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Exporting and importing outlines with inline notes
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Posted by Dr Andus
Apr 24, 2013 at 01:19 PM
Dr Andus wrote:
>Unfortunately I haven’t been able to figure out how to import this data
>into ConnectedText in a satisfactory way. I could import the OPML file
>as an outline, but the inline notes would be lost. If I import it as a
>“topic,” the hierarchy gets truncated or not displayed correctly.
Okay, I’ve come to terms with that. I’ll take that as an opportunity to synthesise work in CT. So the workflow is:
1) Create reading notes in Freeplane. Export to Bonsai.
2) Analyse and annotate further in Bonsai.
3) Create a new CT outline for summarising reading points, and link selected quotes (saved as individual CT topics) to CT outline items.
The downside of this approach is that the Bonsai version will be different from the Freeplane version (though I could try to reimport it as OPML into Freeplane) and that I’m not taking advantage of Freeplane’s direct linking capability to CT topics.
On the other hand, higher quality synthesised info ends up in CT, as I’ll have a final outline with links to quotes, which could be used for final writing up (for publication).
For what it’s worth…
Posted by Dr Andus
May 27, 2013 at 09:32 PM
The good news is that WhizFolders can now import OPML (and a few other formats: RTF, text, and sticky notes):
http://whizfolders.com/blog/index.php/import-utility-updated-3-2
The not so good news is that when I tried it, I wasn’t able to import the notes contained in my OPML file, only the outline (though that’s better than nothing still). Not sure what the problem is, as I was able to import the same OPML file into Bonsai, and the notes were imported just fine.
Posted by Dr Andus
Jul 20, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
Dr Andus,
>What you want to do should be possible. On my iPad I just exported an
>iThoughts map to OmniOutliner using OPML and it maintained the hierarchy
>and the inline text notes, so OPML is certainly capable of that kind of
>transfer. I guess it depends on the apps involved.
You were right, the problem was not with OPML itself, but with Freeplane’s implementation of it. I just realised that Freeplane only exports the outline titles but not the notes in OPML, so that’s where the process broke down.
However, if I take the original .MM file, import it into iThoughtsHD on iPad, the iThoughts OPML export also includes the notes.
There is also a problem with Bonsai’s .MM import, as it does not import the notes.
>Unfortunately I haven’t been able to figure out how to import this data
>into ConnectedText in a satisfactory way. I could import the OPML file
>as an outline, but the inline notes would be lost. If I import it as a
>“topic,” the hierarchy gets truncated or not displayed correctly.
I managed to get around this problem somewhat by having a kind soul on the CT forum create a CSS file for me that renders a CT topic as a multi-coloured outline (up to level 6) with titles in bold (for all levels) and notes not it bold.
So my export/import process for taking and processing reading notes so far is:
Freeplane .MM > iThoughtsHD .OPML > Bonsai .OTL > Word .HTM (webpage, filtered) > CT topic (with custom CSS)
I take the notes in Freeplane, analyse and evaluate them further in Bonsai, and store them in CT. The other steps (Freeplane to iThoughts, Bonsai to Word) are merely there to transform the files to the right import formats for the next application in the chain.
Posted by Dr Andus
Jul 20, 2013 at 11:17 AM
Dr Andus wrote:
>So my export/import process for taking and processing reading notes so
>far is:
>Freeplane .MM > iThoughtsHD .OPML > Bonsai .OTL > Word .HTM (webpage,
>filtered) > CT topic (with custom CSS)
For Bonsai the export should have said .RTF, so here it is again:
Freeplane .MM > iThoughtsHD .OPML > Bonsai .RTF > Word .HTM (webpage, filtered) > CT topic (with custom CSS)