Merging user note sets

wsbones

Beta Tester
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I would like a utility to merge some user note sets together into one set. Would that be a useful for anyone else? Not every verse would necessarily have notes in each set.
 
I would like a utility to merge some user note sets together into one set. Would that be a useful for anyone else? Not every verse would necessarily have notes in each set.

I'm sure it's just me, and I'm a bit tired, but I'm not clear on what you mean.
 
I would like a utility to merge some user note sets together into one set. Would that be a useful for anyone else? Not every verse would necessarily have notes in each set.

Since I work on two computers, it would be nice to have a utility that would merge two sets of notes - for instance, my personal study journal has notes for some days on one computer and notes for other days on the other computer. To look back at my notes, I have to figure out which computer I was using which day. Also, I'm making a SwordSearcher module from Dr. McGee's commentaries and have to make sure that I use just one computer, or keep sending the updated file back and forth between computers (and it's getting kind of large, if you know what I mean). :)
 
I'd like to get a better idea of what you are looking for.

While the last-edit for a module is easily determined, the module does not have any means of knowing when a particular entry was last edited -- this information simply isn't stored. So, if a merge tool is created, how would you want it to handle duplicate entries?
 
What would be the easiest way of handling it for you, Brandon? If there were dual entries, could one be appended to the other (my first choice) - or maybe 'rename' the entries ending them with 'a' and 'b' according to the file dates? Appended within a single entry seems best to me, but either would work. The order (older first or newer first) would not matter to me. With the modules that I'm working on, there aren't any duplicate entries, but I can see how that might happen and it will happen a year from now, when the new calendar year starts for the Personal Journal (unless I create a new one for the new year).

It would be easier to adjust the entries from within the same module than to copy from one module back and forth to another, so any way of merging would be a plus! :)
 
Maybe a log of verses where notes from both sets contribute to the same verse and then put a marker between the contributions. Then it could be manually resolved. It would be easier than trying to merge two sets of notes by hand.

In the case of two people wanting to share user notes, the notes would probably be completely different.

This came to mind when I was trying to merge a set of chapter summary statements at the top of my personal notes on verse 1:1 of each chapter. I decided to do it with a user created Bible as footnotes instead because I didn't have notes on every verse 1:1 and the logic was more complicated than I wanted to do with an editor macro. It was much easier knowing that 1:1 would be there for sure (as in a Bible).
 
What would be the easiest way of handling it for you, Brandon? If there were dual entries, could one be appended to the other (my first choice) - or maybe 'rename' the entries ending them with 'a' and 'b' according to the file dates?

Renaming would only work for book modules -- commentary modules are all named by verse so that's not an option there. Combining entries is an option, though since each one is a discreet HTML document, it's not as easy as it might seem to just merge them (since entries can be very complex documents).

I think wsbones' idea of allowing the user to compare the entries is probably the best, though that makes the "merger" tool an order of magnitude more work to develop. :)

I'll give it some consideration.
 
Maybe just put the two sets together in a new set with A on top and B underneath on verses where both sets have notes. The two note set indices already tell you which verses have notes, so the user could view each note listed in the smaller set then switch to the combined set tab and make edits if needed.

In most cases it would be a small set being merged with a main set.

making a third set from the two would be safer. The delete the old ones when satisfied.
 
That's what I had in mind. Thanks.

Marty's explanation was very helpful, and yes I can see where that would be useful.

But if we're talking wish list here I hope Brandon puts that below an SS instaverse-type application!
 
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