Re: How to do Properties search by define an agenda command

[Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org>]

David Maus <dmaus@ictsoc.de> writes:

> At Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:59:58 -0500,
> Chao LU wrote:
>> I'm trying to figure out how  to do Properties search by define an agenda
>> command.
>>
>> Here is my item in org file:
>>
>> *** Franz Schwabl / Quantum Mechanics
>>     :PROPERTIES:
>>     :TITLE: Quantum Mechanics
>>     :AUTHOR: Franz Schwabl
>>     :CATEGORY: Quantum Mechanics
>>     :TAGS: Quantum Mechanics, Group Theory
>>     :KEYWORD: Quantum Mechanics, Perturbation, Second Quantization
>>     :LOCATION: iTune
>>     :END:
>
> IIRC the space character of a property value must be escaped (%20)
> because Org uses the plain space character to separate multiple values
> in a property.  So the drawer should look like:
>
>     :PROPERTIES:
>     :TITLE: Quantum%20Mechanics
>     :AUTHOR: Franz%20Schwabl
>     :CATEGORY: Quantum%20Mechanics
>     :TAGS: Quantum%20Mechanics Group%20Theory
>     :KEYWORD: Quantum%20Mechanics Perturbation Second%20Quantization
>     :LOCATION: iTune
>     :END:
>
> But now, sadly, that's all we've got.  The search engine can only
> search for equal strings (e.g. TITLE="Quantum%20Mechanics") or regular
> expression and it does not handle multivalue properties.

I don't believe this is the case. The following search works fine for me
with the OP's properties drawer:

C-c a m TITLE="Quantum Mechanics"

> Looks like to use the intended functionality someone has to patch Org
> mode's tag search to handle multivalue properties.

I don't believe the space in property values is meant to indicate
multiple values (i.e., in the same way that ":" separates tags). Here's
an example from the manual:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
     * CD collection
     ** Classic
     *** Goldberg Variations
         :PROPERTIES:
         :Title:     Goldberg Variations
         :Composer:  J.S. Bach
         :Artist:    Glen Gould
         :Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
         :NDisks:    1
         :END:
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

That said, one can create ad hoc multivalue properties by using regexps
in property searches.

Best,
Matt