[Orgmode] Re: Question about searches (ultimately for agenda)

[Matt Lundin]

Mueen Nawaz <address@hidden> writes:

> On 12/15/09 21:26, Matt Lundin wrote:
>> Provided DONE and RETURNED are inactive todos than the following should
>> suffice:
>>
>> C-a M Jack [RET]
>
>       I think you meant C-c a M Jack [RET]

Yes indeed. I'm still practicing typing out the notation for
keybindings. I suppose that C-c a is such a quick maneuver that I
instinctively shorten its notation. :)

>       It actually does filter out inactive TODO's, but I actually
> wanted to do C-c a m Jack [RET]. I don't want to limit the search to
> headlines that have a TODO state. I just want to exclude those that
> have DONE (or anything equivalent to it).

Ah yes. Now I see that this is indeed what you were requesting in the
original post. I suppose I need to brush up on basic logic as well. :)

There is a shortened tag search syntax for including or excluding TODO
states:

C-c a m [RET] Jack/-DONE-RETURNED

You could assign this a shortcut in using org-agenda-custom-commands
command to avoid having to type it repeatedly. I'm not aware if there is
a shorter way to indicate *all* inactive todo states in such a search.

Best,
Matt