[DerekM]

For those that want to import your data to another app on the iPad, would you mind explaining what you're looking for in the export format? Do you need styling to be preserved? The outline structure? Multiple columns? What file format that supports your needs are supported by the app you want to use?

For those that have OO3 Pro, does the docx exporter provided there meet your needs if it was available on the iPad?

We'd like to make sure we fully understand what people need before we try addressing them.

Thanks!

[HappyCatMachine]

Originally Posted by DerekM

For those that want to import your data to another app on the iPad, would you mind explaining what you're looking for in the export format? Do you need styling to be preserved? The outline structure? Multiple columns? What file format that supports your needs are supported by the app you want to use?

For those that have OO3 Pro, does the docx exporter provided there meet your needs if it was available on the iPad?

We'd like to make sure we fully understand what people need before we try addressing them.

Thanks!

Thanks Derek,

I'll start with Word and give you an ideal world scenario if you don't mind.

Basically what I'd want with a doc export (or docx, though I'd prefer doc personally) would be for outlines to match word outlining. What this means, anything on a branch would be a Heading, starting at Heading 1 at the top and moving through to Heading 9. After 9 levels it's probably satisfactory to convert subsequent headings into body text. Any notes would be converted into body text as well (Normal style, in word).

These would then be VERY easy to convert into documents in word as one could just convert headings that one wanted to body text quickly.

The reason for this is clear (to me). Converting everything into word's outlining takes FAR more time than converting a few items out of Word's outlining. Since we're coming from an outliner I would expect the metaphor of outlining to be maintained across the two platforms.

As to how to handle multiple columns...I don't use multiple columns. Actually I do but they are not usually items I'd want carried into a final document. If they were to come into a document perhaps a new style applied to them (the column name?) and as such:

Heading Line with text in it
March 10, 1999 <- date column on separate line

Edit: This would be FANTASTIC for references, though I usually put them in-line in my notes...

I wouldn't want them to come in as a table necessarily (i.e. columns, as in the outliner) because again, that would take more time to undo. Part of the problem with HTML import into word is converting that HTML file and getting rid of all the extra columns.

Pages is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. I would test both of these exports with ONLY an iPad (email the export and open with...) into Pages and the three Office emulators to make sure they worked there.

I guess the question you need to ask is: why would someone want to move an outline into a word processor? For me the answer is simple: I write many, many papers. I move from mind map to outline to document. My interest is in not having to 'think' about the process. I would like OO to export into Word (and Pages) as if it looked like the document was built in those tools. iThoughtsHD and OO work beautifully this way (grats!) and I'd expect the same from OO/Pages/Word.

Hope this was useful and thanks again. Sorry for the late-night, stream-of-conciousness style writing!

[HappyCatMachine]

It turns out that Pages for iPad can import docx styles quite fluidly. Pages on the Mac can do the same. If you can export to docx then it can pretty much be imported anywhere.

Avoid RTF. As transportable a file format as that is there is nothing on the iPad that will read and allow you to edit RTF files. RTF requires a computer to translate before it can be brought into the iPad.

If you can get a native Pages doc then wonderful but as Pages will import word docs and word docs are primarily what students are using to hand papers in I would recommend that format over any other. I'm no fan of Microsoft but the fact remains that Word is what most people have access to and I know of NO university that will take papers in pages format.

[DerekM]

A Pages export is highly unlikely as it's a completely closed format. We already have the docx exporter on the Mac which can hopefully be brought over.

[HappyCatMachine]

Yes indeed, unfortunately the styles are lost. They all come in as Normal + whatever isn't normal. That means switching to outline view in Word is kind of pointless unless one feels like reorganising it back into an outline again.

I'm not sure if it is even possible to bring the style names (as Heading 1 and so on). I guess the best of all worlds would be to redefine the branches as Headings AND keep the styles that one has applied to them (so that doc's Heading 1 would be Green Helvetica 88pt or whatever).

[DerekM]

I haven't actually tested with Pages for iPad, but it just occurred to none of the heading styling the export does will work as is on OO iPad as it takes the all level rows styles which we don't use on the iPad.

As far as using the docx export for Word, it does do heading styles if the document was styled correctly (on the mac). There may be some bug I'm forgetting about though.

[Yata-Hey]

I want to 2nd the request for exporting to a word doc. My needs for exporting to word are the same as HappyCats. An export to Word doc with outline headings would really help my workflow!

[andyotter]

Originally Posted by Yata-Hey

I want to 2nd the request for exporting to a word doc. My needs for exporting to word are the same as HappyCats. An export to Word doc with outline headings would really help my workflow!

please mail it in to the ninjas!

[jasonact]

Originally Posted by DerekM

For those that want to import your data to another app on the iPad, would you mind explaining what you're looking for in the export format? Do you need styling to be preserved? The outline structure? Multiple columns? What file format that supports your needs are supported by the app you want to use?

For those that have OO3 Pro, does the docx exporter provided there meet your needs if it was available on the iPad?

We'd like to make sure we fully understand what people need before we try addressing them.

Thanks!

What I want for export (in order of greatest need):
1. When export to word processsor, spreadsheet, or other program format, maintain multiple columns as they exist in OO
2. Maintain outline structure
3. Export to .PDF and/or .DOC
4. Maintain style of structure

Thank you.

[DerekM]

Originally Posted by jasonact

What I want for export (in order of greatest need):
1. When export to word processsor, spreadsheet, or other program format, maintain multiple columns as they exist in OO
2. Maintain outline structure
3. Export to .PDF and/or .DOC
4. Maintain style of structure

Thank you.

So the problem with word processors is that they don't have true columns. What they do is flow your text into the other columns but it's all just one column. You can't insert a row and have it make space in each column. Are you requesting multiple columns for word processors because you want to use a spreadsheet and will use whatever app you can get it into? Or how do you create such documents from scratch in the word processor? Using a table?

Also, as far as PDF goes, I assume everyone is expecting it to be a printable PDF form? Meaning it is laid out for print with correct font size and page breaks and all? (The app isn't designed with print layout in mind) Or is a single page PDF of your whole document, no matter what the size of it, all you need?