Trouble with Properties and Sparse Trees/Agenda View

Trouble with Properties and Sparse Trees/Agenda View

[Tom Shannon]

In my never ending search for good organizational tools I've come back
to try org-mode again.  The concept of using tags wasn't that
appealing to me but the addition of properties and columns makes it
now very feasible.  I am, however, running into problems associated
with these new features.

I'm using org-mode 6.24b and emacs 22.2.1 under Ubuntu Linux.
Creation of sparse trees and agenda views based upon tag matching is
working very well for me.  Creation of sparse trees and agenda views
based upon properties fails spectacularly.  So badly in fact that I
know I must be doing something wrong.  Here's a sample org file:

---------

* Tasks
  :PROPERTIES:
  :Task-Status_ALL: "Not Started" "In Progress" Waiting
  :END:
** Shannon, Thomas R.
   :PROPERTIES:
   :Contact-Name: Shannon
   :Task-Status: Waiting
   :END:
*** TODO This is a task
*** TODO Task 4
**** TODO Task 2
**** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:

* This is a heading
** TODO This is a task
** TODO Task 4
*** TODO Task 2
*** TODO Task 3

----------

Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / m) with a tag match "Tag1" give the following:

* Tasks...
** Shannon, Thomas R....
*** TODO Task 4...
**** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:
* This is a heading...

So far so good.

Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / p) to match the property
"Contact-Name" with the value "Shannon" when prompted gives this:

* Tasks...
* This is a heading...

I expected:

* Tasks...
** Shannon, Thomas R....
* This is a heading...

Trying to create an agenda view based upon a property is even worse.
I can't get a search using C-c a m to match anything but tags.

This functionality is make-or-break for me.  Any indication of what
I'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom S.
-- 
The release of the atom power has changed everything except our way of
thinking...  The solution to this problem lies in the heart of
mankind.  If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
-- Albert Einstein

Re: Trouble with Properties and Sparse Trees/Agenda View

[Carsten Dominik]

Hi Tom,

welcome back.

Your search fails because "-" is an operator in tags/property searches.
Therefore it should not be used as a character in a property name.

A search

    Contact-Name="Shannon"

will search for entries that do have the tag "Contact", but that do
not have a property "Name" with the value "Shannon".

You need to use Contact_Name or ContactName or something like this
for your property names.

Hope this helps

- Carsten

P.S. I do now realize that this restriction is not enforced or even
described in the manual.  Actually, I would like to have "-" in
property names, but how to disambiguate this is a search?  The best
is to avoid the dash...

On Apr 4, 2009, at 9:22 PM, Tom Shannon wrote:

> In my never ending search for good organizational tools I've come back
> to try org-mode again.  The concept of using tags wasn't that
> appealing to me but the addition of properties and columns makes it
> now very feasible.  I am, however, running into problems associated
> with these new features.
>
> I'm using org-mode 6.24b and emacs 22.2.1 under Ubuntu Linux.
> Creation of sparse trees and agenda views based upon tag matching is
> working very well for me.  Creation of sparse trees and agenda views
> based upon properties fails spectacularly.  So badly in fact that I
> know I must be doing something wrong.  Here's a sample org file:
>
> ---------
>
> * Tasks
>  :PROPERTIES:
>  :Task-Status_ALL: "Not Started" "In Progress" Waiting
>  :END:
> ** Shannon, Thomas R.
>   :PROPERTIES:
>   :Contact-Name: Shannon
>   :Task-Status: Waiting
>   :END:
> *** TODO This is a task
> *** TODO Task 4
> **** TODO Task 2
> **** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:
>
> * This is a heading
> ** TODO This is a task
> ** TODO Task 4
> *** TODO Task 2
> *** TODO Task 3
>
> ----------
>
> Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / m) with a tag match "Tag1" give the  
> following:
>
> * Tasks...
> ** Shannon, Thomas R....
> *** TODO Task 4...
> **** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:
> * This is a heading...
>
> So far so good.
>
> Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / p) to match the property
> "Contact-Name" with the value "Shannon" when prompted gives this:
>
> * Tasks...
> * This is a heading...
>
> I expected:
>
> * Tasks...
> ** Shannon, Thomas R....
> * This is a heading...
>
> Trying to create an agenda view based upon a property is even worse.
> I can't get a search using C-c a m to match anything but tags.
>
> This functionality is make-or-break for me.  Any indication of what
> I'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom S.
> -- 
> The release of the atom power has changed everything except our way of
> thinking...  The solution to this problem lies in the heart of
> mankind.  If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
> -- Albert Einstein
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode

