Filtering, TaskPaper, and three years
 

I know that cloning and aliasing and tabs and tags all seem like neat features for 4.0, but I'd like to make sure that the next major OO release has some basic filtering capabilities, as promised [B]over three years ago[/B]:

[I]Can I filter my outline to only show checked or unchecked items?

Unfortunately this kind of filtering isn't possible in OmniOutliner right now. We plan to add robust filtering in a future release.

Last Updated on March 28, 2006[/I]

Years ago, I used OO for my to-do lists. I've tried a few other applications, including OmniFocus (which I find presents too many layers of abstractions between me and my list). I now use TaskPaper, from Hog Bay Software; it's essentially a text editor with a solid search-and-filter function.

Of course, I'd rather use OO; I prefer how it handles outline format, styles, attachments, and the like. Its lack of a filter is the ONLY reason I don't. Add this feature and you may capture many users looking for a simple, get-out-of-the-way approach to GTD-style task management.

Then again, I may have missed the announcement that heralds this feature; if so, please let me know. Thanks!

Filter
 

Does anyone have any response or feedback from sales?
This is the only reason why we do not use OOutliner any more and cannot recommend it to our customers.
Technically it should be possible, but probably there would be no reason to buy Omni Focus anymore...

Q&a
 

Just collecting some articles...

"At this point, we're thinking that we'll probably hold this feature until the 3.0 release - it's right in the middle of a whole bunch of other code that was in flux at the time. Just want to give it a good shakedown before we send it out into the cruel, harsh world to fend for itself. =)

Sincerely,

Brian C. Support Manager Omni Group

On Thursday, January 23, 2003, at 02:22 PM, James Spahr wrote:

I assume that this didn't make it into the recent beta release? :(

On Friday, January 10, 2003, at 04:46 PM, Greg Titus wrote:

This feature is already implemented internally and will be in the next release of OmniOutliner. It's a filter control in the toolbar exactly the same as in Mail, allowing you to filter on the contents of a single column or on all of them at once.

Splendid! One step ahead of us as usual!

James. "

A worthwhile investment
 

To-Do's? [URL="http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus"]Why not use OmniFocus?[/URL]

I agree with the OP. OmniFocus, while quite a good app, "presents too many layers of abstractions between me and my list". I'm not a GTD purist, so its rules and conventions prevent me from customizing it exactly the way I want it, so I use OO instead. But the inability to filter limits its potential.

In my old Windows days, I used Ecco Pro, which is still the best program I've ever used. Mainly because it allowed me to show the same information in different ways - filtering in OO would go a long way down that road for me.

Filter based on column data
 

Years ago I used Natara's Bonsai for outline on the desktop and the palm. And how is it almost a decade later and the best outline in the market for the mac does not allow me to filter by column data? Honestly, I cannot express how frustrating this is to check back every few months and find out there has been no change here.

[QUOTE=tonycspc;70222]Years ago I used Natara's Bonsai for outline on the desktop and the palm. And how is it almost a decade later and the best outline in the market for the mac does not allow me to filter by column data? Honestly, I cannot express how frustrating this is to check back every few months and find out there has been no change here.[/QUOTE]

Make that six years now, And still they have that up in the FAQ. . Unbelievable.

Some scripts for filtering in OO3:

[url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=16392[/url]

[QUOTE=RobTrew;112754]Some scripts for filtering in OO3:

[url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=16392[/url][/QUOTE]

Those are definitely cool, but not real in-outline filtering.

[QUOTE=reesd;112763]Those are definitely cool, but not real in-outline filtering.[/QUOTE]

In-outline filtering ...

How do you see that working ?

Imagine, for example, that we apply a filter, and a child node matches the filter conditions (should be displayed) but one of its ancestral nodes doesn't match the filter conditions (shouldn't be displayed) ...

If we hide the ancestor, the child vanishes, though we should see really it ...
if we don't hide the ancestor, then the report contains nodes which should really have been filtered out.

The interaction between a set of filtered nodes and a set of nested nodes is not a very straightforward one ...

Any thoughts ?

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