Can I get a hybrid text file/spread sheet?

April 14, 2006 1:19 PM

I'd like a word processor that mimics Excel sheets.

I've been giving some very good advice for making progress on writing my dissertation. The advice involves keeping a writer's log. In thinking it over, it occured to me that a word processing program that allowed you to keep seperate sheets inside of a single file (just like Excel does) would be great for this. E.g. I would a have a file named "Writing Log" and inside I'd have a separate sheet (selectable via tabs) for each project that I'm currently working on. Thus granting me ease of use and ease of organization. (A folder with multiple independent documents just isn't the same.) Does anyone know of a program that does this?

I know I could just use Excel but I'd rather not deal with having to use cells to support a lot of text.

Barring a program that does this natively could anyone suggest a work around that accomplishes the same task?

posted by oddman to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Microsoft OneNote uses a tab metaphor for organizing text notes.
posted by Good Brain at 1:44 PM on April 14, 2006

Thinking about it further, there are various text editors that let you open multiple documents at once and provide you with tabs to switch between them. The set of open tabs can be stored in a session file. Open the single session file, and it will open up all the individual text files.

SciTe is one of many text editors oriented to technical users that will do this.
posted by Good Brain at 1:54 PM on April 14, 2006

I really love Treepad for this sort of thing -- as the name implies, it's like notepad with a tree outline.
posted by jacobjacobs at 1:57 PM on April 14, 2006

OneNote (after visiting the site for a few minutes) looks pretty close to what I was thinking of. Can anyone suggest an open source or free program that is similar?

(I'll take a look at SciTe, but the separate files characteristic is a point against.)
posted by oddman at 1:58 PM on April 14, 2006

Keynote is what you need, it's free.
posted by bigmusic at 2:16 PM on April 14, 2006

I bought a legal version of OneNote on Ebay for $22. I think its totally worth the price. I use it to keep track of my dissertation project ideas, next actions on experiments etc. Check with your departments IT person or the bookstore - academic licenses are like $40 or so the last time I checked.
You can also try academicsuperstore for Onenote deals.
posted by special-k at 2:52 PM on April 14, 2006

You can also try a full version for 30 days before you buy.
posted by special-k at 2:53 PM on April 14, 2006

Another vote for Keynote.
posted by dhruva at 7:51 PM on April 14, 2006

Wow. Some good looking software. I've downloaded keynote and treepad, and I'll be testing them against each other. When (or if) there is a clear winner I'll download onenote and give it a shot. It may take a while but I'll post my results here when I settle on a program.

If you have any other suggestions, tips or comments please add them, I'll be checking in regularly for at least a few more days.
posted by oddman at 9:29 PM on April 14, 2006

Ok, the semester is over, and I can give you all the results of your efforts.

Basically, Keynote ROCKS! it does everything I need it to do, and it helps me stay focused and stay productive.

Totally awesome. I'm going to thank Metafilter in my dissertation.
posted by oddman at 7:50 PM on May 7, 2006