Re: negative values for EFFORT result in error when switching to column view

[Heiko Schmidt]

On 06.04.20 18:13, Nicolas Goaziou wrote:
> Heiko Schmidt <address@hidden> writes:
>
> > This is exactly the reason why I'd love to have negative values for
> > the durations. It would open the possibility of doing something like
> > "accounting" of time.
> I think you can do accounting of time without introducing negative
> duration. Basic accounting implies having two categories. You expect
> them to be "positive" and "negative", but it could also be "positive in
> property A" and "positive in property B".
>
> > I'm working with self defined duration units and it would be of great
> > value to be able to calculate the balance for planned and done work
> > time. I don't use clocking.
> >
> > What'd be wrong about having -0:30 h, -30 min, -2.5 h, -3 d or -3 m?
> > It'd be an addition no change so there would hoefully be no
> > incompatibilities.
> >
> > Maybe even 3m -3d be or -3m 3d could be of use.
> No incompatibility doesn't mean no cost. It adds code complexity. You
> also have to maintain the feature later on, make sure it doesn't break
> future code, etc.
>
> Moreover, I'm not convinced about the general need for such a feature.
> Of course, it is possible that I may be missing the point. Org folks may
> want to chime in and correct me if I do.
Ifully agree - being not fluent in emacs lisp I'm currently exploring 
org-duration.el at a snail's pace ... which is really really expensive :-)
> I think so. But I suggest to check if you cannot do otherwise (again,
> I'm sure you can).

I thought about this matter for a longer time (months if not years, 
again and again before I asked the list). AFAIK it is not possible to 
execute calculations between property A and property B in column view by 
assigning to property C with orgmode on board features. Or did I miss 
such a feature?

As I'm using orgmode extensively since years I've created and dived into 
many rabbit holes by implementing sophisticated special solutions which 
I later threw away for the win of simplicity. By now I just use basic 
features and one I'm really missing are these negative durations.

Maybe I can do some progress with org-duration.el on my own.