fix: start date not saved when editing task

[mulikruchi07]

Description

This PR fixes an issue where the Start Date selected while editing a task was not being saved.
The root cause was that startValue in DetailRouteController.initValues() was always being set to null, preventing the UI from loading the existing start value and causing saves to fail silently.

This update ensures:
startValue is initialized correctly from modify.draft.start
The selected Start Date persists after saving
The Start Date appears correctly when returning to the task detail screen

No additional dependencies required.

Fixes #515

Screenshots

after.515.mp4

Checklist

• Tests have been added or updated to cover the changes
• Documentation has been updated to reflect the changes
• Code follows the established coding style guidelines
• All tests are passing

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR fixes a critical bug where the Start Date field was not being saved when editing a task. The root cause was an incorrect initialization statement in DetailRouteController.initValues() that used ??= null, which is a no-op that always results in null assignment. The fix changes this to a direct assignment from modify.draft.start, making it consistent with all other date field initializations (end, due, wait, until).

Key Changes:

• Fixed startValue initialization in initValues() to properly load the existing start date from the task draft
• Ensured start date persistence across save operations and UI reloads

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

lib/app/modules/detailRoute/controllers/detail_route_controller.dart:118

• The initValues() method and the start date initialization bug fix lack test coverage. Consider adding unit tests for DetailRouteController.initValues() to verify that all draft fields (including startValue) are correctly initialized from modify.draft, and that the start date persists correctly through save and reload operations. This would prevent similar regressions in the future.

  void initValues() {
    descriptionValue.value = modify.draft.description;
    statusValue.value = modify.draft.status;
    entryValue.value = modify.draft.entry;
    modifiedValue.value = modify.draft.modified;
    startValue.value = modify.draft.start; //start date saves
    endValue.value = modify.draft.end;
    dueValue.value = modify.draft.due;
    waitValue.value = modify.draft.wait;
    untilValue.value = modify.draft.until;
    priorityValue?.value = modify.draft.priority;
    projectValue?.value = modify.draft.project;
    tagsValue?.value = modify.draft.tags;
    urgencyValue.value = urgency(modify.draft);
  }

---

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[linuxcaffe]

I think there's confusion about the function of the start attribute. It's not the creation date nor the modification date, but intended to flag the time that you actually started to do the thing, and to indicate that the task is currently in progress. The idea was to track the amount of time it actually took to perform the task and to bring active tasks to the top. If you're not using it for that function, null value is correct. (I know that because I was the taskwarrior designer who came up with that feature) IMHO it shouldn't be set just because you modified something else.

…

On Sun., Dec. 7, 2025, 9:33 a.m. Ruchi Mulik ***@***.***> wrote: Description This PR fixes an issue where the Start Date selected while editing a task was not being saved. The root cause was that startValue in DetailRouteController.initValues() was always being set to null, preventing the UI from loading the existing start value and causing saves to fail silently. This update ensures: startValue is initialized correctly from modify.draft.start The selected Start Date persists after saving The Start Date appears correctly when returning to the task detail screen No additional dependencies required. Fixes #515 <#515> Screenshots https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c3390222-4b8f-440d-9bc7-a5b1ed0105e0 Checklist - Tests have been added or updated to cover the changes - Documentation has been updated to reflect the changes - Code follows the established coding style guidelines - All tests are passing ------------------------------ You can view, comment on, or merge this pull request online at: #516 Commit Summary - e451774 <e451774> fix: start date not saved when editing task File Changes (1 file <https://github.com/CCExtractor/taskwarrior-flutter/pull/516/files>) - *M* lib/app/modules/detailRoute/controllers/detail_route_controller.dart <https://github.com/CCExtractor/taskwarrior-flutter/pull/516/files#diff-d2e25ecac22f05eca4d7ff27251c780cdba93ee13d72aea5578897764f2bd281> (2) Patch Links: - https://github.com/CCExtractor/taskwarrior-flutter/pull/516.patch - https://github.com/CCExtractor/taskwarrior-flutter/pull/516.diff — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#516>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAR6S66MOOEPKFVSMY4HFID4AQ3FBAVCNFSM6AAAAACOJPLKRGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTG4YDGNJWGMYTGNA> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[linuxcaffe]

See #419

[mulikruchi07]

Thanks for the clarification
I’ve updated the logic so that:

• start no longer auto-sets during task creation
• It remains null until the user explicitly selects a Start date
• When the user selects it in the Edit page, the value now saves correctly
• The explicitly selected value also persists when the task is reopened

I will open a new PR shortly with the corrected implementation.

[mulikruchi07]

I opened a new PR with the corrected implementation: #517 .
Closing this one to avoid duplication.

[linuxcaffe]

Awesome 👍

…

On Sun., Dec. 7, 2025, 6:39 p.m. Ruchi Mulik ***@***.***> wrote: *mulikruchi07* left a comment (CCExtractor/taskwarrior-flutter#516) <#516 (comment)> I opened a new PR with the corrected implementation: #516 <#516> . Closing this one to avoid duplication. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#516 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAR6S67V4AL5WODPIYCQ2DL4AS3ETAVCNFSM6AAAAACOJPLKRGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTMMRTG44TEOJTGY> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>