LinkBack

[nspy]

The only LinkBack enabled app I have is NWE 2.5. So, to experiment I opend a couple of files and copied and pasted into a third, new file. I did not get the dialogue offering to make the paste updateable, and so far as I can see ther is no LinkBack established. If NWE can't do this with is own documents, what's the point?

Or, am I missing something incredibly obvious like having to press a modifier key during paste or something else that's not documented yet?

Rick

[steintal]

I have tested the LinkBacke feature of NisusWriter Express 2.5 in conjunction with the graphic progam "Create" by Stone Design and everything works well.

[cgc]

He's saying that linkback should work with NWE itself as well as other LB enabled progs. Example: insert a OmniGraffle document into a NWE document in NWE and when the OmniGraffle document is updated, those udpates should appear magically in NWE. What he's saying is that NWE documents, when pasted into another NWE document should also be link-back. IE, when the embedded NWE document is changed, those changes should be reflected in the current NWE document.

[Ryan]

I disagree that this should be the behaviour within an application. That would redefine what copy and paste does. When I copy from one text document to another, I want it to copy that text, not reference the other. This is the way it has worked for some time.

However, I also think that there could be a way to place a reference to another Nisus file. Perhaps a "Place" command, or there could be something like a "Paste > Paste Reference" command. This would keep the default behaviour the way it's always been, but still allow the new functionality.

[cgc]

I disagree that this should be the behaviour within an application. That would redefine what copy and paste does. When I copy from one text document to another, I want it to copy that text, not reference the other. This is the way it has worked for some time.

However, I also think that there could be a way to place a reference to another Nisus file. Perhaps a "Place" command, or there could be something like a "Paste > Paste Reference" command. This would keep the default behaviour the way it's always been, but still allow the new functionality.

Not copying and pasting text...it's inserting another NWE document into a NWE document...the inserted document should update (via linkback).

[dshan]

I think you are going beyond the defined/intended scope of LinkBack if you expect to be able to use it within NWX. The manual is unfortunately not crystal clear on this point, but it does seem that LB is designed to work across different types of documents and applications, not across different docs within the same app.

It's all about embedding graphic files from a graphics app into NWX (or the reverse presumably) and similar, nowhere does it mention doing it within one app. The behaviour seem clear also -- those who've tested LB across apps report it working fine, those trying to LB from one NWX doc to another NWX doc have no success. Sounds like that's how it's supposed to work.

[JBL]

I think you are going beyond the defined/intended scope of LinkBack...

Probably, but it is a neat idea, and you wouldn't think it would be that hard to extend NWE and/or LB to be able to do this. Can other LB enabled programs do this? Is it a limitation within NWE or LB?

[midwinter]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what it is you're trying to do.

[Ryan]

An interesting thing that could come from this is NWE documents embedded inside NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents embedded in NWE documents, y'know?

As long as they all stayed updated, that would be pretty cool.

[nspy]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what it is you're trying to do.

What I would really like to do is be able to merge a number of chapter files into a book. This was easy using the mailmerge facility in NWC--just create a data file with the filenames, a merger file referring to it and select merge from the menu. Voila.

I thought, I hoped, that linkback might allow me to work around this critical (to me) missing functionality in NWE. But alas, it apparently doesn't work at all from NWE document to NWE document.

Rick

[Ryan]

Mail-merge to reference other files, eh? That's fairly creative. I wouldn't have thought of that.

This does make a nice request for upcoming functionality.

[nspy]

Mail-merge to reference other files, eh? That's fairly creative. I wouldn't have thought of that.

This does make a nice request for upcoming functionality.

It's the only practical way to manage lage books. My fiction averages 200K words per novel, and my textbooks run as high as 1400 pages. I write in chapters, but have to submit whole books.

Rick

[marc]

but it does seem that LB is designed to work across different types of documents and applications, not across different docs within the same app.

Which is really unfortunate, but would probably require too much high-level support for the interface issues to be reasonably resolved...?

Then again 'all' that would be needed would be some sort of 'Live Copy/Paste' feature added to the Edit and contextual menus of LinkBack apps, and perhaps some sort of visual effect on the 'Live Linked' data, e.g. an outline (perhaps on mouse over) for graphics and text, or a simpler background shading/colour effect for text.

It's all about embedding graphic files from a graphics app into NWX (or the reverse presumably)

I'm not sure if you're meaning to say that it's ONLY for graphics... that's certainly not the case according to the case studies at http://www.linkbackproject.org:

SCENARIO 2: Live Data

Larry uses a stock quote application to lookup some online stock quotes.  He then selects the quotes and copies them to the pasteboard.  He opens a new Nisus Writer Express document and selects “Paste.”  A dialog appears asking him if he wants the data he is about to paste to be updated automatically.  He chooses the live update option and the stock quotes appear in his document.  Every fifteen minutes the quotes automatically update in his document to reflect the current stock value.

Not that I can get this to work with Nisus Writer, and I'd always been wondering about that; if you're copying text into an app that supports text editing, how do you determine which app 'owns' the data?

I'd like to use OmniOutliner instead of Nisus' List styles; I'd set up, and work on, the outline in OmniOutliner, and copy and paste it into Nisus Writer for a final report. Double-clicking the outline would open it in OmniOutliner giving me their great UI to manage the list, with the formatting style properties maintained in the Nisus document.

I know, dream on.