Being a novice at script writing, I'm wondering if it would be possible to write a script to pass Daylite objects into Apple's Pages?

More of my clients are utilizing PDF formats to exchange info, which enables me to produce proposals without using Word. I'm currently using the built in editor to produce proposals, but need to add more design elements and Pages is a very nice alternative.

Any advice would be helpful, or maybe this has already been discussed.

Thanks

While possible with a script, I think it would easier and more flexible as a plugin.

If you go that route, you have two ways you can do it.

1) Given the current selection (see the Flickr plugin for an example), you can issue AppleScript to the current pages document. The AppleScript is not intuitive, but it does work. You are essentially doing a search and replace.

2) In a plugin you can use the Merge Engine (the merge engine is open source, all the source is included in the dev kit). There are 2 tricks. You need to use NSTask to uncompress the pages content (index.xml.gz) and then you need to use [ and ] as the parse delimiters, <$ and $>, our standard delimiters do not work.
Essentially you take a Pages document and use it as a template, while in Pages, you use merge keys like [contact.firstname]. Then to do the merge operation, you copy the template, you uncompress the index.xml, you do the merge with the merge engine, save out the file and recompress the index.xml.

I am wondering why it is not obvious to MarketCircle to develop a plugin or widget for Apple Pages or has one been developed?

It's not so much that it's obvious or not. It's more of a resources vs. ROI kind of thing.

I can tell you that we have tons of possibilities and ideas. We have to prioritize them.

There hasn't been too much demand for Pages integration. As of Pages 2, demand has increased but not to a critical point.

This is why we have the developer kit. So in niche cases or situations we can't get to, people can create their own extensions.

AJ I know resources can be an issue. Isn't easier to develop when it is not critical. I am another , would use a plugin for Page and now Numbers. Just my 2 cents

I would also love to be able to Merge to iWork '08. The reason I bought a Mac, and set up our office based on a Mac platform is because it is far superior to Microsoft. I don't want to be forced to use Word for mail merges when more powerful word processing is required.

I am one more user who would love to see iwork integration. Honestly your current merge solution is the only thing keeping me from moving my entire sales team over to daylite. The current solution is the worst I have ever used, the script leaves empty lines when there is no data for the tag, and working with word is almost unbearable on an intel mac in rosetta. I cant imagine I am in the minority when I say your current merge solution needs some serious work. It is not up to par with the rest of the application.
Thanks for listening

And another one! We barely need that functionality and also somehow expected it :-)

iWork 08 is perfect, it just misses the DayLite integration to receive merge data for letters and labels and envelopes from DayLite.

Sometimes the offer raises the demands

I'll add what little weight I can to the general feeling that the merge function needs serious attention. I currently use Timematters on an XP network and their document management system, while complex, works as advertised. Very robust. MC has a great opportunity to hit a home run by devoting more resources to merges and make Daylite a first tier case management solution. In its current form, the feeble merge package is a deal breaker, the achilles heel of an otherwise very promising program.

I'd also second Stephan's suggestion regarding integration between DL and Pages. That would make the switch from Win to Mac a no-brainer.

Don't miss this opportunity!

I too need a convenient merge toolset OR a developer who I can pay to make it happen. We use Pages for everything (I haven't written a proposal in Word for 2 years now), and really want to spit out specific pricing and contact information into a Pages doc.

Any developers out there who know how to do this? Please let me know.

I took want to through my thougts on the matter, I would love to see a Merge for iWorks.

quote:

There hasn't been too much demand for Pages integration. As of Pages 2, demand has increased but not to a critical point.

This is why we have the developer kit. So in niche cases or situations we can't get to, people can create their own extensions.

AJ, it seems like the time for Pages integration might be here. Contactizer has wonderful integration with both Pages and Word. No plug-ins no developer kits, it just works and it works well. Daylite should offer this too.

yeah Contactizer's iWork integration is real nice. i actually can't figure out how he even did the Numbers integration b/c Numbers doesn't even have an AppleScript dictionary. i think there is some kind of iWork framework or API now in XCode so maybe they're using that? still, pretty sweet. i can make some very pretty documents in Pages, would be nice to merge them from DL.

is there any possibility to create a plugin that extends Daylite for an new "Letter Application"?

I cast my vote for iWork integration! I don't have any of the software that Daylite can merge with and don't care to spend $hundreds per seat in order to get Microsoft Office just for that. iWork is much more affordable and would do the job nicely for our office and Daylite should work with it. Since competitors are starting to offer iWork integration, I feel that it's time for Daylite to incorporate this capability.