How to specify birthdays?

How to specify birthdays?

[Josef Wolf]

Hello,

I am trying to use org-mode for birthdays. I have tried those two entries:

* Calendar
** Birthdays
*** Somebody
    SCHEDULED: <1970-05-20 Mo +1y>
*** Somebody1
    SCHEDULED:
 %%(org-anniversary 1970  5 20) Somebody1 is %d years old


The first entry is shown in the agenda for the current day as:


  Calendar:   Sched.358x:  Somebody

I find this a bit strange. I want a reminder a couple of days before the
event. But I don't want an everday reminder of how days have gone past the
last event.

The second entry doesn't appear at all in the agenda.

Any ideas what I am missing here?

-- 
Josef Wolf
jw@raven.inka.de

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Dominic Surano]

Josef Wolf <jw <at> raven.inka.de> writes:

> 
> Hello,
> 
> I am trying to use org-mode for birthdays. I have tried those two entries:
> 
> * Calendar
> ** Birthdays
> *** Somebody
>     SCHEDULED: <1970-05-20 Mo +1y>
> *** Somebody1
>     SCHEDULED:
>  %%(org-anniversary 1970  5 20) Somebody1 is %d years old
> 
> The first entry is shown in the agenda for the current day as:
> 
>   Calendar:   Sched.358x:  Somebody
> 
> I find this a bit strange. I want a reminder a couple of days before the
> event. But I don't want an everday reminder of how days have gone past the
> last event.
> 
> The second entry doesn't appear at all in the agenda.
> 
> Any ideas what I am missing here?
> 

Make it a deadline instead of a SCHEDULED item and set it to the current 
year with the +1y modifier. That way it will only come up a few days before 
it's due.

* Calendar
** Birthdays
*** Somebody
    DEADLINE: <2014-05-12 Tue +1y>

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Erik Iverson]

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Not a direct answer, but have you found the org-contacts package?

 https://julien.danjou.info/projects/emacs-packages#org-contacts

It supports the BIRTHDAY property. See the note at bottom of the link above
about how it integrates with the agenda.

Example:

** Dad
:PROPERTIES:
:BIRTHDAY: 1955-01-21
:END:



On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 4:42 PM, Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am trying to use org-mode for birthdays. I have tried those two entries:
>
> * Calendar
> ** Birthdays
> *** Somebody
>     SCHEDULED: <1970-05-20 Mo +1y>
> *** Somebody1
>     SCHEDULED:
>  %%(org-anniversary 1970  5 20) Somebody1 is %d years old
>
>
> The first entry is shown in the agenda for the current day as:
>
>
>   Calendar:   Sched.358x:  Somebody
>
> I find this a bit strange. I want a reminder a couple of days before the
> event. But I don't want an everday reminder of how days have gone past the
> last event.
>
> The second entry doesn't appear at all in the agenda.
>
> Any ideas what I am missing here?
>
> --
> Josef Wolf
> jw@raven.inka.de
>
>

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Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Dominic Surano <sk8ingdom@gmail.com> writes:

> Josef Wolf <jw <at> raven.inka.de> writes:
>
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> I am trying to use org-mode for birthdays. I have tried those two entries:
>> 
>> * Calendar
>> ** Birthdays
>> *** Somebody
>>     SCHEDULED: <1970-05-20 Mo +1y>
>> *** Somebody1
>>     SCHEDULED:
>>  %%(org-anniversary 1970  5 20) Somebody1 is %d years old
>> 
>> The first entry is shown in the agenda for the current day as:
>> 
>>   Calendar:   Sched.358x:  Somebody
>> 
>> I find this a bit strange. I want a reminder a couple of days before the
>> event. But I don't want an everday reminder of how days have gone past the
>> last event.
>> 
>> The second entry doesn't appear at all in the agenda.
>> 
>> Any ideas what I am missing here?
>> 
>
> Make it a deadline instead of a SCHEDULED item and set it to the current 
> year with the +1y modifier. That way it will only come up a few days before 
> it's due.
>
> * Calendar
> ** Birthdays
> *** Somebody
>     DEADLINE: <2014-05-12 Tue +1y>

Deadlines and schedules are generally for things that require an action
on your part, and thus will continue to show up in the agenda as
un-acted-upon if you don't do anything. Usually, for things like
birthdays, you just use a plain timestamp (no scheduled or deadline),
and then you can just see it coming in the usual org agenda. I don't
think there's any other way to give a specific warning about an upcoming
timestamp, though...

