Q. Is it possible to show the titles of linked notes in Outline columns?

The latter approach should be straightforward and is likely what you want.

How would one go about it to achieve that, @eastgate

Let’s start with an easy approach. We want to look for all the notes that have links from this note.

Rule: $MyString = find(linkedFrom(that))

(Detail: why that and not this? The find() action examines each note in turn, and in its testing it binds this to the tested note. that is the note which owns the rule.)

For example, of Blinken and Nod each have a link from Winken, then running this rule on Winken would give you

MyString: /Blinken; /Nod

Now, perhaps you don’t want paths — you just want the note names:

Rule: $MyString=collect_if(all,linkedFrom(that),$Name)

Suppose there are two links to Nod, but you only want Nod listed once.

Rule: $MySet=collect_if(all,linkedFrom(that),$Name)

6 posts were split to a new topic: SheetPlanner (topic split)

very interesting…

I am also a huge fan of ECCO, rip. I still run it occasionally on Mac via Crossover, but it is def starting to fray around the edges. Right now I’m trying to do something similar with TB Outline views with columns.

I will check out sheetplanner, too. I’m a sucker for cool tools.

I use Outline+Column a lot but I don’t think it is currently (nor probably should be?) designed as a spreadsheet-type view. Put another way, I use it heavily but with care so as not to overload things - especially as my research docs have 000s of notes and many user attributes & KAs.

The point being that ‘column’ are an enhancement to Outline view and not a primary view in their own right. So, before planning a workflow needing new column-view features it’s probably best to check with Eastgate directly as to the likelihood of success. Otherwise, the danger is that—out of good intent—we end up making fragile workarounds for things that perhaps ought to be formally supported features.

Having used I use Outline+Column view a lot, I should clarify. I mainly use columns for:

  • Allowing quick (scrolling) cross-check of completion of specific KAs when doing qualitative ‘coding’ of research data
  • Checking (again via scrolling) for missing/inconsistent data. Sometimes a visual scan is faster/easier than trying to figure the correct query to ferret out edge-cases.

Note that neither of these is used for time/diary management and GTD type work. That’s not to put anyone off … needs vary.

Is it possible to have the Rule generate a clickable URL to the linked note?

@eastgate @mwra May be one day we see the ability to, say, use a $Tag-Column that allows for filtering Tags while typing (to avoid instantiating a Tag twice). Or even more helpful for quickly changing $Container.

That alone would ECCOfy the already great Tinderbox-Experience that is provided through the given column-feature.

Alright, @eastgate. That works well. Thank you.

By doing this, aren’t we actually pretty close to some sort of table-of-content(=TOC)-like-feature?

Say, we do: $Text=$MySet.format(/n) and then have the “Blinken” and “Nod” become hyperlinked to the respective note.

NB: $MySet.format (/n) is not working to get the notes names one name per line. How to use the .format(…) correctly?

Did you mean:

$Text=$MySet.format(\n)

or

$Text=$MySet.format("\n")

I don’t think the former will work as format strings are always quoted.

(mod: corrected escape character typo)

Does not work for me.

2018-09-14_15-49-26

If I understand correctly, you are asking that column ‘cells’ would have KA-type value pop-ups?

Ah - you’ve got the wrong escape characters. You’re using a slash - it should be a backslash:

$Text=$MySet.format("\n")

Sorry, limited scope for testing live code right now as dealing with connectivity issues.

correct. that’s what I meant

thanks @mwra that did do the trick

I see. It would be nice, but my hunch this is asking for an add-on to the add-on that is Outline_Column, when probably what is needed is a view designed from the ground up as a more spreadsheet-like interface. I’d love to be wrong. I’d certainly use such a feature if it got added.

Maybe @eastgate is reading this. It definitely would be a great and appreciated feature.

If your tags are stored in a Set attribute, there’s no danger of adding the same tag twice.

+1 on the ECCO-like outline + columns

Realize that, at the core, ECCO is “just” a clever UI on a flat file, where every “folder” is literally just another column. That turns out to be an amazingly useful abstraction. ECCO views (each in a tab at the bottom) are “just” a set of columns you want to see and, importantly, a filter of what rows you want to see in that view. Because every column has a type, just clicking on a cell can present you with a type-specific pop-up, e.g., date, folders (as item list), and so on.

Beyond the very powerful basic outline-with-columns, ECCO pioneered a large number of very innovative features, some which I have yet to find in any other app since - and it’s been decades:

  • no-server sync: sync ECCO docs across multiple machines - and users
  • simple toolbar customization: virtually anything you can do in the UI automatically creates a little square button in the upper right, which you can right-drag into a row (above the columns).
  • the folder view on the left, which shows all the folders, not just the ones shown as columns in this view. This makes is easy to “link” items to any number of other folders.
  • the floating clipping button, which relocated itself to the app with focus. Thus, you can clip from any app by selecting what you wanted to clip and clicking on that button.
  • ability to use the hierarchy of folders as structure, e.g., choices within the parent folder
  • ability to put any row in the outline into any folder, with options for how that is shown in the view. e.g., an indented item in the outline can be linked to a folder, and the outline parent(s) shown in light green, for context.
  • probably many more I’m forgetting

IMHO a weakness in the ECCO paradigm is that, while rows can be added to any folder, you cannot link rows to each other. Nor can you link folder/columns together, except by parent/child hierarchy. Usually not a huge problem, tho.

It’s a crying shame that when MS Outlook came along, many people thought they were equivalent, or at least found Outlook (and later OneNote) to be better for them. ECCO died. But, it’s still available as free/shareware. It runs just fine on the Mac via CrossOver.

All that said, ECCO != Tinderbox. IMHO it’s worth looking at other tools just to think of different ways of working - and maybe “borrow” some ideas…

– jdm