Re: Trouble with Properties and Sparse Trees/Agenda View

[Samuel Wales]

For what it's worth, I have never been able to get used to midcaps,
underscores, or runtogetherwords.  I like hyphens too.  :)  Would be
splendid in tags also.

How about escaping with \ ?  And escaping \ with \\ .

Pro: might work, is the expected behavior, easy to document.

Con: will need special handling if search strings are constructed.
  Anti-con: if lisp search syntax is ever done, that is easier to
construct anyway.  :)



On 2009-04-04, Carsten Dominik <carsten.dominik@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Tom,
>
> welcome back.
>
> Your search fails because "-" is an operator in tags/property searches.
> Therefore it should not be used as a character in a property name.
>
> A search
>
>     Contact-Name="Shannon"
>
> will search for entries that do have the tag "Contact", but that do
> not have a property "Name" with the value "Shannon".
>
> You need to use Contact_Name or ContactName or something like this
> for your property names.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> - Carsten
>
> P.S. I do now realize that this restriction is not enforced or even
> described in the manual.  Actually, I would like to have "-" in
> property names, but how to disambiguate this is a search?  The best
> is to avoid the dash...
>
> On Apr 4, 2009, at 9:22 PM, Tom Shannon wrote:
>
>> In my never ending search for good organizational tools I've come back
>> to try org-mode again.  The concept of using tags wasn't that
>> appealing to me but the addition of properties and columns makes it
>> now very feasible.  I am, however, running into problems associated
>> with these new features.
>>
>> I'm using org-mode 6.24b and emacs 22.2.1 under Ubuntu Linux.
>> Creation of sparse trees and agenda views based upon tag matching is
>> working very well for me.  Creation of sparse trees and agenda views
>> based upon properties fails spectacularly.  So badly in fact that I
>> know I must be doing something wrong.  Here's a sample org file:
>>
>> ---------
>>
>> * Tasks
>>  :PROPERTIES:
>>  :Task-Status_ALL: "Not Started" "In Progress" Waiting
>>  :END:
>> ** Shannon, Thomas R.
>>   :PROPERTIES:
>>   :Contact-Name: Shannon
>>   :Task-Status: Waiting
>>   :END:
>> *** TODO This is a task
>> *** TODO Task 4
>> **** TODO Task 2
>> **** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:
>>
>> * This is a heading
>> ** TODO This is a task
>> ** TODO Task 4
>> *** TODO Task 2
>> *** TODO Task 3
>>
>> ----------
>>
>> Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / m) with a tag match "Tag1" give the
>> following:
>>
>> * Tasks...
>> ** Shannon, Thomas R....
>> *** TODO Task 4...
>> **** TODO Task 3						       :Tag1:
>> * This is a heading...
>>
>> So far so good.
>>
>> Creation of a sparse tree (C-c / p) to match the property
>> "Contact-Name" with the value "Shannon" when prompted gives this:
>>
>> * Tasks...
>> * This is a heading...
>>
>> I expected:
>>
>> * Tasks...
>> ** Shannon, Thomas R....
>> * This is a heading...
>>
>> Trying to create an agenda view based upon a property is even worse.
>> I can't get a search using C-c a m to match anything but tags.
>>
>> This functionality is make-or-break for me.  Any indication of what
>> I'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Tom S.
>> --
>> The release of the atom power has changed everything except our way of
>> thinking...  The solution to this problem lies in the heart of
>> mankind.  If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
>> -- Albert Einstein
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
>> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
>> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
>> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode
>


-- 
Myalgic encephalomyelitis denialism is causing death (decades early;
Jason et al. 2006) and severe suffering (worse than nearly all other
diseases studied; e.g. Schweitzer et al. 1995) and grossly corrupting
science.  http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/What_Is_ME_What_Is_CFS.htm