Eric

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Josef Wolf]

On Mo, Mai 12, 2014 at 10:22:02 +0000, Dominic Surano wrote:
> Make it a deadline instead of a SCHEDULED item and set it to the current 
> year with the +1y modifier. That way it will only come up a few days before 
> it's due.
> 
> * Calendar
> ** Birthdays
> *** Somebody
>     DEADLINE: <2014-05-12 Tue +1y>

By setting it to the current year, I'd loose track of the original year when
the event happened.
I _really_ like the idea of "XXX is %d years old", like it is shown in the
org-anniversary example!

-- 
Josef Wolf
jw@raven.inka.de

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Josef Wolf]

On Di, Mai 13, 2014 at 09:40:56 +0800, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
> Dominic Surano <sk8ingdom@gmail.com> writes:
> Deadlines and schedules are generally for things that require an action
> on your part, and thus will continue to show up in the agenda as
> un-acted-upon if you don't do anything. Usually, for things like
> birthdays, you just use a plain timestamp (no scheduled or deadline),
> and then you can just see it coming in the usual org agenda. I don't
> think there's any other way to give a specific warning about an upcoming
> timestamp, though...

Yeah, that seems to work better.

But still no way for something like "Married %d years ago!" like its shown in
the org-anniversary example on orgmode.org/manual/Weekly_002fdaily-agenda.html

-- 
Josef Wolf
jw@raven.inka.de

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> writes:

> On Di, Mai 13, 2014 at 09:40:56 +0800, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>> Dominic Surano <sk8ingdom@gmail.com> writes:
>> Deadlines and schedules are generally for things that require an action
>> on your part, and thus will continue to show up in the agenda as
>> un-acted-upon if you don't do anything. Usually, for things like
>> birthdays, you just use a plain timestamp (no scheduled or deadline),
>> and then you can just see it coming in the usual org agenda. I don't
>> think there's any other way to give a specific warning about an upcoming
>> timestamp, though...
>
> Yeah, that seems to work better.
>
> But still no way for something like "Married %d years ago!" like its shown in
> the org-anniversary example on orgmode.org/manual/Weekly_002fdaily-agenda.html

Ah, for that you'll want (setq org-agenda-include-diary t). I assume you
don't have that set right now?

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Josef Wolf]

On Di, Mai 13, 2014 at 05:07:19 +0800, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
> Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> writes:
> Ah, for that you'll want (setq org-agenda-include-diary t). I assume you
> don't have that set right now?

Yes, it works with this setting. Thanks!

I was confused by this paragraph:

| If you are using the diary only for sexp entries and holidays, it is faster to
| not use the above setting, but instead to copy or even move the entries into
| an Org file. Org mode evaluates diary-style sexp entries, and does it faster
| because there is no overhead for first creating the diary display.

Since I don't want the DIARY-ANNIVERSARY anyway (because of its wired ordering
of arguments), I hesitated to use the setting that the documentation suggests
not to set =8-()
 
-- 
Josef Wolf
jw@raven.inka.de

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> writes:

> On Di, Mai 13, 2014 at 05:07:19 +0800, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>> Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> writes:
>> Ah, for that you'll want (setq org-agenda-include-diary t). I assume you
>> don't have that set right now?
>
> Yes, it works with this setting. Thanks!
>
> I was confused by this paragraph:
>
> | If you are using the diary only for sexp entries and holidays, it is faster to
> | not use the above setting, but instead to copy or even move the entries into
> | an Org file. Org mode evaluates diary-style sexp entries, and does it faster
> | because there is no overhead for first creating the diary display.
>
> Since I don't want the DIARY-ANNIVERSARY anyway (because of its wired ordering
> of arguments), I hesitated to use the setting that the documentation suggests
> not to set =8-()

You're right, that bit is confusing! I think the diary is a bit of a
holdover that no one quite knows what to do with. It's the only package
that defines arbitrary period expressions, so it keeps getting used,
but it seems like not many people actually use the diary as a diary.

Re: How to specify birthdays?

[Nick Dokos]

Josef Wolf <jw@raven.inka.de> writes:

> On Mo, Mai 12, 2014 at 10:22:02 +0000, Dominic Surano wrote:
>> Make it a deadline instead of a SCHEDULED item and set it to the current 
>> year with the +1y modifier. That way it will only come up a few days before 
>> it's due.
>> 
>> * Calendar
>> ** Birthdays
>> *** Somebody
>>     DEADLINE: <2014-05-12 Tue +1y>
>
> By setting it to the current year, I'd loose track of the original year when
> the event happened.
> I _really_ like the idea of "XXX is %d years old", like it is shown in the
> org-anniversary example!

I don't use the diary at all: I keep anniversaries in BBDB.

See

  (info "(org) weekly/daily agenda")

for details.

Nick