i have a big list of events (from little yearly diary planners). the fields are pretty much: date, what is it, is this an ending date, a beginning date or just a point? (ex- [3/15/93, stopped smoking], [12/19/00, flew to paris], [1/6/00, returned from paris], [4/12/91, hernioplasty])

i was hoping, since they are all in excel, that i could just snort them into ms-project and that i could "see" my life on a timeline (bars are drawn for time periods, and points drawn for events. obviously many nifty ways to use color coding). the more i think about it, the more interesting i suspect it might be. there could be long gaps of "nothing" in my history to which i am currently oblivious. what did i do then? periods in my life which have contributed to my self-identity (which i consider important or take pride in) might be shown to be much shorter than other periods just as important.

but- i could not get ms-project to do this. i suspected some software would be out there which could render visible timelines from text data, but i could find nothing.

i imagine this being so useful, that it must already be a datatype. yahoo lets people import events, share calendars, and overlay different calendar data (on the 2D calendar interface) taking care of nested periods and overlapping periods. but i want it rendered on a 1D timeline with automatic scaling. isnt this useful and interesting? calendars are not at all better than a laundry list of dates when you're talking about digesting large time periods.

if this isnt gelling- see link.
-- gnormal, Feb 25 2001

timeline of humanity - gorgeous! http://www.hyperhis...om/chart/cover.html
if anyone needs a gift for any person of any age, including yourself, every home should have one of these. highly recommended! [gnormal, Feb 25 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Timeline Constructor v1.0 http://www.al-islam.../software/timeline/
Written in Excel, no less. [egnor, Feb 25 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Genelines timeline charting companion http://www.progenys....com/genelines.html
Designed for genealogical use, Genelines lets you construct timelines for one or more people displaying whatever events you see fit to define. Includes a database of historical events so you can see personal events in context. [egnor, Feb 25 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

TimeMap http://www.casesoft.com/timemap/
Designed for legal aides, TimeMap creates chronological visuals attached to a timeline. "As you enter facts, TimeMap automatically generates a proportional time scale and positions Fact Boxes above the date on which they occurred ... For example, suppose you wanted to compare the conflicting stories of two witnesses. Using TimeMap 1.5, you could center the Time Scale on the chart and place the Fact Boxes depicting one witness' version of events above the scale and the Fact Boxes illustrating the other witness' version below the scale." [egnor, Feb 25 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

One of the essay questions for the college I attended was to create and submit a timeline of your life, listing and explaining the events you consider important.

Anyway, well enough baked. See links.
-- egnor, Feb 25 2001



random, halfbakery