From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Ben Finney Subject: Re: Monthly events based on count of specific weekdays Date: Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:52:13 +1100 Message-ID: <87bpjc4u4i.fsf@benfinney.id.au> References: <87ws214lpo.fsf@benfinney.id.au> <87fx8p434f.fsf@benfinney.id.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Return-path: Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1N7Ekl-0000qi-Du for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:51 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1N7Ekh-0000od-IK for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:51 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=34419 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1N7Ekh-0000oT-FP for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:47 -0500 Received: from lo.gmane.org ([80.91.229.12]:53360) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1N7Ekg-0004vW-Vk for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:47 -0500 Received: from list by lo.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.50) id 1N7Ekf-0001Ho-48 for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:52:45 +0100 Received: from eth595.vic.adsl.internode.on.net ([150.101.214.82]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:52:45 +0100 Received: from ben+emacs by eth595.vic.adsl.internode.on.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:52:45 +0100 List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org Matt Lundin writes: > Ben Finney writes: > > > Hmm. [a sexp] makes the entry unreadable as a date+time. One of the > > main advantages of the usual Org date+time specifications is they're > > perfectly readable even to people who know nothing about Org, Emacs, > > or Lisp. > > Well, yes. But not for every possible niche usage. That's partly my point: “second Tuesday of the month” isn't niche, it is pretty common, I would have thought. > Org-mode provides human readable syntax for the majority of scenarios, > but allows power users to harness the capabilities of emacs and elisp > for the rest. Much appreciated. > > Is there a way to get a readable format that still behaves as I > > described? > > Not that I know of. But since this is org-mode, you could add a note > under the diary sexp explaining what it represents. > > You'd have to ask Carsten to implement a new timestamp syntax. What > would you propose as a more readable designation? How about this: <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m Tue> Repeat each month, on the second Tuesday of the month. Calculated because this date is the second Tuesday of the month, and the repeat weekday is specified. <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m> Repeat each month, on the 13th day of the month. Calculated because this date is the 8th of the month, and the repeat weekday is not specified. <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m Fri> Invalid, since this date is not on a Friday. Or, rather than introducing syntax that makes it easy to put invalid syntax: <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m dow> Repeat each month, on the second Tuesday of the month. Calculated because this date is the second Tuesday of the month, and “dow” is the specified repeat type. <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m dom> Repeat each month, on the 13th day of the month. Calculated because this date is the 8th of the month, and “dom” is the specified repeat type. <2009-10-13 Tue 14:00 +1m> Repeat each month, on the 13th day of the month. Calculated because this date is the 8th of the month, and “dom” is the default repeat type. I somewhat prefer this latter syntax, because it uses a brief keyword, allowing for other keywords in the future if a case can be made for other repeat types. -- \ “Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take | `\ for granted … but to weigh and consider.” —Francis Bacon | _o__) | Ben Finney