How to create a daily logger (diary) and display the collected data in Charty?

[jaddel]

TLDR:

The end goal of the project is to program your habits and help you to actually change them or at least to be aware of them.
It’s supposed to be kind of like a diary thats quickly done every day without the writing part.

Here are my requirements:

I’m looking for a simple offline solution that is easily scalable e.g if i want add a new log or change the menu structure.
Also a bit more complex menus should be possible to track nutrition or spendings.
The database should be exportable at any time.
I need a visual feedback on my iOS Devices, that represents the to me most important logs and puts them into relation to each other.

Hello Guys, the title basically says it all.

I would like to have a daily log on my phone that is flexible and provides full control over the collected data.
In the second step i would like to display the data with Charty on my home screen as a kind of bio feedback to see how my behaviour affects my daily life.

E.g of what i would like to track:

Ver. 1, Did you do Sport today?

	Choose from Menu: Yes, No
	If No:	Next question -> Database Input 0 
	If Yes:	Neumeric Input 1-5

Ver. 1.1, Did you do Sport today?

	Choose from Menu: Yes, No	
	If No:	Next question -> Database Input 0 
	If Yes:	Choose from Menu:	easy = 1, normal = 2, hard = 3, intense = 4, very intense = 5 

ver. 2, How well did you get out of bed? 
     
       Choose from Menu: It was easy = 1, just good = 2, It was difficult = 3, I felt drowsy = 4, It was awful = 5

ver. 3, Did you had Alcohol today? 

If there was no input for 5 days i a row, start asking this question only once a week.

ver. 4, How was your memory today? 

and so on...

I had several approaches using shortcuts combined with numbers or datajar but I’m not satisfied with the flexibility they provide + you need to do everything on the phone which becomes painful after a while.

I have a basic understanding of code but no coding experience.

If somebody could give me the milestones of my project and point me in the right direction of what i need to learn i would be delighted.

From what I’ve read this could be done in scriptable.

Thank for your help.

[sylumer]

@jaddel

From what I’ve read this could be done in scriptable.

Charty only works with Shortcuts, so I’m not exactly sure of the benefit of adding Scriptable into the mix on this one. What is it that’s caught your attention on it providing a better option for your needs?

@jaddel

I had several approaches using shortcuts combined with numbers or datajar but I’m not satisfied with the flexibility they provide + you need to do everything on the phone which becomes painful after a while.

In terms of using Data Jar, yes you would need to do everything on the phone. in terms of Numbers you should be able to do that on any Apple device if the spreadsheet is in iCloud and you have the app installed. Similarly for any file in iCloud.

There are of course off device storage options too such as Airtable, but the choice of destination probably depends on what you would want to do with it long term. Something like this, offering a database style storage might be exactly what you want, or it could be overkill.

What exactly is the flexibility that seems to be lacking with your approaches so far? That could help clarify your underlying requirement.

[jaddel]

@sylumer

Charty only works with Shortcuts, so I’m not exactly sure of the benefit of adding Scriptable into the mix on this one. What is it that’s caught your attention on it providing a better option for your needs?

Basically, that if i use scriptable there shouldn’t be any limitations at all, so when ever I want to change things i’m sure i won’t run into limitations. (don’t know jet what they could be, i just don’t like the idea that I’m in a box i can’t break out from)

However, if you suggest against it it’s fine for me.

@sylumer

In terms of using Data Jar, yes you would need to do everything on the phone. in terms of Numbers you should be able to do that on any Apple device if the spreadsheet is in iCloud and you have the app installed. Similarly for any file in iCloud

I only used numbers as backend for the stored data, but options how to add data to a sheet are quite limited.
Using DataJar seemed to be the easiest option, but as i said you need to configure everything on the phone which is not ideal for me but also not a deal breaker.

@sylumer

There are of course off device storage options too such as Airtable, but the choice of destination probably depends on what you would want to do with it long term. Something like this, offering a database style storage might be exactly what you want, or it could be overkill.

Airtable sound interesting but as you said it might be to much. Anyhow a databse style storage sounds interesting. I was thinking to use the data in a longterm together with Grafana or integrate it into my HomeAssistant to pull certain triggers.

The end goal of the project is to program your habits and help you to actually change them or at least to be aware of them.
It’s supposed to be kind of like a diary thats quickly done every day without the writing part.

Here are my requirements:

I’m looking for a simple offline solution that is easily scalable e.g if i want add a new log or change the menu structure.
Also a bit more complex menus should be possible to track nutrition or spendings.
The database should be exportable at any time.
I need a visual feedback on my iOS Devices, that represents the to me most important logs and puts them into relation to each other.