[Remind-Fans] Ignore REM a posteriori (depending on further processing)

[Dianne Skoll]

On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 07:22:51 +0200 (CEST)
l0f4r0--- via Remind-fans <remind-fans at lists.skoll.ca> wrote:

> I was thinking about something like:
> FSET birthday_or_anniversary(year, name) iif(year==$Ty, name + "'s
> birthday", year<$Ty, name + "'s anniversary [" + ($Ty-year) + "
> year(s)]", IGNORE_ASSOCIATED_REM) REM 10 February MSG
> [birthday_or_anniversary(1970, "Tom")]

OK.  So, just my opinion...

Although Remind lets you do fancy/complicated things, in my opinion
(and only mine) it is better to write clear, straightforward reminder
files.  While ideally we shouldn't repeat things, I don't think
non-repetition should be the main goal... clarity should be.

In my opinion, it is much clearer to write:

REM 4 July 2023 MSG Bobby's birthday
REM 4 July SATISFY [$Ty > 2023] MSG [ord($Ty-2023)] anniversary of Bobby's birth

Despite the repetition, IMO it's clearer.

> Question not related: it is not possible to define a variable inside
> a user-defined function, is it?

Nope.  And it probably never will be.

Regards,

Dianne.