Re: [PATCH] Separate clocksum format for durations >= 1 day

[Nicolas Goaziou <n.goaziou@gmail.com>]

Toby Cubitt <tsc25@cantab.net> writes:

>> I still think functions are the way to go. Three options in the
>> defcustom:
>> 
>>   - One to provide regular time (i.e 14:40 or 3d 18:32)
>> 
>>   - One to provide decimal time with the highest unit available (i.e.
>>     18,75 h or 2,5 d).
>> 
>>   - One free slot for an user-defined function.
>
> I like the flexibility of functions. But one drawback of this is that you
> can't produce your "5 h 32 min" or "5,3 days" examples without defining a
> new function.
>
> It would be nice if tweaking just the format (without
> changing the numbers themselves) could be done by changing a simple
> format string.
>
> Because the number of placeholders in a format string is fixed, I don't
> see how to avoid the need for multiple format strings. Perhaps we need a
> second defcustom that holds a list of format strings, to be used by the
> functions in your first two choices.
>
> The first format string for durations < 1 day (or for all durations if
> this is the only string in the list), the second for durations >= 1 day.
> One nice thing is that this could easily be extended in the obvious way
> if one wanted to allow different formats for durations >= 1 month or
>>= 1 year.
>
> It's slightly ugly that the defaults for the format-string defcustom
> would have to change depending on the value of the function defcustom. I
> guess one could either have the format-string defcustom default to nil,
> and use hard-coded defaults in the functions (which are overridden by a
> non-nil format string value). Or put both functions and format strings
> into a single defcustom, e.g. as a list with the function in the first
> element.

Actually the number of functions defined doesn't matter much. What
matters is the number of functions exposed to the end-user, which is
0 in this situation (or 1 if he decides to write his own). Here, all is
solved with one defcustom.

You don't even need to create multiple functions for that. The defcustom
can store `regular', `decimal' symbols or a function. Then you can write
a generic duration format function that will be used across code base
with the following template:

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defun org-build-format-duration (n)
  "Format duration N according to `org-duration-format' variable.
N is the duration to display, as a number, expressed in minutes.
Return formatted duration as a string."
  (cond ((functionp org-duration-format) (funcall org-duration-format))
        ((eq org-duration-format 'regular) ...)
        ((eq org-duration-format 'decimal) ...)
        (t (error "Invalid `org-duration-format' value"))))
#+end_src

One variable exposed to the user. One function exposed to the developer.
It's much simpler.


Regards,

-- 
Nicolas Goaziou