14 replies to this topic

[Lord Uriel]

For those of you who are techno-savvy; I've been playing around with Excel for awhile now, and have started trying to tackle macros. However, I discovered some software that converts pdf's into Excel files.

Has anyone tried these? Any thoughts?

Lord Uriel

[Soerenjev]

Which ones especially are you talking about ?

[Lord Uriel]

Soerenjev, on Sep 13 2006, 01:57 AM, said:

Which ones especially are you talking about ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Using a trial version of "Able2Extract." I've notived there are others, I was hoping somone here had used them before.

[SargonKingOfSlith]

Sounds interesting. Keep us posted.

I finally learned how to import from the turn results empire.mdb file. I'm currently getting my GraphVis skills up to speed.

Being able to import from the empire.pdf file would be fantastic!

[orin]

SargonKingOfSlith, on Sep 15 2006, 10:23 AM, said:

Sounds interesting.  Keep us posted.

I finally learned how to import from the turn results empire.mdb file.  I'm currently getting my GraphVis skills up to speed.

Being able to import from the empire.pdf file would be fantastic!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ya..would love to re do the one that Dragon(??) did.. import it all into a nice data base.. but the star maps would be good.. got lots of old turns to read in if/when it works

[Lord Uriel]

orin, on Sep 15 2006, 05:18 PM, said:

SargonKingOfSlith, on Sep 15 2006, 10:23 AM, said:

Sounds interesting.  Keep us posted.

I finally learned how to import from the turn results empire.mdb file.  I'm currently getting my GraphVis skills up to speed.

Being able to import from the empire.pdf file would be fantastic!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ya..would love to re do the one that Dragon(??) did.. import it all into a nice data base.. but the star maps would be good.. got lots of old turns to read in if/when it works

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I've decided to purchase the software. It will take some work, but I can make use of it with my ongoing spreadsheet development.

[SargonKingOfSlith]

My head is spinning and my eyes are watering. I KNOW there is a way to get the data from Access to GraphVis. But it keeps giving me error messages!

Anyway, during a moment of frustration with all that, I did a quick google on data extraction tools. It looks like it will be awhile before I can do a download and evaluate.

DataMite 1.0
$100
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Program...s/DataMite.html

Data Extractor
$30
http://www.seoconsul...data-extractor/

Midas Extractor V2.2.0
$14.95
http://www.brothersoft.com/file_disk_manag...ctor_32069.html

[Lord Uriel]

SargonKingOfSlith, on Sep 18 2006, 05:03 PM, said:

My head is spinning and my eyes are watering.  I KNOW there is a way to get the data from Access to GraphVis.  But it keeps giving me error messages!

Anyway, during a moment of frustration with all that, I did a quick google on data extraction tools.  It looks like it will be awhile before I can do a download and evaluate.

DataMite 1.0
$100
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Program...s/DataMite.html

Data Extractor
$30
http://www.seoconsul...data-extractor/

Midas Extractor V2.2.0
$14.95
http://www.brothersoft.com/file_disk_manag...ctor_32069.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow. Took a look at DataMite, and I believe it might be very wonderful. However, it doesn't seem too forgiving of idiots.

[SargonKingOfSlith]

I'm still playing with GraphVis. But hopefully I will be able to look at importing from the pdf file soon.

I think I will want to start with the cheapest one first.

Cestvel is using Perl scripts. I'm not a programmer, but if it's free, then it may be worth spending some time to get familiar.

[Soerenjev]

SargonKingOfSlith, on Sep 22 2006, 05:49 PM, said:

I'm still playing with GraphVis.  But hopefully I will be able to look at importing from the pdf file soon.

I think I will want to start with the cheapest one first. 

Cestvel is using Perl scripts.  I'm not a programmer, but if it's free, then it may be worth spending some time to get familiar.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You may want to have a look at xpdf. It is command line only but quite good.

http://www.foolabs.c...f/download.html

[Lord Uriel]

Here's a thought; I've started to play around with macros a little, and still know just about nothing. However, would it be possible to import your data results file into excel, then have a (probably) massive macro turn that into a map?

I know I'm going to look into it, but it might take me two years to figure it out. Do any of the more knowledgable players out there think it's possible?

[orin]

Lord Uriel, on Sep 23 2006, 06:35 AM, said:

Here's a thought;  I've started to play around with macros a little, and still know just about nothing.  However, would it be possible to import your data results file into excel, then have a (probably) massive macro turn that into a map? 

