How to Delete a Templete

[armsys]

I cannot delete a template named Text. Under what condition a template can't be deleted? How do I know if it's a system template?

Armtrong

[ashwken]

For this discussion, create a new UR database.

Look in the Templates Folder, here are your default UR Templates. All of them can be considered Core Templates and cannot be deleted, except Project which may exist as a sample.

User created Templates can also be deleted.

An Item (record) in UR can be one of three Item Types: Text (rtf), Document (data file), or Search. This relates to what will be displayed in the Item's Detail Pane, which is actually what is rendered by UR's Internal Broswer.

Custom Forms are assigned at the Template Level.

Essentially, a Form is "overlayed" onto the Detail Pane, the Form acts as "data header" to the internal broswer.

When creating a Template, set focus to the Templates Folder, right-click Insert Child, choose Text or Document. Focus is now on the new created Item, expose the Item Attributes Pane (Ctrl-4), look under the Template Group for the Form Attribute, click in the Value field for the drop-down list of available Forms.

All new Items (Insert) are based on (derived from) a Template.

An Item can have a Default Child Template.

Attributes values can be assigned at the Template level.

Templates can also be created from MS Office files.

Template names can be used as a Search parameter.

Please see the help file on these topics for further details.

[armsys]

However, you can see two untitled templates sitting there. They can't be deleted. I believe it was introduced by copying data from another UR database.
However, the question here is how to delete these unwanted templates.

[armsys]

The deletion of the templates will take infinity:

[armsys]

Hope the screen capture helps troubleshooting:

[armsys]

The question: Why the two untitled Templates refuse to be deleted?

[armsys]

Compact and Repair has been performed in vain. It won't repair the Template issues as described in the manual:

[armsys]

After repeating and reproducing the problem, I supposedly discover the cause. It occurs when change the defalt template from <Text> to <Book>. Then, UR asks some incomprehensible question, namely, whether I want to delete some attributes. If my answer is yes, it'll be my nightmare. It's only then UR creates some funny Template(s), which can't be undeleted.

If my answer is no, I'll be okay but I just don't know the ramificaiton.

I'm puzzled why changing the template could cause such catastrophic impact, while UR is supposed to be intuitive and flexible.

Armstrong

[janrif]

Originally posted by armsys
After repeating and reproducing the problem, I supposedly discover the cause. It occurs when change the defalt template from <Text> to <Book>. Then, UR asks some incomprehensible question, namely, whether I want to delete some attributes. If my answer is yes, it'll be my nightmare.

Not really. Each template has a default list of attributes. You can add / subtract to these manually via insert / delete. If you change from one template to another, UR is asking if you want to leave the original attributes in the list in addition to the ones that will come with the new template. If you say yes, it will be so. If you say no, the original attributes may be removed but not lost or deleted, just not visible in the attribute pane of the new template but, in any case, you can still pull them up in the related pane list via <F9>

Originally posted by armsys
[snip] I'm puzzled why changing the template could cause such catastrophic impact, while UR is supposed to be intuitive and flexible.

I hope the above aswers this question. You say "UR is supposed to be intuitive & flexible".

While I don't think it's necessarily intuitive, it is flexible in my experience. Although I have not used the products you mentioned, I have been familiar with Lotus Agenda, EccoPro, ADM, Ariadne, Zoot & others. I think sometimes people (not you, necessarily) make comparisons between apples & oranges instead of apples to apples. Since I'm not familiar with the products you mentioned I cannot tell if that is the case here.

However, I do think with some time & study you might find UR can be a useful tool -- although not necessarily fit for your purposes.

No, it doesn't have an internal macro editor but I don't think that's a loss since macros are easily constructed outside the program. I think someone else suggested you might look @ the road map & if you don't see what you want there, make a suggestion as the developers do read them.

[armsys]

Hi Janrif,

Many thanks for your detailed explanation about the fun part, namely, the change of templates.

The tough part would be why some templates refuse to be deleted.

Armstrong

[kevina]

The core templates (Text, Document, Contact, Search) templates can't be deleted, nor can the Appointment or Task derived templates be deleted since they are used by Outlook sync nor the Folder template as it used by file/folder synchronization.

Actually, as some users have discovered, you can use the Link/Copy/Move dialog to "move" the non-core templates listed above to another location (which causes them to cease being templates)... Realize that doing so will not actually "delete" them and will probably "break" the related process listed above...

Doing so with the core templates will likely break your urd file (which a full Repair should fix - but no guarantees!).

[armsys]

Kevina,

Inferring from your explanation, what if I copy some info items from another urd. So now we could have 2 sets of core templates in the same urd. Is it true? That's exactly how it happened in my case.

Armstrong

[kevina]

Dragging items from the another urd file should not recreate the core templates (unless they were removed via the Link/Move/Copy dialog). If you now have duplicate core templates (under the Template system Info Item) then something definitely went wrong (but I am guessing this is not the case).

[janrif]

Originally posted by armsys
Hi Janrif,

Many thanks for your detailed explanation about the fun part, namely, the change of templates.

The tough part would be why some templates refuse to be deleted.

Armstrong

Yeah, well.... you caught me.

I *only* work on the easy stuff. I leave the tough stuff to 'senior' members & developers like kevina or kinook.

[armsys]

Hi Janrif,

Again I'm truly grateful for your help whick you took your valuable time to reply. On top of your technical explanation, I'm especially impressed by your deplomatic English. You seems to be more than a tech guru.

What live and big apps would you use UR? In addition to UR, do you use other tools on a daily basis? So far, I find UR is the only practical and viable GTD's data capture tool. Others such as Mindmanger + ResultsManager are more strategic, conceptual and elegant. Above all, UR is friendly to Asian languages. As a matter fact, the Search in UR can actually locate Info Items in Asian Languages and fast.

BTW, is Kinook a real person (developer) name?

Sorry, questions and more questions...

Merry Christmas!

Armstrong