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OPML / Indented text data exchange among outliners (with a request to PPL)
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Posted by Neville Franks
May 15, 2009 at 10:17 PM
>The main reason for posting this request here is to generate interest from other developers as well.
OPML is quite restricted in its capabilities. For example it does not support binary data such as images and files. It is difficult to see how it could be used for many of todays content rich applications, such as our Surfulater. For simple text based outlines it may well be all that is needed, however even there I’m not sure how well it handles content structured in a hierarchical format. Nor the ability to handled structured content.
It would be interesting to see how well Export from Alexander’s listed applications and then Import into another application actually worked in practice.
Neville Franks, http://blog.surfulater.com
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
May 16, 2009 at 06:31 AM
Neville Franks wrote:
>OPML is quite restricted in its capabilities. ... It is difficult to see how it
>could be used for many of todays content rich applications, such as our Surfulater.
Yes, I concur that OPML is limited and not suitable for all applications (as tab indented text also is). For one thing, it makes no actual distinction between heading and content, as it was intended for 1-pane outliners. Also, its implementations vary, as each application may add its own attributes to the OPML file and these may not be recognisable or usable by others.
However, I have yet to find an alternative to the two formats mentioned. And some of my outlines are too complex for retyping.
>It would be interesting to see how well
>Export from Alexander’s listed applications and then Import into another
>application actually worked in practice.
In terms of import, the most powerful application by far is TreeLine, which recognises all attributes in the OPML file and allows one to chart them appropriately. Yet TreeLine is almost like an XML editor in its concept; programmers will probably feel more at home with it than people like myself.
I use OPML export from my Symbian phone Projekt hierarchical task list (which has a few hundred items) on a daily basis; I import it to Notecase Pro which is flexible enough to recognise Projekt’s notes in the OPML file. I also import to ConceptDraw Mindmap for sharing with my partners. In both cases it does what it’s supposed to do, saving me a lot of time.