Timestamp format questions

[Joost Kremers <joostkremers@fastmail.fm>]

Hi all,

Being a long-time Emacs user, I've finally decided to take the plunge and try
org-mode. I'm still in the process of figuring out what the best way is for me
to use it, (and I suspect I'll need a few more weeks to do so ;-) but I'm
wondering about timestamps, especially about how to represent certain things
that seem to me rather common but aren't discussed explicitly in the manual.

Most pressing: how can I say that a certain event occurs every week on a certain
day and time, but only for a limited period? E.g., for classes I teach I want to
be able to say 'this class takes place from April 8 through July 8, every
Thursday from 12.00 to 14.00. If I write:

   <2010-04-08 Thu 12:00-14.00 +1w>

I get the correct time and interval, but of course it doesn't stop at the
correct date. However, if I write

   <2010-04-08 Thu 12:00-14.00 +1w>--<2010-07-08 Thu>

then it shows up *every day* in the agenda view, not just on Thursdays. (That
actually looks like a bug to me, but perhaps I'm doing something wrong.)

Also, is there a way to say that a certain event that occurs every week does not
occur on one specific date? For example, I teach a class every Thursday, but the
Thu. 13th of May was Ascension Day, so the class was cancelled. I would like the
event to not show up on such days.

BTW, I'm using Aquamacs 2.0, (org-version) says "6.33x", in case that's
relevant.

TIA

Joost


-- 
Dr. Joost Kremers
Georg-August-Universität
Seminar für Deutsche Philologie
Käte-Hamburger-Weg 3
D-37073 Göttingen