QOL: Merge with existing cards instead of duplicating

[cubuzz]

If you merge two identical decks, cards will be duplicated. It'd be awesome if a card already exists 1:1 to just skip it instead of duplicating it :)

[iBhokary-dev]

I don't know if I agree with you on that.

[maltfield]

+1 I came to submit this feature request, but found it's already been submitted over 2 years ago. @tema6120 any status update on this?

I maintain my flashcards on CSV files. When I think of a new word that I want to learn, I add it to the csv file and then I import it into Forget Me Not. The problem with this: Forget Me Not does not de-duplicate the data on-import.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a file flash.csv with the contents mesa,table
2. Import flash.csv into Forget Me Not (ADD CARDS -> Import file -> browse-to and tap-on flash.csv -> tap "check mark" icon ✔️)
3. Add a second line to the flash.csv file = silla,chair
4. Import the changes into Forget Me Not (ADD CARDS -> Import file -> browse-to and tap-on flash.csv -> tap on the "counterclockwise arrows" icon 🔄 -> tap on the flash deck -> tap on the "check mark" icon ✔️)
5. Notice that the CSV file only has two lines, but the flash deck imported-into has 3 cards.
6. Notice that the cards now have a duplicate card for the first line of the file (mesa,table)

Solution

The solution to this should be to deduplicate cards on-import.

For example, if the "new" card has the exact same "front" and "back" of an existing card, then Forget Me Not should skip the card so as not to create a duplicate of it.

[maltfield]

TIL there is a hidden button for "import only new" cards. On import, at the very last step before clicking the "check mark" icon, if you scroll down on the screen then a hidden bar on the bottom of the screen will appear with a few icons. The icon furthest to the right says "new" over a "check mark" icon. If you click that, then it will uncheck all the cards that already exist in the flashdeck that you're importing-into -- effectively doing a de-duplicate import.

See this video for more info: https://github.com/tema6120/ForgetMeNot/issues/77#issuecomment-1008296698

This UX is pretty terrible, and I can't think of a use-case for users wanting to have duplicated cards.

I vote that we keep the previous functionality, but we add a new functionality where duplicate cards are already unchecked by default, since this is going to be the desired behavior for >99.99% of users.

I also think we should have a way to easily de-duplicate flash decks after import. I couldn't find the hidden "only select new" button on import, which I did maybe 10 times for a deck of 20-50 words before I realized it was adding duplicate entries. Now I have tons of duplicate cards, and I can't easily find them. It would be nice if, when on the "Edit Cards" screen, I could either:

1. Sort the cards alphabetically or
2. Click a "select all duplicates" button

Either would allow me to quickly delete duplicates