View Single Post
  #28  
Old 06-13-2012, 03:30 AM
schferk schferk is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: 11-02-2010
Posts: 151
Sorry, I left out an important point: It's not only macro scope (applic / window identification) and micro scope (control / pane identification), but of course, you can - as I do - use global variables in order to identify task context. Thus, it's possible to have e.g. 3 neighboring keys (e.g. Num1/2/3) trigger some related commands within a certain "job" you do repeatedly, and when finished, you toggle that variable to its default state = to its normal behavior (= in our example, Num1/2/3 would again trigger the numbers 1/2/3, and with the same keys (= which should be very accessible on the keyboard (I said it before, ergonomics is everything in computing), i.e. Num 1/2/3, Num0, Num Del, or even the arrow keys if not needed within that special task context), and you can do a pop-up menu with 3 or 4 such different contexts = variable values, on top of the default value = default behavior, for that same key group. And in order to know what's the current state of such key groups or single keys, you could have a little color bits, overlayed on the caption bar of your main window. The same goes for different expander assignments: Overlayed upon your main caption bar (= right side, just left of the minimize/maximize/close buttons) could appear little characters like "DL" for "German Legal" or "FG" for "French General" - or nothing when your expander value is zero for "no expansion".

Another thing: I said it, other files (e.g. .xls, .mindmanger, etc., or even .doc files to be exchanged with third parties of for printing purposes) than those of your main applic (in my case, .ao) could easily be integrated into such a system. In my opinion, this would NOT be a good idea for "external files", i.e. all these things you collect from external sources. So what to do with those? I did this: In my d: drive, there's the folder 1 for MY files, i.e. it's about 600 times d:\1\xyz.ao, and some other. I then replicated my FILE structure (explained above) into a corresponding FOLDER structure, within a general folder d:\2\, i.e. in that "2" folder, many times bigger than the "1" folder in DHH space, there are sub-folders named A, B, C...Z, replicating my A, B, C...Z stuff within the "1" folder, in theory (and within a corporate environment).

In practice, I did away with the "2" thing, but simply replicated my A...Z as first-level folders, i.e. I really have d:\1\, and then d:\A\ ... d:\Z\.

Within those, I EXACTLY replicated the FILE structure of the corresponding character as a FOLDER structure, i.e. my "d:1\K.." super-group has got 13 (.ao) FILES, thus my d:\K\ has got 13 FOLDERS, named exactly as the 13 .ao files within d:1\K.. files range (remember I said that within a corporate environment, those "K..." files within d:\1\ would be within a real folder "K" there, whereas I alone can perfectly manage 600 or 1,200 files within only one flat folder "1", without the need of real sub-folders here): Thus, my super-groups in "1" become folders, and my (.ao) files become sub-folders. (Whilst additional .pdf or other files within "1" do NOT correspond to their own sub-folder within those folders, of course.)

Why? Remember, my .ao files are CONTAINERS, for all sort of homogeneous material, e.g. koc.ao for my notes (or imported clips of external notes, with their references) on clipboard managers and memory tools. Then, there will perhaps be some 20 or 25 such clipboard managers = .exe files I'll have downloaded. Thus, I need a corresponding container for all these .exe files (and perhaps some .pdf files for downloaded manuals, or even some .htm files for downloaded web pages when those were too complicated to be downloaded bit by bit into .ao items - downloadings bits of texts, .jpg's and tables = partial screenshots in .png format ain't indicated but when those ain't too many single bits, and if the work implied is worthwile, for a subject matter that's important to you).

Now, you can easily do a script that creates such a corresponding sub-folder anytime you create a new outline, or, within UltraRecall, a new "principal sub-tree"; this goes even for renaming or moving such a new outline / "principal sub-tree" (well, that would be a little bit more complicated). And, much more important, you could create a script that for any proceedings within your outlining structure (be them separate outlines as in my case or a "whole big one" as in UltraRecall), would display the corresponding sub-folder to any .ao file or UR-principal-sub-tree/"favorite" within a second pane of the same file manager that displays your current outline files already (besides a self-contained system as is UR, you'd need an additional pane (= refused by kinook last year, but I wouldn't predict their future stance on it, once they get the the ideas behind such a system: as said, the very first such self-contained system on the market, WITH integrated super-structure, would ROAR (winner takes it all, they say)), by script tool, and just one pane within your file manager, precisely to display the correponding sub-folder within the corresponding "related" folder there (i.e. not "d:\1" but e.g. "d:\K\S\").

