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XML Transformation Script (PowerShell)

You can look forward to linked topics in the next version. Not in the body text, but in the topic details, where the linkage currently appears.

Putting the links in the body text invokes various issues I'm not sure how to deal with right now. It may sound simple and straightforward, but when one considers the potential for duplicate topic names and alias names, it becomes much more problematic. I don't see any clear indication of how to deal with this in the XML, so that would leave me to make my best guesses when writing the code, and that's probably not going to be good enough.

So for now, at least, it'll all be in the section with topic details.

I should have that ready by the end of the week. I want to test and tighten up some other things before I post it.
 
EightBitz said:
It may sound simple and straightforward, but when one considers the potential for duplicate topic names and alias names, it becomes much more problematic. I don't see any clear indication of how to deal with this in the XML, so that would leave me to make my best guesses when writing the code, and that's probably not going to be good enough.
Click to expand...
Its so weird. Your almost starting to sound like Rob! :D :eek: :)

Update: Adding that the above is 100% meant as a "complement" not a insult at all. Rob is awesome and sounding like him in my world is a "GOOD" thing!
 
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EightBitz said:
Putting the links in the body text invokes various issues I'm not sure how to deal with right now. It may sound simple and straightforward, but when one considers the potential for duplicate topic names and alias names, it becomes much more problematic. I don't see any clear indication of how to deal with this in the XML, so that would leave me to make my best guesses when writing the code, and that's probably not going to be good enough.
Click to expand...

Links seem to be stored in the XML export as <link target_id="Topic_24"...

where "Topic_24" is the name given to a <topic topic_Id="Topic_24"...

so with enough mapping information in your script, you might be able to map back from the link to the originating topic. (Another issue would be mapping the "span_info/span_List/span" information to the correct position within the contents element.)
 
Farling said:
Links seem to be stored in the XML export as <link target_id="Topic_24"...

where "Topic_24" is the name given to a <topic topic_Id="Topic_24"...

so with enough mapping information in your script, you might be able to map back from the link to the originating topic. (Another issue would be mapping the "span_info/span_List/span" information to the correct position within the contents element.)
Click to expand...

Right. I figured out the link targets and topic IDs, as well as the direction, which is how I got the links working in the topic details section of my output.

I haven't figured out how to apply that information to the content. For instance, I have one topic that has three links to two other topics. The third link is to an alias of one of the other two topics. There are only two "linkage" properties. The both reference the topic's public_name (neither of them reference the alias name).

The alias is the third link the content, and it refers to the first topic. So when I look at the content, there's a link for topic 1, then a link for topic 2, then a link to the alias of topic 1.

When I look at the XML, there's one linkage entry for topic 1 and one linkage entry for topic 2. There is nothing obvious in the content section of the XML (at least, not obvious to me) that indicates which text refers to which linkage entry.

This leads me to believe (I'm not stating a fact here, just a summary conclusion based on what I've been able to reverse engineer so far) that the extra linkage information is stored in the full export, but not the compact one.

Or, there's always the very real possibility that I'm missing something.
 
The linkage info in the full export is indeed more detailed. There are "start" and "length" attributes that direct them the proper points in the content.
 
EightBitz said:
The linkage info in the full export is indeed more detailed. There are "start" and "length" attributes that direct them the proper points in the content.
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry about that. I've always been looking at the full export XML data format. I'd forgotten that you were working with the simpler export format.
 
I was trying to add in some input validation, but what I had in mind just doesn't want to work. :-(

You guys seem OK so far. I just wanted to add it for some polish. But I'm very frustrated, and I'm giving up on it ... at least for now. I swear, input validation has vexed me more than everything else I've done with the script, and it's time to just let it go, I think.

So I'll make sure everything else still works and post the update.
 
Bidmaron said:
Great work again, EightBitz!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Shortly after I posted, I figured out why my input validation script wasn't working. So there will be a version 1.0. :-)

Have to tidy some things up before I post it. And I got some errands to run. So, not right now.
 
Also, please don't examine the validation script. I'm a little embarrassed about it. :-o

I might clean it up later, but right now, I just wanted the darn thing to work. :-)
 
Didn't want to say anything earlier, but I'm close enough to done now where I think it's safe to say this ...

I've been working on an option to export to a word file i stead of HTML. Complete with collapsible headings and an automatically generated table of contents.

It's not retaining any formatting right now. That's going to be a task I'm not up to right now. Maybe later.

Topics, unfortunately, will not be nested, but sections will be.

Should be ready in a few days, unless I just jinxed myself by posting this prematurely.
 
@ Bidmaron, motion made.

@Zaphod Beebledoc, motion carried.

@EightBitz, by the power granted to this forum by the internet, you may officially add "Treasure to the Community" to your signature line. You are entitled to all the praise and encouragement it may bring. We appreciate the huge amount of work you have undertaken on our behalf. Thank you!
 
Have not used the script yet, but surely will do so soon!
Thank you for the work and thanks again for sharing it with us.
 
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