round trip text export/import
 

Hi,
I'd like to be able export a simple outilne to text, make some changes to the text, and then import that outline. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work as easily as I was hoping.

The simplest case would be to export the outline to text, and then reimport it.
The text export adds the column heading "Topic" as a level 1 row to the start of the file. The rest of the outline is indented one level. This continues with every cycle.

So for example, my original outline in OOP might be:

*This is my outline.*

I export to text and the text file is now
Topic
<TAB>*This is my outline.*

If I import back to OOP and then export again I get
Topic
<TAB>Topic
<TAB><TAB>*This is my outline.*

etc etc. Is there a simple way to avoid this problem?

OOPro 3.6.2 10.4.8

Well, if instead of opening the file directly with OO, you can copy everything after 'Topic' in the text file and paste that into an OO document. The main issue you're having is 'Topic' being placed at level 1 and rest starting at level 2 it looks like? Or you can manually outdent everything after the topic row.

Is there some functionality about OO you don't like that is making you want to export the file to edit it?

I don't have OO available except at my desk, so it is better when I'm going to be away

The other thing that "catches" me surprisingly often is the bundle format of OO file. Well, I think its called a bundle. From the command line, the OO file is actually a folder. So for emailing, copying to USB, etc, I frequently forget to archive the folder and instead end up with an unusable alias. Plus, it's a bother to have the archived version that is distinct from my actual working doc. This isn't a problem with a text file.

Yes, OO files are saved as file wrappers which is a special folder. Apple Mail will zip these files in the background but I don't believe any other mail client will.