Omni2Map: Export OmniFocus to MindManager
As I mentioned in my earlier OmniFocus for IPad Review, I recently adopted OmniFocus as my home project management system for Getting Things Done (GTD)
In the review I noted several weaknesses of the IPad app that I thought I might be able to address with a MindManager Add-in (Omni2Map). As a Windows user, I particularly I wanted to avoid having all my plans stranded in my IPad. I also was interested in aiding my (occasional) weekly reviews with Next Action Analysis.
After a bit of debugging today and some help from a brave early adopter, I think the add-in is working fairly well now. The new menu tab added is fairly limited — just a launch button and ha help button:
Omni2Map will import your OmniFocus data into a MindManager map and mark up your projects and tasks with due dates, contexts, etc.
More information and screen shots are located on the Omni2Map page on the ActivityOwner.com wiki where you can download the latest version. It is only compiled for MindManager 8 and 9 at the moment.
Entries 
Richard Masters said,
September 5, 2011 @ 12:21 pm
I’ve just installed v1.0.037 and it is running very smoothly now – thanks. A few enhancement suggestions, if I may…
1. Import the actions in the OmniFocus Inbox – I usually have a number of unprocessed actions lurking in there which could get overlooked.
2. Import the notes associated with a task into the notes of the branch. I would find this essential.
3. If there is a URL in the notes, add that as a linkable hyperlink for the branch [this may not be possible]
Having seen what you have achieved in this beta my imagination is getting quite fired up and I’d say a long-term objective might be two-way synchronisation with ‘Map2Omni’ exporting an updated version of contents.xml… but I’m not sure how the syncing back into OmniFocus would work. However, is it possible to highlight or export changes made to the mindmap since import so that one can easily manually update OmniFocus?
Many thanks again,
Richard
ActivityOwner said,
September 5, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
Thanks Richard — I’m just uploaded v1.0.042. It adds request 1 & 2. Thanks for the bug catch on #1. It was analogous to the earlier mistake I made on projects that don’t live in folders.
The xml representation of a note is much more complex than the other fields so I’m not sure how well #2 will work. It will need some real world testing. #3 should be possible but it will take some coding I don’t have time for today. I will put it on my someday list.
Two-way syncronization would be pretty complex and risky an not something I can take on. Keeping track of map changes is also a pretty tall order. ResultsManager has some mechanism to do it with dashboards, but its magic. I could envision an algorithm, but its a lot of work for a user base of 1 :-).
Richard Masters said,
September 8, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
Installed v1.0.045 and have now got Inbox actions and Notes – very, very useful. I will continue to test the notes import but basic notes work well so far.
Thanks again,
Richard (your user base, but it will grow :-) )
Paul Bergquist said,
October 27, 2011 @ 3:51 pm
Richard,
I tried installing the 2012 version, but it will not accept the add-in and disables it. Any ideas how I can make it accept it?
:) Paul
ActivityOwner said,
October 27, 2011 @ 10:39 pm
Sorry Paul — We keep our prices down by dispensing with things like testing :-). I can’t replicate this problem though. I just re-installed and it came in fine.
I would try uninstalling, confirming that you have Mindmanager fully closed (check processes on task manager) and re-install. Sometime re-enabling add-in can help. Let me know what you find.
Adam Cherrill said,
December 19, 2011 @ 7:58 pm
I have also installed 1.0.045 and can import inbox and area-related projects. I noticed that for OmniFocus projects that have action items flagged as “Sequential”, ResultsManager is not adding a “list” flag to the project title. In other words, if i have a sequential list of tasks in an OmniFocus project, ResultsManager must be able to identify which is the next action for NAA. Otherwise, all actions imported within the project are treated as “parallel” in ResultsManager.
Also, I noticed that due dates on tasks do not appear to be migrating properly from OmniFocus to ResultsManager.
I’ll continue to test this add-in — it appears to be quite useful!
Thanks and keep up the good work
adam
ActivityOwner said,
December 23, 2011 @ 11:35 pm
Thanks Adam — I will put these on my “sequential” to do list for omnifocus. Unfortunately a stack of other year end stuff higher up in the “list” right now :-).
Adam Cherrill said,
December 28, 2011 @ 10:39 am
Thanks AO — will continue to work with the add-in and suggest useful updates. Happy New Year!
ActivityOwner said,
December 31, 2011 @ 7:39 pm
Adam — I added “list” functionality for you in latest version (1.0.051).
