Re: Patch: More options for ignoring scheduled items in agenda todo lists

[Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org>]

Hi Paul,

Paul Sexton <psexton@xnet.co.nz> writes:

> In agenda todo lists, currently it is possible to ignore scheduled
> items according to when they are scheduled, using the variable
> 'org-agenda-todo-ignore-scheduled'. This can take one of three
> values - all, future (ignore if scheduled after today), or past 
> (ignore if scheduled TODAY or in the past).
>
> My definition of 'the past' does not include 'today'.
> In light of that, the following is a patch that makes the variable 
> accept 2 more values:
> - notpast: ignore if scheduled today or in the future
> - notfuture: ignore if scheduled today or in the past
>   (this is the current behaviour of the 'past' setting)
> - past: changed to ignore if scheduled BEFORE today, but no 
>   longer ignores items scheduled today.
>

I believe this patch would require many users to change their existing
configurations.

I rely on the "past" setting when creating block agenda views, such as
an agenda that includes everything scheduled today or earlier together
with a todo list that includes everything else (i.e., unscheduled or
scheduled in the future). If the definition of past is changed, I will
end up with a lot of duplicate items in the block agenda.

Also, I find the double negatives a bit difficult to get my mind around.
Would there perhaps be a way to generalize this functionality (e.g.,
with integers) that would allow users greater control over the precise
distance from the present they would like to skip? E.g., -1 to include
only items scheduled yesterday or earlier. Or 7 to ignore anything
scheduled later than a week from now. This could be quite useful and
would not require users to change their existing configurations.

Do you also plan to make adjustments for
org-agenda-todo-ignore-deadlines?

Best,
Matt