Re: Updating column view dynamic block does not work with {est+}

[Axel Kielhorn <org-mode@axelkielhorn.de>]

> Am 20.05.2021 um 19:58 schrieb Nicolas Goaziou <mail@nicolasgoaziou.fr>:
> 
> Org Duration is strict about what it is fed with (which is good). Effort
> property expects a duration as value. But "3-8" is not a valid duration.
> However, "3" is a valid duration; it means 3 minutes.

The problem is that effort can either be a duration and in that case the strict duration library ist fine.
Or it can be a range (of days). 

3:30 is fine when : is used to add the times
3.0 - 4.0 is a range estimate when est+ is used
3:00 - 4:00 is only correct by chance, 3:30 - 4:30 will lead to the same result since est+ does not handle durations.

Splitting it into 2 properties (effort and effort_range) is even worse since it will be inconsistent after a few edits.

Some functions only expect 1 value for the effort, which is the correct value?
What happens when I : add a range?

The dynamic block code juggles with conversion to minutes, which is wrong when a range is involved.

It gets even more interesting when on task has 3-4 (implicit) days, while another has 8:00 (implicit) hours.
(Are 8 h one work day, or are 24 h one calendar day?)

> Maybe Effort property should simply accept a duration or a duration
> range.

That’s what I first thought it would do, since a duration is a time (8:00 for 8h).
The question is how to resolve ambiguity?

1.0 is one day
1:00 is one hour
1 is one minute, really? yes, that is the default for the duration library. But it used to mean one day???

Maybe a new est: function to work with durations and the old est+ function to work with numbers 
(which could mean days, but it could mean ms as well)? And a warning about inconsistent units.

What happens when I use a range in a clock table?

The more I think about that, the more questions I have.

To be honest, I’m not even sure I will use the est+ function in real life.
(I discovered it when preparing some training material and thought that was interesting.)
I’ll probably just : add the hours and add 10% safety margin on top.
But since the feature is advertised it would be great if it works.

Would I be sorry if you deprecate this feature? Probably not.
Will anyone notice? Probably not, it has been broken for 4 years.

Greetings
Axel