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I've got an org file that looks like this:

* Project Cats
** Get them
*** TODO Find a tabby
*** DONE Find one that's orange
    CLOSED: [2016-11-08 Tue 15:32]
** Feed them
*** DONE Buy some food
    CLOSED: [2016-11-08 Tue 15:32]
*** TODO Put it in bowls

Is there a command that, with my cursor on the top headline, will archive everything marked as DONE that's a descendant? After running such a command, I'd expect to see this:

* Project Cats
** Get them
*** TODO Find a tabby
** Feed them
*** TODO Put it in bowls
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2
  • The doc-string for org-archive-subtree states the options that are presently available -- M-x describe-function RET org-archive-subtree RET In particular, read about the prefix argument and see if that achieves the desired result. – lawlist Nov 9 '16 at 2:35
  • @lawlist the prefix arguments to org-archive-subtree will examine only the direct children of the headline, and they will archive a child only if all tasks it contains are done. (Or all timestamps are in the past.) I want to examine anything that's a descendant of the headline, and I want to archive individual items marked as done. – DGrady Nov 9 '16 at 16:03
3

I don't know of a single command, but the following sequence accomplishes this:

  1. C-c a to look at the agenda
  2. < < to restrict the agenda to the buffer and then to the current sub-tree
  3. M DONE to show everything matching a TODO keyword (search for DONE items in the current sub-tree)
  4. * to mark everything in the agenda (all DONE items in the current subtree).
  5. B $ to bulk archive everything you marked (i.e. everything)
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2
  • Any insight into why there isn't a standard command to do this? I'm still learning org-mode and this seemed like a natural thing to do. – DGrady Nov 10 '16 at 19:35
  • 2
    @DGrady Just guessing, but probably nobody asked for it. There are so many ways to use org-mode that they can't account for all of them. So instead they provide basic building blocks: agendas, filters, bulk actions. You can put those together into anything you need. – erikstokes Nov 10 '16 at 23:11
1

On my e-macs using iTerm2 and macOS it is not exactly the same sequence to archive all the done tasks (in a whole given doc):

  • C-c a to display the agenda
  • T DONE to match all entries with the keyword DONE
  • * to mark them all
  • B $ to archive
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