AFAIK, this is the first time this need is expressed on this ML. There
is no equivalent in "org-list.el" either.
A way to handle duplicates would be useful, indeed. But a basic function
should only remove duplicates that are truly identical (same properties,
same tags, same/no content). Still, removing true duplicates from
subtrees (AND lists) would be useful.
More useful would be a slightly more general approach. I have three
kinds of duplicates:
- duplicate IDs (which are handled rather poorly),
- duplicate content (which often is only almost identical) and
- duplicate headings (which usually I want to rectify when they are on
the same level of the same subtree)
As you can see, a fixed concept of duplication is probably not going to
work.
What I'd like is a function finds duplicates according to scope, match
(as in `org-map-entries') and a user defined function. This function
should then display the problem cases (via agenda view?). Then we need a
couple of convenience functions like
- delete all duplicates but the one at point,
- mark duplicates I want to keep,
- uniquify entries (tricky; for headlines maybe prompt the user; for
IDs, we should check if the ID is referenced from somewhere)
- merge entries.
But then, I also have duplicates (in content) I want to keep, e.g. one
in my notes and in a writing project. So, we'd need a property like
"DUPLICATE_OF".
