Importing and Exporting

ToDo List lets you: import/export to do items between any application that can work with tab-delimited text files, create a world wide web page and synchronize a ToDo List document to the to do items on a Newton PDA.

Import...
When you select the Import... sub-menu item from the Import/ Export menu item, you’ll be asked to select a text file for importing.

ToDo List will check to see whether the first line in the file contains labels for the item fields (when it exports a document, ToDo List puts the labels on the first line).  If the first line contains labels, it will be ignored. The remainder of the file should contain one to do item per line with each field separated by a single tab. Here is the order ToDo List expects:

1.
creation date
2.
modification date
3.
due date
4.
priority (0 - 10)
5.
completed status (“Finished” or “Not Finished”)
6.
number of days overdue (0 - 15)
7.
text of the item (carriage returns are replaced with "##")

ToDo List will do its best to translate date/time formats (e.g. “Jan 1, 1996” or “1/1/96”). If an error is detected, the whole import is cancelled and only the items preceeding the erroneous one are imported.

Many database applications and other personal information managers can be made to export to do items in the above format.
 
Export...
When you select the Export... sub-menu item from under the Import/Export menu item, you’ll be asked to enter a new file name for exporting. ToDo List will write labels for all of the item fields in the first line. The remainder of the file will contain one to do item per line, tab delimited with the fields in the order described above. If the text of any item contains carriage returns, they will automatically be replaced by "##".

Export HTML...
This option provides a convenient way to publish a ToDo List document on the World-Wide Web (part of the internet). If you’re unfamiliar with the internet, you can simply ignore this menu command.

When you select the Export HTML... sub-menu item from under the Import/Export menu item, you’ll be asked for a new file name. ToDo List will export all of the items in the file in HTML format. The exported document is given a title and a footnote indicating that the document came from ToDo List. ToDo List creates a NetScape Navigator document, but it is actually a plain text file that can be used by any browser application.

If you have Internet Config installed on your Macintosh (it ships with many internet applications and is available in archives such as Info-Mac), ToDo List will search for valid URLs. If found, they will be written so that it provides an actual link.

Synchronize Newton...
This option provides a convenient way to synchronize the to do items on a Newton PDA with the contents of the ToDo List document.  If you don’t have a Newton, you can simply ignore this menu item.

In order to use this menu command, you will first need to install the ToDo List Sync package on your Newton.  Since the Newton always carries unfinished items forward to the current date and the to do items in the Newton Date Book always have dates, your ToDo List document will automatically have these options set the first time you synchronize.

To begin synchronizing select the Synchronize Newton... menu command on the Macintosh and tap the ToDo Sync application in the Extras Drawer. You can synchronize with your Newton via the serial port (either Printer or Modem), via an AppleTalk network, or via a modem connection. Make sure you select the same connection method on both the Macintosh and Newton and that they have been properly connected. Tap the Connect button on the Newton and click OK on the Macintosh to begin the synchronization. 

HINT: When you synchronize in the future, if you hold the option key down while selecting the Synchronize Newton... menu command, no dialog will appear and the last connection method will be automatically used again.

The first time you synchronize your Newton with a ToDo List document, all of the items in the ToDo List document will be added to the Newton’s list and visa versa. Note that ToDo List doesn’t make any attempt to actually compare the content of items. If an item on the Macintosh has the same text as an item on the Newton, they are still treated as different and you’ll end up with both in each list.

During the first synchronization, ToDo List creates an internal link between each item in the ToDo List document and the corresponding item on the Newton.Each time you synchronize in the future, any changes that were made to items will be copied to the corresponding item on the other side. 

If you change the same item on both the Macintosh and the Newton, the Newton-based change will take priority and the Macintosh change will be lost.  

If you delete an item on the Newton, the corresponding item on the Macintosh will be deleted. Similarly, if you delete an item on the Macintosh, the corresponding item on the Newton is deleted.

It’s important to remember the invisible correspondences that were created between corresponding items on the Newton and the Macintosh, independent of their text content. If you completely change the text of an item on the Newton (so that in your mind it’s now a new item) and change the corresponding item on the Macintosh so that it also appears to be a different item, the connection between the two still exists. The next time you synchronize the two lists, the change on the Newton will override the change on the Macintosh. As long as you remember to delete items when you’re finished with them rather than reuse them, you won’t have any problems.

The synchronization information for the corresponding Macintosh ToDo List document is stored on the Newton in a way that actually allows you to keep several Newtons synchronized with each other via a single Macintosh. If you synchronize a Newton with a ToDo List document, synchronize another Newton with the same list and then resynchronize the first Newton again, both Newtons will end up with exactly the same to do items.  With a little care, you could use this technique to keep the to do items on several Newtons (for instance, all of your sales force) synchronized so that they can share tasks from day to day.

Collect Browser URLs
By selecting this menu choice (there must be a checkmark next to the command in order for the option to be active) you will automatically create a list of all the Web pages ("URLs") you visit when using your browser. We can recommend Netscape's Navigator and Microsoft's Explorer as compatible browsers.

This functionality works in the background and requires that you have Internet Config (freeware) installed. You can stop the collection of Web pages by selecting the command again (this will remove the checkmark in front of the menuitem.) This list is also a working bookmark list so that if you command-click a line, you will be taken to that Web page.