Delete future recurring tasks when unchecking a past task

[KjellConnelly]

Situation 1 works: toggling on/off tasks as completed/not completed:

1. Create a new task: - [ ] #t new task 📅 2021-08-15
2. View query which is:

### Due today

```tasks
not done
due on 08-15-2021
hide backlink
hide task count
```
```tasks
done on 08-15-2021
hide backlink
hide task count
```

3. Toggle task on/off: Toggling works as expected. With only 1 task, it makes no difference, but with 20, it surely does. I want all non-complete tasks at the top, and I want the ability to undo them below.

This lets me see tasks due today, and I can toggle them on/off, and they're sorted with not done at top, and done below. This mimics the Apple Notes app, which I like. It doesn't work with recurring notes though.

Situation 2 FAILS: toggling on/off recurring tasks as completed/not completed:

1. Create a new task: - [ ] #t daily task 🔁 every day 📅 2021-08-15
2. View query which is:

### Due today

```tasks
not done
due on 08-15-2021
hide backlink
hide task count
```
```tasks
done on 08-15-2021
hide backlink
hide task count
```

3. Toggle task on/off: New tasks are being created with new dates appended to them. It's as if unmarking a recurring task is where the error is. Any solution to this? Or is this a bug that needs to be fixed?

[schemar]

Thank you for the idea @KjellConnelly,

The Tasks plugin currently doesn't track relationships between tasks. It is quite "dumb" in that regard. And the only logic for recurring tasks at the moment is "if it is recurring and done, create the follow-up event".
Also, the Tasks plugin doesn't delete any data from your vault at the moment. Deleting lines would need to be done much more carefully than adding new ones, as mistakes potentially lead to loss of viable information.

Still, the idea to delete unchecked future tasks in case any past event is unchecked seems right. Even though it is more complex once you start to think about it. Imagine the following situation:

- [ ] Take out the trash 🔁 every day 📅 2021-08-15
- [x] Take out the trash 🔁 every day 📅 2021-08-14 ✅ 2021-08-14
- [x] Take out the trash 🔁 every day 📅 2021-08-13 ✅ 2021-08-13
- [x] Take out the trash 🔁 every day 📅 2021-08-12 ✅ 2021-08-12

What happens if you uncheck the third task in the list (2021-08-13)?

[KjellConnelly]

Ya seems a bit complex. It's possible that in order to implement this, data would need to be saved outside of the strings themselves. Like a recurring event would be created in a hidden JSON file. And then an array of instances would need to be populated where you could toggle them on/off for specific dates. Queries then could do things like

```tasks
is recurring
not done
or doneWithin 3 days
```

That way you have a range of items you could check or uncheck. Items stay in the list to toggle within that 3 day period.

[schemar]

Right. Which would add quite some complexity. The simplicity of Tasks is one of its design goals. That’s why it will never be able to fully replace DataView with all its features, for example.

Also, having all the data in the markdown itself ensures max compatibility.

Do you face the Situation often where you uncheck a past recurring task?

[Yodo9000]

Disagree. I don't think unchecked future tasks should be removed if an earlier version of the task is unchecked.

For Day Planner I would like to generate recurring tasks in advance, so that I can see them in the Calendar. This doesn't work yet, as rechecking a recurring task generates a duplicate task, but removing future tasks should at least be toggle-able.

I'm still exploring how to use Obsidian as a calendar, so feel free to suggest other options. My current idea is to use Tasks to add recurring events for Day Planner.