Hi, all. Hoping to join the Zoom meeting in an hour or so but just in case I can’t, here’s my basic question that I don’t seem to be able to solve myself (or with Perplexity, Claude et al). I’m sure the answer’s simple and I’m missing something.
When I go into the alias of a container I do not go into the container of the original which is what I thought was the correct behaviour; instead I just see a blank map, sometimes with adornments, but with none of the notes , original or otherwise, that are there when I view the original container. I assume I’ve changed a setting somewhere but I noticed the same behaviour in another document. Help much appreciated.
An alias is just that: so, you see the object (the container).
Skirting a zero-sum argument about how aliased containers 'ought to work. What is the informational issue you have that needs to want to see this extra info. It’s highly likely a solution exists, albeit not in the exact fashion imaged.
IIRC (not close to all my notes ATM) you can query the descendants (children only?) of an alias original via action code. I appreciate that isn’t the same thing as map view.
Hi, Mark, I probably didn’t make myself clear. What I was expecting was as this page described for version 10, not pleading for some change in functionality. From your FAQ for version 10:
It is possible to zoom into an alias of a container by double-clicking its body or by selecting the alias container and pressing the down-arrow key (↓). The map then displayed is always the map of the original container.
in Map views, regardless of the map on which the alias resides (same or different from the original), drilling down into an alias’ map container results in the view shifting to the map of the original container—i.e. shift of context
So I assumed that was what would happen – that the down arrow would take me to the original container and the original notes within, but in my case it doesn’t seem to. Instead, as I said, I end up on a blank page.
I can, of course right click and choose Open Original or Open Original in New Tab, but I’d prefer things worked in the way described, which seems entirely logical.
This aspect has altered a bit over time, and thanks for the useful aTbRef quotes: even as its author, there’s a lot to remember . I think I see why you are getting the wrong (unexpected!) result, although I’m not sure if this is a glitch or to be expected. My hunch is it’s an under-tested edge case.
If I open an agent in a new tab (and switch to map view if starting in a different view) I see all the children of the agent. Murphy’s law, I picked an agent listing other agents, as … if I then drill down into an agent I see nothing. But, if I in the map instead of drilling down, I open the (alias) container in a new tab I see the contents. I suspect testing with aliases of agents blurs things a little. But, testing with a simpler file and aliased note containers, I get the same result.
My recollection is the status quo was that Tinderbox understands users might want to use an alias as a proxy route to viewing other data. But the map drills down (or up) along outline branches. Aliases work across that structure.
For now, instead of drilling down in the current map, if you open the to-de-inspected alias in a new tab, I think you will get what you want.
I’ll amend my earlier answer as in hindsight it seems (unintentionally0 harsh.
Based on @loosewire’s quotes of aTbRef (which I’d have written testing out from erstwhile Release notes) i think something is amiss. I make this simple test. In outline, 3 nested notes and an alias of the top level container.:
In truth, and regardless of the docs, I’m not sure what I should see. I don’t recall this issue coming up for a long time. Might this be a dark corner dinged by the v5 → v6 rebuild?
Hi Marks, sorry didn’t realise you’d added to the thread. For me the logical outcome would be as per the TBref – I like using aliases to play around with thoughts and layouts in maps and to me an alias of a container that takes me back to the original container on double click/down arrow is logical and helpful. Yes, the option of right clicking is still there, but it requires an extra bit of forethought and doesn’t feel as natural.
For the present, that’s the best match. Anything more likely involves a change to the app. As noted, the cause of cucrrent behaviour is, as yet, unclear!
. I think I see why you are getting the wrong (unexpected!) result, although I’m not sure if this is a glitch or to be expected. My hunch is it’s an under-tested edge case.