Adam Cherrill said,
February 25, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
AO — do you have a functional version of Omni2Map for MM2012? The Beta version is not downloading from your site.
Thanks in advance
Adam
ActivityOwner said,
February 25, 2012 @ 7:14 pm
Thanks Adam — Sorry about that. I had a typo in the download link. It is fixed now.
rene corjanus said,
March 18, 2012 @ 6:54 pm
Activityowner,
I tried to get the contentsfile from the omnifocus. I logged into their omnifocus sync server.
i don’t see the content.xml file
i get the option to download a backup of my data . which gives me a .tar file whic contains no content.xml.
I also tried to use my sync adress to log in which gives me a parent folder with a subfolder called omnifocus.ofocus opening that dir shows also no content.xml
what do i do wrong?
thanks in advance
rene
amsterdam
ActivityOwner said,
March 18, 2012 @ 8:24 pm
Hi Rene — Here is the sequence of things you need to do.
1. go to https://www.omnigroup.com/sync/ and set up syncing and then download the omnisyncserver.tar file as you have.
2. Open the tar file, click on the folder with your username
3. Open the ofocus.focus folder
4. Sort that folder by size and you will find the biggest zip file is the one that has the contents.xml file in it.
5. Extract that to disk and then run the omni2map add in and point to it.
rene corjanus said,
March 19, 2012 @ 2:10 pm
Activityowner
thanks
it works
rene
cindy russell said,
May 3, 2012 @ 4:50 pm
Activityowner
I’d love to get this to work, but I swear I’ve repeatedly followed the steps and am where rene corjanus was on March 18 @ 6:54pm.
I’m usually NOT so dense. But I get a 4.8MB OmniFocus.ofocus document that opens as a different instance (a duplicate) of my OmniFocus that I have open. I can’t look for the content file or move on from there.
If you have any time to assist, that would be greatly appreciated.
Cindy
ActivityOwner said,
May 3, 2012 @ 8:52 pm
Hi Cindy — I am happy to try to help.
Are you using a Mac and it is actually opening the file OmniFocus? That is the only way I can see you opening a duplicate. The mac os is probably smart enough to launch you into omnifocus rather than expose you to all the underlying configuration files in that folder.
If you are on a mac, can you access the file from windows VM? The Omni2Map add-in will only work on a windows version of MindManager so I’m guessing that if you are on a Mac, you have some type of windows functionality as well.
Cindy Russell said,
May 4, 2012 @ 5:42 am
Hi ActivityOwner,
Thank you for your quick response. I thought it would work with MindManager on both Mac & Windows. So, yes, I was opening on a Mac.
Now, at home on my PC, I was able to get the contents.xml file successfully extracted. I was able to get the Omni2Map add-in installed where I see the tab/options from within MM 8 on Windows.
When trying to run the Omni2Map add-in, I received this error:
System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0X80040200): Object ‘CmjDocumentCollectionComObject’ reports an error: ‘Unable to create document’
at Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.DocumentsClass.Open(String pFileName, String pPassword, Boolean Visible)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.o2m(Application& m_app)
at Omni2map.MindManagerRibbon.O2MRibbonGroup.tLock_Click1()
I am exploring the cost to upgrade my V8 MindManager to MM 2012. Maybe once I do that all will be well?
Thanks for your assistance and for what sounds like a program I’d really like to use!
ActivityOwner said,
May 4, 2012 @ 7:02 am
Hi Cindy — Thanks — it would be great to work on inproving the program with a power user. I need to be running it more myself as (at best) I’ve been just using my ipad and not really looking at overall project list in the strategic way that Omni2map allows.
I compiled a new version (52) that traps the error above, but that isn’t really going to help. It seems the problem is that MindManager is having trouble opening your contents.xml file. Can you try manually browsing to it and opening it manually in MindManager itself. MindMananger can open both .mmap files and .xml files. That might help clarify what is going wrong.
Paul said,
July 18, 2012 @ 11:10 am
Hi.. I wondered whether omni2map works with mind manager 10.0.445? can’t seem to get the addin to work. I get a message “cannot connect to addin” when I try to fire it up in options. any help gratefully received. This seems like a great tool thanks
ActivityOwner said,
July 18, 2012 @ 8:34 pm
Sorry — I don’t think I compiled it for that version. When I was working on it I focused on just updating the v9 version as that is what other folks were using. I will recompile for version 10 shortly and post when it is uploaded.
