Convert TXT to TDL

A task list saved as plain text may need conversion when AbstractSpoon ToDoList requires its native project format for editing or task management. Converting it creates a structured .tdl project instead of leaving tasks as unformatted lines.

What the TXT format is

.txt is a plain-text format containing characters without required styling, hierarchy, dates, priorities, status values, or application-specific metadata. Notepad, TextEdit, code editors, word processors, export tools, and task applications can create TXT files. A common source is a list containing one task per line.

What the TDL format is

In the Documents context, TDL is the XML-based native task-list format used by AbstractSpoon ToDoList, a Windows desktop application. A TDL project can store task names, parent-child relationships, completion state, priority, start and due dates, comments, and other ToDoList fields. Renaming tasks.txt to tasks.tdl does not convert the content and will not produce a valid project.

How to convert TXT into TDL

1. Keep a backup of the original TXT file. Open it in an editor that identifies the current character encoding.
2. Standardize the source before importing: place one task on each line, remove headings and decorative separators, and use consistent indentation if the text represents nested tasks. Plain indentation may not be interpreted as hierarchy, so plan to check or rebuild nesting in ToDoList.
3. Install the Windows desktop version of AbstractSpoon ToDoList from its official distribution. Create a blank project with File → New.
4. Check the installed release's File → Import menu. If it provides a plain-text importer, select it, choose the TXT file, and map each line to the task-name field. If the text uses delimiters, map additional columns to fields such as priority, start date, due date, or comments.
5. If the release does not import plain text directly, prepare a CSV file with one task per row and a header for each available field, then use the CSV importer. For a simple one-task-per-line file, entering or pasting the lines into a new ToDoList project and assigning hierarchy and metadata manually is usually safer than inventing an XML file.
6. Check task names, nesting, status, dates, priorities, comments, line breaks, and non-ASCII characters. Save through File → Save As in the TDL format, for example as tasks.tdl.

There is no generally reliable online TXT-to-TDL service. TDL is an application-specific project schema rather than a broadly standardized exchange format, so an online tool that only changes the extension or generates arbitrary XML will not reliably create a file ToDoList can open. Use ToDoList itself for the final save; online TXT-to-CSV conversion is only a possible preparation step when the source has clearly defined columns.

Quality and compatibility limitations

TXT does not identify whether a line is a task title, description, priority, status, or date. Those values cannot be recovered automatically unless the source uses documented delimiters or syntax; a basic line import normally preserves only task names. Convert or reopen the source as UTF-8 when necessary, and verify accented characters, quotation marks, tabs, long dashes, and non-Latin text after importing.

ToDoList releases may differ in supported import fields and TDL schema details. Open the saved project in the ToDoList version that will use it, retain the original TXT file, and avoid manually editing the TDL XML unless the relevant ToDoList documentation defines the required schema.