Multiple Contexts
 

Seems like a simple thing but I can't figure it out. Is there a way to have an action appear in more than one context without actually creating two actions? For instance, I can buy nails either when I'm in the city or when I'm at the hardware store. Right now, however, I have to choose either "city" or "shopping center" when assigning a context to the nails action. Thanks in advance guys.

No, there's not. This may change in OF 2.0. Use Help->Send Feedback to add your support for such a change.

Where would you buy nails in the city that isn't a hardware store of some sort?

You can kind of assign multiple contexts by nesting them. For example, you might have a couple specific hardware stores you frequent: Home Depot and Lowes. But sometimes any generic hardware store will do, so you might create a "Hardware Store" context and then nest "Home Depot" and "Lowes" beneath it.

With this arrangement, you can choose the "Hardware Store" context when [I]any[/I] hardware store will do. Or select one of the nested contexts for a specific store (e.g. maybe you're looking for an item that can only be found at Home Depot).

-Dennis

That's a good point, and a practice I follow, too. The only thing I would add is that you want to be sure to check the parent context as well as the more specific child context. If I'm at Home Depot to buy some item only available there (listed in my Errands:Hardware Store:Home Depot context), I should also check the more general Errands:Hardware Store context to see if there's anything else to get that doesn't have to be gotten at Home Depot, but can be.

Unfortunately, unless you want to make some extra contexts, this doesn't provide a solution for grouping a subset of the child contexts, like if you wanted to show an item as being available at Home Depot OR Lowe's but not at the typical small neighborhood hardware store. Fortunately, contexts are cheap, and you can make a Errands:Hardware Store:Lowes or Home Depot right next to the others and delete it if/when it outlives its usefulness. The iPhone's business search for context locations plays along readily, too.

while your solution is doable, it doesn't seem practical considering I spent $100+ for the iphone and mac applications. I don't want MORE contexts to have to look through, but instead am trying to simplify. I'll send feedback to the omnigroup. Thanks for your replies.

I had the same question. For example, I may have three projects:

Fix car engine
Fix boat engine
Organize buffet dinner for fifty

each with its own set of actions and their respective contexts, and I
would like to add the context "Things to do when cousin Lisa comes to
visit" where cousin Lisa is both a great chef and a great mechanic,
and can help with several actions of the three projects, and the
context "Things to do when bank account > $2,000". So, each action
could have up to three different contexts, i.e., its own original
task, cousin Lisa, and the bank account, and perhaps even more
(good/bad weather, good/bad mood, etc.), so "fudging" it with
individual contexts using and/or/not becomes combinatorial and too
messy.

I have sent it to the omnigroup as feedback/request.