Short version:
I wish it would be possible to link aliases and original note using one click/link. To me it would be way less work.
Long version:
I have an iterative process to develop my notes from a rough to an elaborated state. Aliases are particular in the beginning of a new topic a great way to “link” or reference with existing topics where necessary. But that is only a first level type of linking for me. Aliases are often only placeholder until I develop my notes further e.g. using maps and creating links that give more meaning. So for example after a while I try to incorprate new notes or topics into my existing knowledge system by linking notes etc. I usually create maps or take an existing map, where I use aliases to extend the map with new links. I use aliases in maps, because I keep all my original notes in an outline structure in order to progress on two different paths to structure notes. So maps to me represent always a subsystem of notes, whereas in my outline I have a representation of the whole knowledge system.
But with the existing functionality I have to create always two links to keep this logic. So I wonder why is it not possible to create such links to both the original and aliases with one click?
An alternative formulation might be to always link to the original. You can always get to the original from the alias with a single menu choice or keystroke.
But I want to emphasize, to me it is confusing why aliases and original notes do not share the same links. I can imagine use cases for different linking between aliases and original notes, but it is not enitrely logic to me. Also the “Show Original” function does not really help me at all if the link is not set both ways. In hyperbolic view I might see a complete different network.
That is because you are envisaging a single use case. This is a difficult area where no one solution fits all situations. Allowing aliases and originals is important for documents that will be exported - without it the app’s export capabilities are reduced.
Links in Tinderbox are uni-directional. To link ‘both ways’ you would need to add separate links in opposing directions, i.e. A to B and B to A.
I agree: no one solution. Toggling could add a layer of flexibility.
Couldn’t one have a toggle to switch between displaying links for selected note +/- links for all of its aliases? If no aliases exist, then toggle would do nothing (or could be greyed out).
For example, if one has View>Links (Cmd-7) turned on, toggling would expand/shrink to include/exclude links from all aliases. Similar toggling would operate under Roadmap and other views used for browsing links.
Toggling is only for viewing and browsing links. Nothing would change at the fundamental level. Aliases could have in/out links different from the original, and exporting is unaffected.
Links are stored in a linkbase within the TBX. As can be seen, the link simply stored the ID (same as $ID in-app) of source and destination.
My hunch is the ‘toggle’ is a fair amount more work than envisaged. Either the link storage structure has to be re-written (whilst considering compatibility with 20 years of existing TBX data) or the extra links would have to be calculated on the fly (which may not scale well).
I think the idea is interesting, though for reasons above is likely more engineering work than we users may envision.
