For the past few months I have been trying to incorporate Tinderbox into my academic writing workflow.
So in order to do so, I need to copy parts of research papers into tinderbox, leaving the mathematical formulas and graphs intact.
Now copying and pasting parts of research papers (in PDF) creates huge files, makes them impossible to export and makes tinderbox really slow.
So I used some smart translation software which recognizes math formules and diagrams, separates the text and creates an HTML file.
So in tinderbox I can view this html file in the HTML preview for a text note.
However in the map view, I will only see the code which creates the markup.
Would it be possible to see the HTML rendering of the note in the map view?
So instead of the text view being the default view in a map, creating the possibility for the HTML view to be seen?
Since that would allow one to see how one set of formules or pattern of thought would translate to a specific conclusion, which the map view is very capable of.
Unfortunately copy pasting in a way which preserves the input from pdf’s does create huge and slow files.
There are a few different ways to copy paste from pdf’s,
selecting using the cursor and copy-pasting
selecting using the selection box and copy pasting
rendering to html, selecting using the cursor and copy-pasting
using the clip to tinderbox service
rendering the pdf to html and previewing the html note
I created a file(below) where I demonstrate the output from all of these ways.
so, 1) selecting text using the cursor and copying and pasting this, indeed does not create huge files, however it destroys almost all markup, formules and special characters. Also it detroys images and their location and is generally unstable.
Using the selection box and copying and pasting this creates an image, which creates huge files, takes away the ability to edit any text/formulas and generally looks very incongruent(however use an image adornment creates possibilities but severs all ties to the original content and has the same issues regarding editing the content of formulas. and it makes export almost impossible, since I will end up with a mish mash of picture cutout’s from different pdf’s with looks really unpleasant.
Copy pasting rendered html files creates the largest discrepancy between input and intended output.
clipping to tinderbox only copies pure text, no markup no images nothing, almost unreadable output.
Where rendering the output from PDF2HTMLEX faithfully recreates the PDF, using some scripts this could also be linked to the original file(references) and using some updating protocol I could change formulas using other software.
and the export actually looks nice.
Basically I want tinderbox to render MathML(tex would be even better, however this is difficult using HTML) in the note itself. The map view is really crucial in this case.
However, the html preview does not allow me to use the map view, since the text pane will only show me the html code, which leaves me none the wiser.
I have uploaded the files mentioned here: https://we.tl/Lbxa94LcmV
Since new users are not allowed to upload.
Would it be possible to store the html separately and let tinderbox store the rendered html as an image, which it would update when I change the html file?
And preferable use an an image adornment, but only when I open the actual file/parent node(such that tinderbox doesn’t store bitmapped images of thousands of pdf files).
I looked through some of the action code, but I could not find an export command.
The shortcomings of the pdf format are not our fault.
Why not store your pdfs in a repository like DEVONthink and link to them in Tinderbox? Your HTML renditions of pdfs will always have some shortcomings, too, and the location of images is also potentially unstable.
Thanks for the reply!
You have been very helpful in allowing me to further explore what I am trying get out of tinderbox!
What I am getting at is not so much a shortcoming of the PDF format, but rather the difficulty of recreating the pdf experience in the tinderbox text/note view.
So since I am able to recreate a pdf perfectly in the HTML preview, i am wondering whether it would be possible to view this HTML preview in the map view, instead of seeing the HTML code in the text note.
I am already storing my pdf’s in devonthink, however linking to them in tinderbox does not allow me to view the content of the pdf in the map view.
So would it be possible to 1) change the note view one sees in the map view from text to HTML?
A workaround would be to 2) export the rendered HTML automatically and import it into a note/adornment as a picture. Where this picture is just temporary, so once I close the tinderbox file, the pictures are not saved.
Is there a command/agent which allow one to:
If open a parent note, to:
Export a designated HTML (auto fetched) note as a picture and then:
Import it into a newly created note/picture adornment?
(and once the parent note is closed to delete the pictures).
If someone could help me along with the export command, I could make a very nice workflow out of this and post this
Would option 1) or 2) be possible?
Because I really got into tinderbox with the map view in mind:)!
I would really love to hear whether this would be possible!
