GothenburgBitFactory / GothenburgBitFactory/taskwarrior

Too easy to apply edits to all tasks (implicit status:pending for display, but not for edits)

Open
#2,112 1 comment 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
type:enhancement
Dominant language
C++
Stars
6.1k
Forks
423
Avg merge
1d 19h
Merged PRs (30d)
11

Description

Try this: `task proj:home`

I can now view all tasks in my home project. (note, it displays those who match `status:pending` as though I had put that in).

Suppose after viewing these tasks, I want to be ambitious and finish them all before the end of the week.

`task proj:home modify due:eow`

Now, it changes all my past tasks regardless of the implicit `status:pending` in the first query. Note, it might be something technically other than `status:pending`, but I hope the example is clear and I want to continue as though that were the case.

Problems:

- Viewing the set of tasks before modifying is probably a good practice. It is obfuscated that we should including `status:pending` in one but no the other. I'd argue the usage *encourages* this type of error.
- Worse, it seems to prompt me about tasks matching `status:pending` first, giving a false sense of security that selecting the `all` option is OK, which allows the edit to proceed on all past tasks as before.

Impact:

- Analysis tools that look at past completion / on-time rates *require* knowledge of due dates, scheduled dates, and in general *every other attribute* to remain unchanged after closing. One slip, and I've overwritten all that.

Request:

- Change status:pending (or equivalent) to be implicit consistently across all commands. Inform users that status:closed should be included to edit past tasks

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Assessment

This issue has not been assessed yet.

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.