Inconsistent usage of "overview"

[Carlos Pita <carlosjosepita2@gmail.com>]

Hi all,

Here is something I find very confusing. In [1]:

    #+STARTUP: overview
    #+STARTUP: content
    #+STARTUP: showall
    #+STARTUP: show<n>levels
    #+STARTUP: showeverything

In org-startup-folded docstring it is said that it takes values equivalent to:

   #+STARTUP: fold              (or ‘overview’, this is equivalent)
   #+STARTUP: nofold            (or ‘showall’, this is equivalent)
   #+STARTUP: content
   #+STARTUP: show<n>levels (<n> = 2..5)
   #+STARTUP: showeverything

The fact that "overview" is also called "fold" doesn't make what
follows simpler, but so far so good.

Then there is the function org-overview, which:

    Switch to overview mode, showing only top-level headlines.

But org-overview shows drawers unfolded while "overview" mode folds
drawers at startup. That is, if you start in "fold" or "overview" mode
(as in #+STARTUP or org-startup-folder) and then cycle visibility all
the way back to "overview" (now as in org-overview) you're not at the
beginning again.

I would say that this is not intentional but an inconsistency in what
"overview" means that should be resolved some way or another. For me
it makes sense that drawers begin folded in an overview and the
docstring of org-overview seems to suggest that. Moreover, while
cycling the rest of the "more expanded" visibility states fold
drawers.

And sometimes properties represent a disproportionate part of the
document when compared to folded top-level headlines. For example, I'm
thinking of brief org-roam notes showing an awful UUID at the top
which is IMO not relevant to an overview.

Best regards,
Carlos

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[1] https://orgmode.org/manual/Initial-visibility.html