I know I'm going to look into it, but it might take me two years to figure it out.  Do any of the more knowledgable players out there think it's possible?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is the old 'dragon' excel sheet (I still use some of them to design ships) .. this is the main one.. there is also one for galaxy etc (but too much private empire infor to put on here)

Codes sheet

[SargonKingOfSlith]

OK, I'm done playing with GraphVis. I think I will be able to use it.

On to data extraction. I forgot to look at able2extract, but here is what I think of the others:

http://www.foolabs.c...f/download.html
This is a good tool to convert a .pdf file to a .txt file. It adds spaces to make the .txt file look like the .pdf layout. You can select a limited page range to convert. And its free!

Midas Extractor V2.2.0
$14.95
http://www.brothersoft.com/file_disk_manag...ctor_32069.html
This is also a tool that converts .pdf to .txt, but it costs money. I like xpdf better.

Converting to text is just one step. You still have to find some way to get the data into your spreadsheet or database.

Data Extractor
$30
http://www.seoconsul...data-extractor/
This is a data extraction tool. It will search through a file, looking for a regular expression (matching a string) and separate that from the rest. It can search a .pdf file without converting to .txt first.

The demo version was disabled, but the licensed version should be able to drop the results into a spreadsheet. Every time it finds a string that matches the regular expression - it copies that to a new row in a spreadsheet. It may require an interim step: extract from .pdf to a temporary spreadsheet, then import from the temporary spreadsheet into your own spreadsheet. I couldn't tell from the demo.


DataMite 1.0
$100
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Program...s/DataMite.html
Wow, this looks cool! Its beyond my capability at the moment. Maybe I could figure out how to use it with some time and a quick education on SQL. But this should be able to find anything you want in the .pdf file, rearrange it, and put it where you want.

[ali-t-akua]

SargonKingOfSlith, on Oct 3 2006, 03:22 PM, said:

OK, I'm done playing with GraphVis.  I think I will be able to use it.

On to data extraction.  I forgot to look at able2extract, but here is what I think of the others:

http://www.foolabs.c...f/download.html
This is a good tool to convert a .pdf file to a .txt file.  It adds spaces to make the .txt file look like the .pdf layout.  You can select a limited page range to convert.  And its free!

Midas Extractor V2.2.0
$14.95
http://www.brothersoft.com/file_disk_manag...ctor_32069.html
This is also a tool that converts .pdf to .txt, but it costs money.  I like xpdf better.

Converting to text is just one step.  You still have to find some way to get the data into your spreadsheet or database. 

Data Extractor
$30
http://www.seoconsul...data-extractor/
This is a data extraction tool.  It will search through a file, looking for a regular expression (matching a string) and separate that from the rest.  It can search a .pdf file without converting to .txt first. 

The demo version was disabled, but the licensed version should be able to drop the results into a spreadsheet.  Every time it finds a string that matches the regular expression - it copies that to a new row in a spreadsheet.  It may require an interim step:  extract from .pdf to a temporary spreadsheet, then import from the temporary spreadsheet into your own spreadsheet.  I couldn't tell from the demo.


DataMite 1.0
$100
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Program...s/DataMite.html
Wow, this looks cool!  Its beyond my capability at the moment.  Maybe I could figure out how to use it with some time and a quick education on SQL.  But this should be able to find anything you want in the .pdf file, rearrange it, and put it where you want.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Sargon, this looks like extremely useful information. I have thought about learning VBA so I could replicate the work done by PD but I dont have that kind of time. This simplifies things alot.

[Lord Uriel]

I took a look at DataMite, and I had no desire to spend a month or two trying to figure that out.

I've ordered a couple of books on VBA for excel. I have a sheet that is similiar to PD's ship design, just lacks the macros for saving the design for future use. Once the books arrive, and I spend a few months (I really hope not) trying to figure that out, I'll post a version somewhere (does anyone have a host site?) for common use.

I've also created a production sheet, whch works pretty well. Once I get the chance to sort through all the secret tech I can post that one as well.


And yes, for those of you who remember, I was really against the whole idea of spreadsheets for empire management, but am now becoming somewhat of a guru (a limited guru).

I'll keep you guys updated when I have something for public consumption.

Lord Uriel