How to see the note changes in full?

[GSomma 2]

I have made several changes to a note and now I would like to see the change history to find the incorrect change.
I can see the list of changes and I exported 4 versions of the same note.
Now I wanted to compare them with each other.

I usually use the "WinMerge" tool, but the entire note is on one only line and this makes it unreadable.

Since this is a long list of commands I need to see the note in full.

How can I do?

[gazumped 12,078]

Hi.  How did you export your notes and to what sort of file?  If you have several versions of the note in Evernote,  does exporting to HTML or 'printing' to a PDF file help?

[Mike P 2,987]

On 6/11/2024 at 9:27 AM, GSomma said:

I can see the list of changes and I exported 4 versions of the same note.
Now I wanted to compare them with each other.

Did you perhaps look at the note history and download 4 notes from there? In this case they will be exported as enex files. You can view these in a text editor or import them into EN as separate notes.

[GSomma 2]

@gazumped

I work in the Web version with Win11Pro + Chrome.
I can't find a menu item to export to HTML, while with "Print..." I can't save to PDF, the option is disabled.

 

@Mike P
I exported them from History and have 4 enex files, but as I said in the initial post, they are unreadable.
In an editor I find an XML of 8 lines and the fourth begins with:
<en-export><note><title>TITLE-MyNOTE</title><content>
and the rest of the line is the HTML code of a note dozens of lines long.

 

I've been using Evernote for years and this is the first time I've needed to compare notes.
Having a history and not being able to know what was changed in that version I find useless (and very stupid).

[gazumped 12,078]

21 minutes ago, GSomma said:

Having a history and not being able to know what was changed in that version I find useless

History is meant to provide you with a backup in case of accidental or unwanted changes,  not a way to compare versions.  You should be able to import those ENEX files into new and separate notes in a new notebook.  Add numbers to the title,  then export or print the whole notebook to HTML or PDF files which you could then compare.  You'll have more options in the installed Evernote app - if you can 'print' the notes,  check whether you can print to a PDF file rather than your normal printer.

[Mike P 2,987]

20 hours ago, Mike P said:

You can view these in a text editor or import them into EN as separate notes.

As @gazumped has reitterated importing the enex files will allow you to visually look at the differences within EN. You've now mentioned that you are using the web version of EN. It is not obvious how you import files on the web version. However, simply dragging and dropping the enex file into a note list for a notebook will import that file into the notebook. This works on EN web on Chrome as well as the desktop versions.

A good text editor (eg Notepad++ on windows) will have the option of automatically word wrapping to solve the problem of everything being on one line, if you want to go down that route.

[GSomma 2]

I installed the Windows version.
Thanks, I didn't know you could import enex files by dragging them into the list.

The fact remains that now I have 5 almost identical notes, but without the possibility of comparing them.

I use Notepad++ and the emex files are opened as XML, but the content of the note is on a single line.

[GSomma 2]

I imported the enex files and immediately after each import I changed the name of the note by inserting the date and time of the export.
Then I generated the PDFs of each and each file is created with the name of the note.

Then again I used DiffPDF to find the differences.
Indeed there are some, but most are related to different positioning of the text in the 24 pages generated with the PDF.

So, I generated the HTML files and these were also generated with the name of the file in relation to the name of the note.
This is to say that it is not possible that I generated files from the same note.

Then I used WinMerge to compare the HTMLs and the only differences are in the name of the notes. 😶😶😶

It is quicker to open two notes at a time and compare the different rows visually.

Honestly I am very, very disappointed.
It is not possible that an option for comparing notes is missing; without such an option the history is useless.
In the future I will write in Word.

Thanks anyway

[PinkElephant 8,846]

You have a very basic wrong understanding of the version history feature.

It is meant to create a timeline of changes, in a spaced out manner. Without knowing the algorithm I would estimate there is one version grabbed every day.

Grabbing every change is nonsensical , especially since the RTE editing method was introduced, which splits every editing action into minuscule steps.

Experienced users have always proposed to use a program that can compare documents if this is a necessity. If notes need to be compared, just copy the 2 versions into such documents, run the comparison and do whatever you want to do with the findings. EN is a notes organizer, not a deep editing tool.

[GSomma 2]

I used two programs to compare documents (DiffPDF and WinMerge), but first I was forced to generate all the saved versions because I don't know where the mistake was made.

And that's the problem.
Knowing that you made some change that day is useless if you don't know what change you made.

I keep track of various types of documents, from meeting notes, meeting minutes and even versions of configuration changes I've made to installed equipment.

