On Tue, Dec 25, 2001 at 02:52:18PM +0700, Robert Elz wrote:
>     Date:        24 Dec 2001 15:25:23 -0500
>     From:        "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@wasabisystems.com>
>     Message-ID:  <87wuzcl618.fsf@snark.piermont.com>
> 
>   | Any ideas on an appropriate character, or alternate syntaxes, or ideas
>   | on prior art, or just plain ideas?
> 
> Please don't start adding funny characters at the start of the line,
> crontab syntax is already foul enough.
> 
> But if you really need this, since cron already supports setting sh type
> variables, why not do something like
> 
> WITHIN=30
> * 0 * * * ...
> 
> WITHIN=3600
> <whatever>
> <and another>

Hmmm.  Why not hide this new magic inside comments?

# %WITHIN=3600

or somesuch.

> to specify the bounds on when the command should be started of the time
> specified (with "WITHIN=0" being the default, and meaning "before time for
> the command to run next" which is what it currently does I believe).
> (The value would be a limit in seconds, allow "5m" and such if you want).

> Personally, I'd be just as happy if cron would simply ignore time jumps
> longer than 5 minutes - run nothing at all that was supposed to happen

Personally, I think Hardwired defaults like this usually end up making
very few people happy.

-- 
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        # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
        # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen