PPTX Notes Editor

Workflow Decision Tree

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1. Unpack PPTX

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File Structure:
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2. Confirm Slide-to-Notes Mapping

Important: The numbering of notesSlideN.xml does NOT necessarily correspond to PPT page numbers! You MUST confirm via the relationship files.

Method 1: Check Precise Mapping (Recommended)

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Method 2: Quick View All Mappings

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Edge Cases

• - Slide has no notes: grep returns no output, this slide has no notes
• Notes file exists but no corresponding slide: may be orphaned notes, can be ignored

3. Read Notes Content

XML Namespace Reference

PPTX XML uses these namespace prefixes:

• - a: - DrawingML namespace (text, shapes)
• INLINECODE2 - PresentationML namespace (slide structure)
• INLINECODE3 - Relationships namespace

Notes text is inside <a:t> tags.

Method 1: Read Page by Page

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Method 2: Batch Extract All Notes Text

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Method 3: Extract Single Page Notes by File

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Handling XML Escaped Characters

Notes text may contain these escape sequences:

• - < → INLINECODE6
• INLINECODE7 → INLINECODE8
• INLINECODE9 → INLINECODE10
• INLINECODE11 → INLINECODE12

Decode with sed:
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4. Rewrite in Narrative Style

Narrative Style Guidelines

• - Tell a story with beginning, development, turning point, and conclusion
• Conversational and natural transitions
• Specific examples and scenarios as support
• Create empathy and engagement with the audience

Important Notes

• - MUST confirm before modifying: After generating notes draft, show it to the user and get explicit confirmation before executing any XML modification. Do NOT modify any notes without user confirmation
• If the original PPT notes are dry bullet-point lists, you need to completely rewrite them in narrative style
• If the original notes are already in narrative style, you can refine and improve them
• Do NOT assume "keep the original style" - determine the style based on the target presentation context

Modification Process

Step 0: Ask user to select page range and notes style

Present the user with the following choices before starting:

Page Range Selection:

• - All pages
• Only pages without notes
• Only pages with existing notes
• Custom range (user inputs e.g. "1-5,8,10-12")

Notes Style Selection:

• - Narrative style (storytelling, conversational, with beginning/development/climax/conclusion)
• Concise bullet points (distill key information, brief and powerful)
• Verbatim script (complete spoken script that can be read aloud directly)
• Custom style (user describes desired style)

Language Selection (optional):

• - Keep original language
• Chinese
• English

Step 1: Read through entire PPT content (build global context)

Before modifying page by page, you MUST read through all slides to build global context:

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After reading, present a global overview to the user:
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Purpose of reading through:

• - Understand the overall narrative arc and logical structure
• Know each page's role (setup, core argument, case study, turning point, summary)
• Avoid content duplication or logical gaps between notes
• Provide contextual support for subsequent page-by-page design

Step 2+: Page-by-page modification

1. 1. Based on selected page range, read slide content summary page by page (extract key text from slideN.xml)
2. Read current notes (from corresponding notesSlide), leverage Step 1's global context to understand this page's role
3. Show both to user in this format:

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1. 4. Generate notes draft according to user's selected style, present to user
2. MUST wait for user's explicit confirmation before modifying <a:t> text in XML. Do NOT execute any modification without user confirmation
3. Get user confirmation before moving to next page

XML Modification Notes

• - Require exact string matching when modifying XML
• Newlines in XML may display as literal INLINECODE14
• Recommend searching file content first to confirm exact string

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Example:
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Handling Multiple Paragraphs

If notes contain multiple paragraphs, there will be multiple <a:t> tags:
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Modify each <a:t> tag separately.

Batch Operations Guide

If you need to uniformly modify similar content in multiple places:

1. 1. Search file content to confirm all locations that need modification
2. Modify each one individually
3. Verify after each modification

5. Pack PPTX

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6. Verify Modifications

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7. Export to MD

Extract Slide Titles

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Export Format

Organize all page notes into a single MD file:

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Correct Export Script (Based on Actual Mapping)

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Appendix: Troubleshooting

Issue: PPT Won't Open After Modification

• - Cause: XML structure was corrupted (e.g., unclosed tags, special characters not escaped)
• Solution: When modifying XML, ensure complete <a:t>...</a:t> structure is preserved

Issue: Modified Text Has No Effect

• - Cause: Modified the wrong notesSlide file
• Solution: Re-confirm the mapping between slideN.xml and notesSlide

Issue: Text Contains Special Characters

• - Cause: Characters like & < > " need escaping
• Solution: When modifying, ensure these characters are properly escaped as INLINECODE19

Complete Example

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Reuse Checklist

• - [ ] Unpack PPTX to pptx-unpacked
• [ ] Confirm slide-to-notes mapping
• [ ] Determine modification scope (all/some pages)
• [ ] Confirm narrative style requirements
• [ ] Modify page by page with user confirmation
• [ ] Pack PPTX after modification
• [ ] Verify modifications took effect
• [ ] Export to MD if needed