large number of 'due' items and want to run a second drill session after -finishing one session, you can use the command =org-drill-again= to run a new -drill session that draws from the pool of remaining due items that were not -tested during the previous session, without re-scanning the item collection. - -Also note that if you run =org-drill-resume= and you have actually finished the -drill session, you will be asked whether you want to start another drill -session without re-scanning (as if you had run =org-drill-again=). - - -* Cram mode - - -There are some situations, such as before an exam, where you will want to -revise all of your cards regardless of when they are next due for review. - -To do this, run a /cram session/ with the =org-drill-cram= command (=M-x -org-drill-cram RET=). This works the same as a normal drill session, except -that all items are considered due for review unless you reviewed them within -the last 12 hours (you can change the number of hours by customising the -variable =org-drill-cram-hours=). - - -* Leeches -# <<leeches>> - -From the Anki website, http://ichi2.net/anki/wiki/Leeches: - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -Leeches are cards that you keep on forgetting. Because they require so many -reviews, they take up a lot more of your time than other cards. -#+END_QUOTE - -Like Anki, Org-Drill defines leeches as cards that you have "failed" many -times. The number of times an item must be failed before it is considered a -leech is set by the variable =org-drill-leech-failure-threshold= (15 by -default). When you fail to remember an item more than this many times, the item -will be given the =:leech:= tag. - -Leech items can be handled in one of three ways. You can choose how Org-Drill -handles leeches by setting the variable =org-drill-leech-method= to one of the -following values: -- nil :: Leech items are tagged with the =leech= tag, but otherwise treated the - same as normal items. -- skip :: Leech items are not included in drill sessions. -- warn :: Leech items are still included in drill sessions, but a warning - message is printed when each leech item is presented. - -The best way to deal with a leech is either to delete it, or reformulate it so -that it is easier to remember, for example by splitting it into more than one -card. - -See [[http://www.supermemo.com/help/leech.htm][the SuperMemo website]] for more on leeches. - - -* Customisation - - -Org-Drill has several settings which you change using -=M-x customize-group org-drill <RET>=. Alternatively you can change these -settings by adding elisp code to your configuration file (=.emacs=). - - -** Visual appearance of items during drill sessions - - -If you want cloze-deleted text to show up in a special font within Org mode -buffers, add this to your .emacs: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-use-visible-cloze-face-p t) -#+END_EXAMPLE - -Item headings may contain information that "gives away" the answer to the item, -either in the heading text or in tags. If you want item headings to be made -invisible while each item is being tested, add: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-hide-item-headings-p t) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -** Duration of drill sessions - - -By default, a drill session will end when either 30 items have been -successfully reviewed, or 20 minutes have passed. To change this behaviour, use -the following settings. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-maximum-items-per-session 40) -(setq org-drill-maximum-duration 30) ; 30 minutes -#+END_EXAMPLE - -If either of these variables is set to nil, then item count or elapsed time -will not count as reasons to end the session. If both variables are nil, the -session will not end until /all/ outstanding items have been reviewed. - - -** Saving buffers after drill sessions - - -By default, you will be prompted to save all unsaved buffers at the end of a -drill session. If you don't like this behaviour, use the following setting: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-save-buffers-after-drill-sessions-p nil) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -** Sources of items for drill sessions (scope) -# <<scope>> - -By default, Org-Drill gathers drill items from the current buffer only, -ignoring any non-visible items. There may be times when you want Org-Drill to -gather drill items from other sources. You can do this by changing the value of -the variable =org-drill-scope=. Possible values are: - -- file :: The current buffer, ignoring hidden items. This is the default. -- tree :: The subtree starting with the entry at the cursor. (Alternatively you - can use =M-x org=drill-tree= to run the drill session -- this will - behave the same as =org-drill= if 'tree' was used as the value of - SCOPE.) -- file-no-restriction :: The current buffer, including both hidden and - non-hidden items. -- file-with-archives :: The current buffer, and any archives associated with it. -- agenda :: All agenda files. -- agenda-with-archives :: All agenda files with any archive files associated - with them. -- directory :: All files with the extension '.org' in the same directory as the - current file. (The current file will also be included if its - extension is .org) -- (file1 file2 ...) :: A list of filenames. All files in the list will be - scanned. - - - -** Definition of old and overdue items - - -Org-Drill prioritises /overdue/ items in each drill session, presenting them -before other items are seen. Overdue items are defined in terms of how far in -the past the item is scheduled for review. The threshold is defined in terms -of a proportion rather than an absolute number of days. If days overdue is -greater than - -: last-interval * (factor - 1) - -and is at least one day overdue, then the item is considered 'overdue'. The -default factor is 1.2, meaning that the due date can overrun by 20% before the -item is considered overdue. - -To change the factor that determines when items become overdue, use something -like the following in your .emacs. Note that the value should never be less -than 1.0. