Workaround to import textClipping files

Q & A - getting started with Tinderbox
1

I tried to import textClipping files via drag and drop. But it doesn’t work.

Is there a workaround to import a list of files into Tinderbox?

As far as I know, textClipping files can only read by Finder and TextEdit.

I have a lot of files, so I don’t want to convert every single file via TextEdit manually.

2

It appears that .textClipping files are actually pretty hard to work with. I came across this app (have not used it myself, Extracting Plain Text from .textclipping files ($19.00), that will convert your .textClipping files to .txt, which you can drag in to Tinderbox.

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3

If you have plain text (.txt) or RTF files (.rtf) if you drag drop the files into Tinderbox (testing in v8.9.2) you get a note per file. the note $Name is the source file’s title and the note’s $Text is the source file’s text.

I tested RTF with text including bold/underline/italic text. Whether things like text highlight or embedded pictures work, I’m not sure.

If you don’t want the file, how are you making the snippets. Perhaps use a tool that makes txt/rtf files instead. In this sort of scenario there is a natural tendency to try and solve issues after ingest when stepping back that it is easier to make better input materials before ingest as it is less effort in the round.

If the snippets are the outcome of an export form some other app, do check that a better export format isn’t available or if the app supports AppleScript as it may be easy to make a custom export (or even do the whole task in AppleScript).

4

As a workaround: make a new note, and drag the textClipping file into the text pane.

5

I use Simplenote to take notes on the run. When at home I drag and drop text snippets into different idea / project folders. Collecting material this way has been proven very effective for me.

Back in Tbx I was thinking about an old idea and wanted to review some folders with a lot of material. I tried to organise it in the past with Scrivener but I think with Tbx I have much more possibilities.

I found meanwhile an Apple Script which converts textClipping files into txt. I will also have a look at the tool @satikusala mentioned.

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6

Thanks, this works as a workaround for me.

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