Deleting everything with a specific condition tag

[kmorrison]

Is there a really simple way to just permanently delete anything marked with a given condition tag from a Flare project?

The use case is that there is a software feature that is being replaced with a new feature. To provide documentation for the beta version of the update, I'm hiding the content about the old feature with a special condition tag just for that, and using a different tag to mark content related to the new feature. I have separate targets in the project for the regular version of the documentation and the beta, using different condition tag expressions. When the change takes effect in the regular version of the software, it'll be pretty easy to just remove the condition tag for the added content by deleting it from the condition tag set and then using the Undefined Condition Tag list to delete all the now-undefined tags, but what is the easiest way to delete all the content I hid relating to the old feature? Once I'm sure the change will stick, I don't need that content cluttering up the project forever.

I bet this is going to keep happening, so I'd like to figure out the simplest way to do it. Seems like there should be one, and I must be missing it. I can sort and delete all the tagged TOC items via the grid view of the TOC, then do the same with tagged files via File List, then remove the tagged content within topics using Find and Replace in Files > Find Elements, but surely there's something a little slicker where we will be less likely to miss a step and leave stuff there that should be gone.

We're currently using Flare 2022.

[Nita Beck]

I don’t know of a way to delete all the tagged content in one operation. The workflow you describe is exactly how I’d approach getting rid of the old content.

That said, if you use source control, you perhaps might consider using branching in future instead of conditions. Create a branch in which you’ll start making all the new updates for the upcoming release, getting rid of the old stuff as you go. Later, you can merge those changes into the trunk (Subversion) or main/master (Git). I’m guessing other source control platforms also support branching, but Subversion and Git are the ones I know, hence used as my example.

[kmorrison]

Thanks Nita. Well, at least now I don't have to feel silly about not being able to find the super simple way.

We use Subversion and branching is one possible way to do it, but (as the person who fields most of the questions about these things on the team) I think many people on the team will be more comfortable using condition tags in Flare, so I wanted to suggest a procedure to handle it in Flare in the trunk, and let individual writers decide which they prefer for the feature they are working on.