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-overdue-interval-factor 1.1) -#+END_EXAMPLE - -After prioritising overdue items, Org-Drill next prioritises /young/ -items. These are items which were recently learned (or relearned in the case of -a failure), and which therefore have short inter-repetition intervals. -"Recent" is defined as an inter-repetition interval less than a fixed number of -days, rather than a number of repetitions. This ensures that more difficult -items are reviewed more often than easier items before they stop being 'young'. - -The default definition of a young item is one with an inter-repetition interval -of 10 days or less. To change this, use the following: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-days-before-old 7) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -** Spaced repetition algorithm - - -*** Choice of algorithm - - -Org-Drill supports three different spaced repetition algorithms, all based on -SuperMemo algorithms. These are: -- [[http://www.supermemo.com/english/ol/sm2.htm][SM2]] :: an early algorithm, used in SuperMemo 2.0 (1988), which remains very - popular -- Anki and Mnemosyne, two of the most popular spaced repetition - programs, use SM2. This algorithm stores an 'ease factor' for each item, - which is modified each time you rate your recall of the item. -- [[http://www.supermemo.com/english/ol/sm5.htm][SM5]] (default) :: used in SuperMemo 5.0 (1989). This algorithm uses 'ease - factors' but also uses a persistent, per-user 'matrix of optimal factors' - which is also modified after each item repetition. -- Simple8 :: an experimental algorithm based on the [[http://www.supermemo.com/english/algsm8.htm][SM8]] algorithm. SM8 is used - in SuperMemo 8.0 (1998) and is almost identical to SM11 which is - used in SuperMemo 2002. Like SM5, it uses a matrix of optimal - factors. Simple8 differs from SM8 in that it does not adapt the - matrix to the individual user, though it does adapt each item's - 'ease factor'. - - -If you want Org-Drill to use the =SM2= algorithm, put the following in your -=.emacs=: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-spaced-repetition-algorithm 'sm2) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -*** Random variation of repetition intervals - - -The intervals generated by the SM2 and SM5 algorithms are pretty -deterministic. If you tend to add items in large, infrequent batches, the lack -of variation in interval scheduling can lead to the problem of "lumpiness" -- -one day a large batch of items are due for review, the next there is almost -nothing, a few days later another big pile of items is due. - -This problem can be ameliorated by adding some random "noise" to the interval -scheduling algorithm. The author of SuperMemo actually recommends this approach -for the SM5 algorithm, and Org-Drill's implementation uses [[http://www.supermemo.com/english/ol/sm5.htm][his code]]. - -To enable random "noise" for item intervals, set the variable -=org-drill-add-random-noise-to-intervals-p= to true by putting the following in -your =.emacs=: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-add-random-noise-to-intervals-p t) -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -*** Adjustment for early or late review of items - - -Reviewing items earlier or later than their scheduled review date may affect -how soon the next review date should be scheduled. Code to make this adjustment -is also presented on the SuperMemo website. It can be enabled with: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-adjust-intervals-for-early-and-late-repetitions-p t) -#+END_EXAMPLE - -This will affect both early and late repetitions if the Simple8 algorithm is -used. For the SM5 algorithm it will affect early repetitions only. It has no -effect on the SM2 algorithm. - - -*** Adjusting item difficulty globally - - -The =learn fraction= is a global value which affects how quickly the intervals -(times between each retest of an item) increase with successive repetitions, -for /all/ items. The default value is 0.5, and this is the value used in -SuperMemo. For some collections of information, you may find that you are -reviewing items too often (they are too easy and the workload is too high), or -too seldom (you are failing them too often). In these situations, it is -possible to alter the learn fraction from its default in order to increase or -decrease the frequency of repetition of items over time. Increasing the value -will make the time intervals grow faster, and lowering it will make them grow -more slowly. The