Paul said,
July 22, 2012 @ 3:04 am
Thanks AO. That would be great. Looking forward to using this great tool soon.
ActivityOwner said,
August 2, 2012 @ 11:29 pm
Give it another try now. I recompiled the 2012 build to latest version (1.052).
Paul said,
August 12, 2012 @ 12:02 pm
Hello again. Apologies for the delay…. vacation. I cant seem to get this to work. I have downloaded the 1.052 and that seems to install ok. In mindmamager addins it still however refers to 1.0.4597. Have unistalled that and reinstalled the newer one, but the older version still seems to be there and the massage is “unable to connect to the “omni2map.connect” addin”
Am I doing something wrong… any ideas?
Thanks
Paul
ActivityOwner said,
August 12, 2012 @ 2:38 pm
Paul —
The versions you mention look right. One is my version one is what the software maintains.
Can you try upgrading to 10.0.493 or later? That is what is installed on my system and it may be related to that. I just tested installing and it worked OK.
http://www.mindjet.com/support/product-resources/channel-download-library/overview#mm10
Paul said,
August 14, 2012 @ 6:16 am
Hello again AO
That all seems to work after an upgrate to MM 10.2.209, however my excitement was dashed on the rocks! Part way through loading in the ofocus contents file I end up with and error, as follows:
System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
at Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.ITopic.AddSubTopic(String pText)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.addactivity(Document& o, Topic& t, Topic& t2, o2moptionstype& o2moptions)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.addproject(Document& d, Document& o, Topic& t, o2moptionstype& o2moptions)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.o2m(Application& m_app)
at Omni2map.MindManagerRibbon.O2MRibbonGroup.tLock_Click1()
Not sure what this is all about and unsure what to do next as all I can do is close MM to escape from it. Partial maps do appear on various sheets but the whole thing is frozen up. The content file is about 410kb and consist of various folders, contexts, and tasks.
Can you help further
Thanks
Paul
Paul said,
August 14, 2012 @ 3:24 pm
Hi AO and thanks. Tried to post earlier, but it doesnt seem to be showing up here.
The addin seems to activate fine now, with an upgrade to MM 10.2.209.
Having gotten all excited my efforts were dashed on the rocks. I tried to load up the ofocus contents file (about 410kb and includes contexts, folders, projects, subprojects etc) and i’m met with an error message as follows:
System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
at Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.ITopic.AddSubTopic(String pText)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.addactivity(Document& o, Topic& t, Topic& t2, o2moptionstype& o2moptions)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.addproject(Document& d, Document& o, Topic& t, o2moptionstype& o2moptions)
at Omni2map.O2MCode.o2m(Application& m_app)
at Omni2map.MindManagerRibbon.O2MRibbonGroup.tLock_Click1()
Any further ideas or help you can offer?
Thanks again.
Paul
ActivityOwner said,
August 14, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
Hi Paul – Maybe it must be something unique about your contents.xml compared with what I have tested. Can you tell what entry it is getting stuck on? If you can send your contents.xml file to me at info@activityowner.com I can try to debug what the hang up is. Alternatively I can compile a version that pops up a message just before each time that line of code is executed to try to isolate the part it is getting stuck on.
Nigel Lavin said,
October 24, 2012 @ 8:58 am
I was wondering if you have heard anything about Organize for Ipad by TaskFabric? Like yourself, I was looking for a cross-platform solution and this SEEMS to fit the bill. My only caveat is that I can’t find much press on it. Would hate to jump into something that is not going to last…
Thanks
roce said,
October 8, 2013 @ 10:03 pm
I have macs only. Is this possible for me? I want to set up this mind map to function just like omni focus so I don’t have to use omni focus anymore. It seems almost redundant. Omni focus doesn’t allow projects within projects, or multiple contexts which i would like to. If I can upload my very crowded omnifocus data I can edit the map to function as I want… I hope.
ActivityOwner said,
October 8, 2013 @ 11:22 pm
You really need to be using PC to leverage Mindjet. Their mac versions tend to be behind I think and the ResultsManager add-in only works on PC.
Ada Cherrill said,
July 27, 2014 @ 11:16 pm
Hello AO,
Are you still there? is there an update to Omni2Map to use the latest version of MM?
Thanks in advance,
Adam