(Archived) Feature Request: View HTML Source of Note and edit

[repeater75 0]

I get some bizarre spacing and formatting on web clips from time to time and it would be really nice to be able to just view source on a note and strip any html I don't want by hand.

Another cool approach to this would be to set a default text color and background color to be applied to all of my clips for me automatically - a default style if you will.

Thanks.

[jefito 5,598]

You need to tell us which client (e.g. Windows, Mac, iPad, Blackberry) you are running on (there are specific forums for these). If you're on a desktop client, you can always export to Evernote format (.enex) and hand-edit that (it's XML, with formatting), and then re-import it.

[Owyn 457]

You need to tell us which client (e.g. Windows, Mac, iPad, Blackberry) you are running on (there are specific forums for these). If you're on a desktop client, you can always export to Evernote format (.enex) and hand-edit that (it's XML, with formatting), and then re-import it.

:shock: :? 8)

Need a knock head on wood icon.

Thanks for the comment Jeff. I have been looking for a "view source" for problem notes. Obvious now.

[jpoehls 0]

I'd like to second this feature request. The ability to view and edit the HTML for notes on the Mac & Windows apps would be VERY helpful. I'm all the time wanting to change some complex table formatting or strip specific styles from pasted content and can't.

Exporting and reimporting is way to cumbersome for the amount of times I want to do this.

[jefito 5,598]

Another option that is available today is the third-party ENML Editor here: http://enml-editor.ping13.net/.

Whether you'll ever see HTML display direct in an Evernote client is anybody's guess.

[Martin Packer 162]

The trouble with the ENEX route is you can't replace a note using it. The "I'm so sharp I could cut myself without needing a razor" :-) antichicken switch that lets you replace would be handy.

[jefito 5,598]

The ENML Editor allows you to edit the post, and save it back to Evernote. I think that the earlier comments about saving to ENEX format were before the ENML Editor existed.

[Martin Packer 162]

Related to this, I think: Does Evernote strip out XML comments from the ENEX format? I would think if they were preserved we'd be able to use them for metadata - which might be useful here or even in Kustom Note.

But somehow I doubt they're preserved on XML parsing and on regeneration on export.

[jefito 5,598]

You could figure it out by round-tripping come content with XML comments through an import/export cycle, and then examining the results.

[Martin Packer 162]

@jefito Yes I know I could but that might be a feature of the client - so if the comments were preserved in a test I wouldn't place much reliance on that.

[jefito 5,598]

Well, then you could also round trip it to the servers via sync. Not sure what else to suggest.

[Martin Packer 162]

Yup. Just thought people frequenting this thread might have more of a clue than me. :-)

[jefito 5,598]

Naw, no clues here.

Normally I would have given it a shot myself, just didn't get around to it. If I do, I'll post results here.

[jefito 5,598]

OK, well I tried a little test:

• I edited a note in the ENML Editor: http://enml-editor.ping13.net/
  
• Added an XML comment: <!-- Hello --> (imaginative, no?)
  
• Saved the note, and sync'ed with the Windows client.
  
• Exported the note to .ENEX, and pulled it up in a text editor
  
• Validated that the comment was preserved
  
• Synced my Kindle Fire (Evernote for Android client)
  
• Edited the note, and synced it back up
  
• Synced the Windows client, and exported the note to >ENEX
  
• Edited the latest version and found out that the comment had been stripped
  

So it sounds like your theory that different clients handle comments differently, so preserving metadata in comments is probably not a safe way to go about things. Too bad,

[Martin Packer 162]

Thanks @jefito. And my theory was based on the nature of XML. Bang goes a nice piece of infrastructure we could've had. Unless someone from Evernote wants to change the reality.

[jefito 5,598]

That's unfortunate. My test wasn't exhaustive, but seems pretty conclusive (did it a couple of times). Might want to post in the Developer's forum to see whether anyone else has come up with some alternative way to go about this, using known supported constructs.