Hi all. First, I'm using OmniPlan 0.6b for a real project and I've been very pleased with it.
OmniOutliner has some features that I'd like to ask about in relation to where OmniPlan might be going:
1) XML file with a DTD. An OmniPlan bundle is basically a contents.xml in plist format. An OmniOutliner bundle, though, is much richer. Specifically, the XML grammar has a DTD and some real semantics. What is the future of the file formats for the two products?
2) XSLT save-as. OmniOutliner allows you to register an XSLT in a little bundle, and have it show up in the GUI as an export option. I have really found this useful as a way to have customer data processing, formatting, and report generation.
OmniPlan, on the other hand, has a "Customize HTML Templates" which uses a different approach to HTML generation. Far easier, but less powerful (to say the least.)
Will the products converge into common patterns, and if so, will XSLT be supported in OmniPlan?
3) Export selection. OmniOutliner Pro has, in its printing, an OmniOutliner Pro section with a "Print selected rows only". My project is organized by milestones and I would *love* a way to generate a Gantt chart isolated to a certain task group.
4) Sync data. Finally, I've read the threads here about collaboration and syncing with Basecamp with interest. I too am interested in two-way syncing with a web-based issue manager. I did this once with OmniOutliner and used the DTD's support for sync. I then wrote scripts that retrieved remote data, updated things that had changed using this sync support, etc., without breaking the DTD. If OmniPlan is getting enhancements to its format, I'd be interested in similar support.
OmniOutliner has some features that I'd like to ask about in relation to where OmniPlan might be going:
1) XML file with a DTD. An OmniPlan bundle is basically a contents.xml in plist format. An OmniOutliner bundle, though, is much richer. Specifically, the XML grammar has a DTD and some real semantics. What is the future of the file formats for the two products?
2) XSLT save-as. OmniOutliner allows you to register an XSLT in a little bundle, and have it show up in the GUI as an export option. I have really found this useful as a way to have customer data processing, formatting, and report generation.
OmniPlan, on the other hand, has a "Customize HTML Templates" which uses a different approach to HTML generation. Far easier, but less powerful (to say the least.)
Will the products converge into common patterns, and if so, will XSLT be supported in OmniPlan?
3) Export selection. OmniOutliner Pro has, in its printing, an OmniOutliner Pro section with a "Print selected rows only". My project is organized by milestones and I would *love* a way to generate a Gantt chart isolated to a certain task group.
4) Sync data. Finally, I've read the threads here about collaboration and syncing with Basecamp with interest. I too am interested in two-way syncing with a web-based issue manager. I did this once with OmniOutliner and used the DTD's support for sync. I then wrote scripts that retrieved remote data, updated things that had changed using this sync support, etc., without breaking the DTD. If OmniPlan is getting enhancements to its format, I'd be interested in similar support.