If I only need Evernote to keep track of my shopping list at the supermarket, then I can use some other tools and save money on the subscription.

[Mike P 2,987]

1 hour ago, GSomma said:

I use Notepad++ and the emex files are opened as XML, but the content of the note is on a single line.

View 🢂 word wrap

[PinkElephant 8,846]

@GSomma The EN version history works as it does, and it is amazing, because it reaches very far backwards. It is a server side function, which means there is a job running in cycles on the server, drawing the history copy.

It is not a client function, and it is not build for the purpose you want it to cover.

Wrong tool for what you want to do, no result. Simple as that.

[GSomma 2]

Sorry, but I don't want to argue with you.
I have been using EN since 2016, if I wasn't satisfied I would have abandoned it long ago.
But I find the History function completely useless.

@PinkElephant

If you explain to me what the usefulness of the History function is and when to use it, I will be grateful.
There is always something to learn.

 

@Mike P

I made the screen smaller just to show what you see in Notepad++ with Word Wrap active.
Can you explain to me how we can find something in this pile of words and HTML codes?

[PinkElephant 8,846]

If you don't know why it may be useful to set back / create a copy of a status of a note it had some time ago, you never had that situation where you needed it. Plus a certain lack of imagination why it might be useful even if you never had such a situation.

We have had several postings in this very forum where users by accident or by a "brilliant" move destroyed content in a note, but leaving the note itself existing (even if empty, it still does the job to hold the history). That's why note history is very useful, as TimeMachine is useful for my Mac.

Here is again the blueprint to compare the text of 2 notes:

1. Copy the text from the note to a document in an app that can compare files, like MS Word.
2. Go to version history, find a matching version, create a new note from it, copy the text, create file #2 in the chosen app.
3. Run the file compare, evaluate the results.
4. Fetch what you like, and either modify the original note, or create a third one.

It is the usual request to add such stuff into EN, and what comes out of it is a piece of bloated crapware. Like MS Word, unable to do simple things in a simple way. But able to do complicated stuff, for those who know how. Who is not the 90/95/99% of users who just want a better typewriter.

Or a simple, easy to use editor in their notes app.

[Mike P 2,987]

44 minutes ago, GSomma said:

Can you explain to me how we can find something in this pile of words and HTML codes?

You can't. I was simply saying that it was possible to get it on to several lines which for shorter notes might be helpful. My preference has always been to reimport the notes so that you can read them more easily.

 

[GSomma 2]

@PinkElephant

That's exactly what happened to me and that's exactly what I did.
Working with multiple screens and multiple open notes I didn't realize I wrote where I shouldn't have, but I don't know when I made the mistake and at what point. I noticed this days later when I found some errors.

Therefore, I exported 6 enex files, the current note, the starting version and the 4 intermediate changes.
I then imported it in 6 new notes, so as to always keep the current note clean.
From each new note I exported the related PDF and the related HTML.
The HTML is unreadable and the PDFs show the changes, but also some changes never happened. I wrote this before.

Copying into Word, in my case I don't know if it's possible due to the type of content and changes made.

From what you write, the history is used to fully recover a note, but only if you know which one is the right one.
I'm repeating this from the beginning.

However, I understood what you told me and I thank you both for your help and suggestions.

[PinkElephant 8,846]

Only you can know which version is the correct one, this job no system can take over.

Beside this I would question if your workflow is the best way to get things done. What I do (try to …) is have one clearly recognizable master file, and work into it from the assisting information. In case PDF modification is necessary, I would never rely on the very rudimentary annotation tools offered by EN.

For a quick job I use the Mac‘s Preview app (which can be used directly from EN, and it saves directly back into the note). For more deliberate work I use a PDF editor, in my case PDF Expert.

[eric99 1,083]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:17 AM, GSomma said:

@PinkElephant

That's exactly what happened to me and that's exactly what I did.
Working with multiple screens and multiple open notes I didn't realize I wrote where I shouldn't have, but I don't know when I made the mistake and at what point. I noticed this days later when I found some errors.

Therefore, I exported 6 enex files, the current note, the starting version and the 4 intermediate changes.
I then imported it in 6 new notes, so as to always keep the current note clean.
From each new note I exported the related PDF and the related HTML.
The HTML is unreadable and the PDFs show the changes, but also some changes never happened. I wrote this before.

Copying into Word, in my case I don't know if it's possible due to the type of content and changes made.

From what you write, the history is used to fully recover a note, but only if you know which one is the right one.
I'm repeating this from the beginning.

However, I understood what you told me and I thank you both for your help and suggestions.

maybe, you can speedup your process with binary search?