Working with (display+format+restructure) big amount of data (text+graphics)?

[Armando]

(this is the sequel of an exchange between TomColvin, Darwin and Armando started at https://www.donation...index.php?topic=9503)

Armando, thanks for referring me to your other thread -- lots of interesting commentary there.  The problem you describe there is EXACTLY the one I've been struggling with for over a year -- along with the additional requirement to track my growing bibliography.

I use askSAM myself, but now only for a database about Philippine monuments.  I just couldn't get it to do what I wanted, when it came to my book research project.  I'm now working with the new version of Biblioscape 7 -- now up to version 7.14, which seems to have fixed the bugs that were bothering me a few weeks ago.  And, as a result of this forum, I've just started using WhizFolders, which I hope will allow me to bring countless word, pdf and data files together.  We'll see...

Darwin, CbC isn't just for book start up.  I was already well into my project when I discovered it.  I cut & pasted all my chapters done up to that point into CbC.  I've discovered that even at the advanced stage of my work, I still move things around a bit -- and CbC makes that simple.  Also I like the chapter-by-chapter word count, which gives me a good sense of how far along I am.  Perhaps the most useful feature is one I haven't yet needed -- the ability to meld lots of separate chapter files into one single document, available for serious work -- pagination, headers-footers, endnotes, indexing, etc.

I am still searching for an easy way to save "versions" as I move along with each chapter.

Mouser, will be very interested to read your evaluation of CbC after you've had a chance to play around with it.

I'm amazed at how little information there is available about the various approaches to the problems Mouser describes.  Certainly, many writers face the same challenge -- but no one seems to have explored this problem and come up with several well-outlined options writers might follow.

Tom

-TomColvin (September 01, 2007, 11:24 PM)

As far as I'm concerned, this (the organizational problem at the hearth of this thread) is an unfinished issue... Of course, I've come up with some intermediary solutions, but I'm not completely statisfied yet. I will check the software you’re proposing (not immediately… I have some urgent stuff to take care off before. I’ll have more time in a week or so.)
Chapter by Chapter looks like it has great potential. I haven’t tried Biblioscape 7 (I’m using EndNote — provided by my university), and I’ve never tried WhizFolders either… Wow. Some new programs to evaluate!
I’ll report ASAP!


PS. By the way, you mention

I'm amazed at how little information there is available about the various approaches to the problems Mouser describes. 

-TomColvin (September 01, 2007, 11:24 PM)

I wonder what post you're refering too; or did you just mix up some names?

[TomColvin]

Armando, yep my brain wasn't in gear...   Mouser is following this thread but hasn't said much yet -- you're the one driving this discussion.

Re EndNote & Biblioscape:  I evaluated ENDNOTE.  I like it clean appearance, very easy to use.  And if one want strictly to manage bibliography and citations, it's a good way to go.  Biblioscape reaches well beyond that, in my view, becoming a reference manager, rather than simply a citation tool.

I'm running into a little problem with WhizFolders.  I bought the Deluxe version to get the tables feature, which I need for something I'm working on right now.  I'm getting it to work, but everytime I open the program, it tells me that it was shut down improperly the last time -- then it has a cryptic message about the program's use of a Microsoft Rich Text ddl, that sometimes messes things up.  So far, I'm only suffering the irration of the nag screen.  I'll write the developer when I get a chance to see just what's going on.  Otherwise, I'm liking the program.

[Armando]

thanks for posting here tom! 
I'll be really happy test these apps when I have more time! I have some huge decisions to make (to leave my Ph.D. program or to... hang on patiently  ).
i'll report here, of course. 

[Armando]

Tom,
I still have to evaluate biblioscape but, in the mean time, I've managed to install Chapter by Chapter, and have started using it. I like it! Looks like it's going to help me to work on my thesis.
By any chance, are you able to have Chapter by Chapter appear in the taskbar rather than the tray?
I've also seen (at your website http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/ ) that you tried yWriter. Did you like it?
Thanks

[TomColvin]

Armando, yWriter is particularly slanted toward novelists, and probably will not match your needs -- it grew out of the annual Novel in a Month program which puts writers on a schedule each November.  One feature I have found very interesting is an interesting structure to help one graph one's way toward novel completion within the 30-day time limit.

Your query sent me back to the developer's site [www.spacejock.com], which I haven't visited for over half a year -- and I must thank you for the prodding.  The software is now on version 3, with what are obviously major improvements.  I've downloaded this version [I originally looked at version 1] and will look into it during the week and post to my blog about my findings.  He's also, since my last visit, posted a number of new programs that look interesting.

Regarding Chapter-by-Chapter, there's been an update since you downloaded it, with just a few, but important improvements.  The developer is very approachable, so I suggest you email him direct with your question.  As I recall, you can find his contact info at his website at http://perso.orange....bastien.berthet/cbc/.

Tom

Tom

[Armando]

Many thanks for the feedback and clarifications about yWriter, Tom.

I just sent an email to Sébastien -- CbC's developper. Waiting for an answer. 

Will report back here!

Thanks again!

[Armando]

Sorry to revive this old thread. But I received a message from DBC, a DC member. She/he says :

"I really liked topic=9205.0. How does the quest end?"


So here's a follow up... Since I promised one a long time ago.

At the beginning of this thread, i was trying to solve an organizational problem and my main points were :

What I need [...] :

- a unified view of all the data (one reason for that is that I want to be able to zoom out and see a lot of material at once, I want to be able to jump from page 1 to page 1052 in a second, etc.).
- an outlined view of the chapters, parts, sections, etc., (MS Word does that : Outline View, and Document Map)
- a very easy way to reorganize the order of the different sections,
- a file format that’s indexable (or a database that’s indexable – X1, Archivarius are the Desktop Search solutions I use -- It's just not a good way to use an internal searching engine, separate from the rest of my files!!!),
- an editing solution which allows the same kind of formatting ability, Bold, Italic, bullets, cross referencing, etc. that MS word, OpenOffice or any advanced word processor will provide (to me, formatting is not just fuss : it gives the document a hierarchical outline, makes it easier to read, find info... to me it's not just a matter of content first, form after...),
- the ability to access my data and READ it on an other computer relatively easily. (I might be willing to cede on that one though...)

Until February 2008, I mostly used  MS Word documents and a naming scheme detailed here :

How do you tag (or even organize) your files?

(I still use this naming scheme, as it can be used everywhere and works wonders even with my current solution... But I don't use MS Word or other documents format as much)


Then, after that, I slowly started using InfoQube (IQ), as some here already know. All the problems mentioned above have pretty much been resolved with IQ... and more. Much more.

There is already plenty of info about IQ here on DC, so I won't start all over again. I'm willing to answer specific questions though...

[DBC]

Armando,

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. It was a very interesting thread. As you comment, InfoQube does seem versatile enough to resolve many of the problems. My current setup has been Grandview (DOS) for outlining, Zoot 5 for information management and further organisation of data, and then Notetab and finally Word for drafting. This has worked fairly well for articles and a couple of edited books. I was hoping that Zoot 6 beta would be a gigantic leap forward, but so far the main thrust of the beta has been on communications (email, RSS, Twitter, cloud, etc) rather than writing. While waiting to see what else is in store (Zoot now has rtf, for example), I've been looking for other possible solutions. Both ConnectedText and IQ are on my list, and both (like Zoot) don't seem to give up their secrets easily...

Derek