Print & Export Outlined Combined Items RTF Document

[zargron]

I thought about the following soon after starting to use UR, however it took cnewtonne’s comments on “compose content” for me to bother posting.

OVERVIEW
Select an item and produce a single RTF document from item title and content of item details for all sub-items.

DETAILS
1) New “Outline Formatting” page in the “Options” dialog box.
This new page to allow user to establish various default formatting options.

(a) Associate a font format (style, size, bold, italic, underline) with a heading level, perhaps up to a maximum of 9 levels. Each of these levels will associate with a heading level in the finished document.

(b) For each level, allow setting of an indent width. A distance that the heading should be moved in from the documents left margin. Also allow setting of an indent width that all item detail text will have.

(c) So, how will this be used? Format of heading levels should gradually DECREASE in intensity from level 1 down to level 9. The left margin indent could gradually INCREASE from level 1 to level 9. The indent for item detail text would perhaps be set somewhere between that being used for level 1 and level 9.


2) In UR, with an item selected, user can already access the “Print/Print Preview” dialog box. Add a new option to this window titled “Item Branch Outline” this will provide access to a new “Print Branch Outline” dialog box.


3) In the new “Print Branch Outline” dialog box, provide two pages.

PAGE 1 - allow users to set the following:
(a) Assign a starting heading level.
(Users will want to create sub-documents – allow them to start the formatting from any heading level. As the print routine recursively works through the lower level branches from the selected item, it will create headings by applying formatting to each item title. Movement down each branch level will result in the appropriate next level of formatting being applied.)

(b) Choose whether to apply numbering and set the start number.
(This would automatically prefix each heading with a number appropriate to its level down the branches from the selected item. If the user enters “2.4.3” as the starting number, this number would prefix the heading for the selected item. Headings from the first level down from the selected item would then appear as: 2.4.3.1 | 2.4.3.2 | 2.4.3.3 | 2.4.3.4 | and so forth. Furthermore, if the user puts something like a closing bracket at the end of the number, this gets used in the automatic numbering. For example, “2.4.3)” would include the “)” as part of the prefix. Also allow the user to decide whether to include the start number as part of the numbering. In other words, using the above example, the heading for the selected item would still appear as “2.4.3)”, then the first level down would appear as: 1) | 2) | 3) | 4) | and so forth.)

(c) Choose whether to include the standard UR header & footer.

(d) Choose whether to page break “first” level branches.
(A writer selects the item that represents their document. Each main branch from this item corresponds to a chapter of that document. By selecting this option, the writer can start each chapter on a new page.)

(e) Only include outer branch text. Exclude outer branch text.
(As specified earlier, the object of this facility is to produce a single RTF document from content of item details pane. However, perhaps the writer would like to integrate public and private content under the one branch. The writer could record their private comments with chapter and section headings. Only at outer most or lowest level items would the writer place their finished or public work. Leaving both options off would print everything. Turning the “include” option on would give the writer their “public” document. Turning the “exclude” option on would provide the writer with a “private” document. This latter document would perhaps give the writer a form of “things to ponder and do”.)

PAGE 2 - mimic the proposed new “Outline Formatting” page mentioned earlier.
(Note that formatting changes made here don’t need to be permanently saved – only applied to the current document.)

Obviously the user would click the usual “OK / Cancel / Help” buttons from this proposed new dialog box.

CLOSING REMARKS
So far this suggestion does not impose any new requirements on existing item manipulation functionality. It imposes a reasonably major change to the “Options” dialog box and a very minor change to the “Print/Print Preview” dialog box. It asks for a brand new “Print Branch Outline” dialog box, plus processing to create the RTF output. May I be so bold as to suggest that most writers would be quite happy dropping such a document into a dedicated word processor for final formatting.

I look forward to seeing some constructive criticism.

[wordmuse]

Hi Zargon -

Just saw this from your post discussing the roadmap.

http://kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2744

I think that this is an important idea for URP3. Almost - not quite - as useful as hoisting.

Having strong control over what gets exported and printed is almost always more than a nice-to-have. After all, no matter how good a program is, odds are we need to communicate outside the program. RTF seems to be an almost universal format that dozens and dozens of other softwares recognize.

Great idea.

Hope it gets implemented in one way or another.

Regards,
Bal

[janrif]

Originally posted by zargron
[snip]OVERVIEW
Select an item and produce a single RTF document from item title and content of item details for all sub-items.[/snip]

Zargon, Take a look @ Tools | Options | Editor | Show Combined Text for Multiple Selection.

Does that help?

[zargron]

Originally posted by janrif
Zargon, Take a look @ Tools | Options | Editor | Show Combined Text for Multiple Selection.

Does that help?

Thanks for the comment janrif.

I have used that facility quite a few times. (BTW: agree with suggestion elsewhere that this option be surfaced so that you can combine Item Text "on the fly" - rather than having to go to [Tools | Options | Editor] each time. )

However, I would like to contain my more sophisticated writings within UR. I use a word processor to create documents on similar topics with similar format and similar content. I'd like to enhance consistency of format and re-usability of content with a specific focus on template documents. UR already does most of this. What i feel is missing, is a fast way to generate a single richly formatted document on a single topic, that i can, for example, convert to PDF and (proudly) email to interested parties.

[janrif]

Originally posted by zargron
[snip] What i feel is missing, is a fast way to generate a single richly formatted document on a single topic, that i can, for example, convert to PDF and (proudly) email to interested parties. [/snip]

Now I understand exactly what you need & I'm not sure that UR is the proper tool for that. OTOH, maybe a senior member like Quant would have a clever way to accomplish this task. Sorry I can't be of more help to you @ this time.

[zargron]

Originally posted by janrif
... I'm not sure that UR is the proper tool for that ...

You maybe right - but i'm willing to give it a red hot go. I've looked around and IMHO UR is very very good. I'm keen to stretch UR - including applying it to aforementioned use.

[quant]

Originally posted by janrif
... maybe a senior member like Quant would have a clever way to accomplish this task

Kinook, please remove my "senior" status

Originally posted by janrif
Sorry I can't be of more help to you @ this time.

I won't help either, the formatting stuff doesn't bother me at all, I'm more into technicalities ... ;-)
Member Janrif is probably right that UR is not the proper tool, this might be easier to accomplish in sth like ConnectedText based on wiki, because of its easy formatting commands. But I have to say that I'm really looking forward to html export. So instead of having single "formated" rft/pdf document, you could upload your stuff on the net. If that works like in MyBase, I'd be happy, http://www.wjjsoft.com/nyf_htmltree.html

[zargron]

There's a thread in the OutlinerSoftware forum that is discussing "Footnotes". http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topi...12/0/footnotes

Essentially the thread initiator was asking for help finding "two-pane outliners/PIMs that have footnote capability".

One of my layouts involves using UR just like that. I have:
--- LEFT = Data Explorer
--- MIDDLE = Item Text above Item Notes
--- RIGHT = (auto hide) Item Attributes

I use this layout for various purposes, but essentially I put my main or public writings in Item Text and my private or footnote type writings in Item Notes. What I can't do however, is efficiently get this information from UR into an RTF or similar format.

quant asks in the second posting in http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthre...&highlight=rtf whether we can "include item notes in the export, just after each item text". Spot on quant! Although the purists would demand that footnotes appear at the bottom of each page, I'd be tickled pink if I could get them appearing after each section of writing, eg. after each Item Text.