DOI:
John Stephen Swygert
March 6, 2026
Abstract
As the number of research papers, notes, and working documents within decentralized research systems grows, the need for a simple and reliable method of assembling multiple documents into coherent publications becomes essential. This paper proposes the development of a tool within Secretary Suite known as The Combine, a universal document assembly engine capable of accepting documents from multiple locations and in multiple formats, placing them in a user-defined order, and assembling them into a unified document bundle. Inspired metaphorically by the agricultural combine harvester, the tool “harvests” papers and prepares them for publication, review, or archival distribution. The system prioritizes simplicity, format independence, and open-source accessibility.
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I. Introduction
Researchers and writers frequently produce documents across many different formats and storage locations. Papers may exist as text files, word processing documents, PDFs, or structured markdown files. They may also reside across different directories, machines, or storage environments.
When assembling collections of papers—such as booklets, research sets, or journal issues—the current process often requires manual copying, reformatting, or conversion between incompatible document systems. This creates unnecessary friction within research workflows.
Secretary Suite aims to remove such obstacles.
The proposed Combine Tool provides a universal mechanism for collecting and assembling documents into a single ordered structure regardless of their original format or location.
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II. Core Concept
The Combine operates under a simple guiding principle:
«Any document should be able to be harvested and assembled into a larger publication without regard to its original format or location.»
Documents may originate from:
– different folders
– different drives
– different computers
– different file formats
The user simply gathers the desired papers and specifies the order in which they should appear.
Once the order is defined, the Combine tool processes each document sequentially and assembles them into a unified document bundle.
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III. User-Defined Ordering
The most important element of the Combine system is that the order of documents is determined by the user, not by the file system.
One simple method is to require documents to be numbered before combining.
Example:
00001_intro.docx
00002_bubbles_paper.txt
00003_analysis.pdf
00004_results.md
The numeric prefix defines the order in which the documents are harvested.
This approach allows the Combine system to assemble documents reliably without requiring complex configuration.
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IV. Format Independence
A fundamental requirement of the Combine tool is the ability to accept multiple document types simultaneously.
Supported formats may include:
– TXT
– DOCX
– Markdown
– HTML
– RTF
– other open document formats
Internally, the system converts each document into a neutral text representation before assembly. Once normalized, the documents can be merged seamlessly regardless of their original format.
This ensures that no document format becomes an obstacle to assembling research collections.
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V. The Combine Bundle Format
After documents are assembled, the Combine system produces a bundled output file.
A proposed extension for this container format is:
.cmb
Example:
SecretarySuite_Bubbles_Collection.cmb
The “.cmb” bundle acts as a master document container that preserves the ordered structure of the assembled papers. From this bundle, the system can generate multiple final formats such as:
– PDF booklets
– DOCX documents
– HTML publications
– journal issues
– research archives
The “.cmb” file therefore serves as the canonical assembly format.
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VI. Symbolism and Interface
The name Combine intentionally references the agricultural combine harvester.
In agriculture, a combine harvests crops and prepares grain for storage and distribution. In Secretary Suite, the Combine tool harvests documents and prepares them for publication and consumption.
Within the Secretary Suite interface, the Combine tool may appear as a tractor icon, representing the harvesting process. Users would load documents into this environment and instruct the system to assemble them into a unified bundle.
This metaphor emphasizes that research papers, like crops, must sometimes be gathered and prepared before they can be shared effectively.
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VII. Open Source Design
The Combine system is intended to remain open source and accessible.
The goal is to ensure that document assembly does not require proprietary software, subscription services, or commercial document processing systems. Researchers should be able to assemble collections of their work using transparent and freely available tools.
By maintaining an open architecture, Secretary Suite ensures that the Combine tool can be studied, modified, and extended by the community.
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VIII. Suggested Code To Start With
import os
from pathlib import Path
def extract_text(file_path):
ext = file_path.suffix.lower()
if ext in [“.txt”, “.md”]:
return file_path.read_text(encoding=”utf-8″, errors=”ignore”)
elif ext == “.docx”:
import docx
doc = docx.Document(file_path)
return “\n”.join(p.text for p in doc.paragraphs)
elif ext == “.pdf”:
from pdfminer.high_level import extract_text
return extract_text(str(file_path))
elif ext == “.html”:
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
with open(file_path, “r”, encoding=”utf-8″, errors=”ignore”) as f:
soup = BeautifulSoup(f, “html.parser”)
return soup.get_text()
else:
return f”\n[Unsupported file type: {file_path.name}]\n”
def combine_documents(file_paths, output_file):
combined_text = []
for file_path in file_paths:
path = Path(file_path)
combined_text.append(“\n\n” + “=”*80 + “\n”)
combined_text.append(path.name + “\n”)
combined_text.append(“=”*80 + “\n\n”)
try:
combined_text.append(extract_text(path))
except Exception as e:
combined_text.append(f”[Error reading {path.name}: {e}]”)
with open(output_file, “w”, encoding=”utf-8″) as f:
f.write(“\n”.join(combined_text))
if __name__ == “__main__”:
print(“Secretary Suite Combine Tool”)
count = int(input(“How many documents? “))
files = []
for i in range(count):
path = input(f”Enter full path for document {i+1}: “)
files.append(path)
output = input(“Enter output file name (example: combined.txt): “)
combine_documents(files, output)
print(“Documents combined successfully.”)
IX. Conclusion
As decentralized research ecosystems grow, the need for simple and universal document assembly tools becomes increasingly important. The Combine tool provides a straightforward method for harvesting and assembling documents regardless of format or location.
By allowing users to specify document order, supporting multiple file formats, and producing a standardized bundle format, the Combine tool simplifies the process of assembling booklets, research collections, and journal publications.
In doing so, it removes unnecessary obstacles from the research workflow and supports the broader goal of Secretary Suite: enabling productive, distraction-free environments for knowledge creation and dissemination.
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References
None
Secretary Suite 