Maintaining Custom Fields / Hiding Displayed Fields

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Brendan
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Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Maintaining Custom Fields / Hiding Displayed Fields

Post by Brendan »

hi,

I am trying out BE and am looking to switch from EN9. So far, It seems nice, adn I like the pdf linking for sure. The thing is, I am a little concerned with maintaining custom fields that I have in EN9 (FIELD, DV, THEORY, MAIN IDEA)...

After exporting an EN lib and importing it into BE, I see that the first costom field I had set up in EN9 has now become "NOTES". I read a few other posts and it seems that alot of foelds get put into NOTES.

How can I export my EN9 data so as to keep these custom fields?

As a follow-on to that, How can I then HIDE certain fields in the display so that I can simplify the output, both visually, and to EXCEL for a meta-analysis of my literature review? I was able to do this easily in end note.

If this works for me, I will be a BE user, and will forget EN altogether. Are the links to pdf files relative or absolute?

Sorry so long, but I am a doctoral student who cannot afford to lose years worth of reading.

Brendan
Syracuse, NY
Jon
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Post by Jon »

Hi,

You didn't say how you exported from EN to Bookends. If you used XML, then Bookends does it's best to match fields, but if there are lots of custom fields some will become stuffed into Notes. If you use the EndNote (Refer) importer, though, you can put any EN field into any Bookends field. You'd have to tweak the import filter to get it just the way you want, but that is pretty easy.

As far has hiding fields in the reference window, no, they all show. You can customize the labels and such, and you can adjust the fields shown in the List View. Finally, you can create formats that give you just the fields you want, as a function of Type, and display the reference with them in the View Formatted pane of the list view (we provide one, for example, call Ref With Abstract).

Jon
Sonny Software
Brendan
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Post by Brendan »

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I have some fiddling to do.. :(

btw - I used XML export from EN9 to test out BE. I am having a non-trivial time getting things looking and acting like I want them to. I will try the other import filter you mentioned with more flexibility.

I will spend another hour on this an then get back to work.

Are there any pre-defined "minimal" views or output filters (tab delimited for Excel?)
Jon
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Post by Jon »

Not really. But it's easy to create your own.

1. New format
2. In the format order field, enter

a (d) t.

3. You'll see something like

Smith, AN (2006) What I ate for breakfast.

4. Adjust to taste.

Jon
Sonny Software
Brendan
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Post by Brendan »

ok, i just exported the EN9 library, this time in endnote format (refer) and the custom field data was NOT brought into BE. I am sorry if I am missing something here, but I am exporting all this data from EN9, and I :

1- want to get these refs and custom data into BE
2- want to get it in the properly named fields
3- want to limit what actually shows up in each record, and at least put the stuff i actually manipulate and add on the TOP of the form and in one block, not scattered throughout the record
4- want the be able to disply the custom fields in the LIST VIEW so i can sort by THEORY, FIELD or DV
5- want the bibliography to output with a space after each source
6- want to export FROM BE to excel for meta analysis / lit review
Jon
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Post by Jon »

Brendan wrote:ok, i just exported the EN9 library, this time in endnote format (refer) and the custom field data was NOT brought into BE. I am sorry if I am missing something here, but I am exporting all this data from EN9, and I :

1- want to get these refs and custom data into BE
2- want to get it in the properly named fields
I'm guessing you didn't edit the import filter properly. You have to open the EN Refer export and see what tag it used for each field (they all begin with a %, like %A for authors). You then need to open the Bookends Refer filter and make sure that the tags go into the fields you want them to.

This is explained in greater detail in the User Guide.
3- want to limit what actually shows up in each record, and at least put the stuff i actually manipulate and add on the TOP of the form and in one block, not scattered throughout the record
By form I suppose you mean the reference window. That is not configurable (although you can change the names of each field if you want).
4- want the be able to disply the custom fields in the LIST VIEW so i can sort by THEORY, FIELD or DV
You'll find this in Preferences. You can display up to 5 fields in the list view.
5- want the bibliography to output with a space after each source
You mean return? Modify the format you are using by adding an extra return (or the ¬ character, Option-L) at the end.

6- want to export FROM BE to excel for meta analysis / lit review
Bookends has a tab-delimited export that may do what you want. If you don't like that, you can create your own (that is, make a format and output each field you want to be in the analysis with a tab between them).

Jon
Sonny Software
Brendan
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Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Post by Brendan »

first - i apologize for the very simple questions of things that are set up in prefs.

ok, so just to make sure i am not pulling my hair out for no reason:

I need to create a special EN output file that will output all the stuff as I want it - and also see where it is putting my custom stuff. (where does one see all this info?) I already have a tab delimetd output file to go from EN to excel. why cant i just use that?

i need to create a special BE import filter that maps the old data in crazy fields to the new BE fields I wish to see

I have no idea how to access this info in either program. is it RTFM time? I hope not.
Jon
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Post by Jon »

It's really quite simple.

EN Refer exports files with tagged fields (%A for authors, %T for title, etc.). Open the exported file in TextEdit and see for yourself. You may or may not have to edit the EN export style to get just what you want. BTW, look at the Bookends Read Me for details on exporting from EN in the Refer style.

Bookends reads EN Refer files, and uses the tags to know where the data go in Bookends. To see the import filter, use File -> Import Filter Manager and double-click on the EndNote (Refer) filter.

The Bookends User Guide is indeed where to look if you still don't get it, but this part is quite easy reading.

Jon
Sonny Software
Brendan
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Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Post by Brendan »

looking in that file in text edit was helpful, but I cant see my custom data, even though it is visible within EN. HEre is a sample of one exported reference:

NONE of my custom fields are in there. There is much more data in my record than is being output. I guess I have to somehow edit this output thing to spit out ALL the data I have in there.

I dont know what else to do at this point. I am not even 1/2 way to getting my stuff into BE... :(

%0 Journal Article
%A Wellman, Barry
%A Haase, Anabel Quan
%A Witte, James
%A Hampton, Keith
%D 2001
%T Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment
%J The American Behavioral Scientist
%V 45
%N 3
%P 436
%8 Nov
%! Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment
%@ 00027642
%K Internet
Social impact
Community
Volunteers
Politics
Social integration
%X This evidence comes from a 1998 survey of 39,211 visitors to the National Geographic Society Web site, one of the first large-scale Web surveys. The authors find that people's interaction online supplements their face-to-face and telephone communication without increasing or decreasing it.
Jon
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Post by Jon »

You would have to edit the EN Refer style to include your custom fields. EN has a style editor that lets you insert fields you want to export.

Jon
Sonny Software
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