(Archived) Bulk import of notes with 1) photos and 2) links between notes?

[maddaze 1]

I have a database with data on hundreds of places of worships here in the Gironde (France) scattered through 500+ towns.  Associated with these religious heritage sites are thousands of photos.  I gave myself an iPad for Christmas, so that I could show interesting information and photos about them to interested people.  To do that, I plan to move a snapshot of the data and photos to the iPad from time to time.  After looking at various tools on the iPad, I realized Evernote is a good way to present the data and perhaps the photos.  I'm now in the process of automating the process of extracting data from the database in the xml format (enex) used by the Evernote import function.  

 

I've hit on two minor glitches.  The more I studied Evernote, the more I realized it offers features that make it more and more interesting as a presentation tool.  In particular, it can include photos in the notes, and a note can point (or link) to another.  Very useful features for my project.  And there's the rub.  I can't figure out how to create the codes required.  The anchor for a link looks like this:

<a href="evernote:///view/10320864/s90/41ae8500-04c5-48b5-9db2-ef54b12abff3/41ae8500-04c5-48b5-9db2-ef54b12abff3/" style="color:#69aa35">

and the anchor for a photo looks like this:

<en-media hash="6d3f2c361eda9deb31531a84474a00c6" style="cursor: default;" type="image/jpeg"/>

 

I have no idea where the long codes come from or what they point to.  My interest is generating something that Evernote can accept and work with.

 

Can anyone offer any idea of how to automatically generate the codes that are used in the xml for links and for photos?

 

Thanks for any suggestions,

Harvey

[lel 5]

Harvey,

 

You do not need to generate enex files manually. There are 2 easier ways to do a bulk import:

 

1. Import folders.

Go to "Tools"->"Import Folders" and add a new empty folder. Your export tool should write files into that folder and Evernote will create new notes for each file. After that merge them the way you want.

 

2. ENScript.exe command line utility.

This is a little bit more complicated way but it is more flexible as well. ENScript.exe is a command line utility that you can find in the same directory where your Evernote.exe is (usually "c:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote\" ). Run "ENScript.exe /?" to get a list of commands. The command you need is "createNote". It allows you to create a note in the specified notebook with the title, tags and content you want and multiple images attached to the note. Running "ENScript.exe createNote /?" will give you all the information you need.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

You do not need to generate enex files manually. There are 2 easier ways to do a bulk import:

. . .

 

lel, this is GREAT information.  If it is not already in the EN KB, please add it.  Please include all of the EN Script.exe commands and parameters.

 

If it is in the KB, please provide a link.

 

Thanks.

[maddaze 1]

lel,

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

> Go to "Tools"->"Import Folders" and add a new empty folder. Your export tool should write files into that folder and Evernote will create new notes for each file. After that merge them the way you want.

 

It's in the Import-Folders folder I'm planning to put my enex  With the enex format, I can create bold and colored text, bullet lists, etc.

 

> After that merge them the way you want.

 

Not very practical.  I'll be importing over 500 notes each time I do it, and I'll be doing the import from time to time.  If I have to do anything manually in the process, like merge or classify notes, Evernote is not the answer.

 

> ENScript.exe command line utility.

 

Thanks for the suggestion -- didn't know about that ... OK, I've looked.  Among its other features, ENScript adds the ability to create notebooks.  Doesn't seem to provide a way to send a note to other than the default notebook.

 

Unfortorunately neither you nor ENScript directly address either of the glitches I mentioned: how to include imported photos where I want them in the imported notes, and how to include inter-note links in the imported notes.

 

Harvey

[jefito 5,589]

Unfortorunately neither you nor ENScript directly address either of the glitches I mentioned: how to include imported photos where I want them in the imported notes, and how to include inter-note links in the imported notes.

This may be beyond the scope of the normal user stuff in this forum, and might be better addressed in the developer forum down the hall. That being said, here is the ENML document: http://dev.evernote.com/doc/articles/enml.php. You might also consider using HTML for importing, rather than ENML. 

[jefito 5,589]

> ENScript.exe command line utility.

 

Thanks for the suggestion -- didn't know about that ... OK, I've looked.  Among its other features, ENScript adds the ability to create notebooks.  Doesn't seem to provide a way to send a note to other than the default notebook.

The createNote command allows you to specify a notebook using the /n <notebook> option

[maddaze 1]

 

Thanks for pointing me to the developers forum.  I'll pay 'em a visit.  And I'll check the link on the way there.

 

Harvey

[maddaze 1]

jefito,

 

Just looked at the enml document.  Excellent suggestion.  Thanks.

 

Harvey

[jefito 5,589]

OK -- Good luck!!

[maddaze 1]

Just to close out this topic, I :

• Added the Evernote executable directory to the PATH variable in Win7.
• Created a batch file with one line :enscript.exe importNotes /n test /s test\test.enex
• Wrote an enex file into the test subdirectory
• Ran the batch file
• Verified that the notes in the test.enex file had been added to Evernote.

Further investigation revealed that if I want to update notes I've already imported, I have to manually delete them first.  The import via enscript unexpectedly creates duplicate notes with the same names as the original notes.  A little awkward.  Have yet to find a way to update an existing note via enscript.

 

A big thank-you to everyone for the suggestions.  It's nice to have access to a group of interested, informed advisors.

 

Harvey