Combine Elements functionality (refactoring?)

[AndyG]

My biggest beef with EA is the amount of duplication it is very easy to create and very difficult to remove.

It takes new users a while to learn to drag existing elements from the project browser onto diagrams rather than use the "create new" toolbars by which time the damage is done and there are half a dozen occurances of the same concept.

The result is a lot of pictures but not a coherent model. They might as well use Visio.

I would really like some functionality that would allow me to combine several elements that represent what I deem to be the same thing,  picking one of then as the "one true version".

If I find there are 2 class nodes "A", "A1" and a lifeline node "A2" and I decide they are all really the same thing. I'd select "A" then "context menu > combine with" then select "A1" and "A2".

Descriptions in A1 and A2 should probably be concatenated with the equivalent in A, maybe have some defaults or options for handling attributes like version and phase.
All things nested beneath or attached to A1 and A2 (diagrams, attributes, elements, documents, issues etc) should be moved to be attached to A, all links where A1 or A2 is source or target should be rerouted to A and any diagrams containing a simple link to A1 or A2 should instead contian a link to "A". If we hit a diagram with an instance of A and A1 already perhaps have option to fail or remove link to A1 either case by case or "yes to all" or "yes to all of this diagram type"
..etc..
finally delete A1 and A2

I would particularly like this to be able get rid of sequence diagram lifelines created with the lifeline tool and replace them with whatever I would have got had I dragged a class or component element onto the diagram and "add as simple link".

Finally finish with a (printable/saveable) list of the diagrams that have been updated.