#Omnioutliner pro 5 review 2017 full#
#Omnioutliner pro 5 review 2017 series#

The script will take the currently open outline and create a Markdown-like heading for each title. The API is only available in OmniOutliner Pro, but not in the cheaper Essentials edition. In OmniOutliner, there is a button in the top right for the automation menu, which includes a developer console as well as a link to an API documentation. There is also an API documentation available from within the apps.

#Omnioutliner pro 5 review 2017 series#

It runs from itself and can export data to another app.Ī tutorial series from the developers is found on their automation website. It can be run directly from inside the application and does not need Shortcuts. OmniJS can also call URLs, including x-callback-urls which can be used to hand data to other applications.įor this API, I use the OmniJS API to create an OmniOutliner action. Additionally, OmniJS scripts can be called from Shortcuts, or return values back to it, so it is possible to create cross-application workflows including the OmniJS API.

#Omnioutliner pro 5 review 2017 full#

While OmniJS is solely suppoted by OmniGroup applications, it comes with full API access and can thus be much more powerful than workflows created in Shortcuts. So far, OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle are supported. OmniJS is a new scripting language used by OmniGroup to introduce more advanced scripting functionality to their applications. OmniJS as a scripting spin-off by OmniGroup Unfortunately, it has it's own limitations, being an app on its own. On iOS, there is the Shortcuts app which allows some scripting capabilities. Unfortunately, a similar way of scripting has not yet commonly found its way into the mobile platform of iOS. It allows to access application APIs as well as some OS APIs, which makes automation on the macOS platform very customizable. On macOS, AppleScript has been available for a long time, allowing for cross-application scripting in a somewhat JavaScript-like manner. Scripting to automate workflows has its own history, especially on Apple platforms. In the following, I will showcase one way to use OmniJS, by creating a Markdown-like document from an outline, and exporting it to another app. Luckily, there is OmniJS, the automation scripting language developed by OmniGroup. Unfortunately, it is missing an exporter to Markdown. It can export documents to text, XML, word, and others. One of my favorite apps in the past has been OmniOutliner. In an outline, it is easy to structure articles, re-arrange sections or subsections. Both for my day job as a researcher, as well as for this website, I often prepare papers and articles by first writing an outline.