table below shows the growth in intervals (in days) with some -different values of the learn fraction (F). The table assumes that the item is -successfully recalled each time, with an average quality of just under 4. - - -| Repetition | F=0.3 | F=0.4 | *F=0.5* | F=0.6 | F=0.7 | -|------------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------| -| 1st | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -| 2nd | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | -| 5th | 26 | 34 | 46 | 63 | 85 | -| 10th | 85 | 152 | 316 | 743 | 1942 | -| 15th | 233 | 501 | 1426 | 5471 | 27868 | - -To alter the learn fraction, put the following in your .emacs: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-drill-learn-fraction 0.45) ; change the value as desired -#+END_EXAMPLE - - -** Per-file customisation settings -# <<per-file settings>> - -Most of Org-Drill's customisation settings are safe as file-local -variables. This means you can include a commented section like this at the end -of your .org file to apply special settings when running a Drill session using -that file: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -# Local Variables: -# org-drill-maximum-items-per-session: 50 -# org-drill-spaced-repetition-algorithm: simple8 -# End: -#+END_EXAMPLE - -You can achieve the same effect by including the settings in the 'mode line' -(this must be the *first line* in the file), like so: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -# -*- org-drill-maximum-items-per-session: 50; org-drill-spaced-repetition-algorithm: simple8 -*- -#+END_EXAMPLE - -In either case you will need to save, close and re-open the file for the -changes to take effect. - - -* Coping with large collections - - -If you keep all your items in a single file, it may eventually very large. The -file will be slow to load, and Emacs may have trouble syntax-highlighting the -file contents correctly. - -The easiest steps to solve this problem are: -1. Move your file into its own dedicated directory. -2. Divide the file into two or more smaller files. -3. Within each file, set =org-drill-scope= to 'directory'. See - [[per-file settings]] above for instructions about how to do this. - - -* Sharing, merging and synchronising item collections - - -Every drill item is automatically given a persistent unique "ID" the first time -it is seen by Org-Drill. This means that if two different people subsequently -edit or reschedule that item, Org-Drill can still tell that it is the same -item. This in turn means that collections of items can be shared and edited in -a collaborative manner. - -There are two commands that are useful in this regard: -1. =org-drill-strip-all-data= - this command deletes all user-specific - scheduling data from every item in the current collection. (It takes the - same optional 'scope' argument as =org-drill= to define which items will - be processed by the command). User-specific data includes scheduling dates, - ease factors, number of failures and repetitions, and so on. All items are - reset to 'new' status. This command is useful if you want to share your - item collection with someone else. -2. =org-drill-merge-buffers= - When called from buffer A, it prompts you for - another buffer (B), which must also be loaded into Emacs. This command - imports all the user-specific scheduling data from buffer B into buffer A, - and deletes any such information in A. Matching items are identified by - their ID. Any items in B that do not exist in A are copied to A, in - the same hierarchical location if all the parent headings exist, otherwise - at the end of the buffer. - -An example scenario: - -Tim decides to learn Swedish using an item collection (=.org= file) made -publically available by Jane. (Before publishing it Jane used -'org-drill-strip-all-data' to remove her personal scheduling data from the -collection.) A few weeks later, Jane updates her collection, adding new items -and revising some old ones. Tim downloads the new collection and imports his -progress from his copy of the old collection, using 'org-drill-merge-buffers', -using the new collection as buffer A and the old one as buffer B. He can then -discard the old copy. Any items HE added to HIS copy of the old collection -(buffer B) will not be lost -- they will be appended to his copy of the new -collection. - -Of course the sharing does not need to be 'public'. You and a friend might be -learning a language or some other topic together. You each maintain a card -collection. Periodically your friend sends you a copy of their collection -- -you run =org-drill-merge-buffers= on it, always using your own collection as -buffer B so that your own scheduling progress is carried over. Other times you -send your friend a copy of your collection, and he or she follows the same -procedure. - - -* Incremental reading - - -An innovative feature of the program SuperMemo is so-called "incremental -reading". This refers to the ability to quickly and easily make drill items -from selected portions of text as you read an article (a web page for -example). See [[http://www.supermemo.com/help/read.htm][the SuperMemo website]] for more on incremental reading. - -Much of the infrastructure for incremental reading is already provided by Org -Mode, with the help of some other emacs packages. You can provide yourself with -an incremental reading