Matt Lundin <m...@imapmail.org> writes:

> Ben Finney <ben+em...@benfinney.id.au> 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



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