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This meta question is somewhat similar to this other meta question - both about flagging your own posts, though my situation is a bit different and I'm not sure whether the given meta answer is applicable in my case.

I originally posted my question "Excel like column numbering" on PE site. After it was migrated to CR I almost immediately noticed that among "Similar Questions" there was almost a "twin" question with the answer that was quite acceptable to my case. I already posted a comment in this regard.

I would like to keep my question and just flag it as a duplicate. Is it acceptable?

I obviously do not want to post a self-answer even with a proper attribution of the solution.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Somehoe you managed to mix up your copy/paste buffers... can you fix the link behind 'this' to the actual question you thing your question is similar to... ;-) ? \$\endgroup\$
    – rolfl
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry but the link works for me. Anyway, you should see it as "Linked" on the right. \$\endgroup\$
    – PM 77-1
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @rolfl I'm assuming the actual question is this \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ No, this is thr question Iw as looking for (the one it was a duplicate of...): codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/16124/… \$\endgroup\$
    – rolfl
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SimonAndréForsberg - Yes, it is, but I deliberately didn't want to link to it here, in Meta. \$\endgroup\$
    – PM 77-1
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PM77-1 It was a whole lot confusing when you're asking about duplicates on the real site and start with "My question is somewhat similar to this (insert other meta post here), though my situation is a bit different and I'm not sure whether the given answer is applicable in my case." Providing the actual real-site link gives us a better understanding of the situation. \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ I understand the source of confusion now. \$\endgroup\$
    – PM 77-1
    Dec 14, 2014 at 1:53

2 Answers 2

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Duplicates are harder to determine on this site in particular, and this is something we're still unsure about overall. I don't think we've never had a situation where the asker has found an existing question to have enough relevant material.

In your case, you're free to do that if you're certain. However, even as the asker, your flag is still subject to review by the community. If closure is still rejected by a majority of them, and you're still convinced that your question is a duplicate, then you can bring up that individual question on Meta.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for the clarification. \$\endgroup\$
    – PM 77-1
    Dec 13, 2014 at 21:17
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I will disagree with Jamal here ;-) Your question is not a duplicate.

The nature of Code Review is that different code, even though they accomplish the same task, have different styles, inconsistencies, strengths, and weaknesses.

A review for your code will be different to a review for the other code, even though the output is identical. Just looking at your two methods, they are completely different.

The fact that the algorithm suggested in another questions's answer is useful to you, means that you should probably upvote that other answer (you have already, I am sure), but that does not mean you have nothing to earn from a review of your own code too.

As it stands now, though, your question is no where near being a duplicate.

If your question did not already have an answer, I would suggest that you may want to delete it.

On a technical level, closing it as a duplicate will keep it around, closing it for any other reason will cause the migration to be rejected, and the question sent back to programmers ;-)

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    \$\begingroup\$ I never said it was a duplicate. ;-) \$\endgroup\$
    – Jamal
    Dec 13, 2014 at 22:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ My CR (not meta) question already has an answer, but I did was hesitant about deleting it regardless. And, yes, I upvoted both the answer and the question of the other post. \$\endgroup\$
    – PM 77-1
    Dec 14, 2014 at 2:01

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