Page 1 of 1

Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-12 05:03:43
by pharaoh
I am using Bookends as Bibliographic Software. With Mellel, Bookends has an API, through which the references used appear on the side box, so you can select the references to be used elsewhere in the same paper.
I have contacted Jon at sonnysoftware, the developer of Bookends, and he told me that he does not depend on Bookends having this kind of interaction, but depends on Nisus programmers.

So Martin, I would like to know if such implementation is difficult to achieve on your side, and most of all, if any of the other users of this forum would find it useful.

All the best to all the forum users in their writing!

Rob

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-12 14:22:32
by martin
Hello Rob: thank you for the suggestion for an enhanced interface with Bookends. As you know, although Nisus Writer Pro (NWP) already has ways of interacting with Bookends, there are things we could add. Aside from your suggestion to include a palette or live list of Bookends references in NWP, do you have any other desires? We'd certainly love to hear them, and consider them as possible future enhancements. Thanks for your feedback!

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-13 05:57:34
by pharaoh
Dear Martin,
I thank you for the reply and kind words. I hope that my request does not take long time to you for implementing....
I have the same request I asked 4 years ago: creation of index following special orders. As asked then, I am working with transliterations and such transliterations follow strange orders.
I believe that it will make the happiest academic in the world....

Rob

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-13 07:07:13
by phspaelti
pharaoh wrote:I have the same request I asked 4 years ago: creation of index following special orders.
What kind of "special orders" are you looking for?

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-13 07:27:33
by pharaoh
Dear Philip,
I should have written not usual ordering, but being at the end of a long day, my mind flipped on. Anyway, Ancient Egyptian transliteration follows a order in which Alef, is followed by y, then ayn and so on. This is particular ordering does not belong to any actual language, so I cannot sort it out with the normal language system.
So I should create an ordering for any transliterated word, so they could be in the normal academic system used in publications. As Martin replied to me four years ago, I can create a non dynamic index by hand, but the risk is that as soon as I need to update it for any reason, I have to do it again.

I think it is time to stop working...

Rob

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-13 07:49:45
by phspaelti
I agree with Martin here. But of course the "by hand" should really be done in the form of a macro. There are basically two approaches. One is to use a macro that pulls out the indexed items and creates the index. The other is to use the Nisus generated index, but then use a macro to reorder the output. In the second method, if you need to update the index, you would delete it, regenerate it, and then re-run the macro to sort it again. The downside to hand generated indexes is that they aren't "live".

A third possibility that may work in some special cases is to use hidden characters in the index topics to get the right order, but this really would depend on the circumstances of the ordering. Again you would need a macro to insert the special characters, but the index would be truly live. The special characters that I am thinking of would be small width spaces placed in such a way as to change the order of the items. But this is R-to-L language we are talking about, right? I'm not sure I'm ready to try that then.

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-14 07:15:02
by Vanceone
I for one would like to be able to reorder the index. As it currently stands, I think a reorderable index is about the only thing Word does that Nisus doesn't, at least in this area.

I'm specifically thinking of Tables Of Authority here. Right now, I index all my cases (with each case being a subentry), Statutes, etc. Sometimes I would like to be able to put Statutes in front of Rules, because Statutes are more important than rules, usually. But R comes before S, so Rules comes first.

To be able to reorder would be nice.

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-15 18:34:45
by phspaelti
Vanceone wrote:I'm specifically thinking of Tables Of Authority here. Right now, I index all my cases (with each case being a subentry), Statutes, etc. Sometimes I would like to be able to put Statutes in front of Rules, because Statutes are more important than rules, usually. But R comes before S, so Rules comes first.
Couldn't you do this using two indexes, one for Rules, and one for Statutes?

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-16 14:58:31
by pharaoh
Dear Philip,
to reply to your question, transliteration for ancient Egyptian is simply left to right. Ancient Egyptians can write left to right right to left and in columns, but the transliteration follows a "normal" left to right writing.
As I quite like the option no. 2 you proposed, but I am not a good macro specialist, may I ask you to simply start the macro, and lead me how to complete it?
I attach a PDF file to this message, as I show you one word and the order of the different character. As said, I would like to learn how do the macro, but I ask your to start it for me, so I can simply add each transliteration sign, or add possible variations with the time.

I am using LaTeX to complete my actual book, but I am planning to use Nisus for the next couple of books. While the layout will be done by someone else, I am sure about it, the index still follows under my own responsibility anyway.

Thanks,

Rob

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-21 06:00:55
by phspaelti
Sorry pharaoh for the long silence.
Here is a first pass of a macro for the sorting problem. I'm not 100% sure that I have the sort order correct. So check the output carefully.
This macro will do no harm to your files. Just select an appropriate list (e.g. your index) and run. The macro will create a new document with the selection sorted. It won't do anything to your file.

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-23 23:34:51
by pharaoh
Dear Philip,
I have already download it the macro, and check it. I have done some corrections, and I will run next month for my next Egyptological writing. I ask anyone interested to the macro to give me until the end of May before checking the correctness of my own version.

As I have looked through the macro, however, may I ask you how you have been able to write it? Most of all, Philip, where did you find all the information to start it?

どうもありがとう

(if I understood well, you are based in Japan..., Khap khoon khrap as I am based in Thailand)

Rob

Re: Better interaction with Bookends

Posted: 2016-04-24 10:02:14
by jb
martin wrote: Aside from your suggestion to include a palette or live list of Bookends references in NWP, do you have any other desires? We'd certainly love to hear them, and consider them as possible future enhancements. Thanks for your feedback!


Rob is not alone.
I would also second his request.
As for your kind solicitation, Martin, please see: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6348