facility by using 'org-capture' alongside a package that -allows you to browse web pages either in emacs (w3 or [[http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/emacs-w3m][emacs-w3m]]) or in the -external browser of your choice ([[http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-protocol.php][org-protocol]]). - -Another important component of incremental reading is the ability to save your -exact place in a document, so you can read it /incrementally/ rather than all -at once. There is a large variety of bookmarking packages for emacs which -provide advanced bookmarking functionality: see the [[http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BookMarks][Emacs Wiki]] for details. -Bookmarking exact webpage locations in an external browser seems to be a bit -more difficult. For Firefox, the [[http://www.wired-marker.org/][Wired Marker]] addon works well. - -An example of using Org-Drill for incremental reading is given below. First, -and most importantly, we need to define a couple of =org-capture= templates for -captured facts. - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -(setq org-capture-templates - `(("u" - "Task: Read this URL" - entry - (file+headline "tasks.org" "Articles To Read") - ,(concat "* TODO Read article: '%:description'\nURL: %c\n\n") - :empty-lines 1 - :immediate-finish t) - - ("w" - "Capture web snippet" - entry - (file+headline "my-facts.org" "Inbox") - ,(concat "* Fact: '%:description' :" - (format "%s" org-drill-question-tag) - ":\n:PROPERTIES:\n:DATE_ADDED: %u\n:SOURCE_URL: %c\n:END:\n\n%i\n%?\n") - :empty-lines 1 - :immediate-finish t) - ;; ...other capture templates... - )) -#+END_EXAMPLE - -Using these templates and =org-protocol=, you can set up buttons in your web -browser to: -- Create a task telling you to read the URL of the currently viewed webpage -- Turn a region of selected text on a webpage, into a new fact which is saved - to whichever file and heading you nominate in the template. The fact will - contain a timestamp, and a hyperlink back to the webpage where you created - it. - -For example, suppose you are reading the Wikipedia entry on tuberculosis [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis][here]]. - -You read the following: - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -The classic symptoms of tuberculosis are a chronic cough with blood-tinged -sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Infection of other organs causes -a wide range of symptoms. Treatment is difficult and requires long courses of -multiple antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in -(extensively) multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Prevention relies on screening -programs and vaccination, usually with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. -#+END_QUOTE - -You decide you want to remember that "Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine" is the -name of the vaccine against tuberculosis. First, you select the `interesting' -portion of the text with the mouse: - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -The classic symptoms of tuberculosis are a chronic cough with blood-tinged -sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Infection of other organs causes -a wide range of symptoms. Treatment is difficult and requires long courses of -multiple antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in -(extensively) multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. -@<font style="background-color: yellow;">Prevention relies -on screening programs and vaccination, usually with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin -vaccine.@</font> -#+END_QUOTE - -Then you press the button you created when setting up =org-protocol=, which is -configured to activate the capture template "w: Capture web snippet". The -selected text will be sent to Emacs, turned into a new fact using the template, -and filed away for your later attention. - -(Note that it might be more efficient to turn the entire paragraph into a drill -item -- since it contains several important facts -- then split it up into -multiple items when you edit it later in Emacs.) - -Once you have had enough of reading the article, save your place, then go to -your "fact" file in Emacs. You should see that each piece of text you selected -has been turned into a drill item. Continuing the above example, you would see -something like: - -#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -** Fact: 'Tuberculosis - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia' :drill: - -Prevention relies on screening programs and vaccination, usually with Bacillus -Calmette-Guérin vaccine. -#+END_EXAMPLE - -You need to edit this fact so it makes sense independent of its context, as -that is how it will be presented to you in future. The easiest way to turn the -text into a 'question' is by cloze deletion. All you need to do is surround the -'hidden' parts of the text with square brackets. - -: Prevention of tuberculosis relies on screening programs and vaccination, -: usually with [Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine]. - - -You can of course define browser buttons that use several different "fact" -templates, each of which might send its fact to a different file or subheading, -or give it different tags or properties, for example. - - |
