[Remind-Fans] basing task recurrance schedule on completed date/time

[Paul Pelzl]

On Tue, Aug 08, 2006 at 10:18:17AM -0600, Jon Garvin wrote:
> What I need is to have a task, let's say "Mow the lawn," that doesn't
> necessarily NEED to happen on the day the reminder triggers. Maybe it's
> raining, or I've got other plans, or it doesn't really need it yet, or
> it's just too damn hot.  So, I put it off for a couple days, or even
> until next week.  What I do NOT need to is put it off six days and then
> on the 7th get another reminder telling me to do it all over again.
> Instead, once I do finally get it done, I want to automatically schedule
> a new reminder for, let's say, one week from the time that I completed
> it this time.  Outlook does this extremely well, but I have yet to find
> anything for linux that does this right. Maybe Remind does, and I've
> just been oblivious this whole time? I've got my fingers crossed.

Here's what your basic Remind solution would look like:

   1) Add a reminder to your Remind script, perhaps something like

         REM Aug 11 2006 *1 MSG Mow lawn!

      (Check http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/Remind_FAQ#How_can_I_handle_to-do_lists.3F
      for other options.)

   2) When task is complete, delete reminder and replace with a new one that 
      triggers in 7 days.

I guess what you are looking for is a magic button that takes care of
step (2).  I'm not aware of any such button in any existing Remind
front-end.  So what options do you have?

   A) It would not be difficult to write a short script in
      bash/python/etc. that takes care of (2).  Just run the script when
      your task is complete.

      I'll give you a small hint here.  Remind offers an INCLUDE command
      that lets you import additional Remind scripts into your primary
      script.  I would place the lawn mowing reminder all by itself in a
      separate file, then import that file with your other reminders.
      With this approach, your shell script can blindly destroy that one file
      and write a brand new one.

   B) The Wyrd front-end lets you create custom reminder templates.
      You could create a custom template for your lawn mowing reminder.
      Then step (2) becomes:

         a) Select completed task, press 'X' to delete

         b) Press 'J' to move forward one week

         c) Press a hotkey to invoke your custom template, thereby
            scheduling the future reminder

      (wxRemind may offer this capability as well... can someone
      confirm?)

Hope that helps,

Paul