Yes, I've read your rumblings about UltraRecall 5, here and in the outliner customers forum, and to my great amusement if I dare say. Well, I've been silenced there (= collective stoning, Iran's everywhere), for not being concise enough, but then, have a look at the very first line of my June contribs here: weren't I concise enough: wouldn't you say you just repeated in many more words what I was first to say? (Or could my irony there have been lost on some of yours again?!)

Whatever, they discuss "integration of file M into their respective outliners" - oh boy! YEARS ago, I did some trying in that direction, and indeed, having just ONE system, for your notes / clips, AND for your files (what about mails, then, makes it three systems, as things are today...), would seem a real fine offering. But then, I've got dozens of thousands of such files (and which is the reason the description of my file system above, when not purely theoretical anymore, is a little bit "should be like this", but cannot pretend it's in its final and optimal state yet), and even if your outliner offers any automatism to "import" these myriads of files (which is not the case anywhere today, to my knowledge), how would you ever be able to LEAVE such a system (in case developing staff is "hit by a bus", as people are (or pretend to be) afraid everywhere, and not speaking of wanting to leave for any other reason, and there might be some).

Thus, my stance is, do replication of systems as described above, do as much automating as possible for replication / synching, but don't try to over-integrate: On any screen broader than 1280x1024, you easily can display your items' list, your text / contents field / pane (which when too broad will make text unreadable anyway), your "siblings pane" (= your super-group, cf. the screenshot above; be it a pane within your outliner (as it should be in UR) or a pane of your file manager (as in my case) - up to here no problem with a 1280x1024 scree either -, and then, a second pane showing the list of external files, corresponding to your current outline.

Attentive readers will have noted that my white paper isn't coherent in one respect, and indeed, I'd said, hold it flat, do super-groups divided by separator lines, instead of multiplication of folders / subfolders, and now I say, do a corresponding sub-folder for external stuff, for any outline in your outline system or "favorite" (= corresponding to such a separate outline) in UR. As you will have recognized, I do my thinking partly in writing, and hence my correction above. Yes, my advice goes perfectly for your "thinking stuff", i.e. for your outlined things: I've trialled my own system for some 6 months or more now, and it works "like a charm", as they say. But for external stuff, my idea to divide long lists of files (= super-groups) into groups, by divider lines, holding perfectly, and my idea to do the same with long lists of folders holding also (and coming handy for various occasions), I must recognize that for external stuff, a system with lots of subfolders is the way to go.

Just make them correspond to your outline: 1 subfolder, 1 outline (or in UR, "principal sub-tree") = on that deepest, that core level of your folder system. It's on the intermediate level that you will AUTOMATICALLY adopt a flattened-out structure for your folders if you apply my system "1 key (= d:\1\A...Z\ and d:\A\ ... d:\Z\) 1 folder" and "1 outline (= d:\1\kxyz.ao) 1 folder" since this leaves you with super-groups on the intermediate level: super-groups of files within "d:\1", and super-groups of folders (= instead of two or more intermediate LEVELS of folders!) within a "d:\K\HereSuperGroupOfFoldersOfTheDeepestLevelOnly ".

So, I needed to straighten these things out for myself, at the same time clarifying my in such incoherent explanations. Now, we can proceed with replication and synching of our external stuff, according to our internal materials, "flattening it out in the middle", but on before the deepest level, when there's an outline, there'll be a corresponding sub-folder, and within that sub-folder, flatten it out again, just as in your multiple outlines (be they technically separated or just "favorites" in UltraRecall).

(BTW, I do a daily backup of my d:\1\ folder, a weekly backup of my d:\ drive, and a monthly backup / reinstall of my c:\ drive, but that's another subject not belonging here.)

Last edited by schferk; 06-13-2012 at 03:50 AM.
Reply With Quote