INDEX

Feature requests, and in-depth discussions of features and the way Mellel works

Moderators: Eyal Redler, redlers, Ori Redler

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Shaul
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INDEX

Post by Shaul »

Hi,
I would like to have an answer from Mellel about the Index function or, in other words, the analytical index function: is it in the road map or not? if yes, when?
Brief description of the function: after having referenced a given "word" in the "page", usually many times in whole text, the result of the formatted command "insert index" is:

word, 5, 7, 88, 54,
92, 94, 108, 154.

and so on with all the referenced words.

I think that just a little improvement is needed.

Thank you.

Shaul
kjmatthews
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Re: INDEX

Post by kjmatthews »

I think a little searching would have turned up this road map, as well as a number of other conversations about indexing.
rpcameron
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Re: INDEX

Post by rpcameron »

That "road map" is over 2.5 years old. Many (most?) of those items have yet to be implemented, and I am personally doubtful when most of them may ever occur.

Personally, I have moved most of my writing out of Mellel, opting for combinations of vim, MultiMarkdown, MultiMarkdown Composer, Scrivener and (insert your favorite flavor of)TeX; sometimes it even includes LibreOffice.

The progression of Mellel has brought many empty promises, and many features that seem like too-little-too-late.

If you rely upon an index/concordance feature, I would recommend finding an application that can deliver it now. Never use a tool/piece of software in anticipation of future features; evaluate and choose your tools based upon what they presently do.

(For indexing/layout Scribus is another viable option, especially if you don't want to purchase InDesign.)
— Robert Cameron
Timotheus
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Re: INDEX

Post by Timotheus »

Unfortunately, I must agree with rpcameron. That road map is over 2.5 years old, yes, but an index feature was promised (and announced for a not too distant future) at least 5 years ago. The last five or six updates have certainly brought many new features, but not the features I was waiting for: indexing first of all, a comments feature, better rtf input and output, and many, many others, which have been asked for so many times on this forum.

Like rpcameron, I don't use Mellel anymore for new documents. For me too, the way to go now for complex documents is Scrivener > MultiMarkDown > TeX. And for simple documents I mostly use Nisus. Mellel for me is a thing of the past. I feel sorry to say this, because I have been a first generation user of Mellel. Eight or nine years ago I had great expectations of Mellel, but its development has frustrated too many of those expectations.
Vaissiere
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Re: INDEX

Post by Vaissiere »

I have an email from Ori, dated April 30 2006, promising indexing for 2006. For me also, Mellel will be something of the past soon without indexing. It would be a pity : I have written and published 3 books with Mellel.

Etienne
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