Re: [Hx] [Hx]Thank you - and exporting tabs and carriage returns

[Dominic Beddow newslettermfh@gmail.com]

Dear Lenny & Co
Firstly, thank you very much for your tips about dashboards and list titles early last month. Really kind.

Another dilemma - relevant in many situations.
As context....I've used Helix to export text strings for different purposes.

For example, it's been fantastic for creating tagged text for importing into Indesign.

You can create a complex index with sub headings, thousands of lines with multiple fonts / type sizes on each line.

It's hugely satisfying when it works.

I've never managed to export return characters.
(I wish they had kept 'Dump' BTW .... it was more fun)

Within a field you have to use Shift-Return, not return.
These Shift-Returns are flushed away when you export.
New Line abacus doesn't help - it gets turned into a space character or export.

I have had to export [RTN] or similar, then change it to a return in a text editor outside Helix.
This does not work-around the Shift-rtns in fields disappearing.

I have not been able to create an export string as simple as this 

Dear [VARIABLE],

[VARIABLE FIELD],

[ANOTHER VARIABLE FIELD],

All Best wishes.

Has anyone overcome this? 

It offers many opportunities.

I'm a bit worried that I my have asked this before (but nobody had a solution)

Many thanks again,

Dominic

[Wade Brezina wade@thewintrack.com]

Dominic

If you look in you export options and make sure that strip field delimiters is not set, try exporting a small sample of records. Unless that is checked, it should export something in that position. Look at the export file with a text editor set to show invisible and see what it is exporting. It seems unlikely that it would not export anything unless you explicitly tell it to strip delimiters.

Wade

[louis louis@simonac.com]

Did you play with those setting ?

It does work for me

Le 25 oct. 2023 à 15:30, Dominic Beddow newsle...@gmail.com <Hel...@gibhenry.com> a écrit :

Dear Lenny & Co
Firstly, thank you very much for your tips about dashboards and list titles early last month. Really kind.

Another dilemma - relevant in many situations.
As context....I've used Helix to export text strings for different purposes.

For example, it's been fantastic for creating tagged text for importing into Indesign.

You can create a complex index with sub headings, thousands of lines with multiple fonts / type sizes on each line.

It's hugely satisfying when it works.

I've never managed to export return characters.
(I wish they had kept 'Dump' BTW .... it was more fun)

Within a field you have to use Shift-Return, not return.
These Shift-Returns are flushed away when you export.
New Line abacus doesn't help - it gets turned into a space character or export.

I have had to export [RTN] or similar, then change it to a return in a text editor outside Helix.
This does not work-around the Shift-rtns in fields disappearing.

[Lenny Eiger eiger@databright.com]

Dominic,

BBEdit can automatically change the linefeeds to carriage returns, it's a setting at the bottom of the page.

I bought BBEdit a long time ago and I pay for every upgrade. It's probably the single most useful software ever, especially for anyone that has to do any text manipulation, and I like to support those guys.

Lenny

[Dominic Beddow newslettermfh@gmail.com]

Hello Everyone

I feel a bit foolish.These features are hiding in plain sight and fix the carriage return stripping. 

And when I look harder, they have been there for a long time.

I had just convinced myself it wasn't possible.

Note to self...

This allows me to export additional carriage returns (New Lines) within records, conditional on whatever.

For example, a list might have  layers of heading which are not themselves records.

RESTAURANTS (additional return required)

----London Area---- (additional return required)

• Inexpensive (additional return required)

Beano's Fish and Chips

Dave's Diner

• Expensive (additional return required)

Hugo's Haute Cuisine

Ray's Steaks

The ability to insert extra tabs would be handy from time to time.

If I split an export formula into separate sections and add extra undefined boxes in the template, that creates tabs.

... but they are not conditional. An undefined field still creates a tab.

Exporting different Indesign paragraph tags can overcome this militation (perhaps for long names which require two lines and an indent on the second).

Can't quite work out what outer data is, but perhaps I don't need to know. 

Seems to be sub-form related, but I sense a rabbit hole.

BBEdit ... you are right, Lenny ....I should pay for it, and will when my old TextWrangler stops working.

Thanks

Dominic

[louis louis@simonac.com]

The ability to insert extra tabs would be handy from time to time.

To fill a text tile with a TAB just need to copy a TAB from anywhere and paste it in a hole of a text tile.  Conditional or not. You can « grab » a tab from a text file and bring it inside an Helix tile hole.  Copy and paste.

