| Big Projects |
Why do this
My interest in the following projects is to use them to organise lists of references
and journal articles while digging them out of a library. However, the different
parts that comprise the following suggestions might have wider use elsewhere,
and in conjunction with other packages.
How to do it
The utilities would be comprised of three separate functions (that could
be used separately, or together)
• Popup list editor - An extension that lets you
add/remove the preset items from any popup list (especially a stationary list).
Perhaps it would also allow you to add/edit submenus...
Often the popup lists in stationary items
are not entirely suited to your purposes. The proposed editor would let you
add/remove/edit any desired phrases/words to the associated pop-up list when
you needs change.
• Stationary field interpreter. When data is entered
in one stationary field, it is automatically checked against an editable list
stored in a the field of another note (which serves as an editable index - e.g.
an index stationary). This list would have the data term and an associated piece
of data (e.g. an abbreviation and it's expansion, a name and it's phone number,
or a library journal name and it's call number). The associated data would then
be returned to a nominated field in that same note/stationary item (either the
same field or another).
To set this up the user would select -
- the stationary type
- the field to monitor (source)
- the list to use for translation
(another index stationary item stored in notes)
- The field in the original stationary
item that the results should automatically restored.
For example, the field "Journal" in a stationary item designed
to handle references would be translated every time the data in that field was
changed. The contents would be compared against a nominated (editable) list
(in this case a list of journals and corresponding call number information)
stored as a note. The associated data (in this case a call number) would be
returned to a nominated field in the original reference stationary field called
"Library number".
A more advanced implementation would use multiple column lists were additional
columns would be linked to other fields. For instance in this example there
might be an additional column with the libraries where the item was present.
This way the call number would be returned to one field, and the library with
the book/journal would be returned to another field. These functions would be
useful for academics at least. Other uses would be found. Particularly in conjunction
with user defined stationary (using the Stationary
Construction Kit by Stand Alone Software).
Optional autocompletion.
Auto-completion would let the user type the start of an item. When the word/line
was tapped, possible items from the index list would be added to the pop up
word options displayed. The user would then select the appropriate term. This
way longer words would not need to be typed. This would also be useful for expansion
of abbreviations, or completion of items. The translation lists (indices) would
be editable in a note elsewhere, possibly as a specific stationary item, or
as a list separated by tab or commas (for example).
• Data tabulator - A package to extract nominated stationary item fields for a particular stationary type within a particular folder (or selected notes) and list these extracted fields in a new note. Multiple stationary fields would be displayed as a list in the new note, and in the order the fields were selected.
For example, the user would ....
1. select the stationary type
2. select the fields in that item to extract (the order these
are selected would be remembered)
3. select "selected items" or "All items in this folder"
The data would then be extracted and placed in a new note,
either as a specific stationary type (e.g. as a note or an outline), or as a
list with the fields separated by tabs or commas etc. this could be exported
into a spreadsheet (works) etc.
This would allow users to construct lists of data from particular notes, and allow specific notes data to be tabulated and organised.
Status
These projects are not under development
Contact person
No one