If I understand you correctly, you really aren't saying "its _simply_ a matter of granularity" (emphasis added), but you are saying there are at least two virtues to hyperlinks, the mentioned granularity and the ease of creation. I'm more persuaded by the ease of creation reason than the granularity one, because the representation of more granular information is one of the standard uses of child items. And I wonder how much hyperlinks can do to tame the complexity of a tree when the main complaint against programs based on hyperlinks is that they become chaotic when the linkages become numerous. Its true--actually a result of some work in network theory--that a combination of ad hoc linkages with hierarchy can greatly reduce complexity, but it isn't clear that this purpose is better served when the linkages take the form of hyperlinks as opposed to logical links.
I think probably when the tree gets too complex even for logical linking, then its time to rethink one's categories and possibly redraw them so they are more like true facets.
But the idea of creating a linkage by merely typing an expression is very appealing. If it's possible, I would personally prefer to see faster ways developed to create logical linkages, including by typing an expression. And this is then another way in which hyperlinks would compete for developer time with logical links.
Stephen Diamond
Quote:
Originally posted by PureMoxie
I think structure is useful up to a certain level of complexity. As my tree hierarchy gets more and more deep and crowded with items, navigating the tree is a less appealing proposition. <Deletion>
Logical linking helps quite a bit. I can link items or branches I know I will need to access a lot and put them in a couple of key branches near the top of the tree.
I think where the usefulness of hyperlinks comes in is actually at a level that helps tame the complexity of a huge tree. In a sense, it is a way to locate related items by simply using the content of your current item rather than locating and then linking external items. In other words, creating a hyperlink is like a shortcut for: "I know I have 'item x' in my database, and I want to relate it to my current item. So, I'm going to search for 'item x', copy the item, navigate back to my current item, and then paste the logical link." The hyperlink version of this could be as simple as: [item x]
To me, it's simply a matter of granularity rather than competing or overlapping approaches.<Deletion>
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