"Group" by column value?

[James Moore]

On Nov 10, 2005, at 3:18 PM, Jon Sweet wrote:

> Say I have data like this:
>
> frog	amphibian
> chicken	bird
> dog	mammal
> cat	mammal
> whale	mammal
>
>
> Is there any way I can transform my outline (or, in my case, get a  
> copy that's been transformed) where OO has done the equivalent of  
> executing a Reorganize->Group on all items grouped by a given  
> column's value (in my case, column 2), and used the text of that  
> column as the next item's text.
>
> For example, turning the above into:
>
> amphibian
>   -frog
> bird
>   -chicken
> mammal
>   -dog
>   -cat
>   -whale
>
>
> The hidden assumptions I'm making are:
> * column 1 is an outline column;
> * column 2 is a Pop-Up List -- it provides for one metadata/attribute.
> * column 2 has a value defined *only* for top-level outline items.   
> Anything under that top level is notes on each top-level item.
>
> Use Case: I was asked to produce a handout for a meeting I'd be  
> giving based on my outline, where the top-level items were  
> something like "project deliverables".  I'd used the outlining  
> facilities to capture thoughts/notes on each deliverable, and then  
> used additional columns to capture metadata for each deliverable,  
> e.g. "product version", "project", "customer"
>
>
> The short answer, I suspect, is "No, those hidden assumptions  
> you're making are why it's not a part of the general product.  So  
> why don't you write an AppleScript?"
>
> I'm only writing to the group because I thought it was an  
> interesting problem that perhaps someone's faced before; and can  
> therefore produce said AppleScript.  ;-)


We actually have a feature request written up this. It even has a  
secret code name that we use internally to describe it. I'll add your  
email to that entry.


-James

Technical Support Engineer
The Omni Group