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-   -   Displaying only actions that lack a start or due date (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=13156)

jim0203 2009-07-23 11:34 AM

Displaying only actions that lack a start or due date
 
Is there any way to display only tasks that lack a start or due date? I'm an OF beginner and I setup some tasks without dates, which is kind of fatal. I'd really like to be able to find all of them, and set up some dates on them.

whpalmer4 2009-07-23 11:59 AM

Go to context mode, bring up the view bar if it isn't already, and do group by due, remaining actions, any flag state, any duration. All the items without a due date will be in the group at the bottom of the screen labeled "No Due Date". Look through them and make any corrections needed. Repeat the process with group by start, and all the items without a start date will be in the group at the top of the screen labeled "Start any time". Note however that if the containing project has a start or due date, the action will be treated as if it has one also for the purposes of grouping and sorting. If I have a project "Buy big television before World Series starts" and I set a due date of Oct 28 2009 for that project, any actions I put in there will be treated as if they have a due date of Oct 28 2009 and so would show up with an empty due date but in the "Due within the next 6 months" group. This inheritance behavior makes it difficult to show [b]only[/b] those actions which lack [b]both[/b] a start date and a due date.

Another useful tactic if you have some extra knowledge about the data you are looking for is to do as above, except group and/or sort by added. For example, if you entered a bunch of data before you realized that you need to put start or due dates on, you could do this to make a list ordered by when you added the actions. Or if you've added a couple of things today and just realized you might have misfiled them, but don't remember where you filed them, grouping by added can help you out.

omerzach 2009-07-23 12:01 PM

[QUOTE=jim0203;63315]Is there any way to display only tasks that lack a start or due date? I'm an OF beginner and I setup some tasks without dates, which is kind of fatal. I'd really like to be able to find all of them, and set up some dates on them.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure how to find tasks that lack a start date, but here's how to sort by due date with a "folder" especially for tasks with no due date:

[url]http://screenjel.ly/jfCnD176X58[/url]

(Make sure you turn on the "View" panel by clicking on the glasses icon at the top right, and have the proper columns turned on in Views/Columns in the menu bar.)

whpalmer4 2009-07-23 12:18 PM

That's a good point about remembering to turn on the start/due columns!

You can find the actions lacking a start date in the same way you did for the due date, just group by start, and look at the "Start any time" group instead of the "No due date" group.

omerzach 2009-07-23 01:09 PM

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63320]That's a good point about remembering to turn on the start/due columns!

You can find the actions lacking a start date in the same way you did for the due date, just group by start, and look at the "Start any time" group instead of the "No due date" group.[/QUOTE]

Wow, somehow I didn't notice you could group by Start…

jim0203 2009-07-24 02:41 AM

Thanks guys, great tips!


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