Sorting with TextEdit, is it possible?

Question

Sorting with TextEdit, is it possible?

I have a question about TextEdit; I hope I am asking it in the right forum.

I have a list of information that I would like to put into a table. I would like to be able to add to that list in the future, but keep it in alphabetical order. As far as I can figure, there is no way to sort in TextEdit. But is there anyway to add a row or shift the rows down? I would even adjust to copying and pasting, but it seems all the copied info gets pasted into one cell on the table. Can I copy and paste parts of the table itself?

Is TextEdit capable of what I am trying to do? If not, is there some free program that is?

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,153 points

Jan 23, 2009 6:40 PM in response to almostinfocus

Hi almostinfocus, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

You should be able to copy/cut/paste lines in Text edit to anywhere else.

What kind of table is it?

Other option...

Text Wielder - 1.0b5...

Text Wielder allows you to create your own services or use any of the 120+ provided including "Search Apple Help", "Translations", "Sort Text Lines" and many more.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12595&vid=128698

Downloading now to test it.

Sort Apple Clipboard Contents, near the bottom of this page...

This applescript will convert anything in the finder clipboard to text, and then sort that text. Procedure is to copy an item. Run this script from the script menu, then paste.

http://codesnippets.joyent.com/user/objectivelabs/tag/osx

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

239,153 points

Jan 23, 2009 7:22 PM in response to BDAqua

Just tried Text Wielder - 1.0b5 on a text file and a csv file, just double click on it's Sort Lines.sfrl and it worked great.

I'll be buying it I think... $25

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Answer 3

Jan 23, 2009 11:25 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks. And I appreciate the help.

What I want to do is create a text file of all my online accounts with their respective email addresses and passwords. I currently do have just that, but it would be easier to read if it were all in table with rows and columns.

I could manually do what I want, take the list and copy each item into a table. The problem comes in when I need to add another account later. In order to keep the list/table in alphabetical order, I either need a way to resort the table by the first column, or shift all of the rows down to create a blank row in which to enter new information. I was hoping TextEdit would do that.

Text Welder doesn't sound like it will help me. I know there are apps that are closer to true word processors that may accomplish my goal (Pages, Word), and I imagine a spreadsheet, while overkill, would do what I want rather easily. But I'm trying to do this without spending money. I'm thinking of downloading NeoOffice, I was just trying to find a simple way to do it with a simple program.

Again, thanks.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,153 points

Jan 24, 2009 10:19 AM in response to almostinfocus

or shift all of the rows down to create a blank row in which to enter new information. I was hoping TextEdit would do that.

That part should be simple as pie, no idea why it doesn't work for you!?

Have you placed the Cursor at the front of a line where you want to insert then pressed ENTER?

I'm thinking of downloading NeoOffice...

That was my next suggestion! 🙂

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Answer 5

Jan 24, 2009 6:41 PM in response to almostinfocus

TextWrangler will sort all the lines in a file. It's a plain old text editor, so there's no such thing as a table in it, and fancy formatting is out of the question. But the price is right: free.

http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

charlie

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Answer 6

Jan 24, 2009 9:04 PM in response to BDAqua

When I do that, put the cursor where I want and hit "enter", the cell expands to 2 lines with no option to split it into to cells when needed. It also doesn't format all the columns the same. The first column in the row becomes 2 mines, but the other columns only appear to be 2 lines; I can only enter text on one. I don't know why this is happening either.

I did download NeoOffice, but before I installed it, I remembered I had a license for Mellel that I bought as part of a bundle. Mellel can do what I want so that solves the problem. I would really like to figure out how to accomplish my goal with TextEdit, but I can do that when I have the time. At least this project that I gave myself will be finished.

Again, thanks for the help and suggestions.

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Answer 7

Jan 24, 2009 9:09 PM in response to Charles Minow

I have Text Wranger for html and css. So it did occur to me to try that. It works as far as sorting, but I was hoping for a bit more formatting.

I remembered I had a license for Mellel that I bought as part of a bundle, so that solved the immediate problem.

Thanks for the suggestion.

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