[Wade Brezina wade@thewintrack.com]

Dominic

Before Apple went to signed software I also paid for BBEdit. Truly
wonderful software and I don't regret the money spent. Currently, when
using a more modern OS, my choice is Bluefish Editor. This is another
excellent tool that you may want to consider.  A good text editor is
really one of the most useful tools for a computer.

Wade

On 10/26/23 05:10, Dominic Beddow newsle...@gmail.com wrote:
> BBEdit ... you are right, Lenny ....I should pay for it, and will when
> my old TextWrangler stops working.
>
> Thanks
> Dominic

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[Christian Buser macchristian@gazeta.pl]

Hello Wade Brezina wa...@thewintrack.com. On Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:27:10 -0500, you wrote:

> Before Apple went to signed software I also paid for BBEdit. Truly
> wonderful software and I don't regret the money spent. Currently,
> when using a more modern OS, my choice is Bluefish Editor.

I think I used BBEdit long before MacOS X, and BBEdit version 14 still works perfectly with macOS 14 "Sonoma". Of course, there have been several new versions in that long time. What advantages does Bluefish Editor have about BBEdit?

BBEdit is available from the Mac App Store (monthly or annual "rent") as well as directly from BareBones (one time payment valid until next major version). I prefer to pay directly to them.

Christian

--
Christian Buser, Hohle Gasse 6, CH-5507 Mellingen (Switzerland)
Hilfe fuer Strassenkinder in Ghana: https://www.chance-for-children.org

[Wade Brezina wade@thewintrack.com]

Christian

It's not a matter of any advantage. I really like BBEdit. If they
released a version for Linux I would likely buy it. Although, Bluefish
is good enough for my current needs, so perhaps not. Realize that I no
longer fit in with this community. The signed software, coupled with the
way it has already been deployed with iOS, was just a bridge too far for
me. You are all are happy inside of Apple's walled garden and I wish you
all the best.

For more than 30 years I have honed my skills on the Mac developing
exceedingly powerful and successful Helix Applications. If there were an
actual current demand for my services I would be happy to use someone's
Mac to do whatever they would want me to do with their Helix
Application. For my personal intellectual capital however, I will not
cede control to Apple.

Fortunately there are enough dedicated and amazingly talented people in
this world that understand why I see the direction Apple has chosen as a
bridge too far! They have been doing truly remarkable work!  Years ago,
Linux was good enough to serve my wife's needs on an old PC with very
little support from me. It was a bit difficult to get set up and running
and a few things were somewhat difficult to resolve but once setup it
was solid and capable. While that was adequate for my wife I was much
happier on my Mac.  Things are very different today. This is now my
daily driver and I am quite happy with it. Can remotely run my Macs when
needed or just use them natively for Helix which is the only thing I
really miss.  Could not have envisioned this a few years ago.

Wade

On 10/26/23 13:50, Christian Buser macchr...@gazeta.pl wrote:
> Hello Wade Brezina wa...@thewintrack.com. On Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:27:10 -0500, you wrote:
>
>> Before Apple went to signed software I also paid for BBEdit. Truly
>> wonderful software and I don't regret the money spent. Currently,
>> when using a more modern OS, my choice is Bluefish Editor.
> I think I used BBEdit long before MacOS X, and BBEdit version 14 still works perfectly with macOS 14 "Sonoma". Of course, there have been several new versions in that long time. What advantages does Bluefish Editor have about BBEdit?
>
> BBEdit is available from the Mac App Store (monthly or annual "rent") as well as directly from BareBones (one time payment valid until next major version). I prefer to pay directly to them.
>
> Christian
>

[Dominic Beddow newslettermfh@gmail.com]

Thanks for the ‘paste a tab from another application into a text tile’ tip.

I tested it

It worked under these circumstance

–  I deselect ‘strip field delimiters’. 

– Tab was set as the field delimiter (the default)

NOTE the additional tabs were being read as field separators even though they weren’t

It also worked under these circumstance

– I select ‘strip field delimiters’. 

– NUL was set as the field delimiters(the default)

NOTE only practical if the export  line is just one abacus (and therefore there are no field delimiters)

t also worked (exported the tabs) mysteriously only sometimes in these circumstance … so in practice did not work. Worse than not working at all, when I think about it.

– I deselect ‘strip field delimiters’. 

– NUL was set as the field delimiter (the default)

NOTE don’t really understand, but don’t need to!

If the Big Donut programmers are reading…..

Please make this more logical.

Either add a TAB tile, or dispense with NEW LINE.

This would be more consistent.

It’s also more in line with the general advice that an abacus referred to twice works  faster than 2 tiles.

Provided that the instructions/tuition are clear … this would nudge people to find out non-intuitive things like this … that you can / need to paste in characters when you can’t type them.

All best

Dominic