Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[William Denton]

When I've marked a TODO item as DONE and want to get it out of my projects list, 
I've always used C-c C-x C-a (org-archive-subtree-default) to get it out of the 
way.

Today I had to go through the archive file to find an old note about something, 
and the file was huge because it was filled with many trivial TODOs that didn't 
need to be archived.  For example, If I'm waiting to hear back from someone, 
when they reply I usually just want to mark the task DONE and delete it.  I 
don't need to record it forever.

Maybe I've been using the archiving not as intended, but I don't see any other 
command for getting rid of a TODO.  I can't find a command to delete the current 
task.  Am I missing something?  Is there a keystroke to delete a TODO?  Or does 
everyone archive everything?

Bill

--
William Denton
https://www.miskatonic.org/
Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
Toronto, Canada

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Peter Neilson]

On Wed, 04 Aug 2021 13:47:11 -0400, William Denton <wtd@pobox.com> wrote:

> When I've marked a TODO item as DONE and want to get it out of my  
> projects list, I've always used C-c C-x C-a  
> (org-archive-subtree-default) to get it out of the way.
>
> Today I had to go through the archive file to find an old note about  
> something, and the file was huge because it was filled with many trivial  
> TODOs that didn't need to be archived.  For example, If I'm waiting to  
> hear back from someone, when they reply I usually just want to mark the  
> task DONE and delete it.  I don't need to record it forever.
>
> Maybe I've been using the archiving not as intended, but I don't see any  
> other command for getting rid of a TODO.  I can't find a command to  
> delete the current task.  Am I missing something?  Is there a keystroke  
> to delete a TODO?  Or does everyone archive everything?
>
> Bill
>
> --
> William Denton
> https://www.miskatonic.org/
> Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
> Toronto, Canada

It's just text. Delete it. ^k^k or (for bigger items) establish a region  
and kill it (^w).

If you would like (since you're in emacs) you can write yourself a special  
button to do it.

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Hanno Perrey]

 >> Maybe I've been using the archiving not as intended, but I don't see
 >> any other command for getting rid of a TODO.  I can't find a command
 >> to delete the current task.  Am I missing something?  Is there a
 >> keystroke to delete a TODO?  Or does everyone archive everything?

 > If you would like (since you're in emacs) you can write yourself a
 > special button to do it.

Maybe org-cut-subtree is a good starting point or already fulfills your 
needs as it is "a short-hand for marking the subtree and then cutting it".

Best,
Hanno

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Samuel Wales]

as peter said, and you can probably collapse and kill the line or kill
using an agenda command.

the archive is used variously.  so is git.  so are items like

  * LOG [ts] header

and also there is logbook.  so where does one store e.g. records of
conversations?  something i struggle with.  in op's case, git and
things like rsnapshot would be the places he could find what he
deleted.

i tend to be conservative, and sometimes doneify and archive AND use
LOG.  drawbacks include impossibly slow archiving [i suspect direct OS
appending to file would be a workaround] and finding needles in
haystacks filled with trivial and near-duplicate entries.

some don't search archives much, some want only meaningful things
there.  etc.  i am learning the maening of bloat.


On 8/4/21, Peter Neilson <neilson@windstream.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 04 Aug 2021 13:47:11 -0400, William Denton <wtd@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> When I've marked a TODO item as DONE and want to get it out of my
>> projects list, I've always used C-c C-x C-a
>> (org-archive-subtree-default) to get it out of the way.
>>
>> Today I had to go through the archive file to find an old note about
>> something, and the file was huge because it was filled with many trivial
>>
>> TODOs that didn't need to be archived.  For example, If I'm waiting to
>> hear back from someone, when they reply I usually just want to mark the
>> task DONE and delete it.  I don't need to record it forever.
>>
>> Maybe I've been using the archiving not as intended, but I don't see any
>>
>> other command for getting rid of a TODO.  I can't find a command to
>> delete the current task.  Am I missing something?  Is there a keystroke
>> to delete a TODO?  Or does everyone archive everything?
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> --
>> William Denton
>> https://www.miskatonic.org/
>> Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
>> Toronto, Canada
>
> It's just text. Delete it. ^k^k or (for bigger items) establish a region
> and kill it (^w).
>
> If you would like (since you're in emacs) you can write yourself a special
>
> button to do it.
>
>


-- 
The Kafka Pandemic

Please learn what misopathy is.
https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-some-diseases-are-wronged.html

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Tim Cross]

William Denton <wtd@pobox.com> writes:

> When I've marked a TODO item as DONE and want to get it out of my projects list,
> I've always used C-c C-x C-a (org-archive-subtree-default) to get it out of the
> way.
>
> Today I had to go through the archive file to find an old note about something,
> and the file was huge because it was filled with many trivial TODOs that didn't
> need to be archived.  For example, If I'm waiting to hear back from someone,
> when they reply I usually just want to mark the task DONE and delete it.  I
> don't need to record it forever.
>
> Maybe I've been using the archiving not as intended, but I don't see any other
> command for getting rid of a TODO.  I can't find a command to delete the current
> task.  Am I missing something?  Is there a keystroke to delete a TODO?  Or does
> everyone archive everything?
>

I just delete them using standard Emacs commands. I'm not sure there is
a need for a special 'delete todo' command. It would be easy to code one
yourself if you want one.

With respect to archiving, there is probably some room for more
sophisticated archiving patterns. What I tend to do is at the start of
each year, move all my archive files to a new name which includes the
year in the archive filename. then after a few years, I simply delete
any archives older than 7 years. I find any data older than that is
rarely, if ever, relevant or useful, plus if I really, really want it,
it will be in one of my backup snapshots or git. This means my archive
files don't get to be gigantic and I can search back through just the
archives for a specific year.

In reality, I could probably get rid of old archives much sooner. It is
extremely rare for me to go through archives older than 1 year (I think
I've only ever done this once since I started using org). 

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Dominique Dumont]

Le mercredi 4 août 2021, 19:47:11 CEST William Denton a écrit :
>  Is there a keystroke to delete a TODO?

I usually use C-c C-x C-w to delete a TODO item.

HTH

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Eric S Fraga]

Others have already pointed out that you can simply delete the text (one
short-cut: fold the task and then simply delete the whole line...).  An
alternative, however, is to delete from the agenda view.  At least for
me, C-k is bound to org-agenda-kill which deletes the entry.

-- 
: Eric S Fraga via Emacs 28.0.50, Org release_9.4.6-607-g185706
: Latest paper written in org: https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.05096

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[Dominique Dumont]

Le mercredi 4 août 2021, 19:47:11 CEST William Denton a écrit :
>  Is there a keystroke to delete a TODO?

I usually use C-c C-x C-w to delete a TODO item.

HTH

Re: Deleting (not archiving) TODO items when done

[William Denton]

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On 5 August 2021, Dominique Dumont wrote:

> Le mercredi 4 août 2021, 19:47:11 CEST William Denton a écrit :
>>  Is there a keystroke to delete a TODO?
>
> I usually use C-c C-x C-w to delete a TODO item.

Aha, merci beaucoup, and to Hanno Perrey too.  I use org-cut-subtree so rarely 
I'd forgotten about it, and didn't realize it would work on a TODO item.  It 
does just what I want.


Bill

--
William Denton
https://www.miskatonic.org/
Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
Toronto, Canada