Using org-capture to record an appointment with a time range

Question

I would like to use org-capture to quickly store appointments in a journal file, and add a timestamp so that the appointment appears in my agenda. I'm using the following template:

;; excerpted from my .emacs-custom.el
(custom-set-variables
  '(org-capture-templates
        ("a" "Appointment" entry
         (file+olp+datetree "~/org/journal.org")
         "* %?
%T" :time-prompt t))))

This almost works. file+olp+datetree automatically places the new appointment at the correct spot in a date-tree, I am prompted for the actual date and time to use due to :time-prompt t, and the item has a time stamp inserted via the %T in the template.

The only hitch is that if I enter a time range (as for a meeting that will take 30 minutes):

<2019-09-18 Wed 12:30-13:00> 

The time is truncated in my item to:

<2019-09-18 Wed 12:30> 

So I have to manually add the time range myself.

Looking into the source code, it looks like org-capture-set-target-location explicitly cuts off the second part of a time range. That makes sense for the date-tree headings, but it breaks my scheduled timestamp.

Before I start hacking away at the org source code, I wonder if there's a way to accomplish this more directly. Specifically, what I would like:

1. Get a prompt for a date and time, which could include a time range.
2. Fill in an org entry, which includes the time I selected as a timestamp.
3. Store the entry in a date-tree structure in an org file.

What I don't want is to enter the date twice (once for the date-tree, once for the schedule), or to manually fix the date after the entry is created.

To clarify, I want the items stored in a date-tree structure so I can browse through this one file to review my past and coming appointments. I want to add the time stamp so the entries will appear in my org-agenda at the appropriate time and date.

Answer 1

I've managed to make a workaround for the same problem, which at least does not require putting the same date twice:

("m" "Meeting" entry (file+datetree "calendar.org")
    ,(concat "* %? :meeting:\n"
             "<%<%Y-%m-%d %a %^{Time}>>")
    :time-prompt t)

1. The template asks to provide a date for the date tree. Just put the date, w/o time range.
2. It prompts to enter the "Time". Unfortunately, it isn't validated, just raw text. Enter something like: "11:00-12:00". The nice thing is the rest of the date template will be auto-populated from the previous step.

In the end, we will have a valid timestamp in the proper date tree place.