Hi,
Please bear with me as I start to know a tiny little bit of TBX but still need / want to learn soooooo much about TBX…
With the new 8.6 ziplinks and links pane, is it now possible / easier to have e.g. multiple TBX files (all in the same directory) and create a single ToC.tbx file that will contain a ToC linked to the other TBX files?
(hope this makes sense, if not please ask)
First, the Ziplinks and Links panel operate within a single document, not across documents.
I think it might be helpful if you explained what you are trying to accomplish with
For example, what are you plans for using that “ToC.tbx” file? Is it to locate similar or related notes spread across multiple documents? Is there a reason you need multiple documents rather than a single document? Or is there something else?
A little more context would help others respond to the question.
Yes sure;
My main concern is interaction between mobile and Tinderbox.
Preferably bi-directional.
I’m looking into Tot for this too, but with Tot at the moment I’m looking for a way to start a new document from the iOS version. On macOS that is no problem, but on iOS I haven’t figured out yet how to get further than the typical 5 or 6 coloured buttons and add an additional document.
I know there is / can be interaction between Tinderbox and
and probably a lot that I’m not even aware of.
I’m absolutely not familiar with any of these working bi-directionally,
probably Devonthink-to-go should work this way.
Now one of the applications that I like to use a lot is iThoughts.
This works on iOS, macOS and Windows.
And you can have the same file open on all platforms and work on any of the 3 mentioned and the changes will propagate and sync.
Another very strong point of iThoughts is the fact that you can search accross ALL iThoughts files or only the active one.
With iThoughts you can also link e.g. a node to another iThoughts file or node.
This is extremely powerfull. The global search most of all.
Now I have seen posts about using grep to search TBX files’ internals, but to me that is a bridge too far.
As I quite easily pop open a new TBX file to make some notes and to work out some possible ways to interact,
The next thing that popped to my mind was, hey, can I have a single ToC.tbx file (Table of Contents) and link each note-entry to one of the many TBX files.
Which then leads to the question:
One Big Tinderbox Document?
or
Many / several smaller TBX Documents…
I am not sure I understand how a “single ToC” document would help with any of this. A ToC document, if it existed, would be a bag of links to other documents – that’s not clicking with me as a solution to coordinating input on mobile devices with Tinderbox on macOS.
Tot is 7 pages (“colored buttons”), no more, no fewer. That’s the design their developers choose.
Watching / syncing in Tinderbox is one-way only – you cannot send changes from Tinderbox back out to the other app.
In reading this, I’m unsure what is structural need and what is technical FOMO (fear of missing out). A lot of the everything-everywhere functionality seems to be a mix of FOMO and forgetting how to memorise things (even just until getting to home/office/wherever). IOW, if I need to take notes up a high-voltage pole that is problematic; the ennui of remembering something to the end of the train ride less so.
The one file vs many, as has been noted above, is hard to answer due to insufficient error. Here I detect FOIE (Fear Of Initial Error), not starting as one is constantly looking for a beter workflow/model.
One suggestion: use Tinderbox to map all these problems out. What are actual needs and what are ‘what-if’ concerns.
As regards Tinderbox, it is as/more flexible than most tools at allowing you to fix early structural mis-steps. It is also really strong at letting you add structure as it appears, and to extend that structure back to existing records. This is the reverse of a database field/table planning meeting!
Until you start putting some form to your data—regardless of the initial tool used—I suspect you will be stuck in a FOIE lop as you don’t yet know the (informational) shape of the problem.
Unless you’ve started somewhere else, I’d start making a Tinderbox. Issue of complexity/size will suggest themselves if/when a need to split to multiple documents arises. A good thing about starting in one document is force majeure makes you think about things like putting discrete subject matter in different outline branches of the doc (separate maps, if you prefer) and using unique filenames, etc.
None of this is rebuke. I’m mainly remembering my own past mis-steps in starting projects. 
Hi Mark,
That is exactly what I have been looking at recently too.
Found this website x-callback-url.com recently and at first thought this was macOS related, however later found that this is iOS.
Rob Walton seems to have devised a Python wrapper on github around this to be also able to use on macOS, but I have not delved into it yet.
I haven’t fully decided yet, but also due to system crashes I have been experiencing recently I have found there is some issue with my M2. ssd card on filesystem level and am considering buying a second one to replace it. (need to dig into warranty matters etc. as the one I’m running is not very old.)
Martin Finke has xcall on github which seems to be limited to CLI.
This URL schema is exactly what I use to interact between Mail.app, Excel.app, Evernote and DEVOnthink to keep track of mastercard / visa expenses.
Trying to port this to Google Sheets works in a limited way, but not all URL scheme’s are supported unfortunately.
Thanks for your input!
This is clever thinking! It is not FOMO but I would describe it more as BOTTOMLESS PIT syndrome.
Let me explain:
All of the previously mentioned can not do what you can do with Tinderbox.
That is why I would promote, even if limited, e.g. a search accross ALL *.tbx files residing in a specific folder on e.g. iCloud or Dropbox or Google Drive (I have stopped using Dropbox due to their onesidedly changing the number of devices you can use in the free tier, and their incompetitive pricing)
I would also promote a simple file-locking system in case a file is already open (on another computer)
To finish off I would like to state that I am very happy with Tindebox in general, with this extremely helpfull forum!
Also extremely helpfull are the supporting / instructional video’s:
Planning With Tindebox, I still have to dive in Working With Tinderbox. Not to forget Steve Zeoli’s video’s.
Not to forget one of the most “Aha! Erlebnis” like videos from Pat Maddox Publish from Tinderbox to DEVONthink!!
This most of all revealed to me the way you can link words…
One of the things I’d like to explore very soon is Tinderbox’s capability to export to html and publish to Wordpress
Thanks to all of you!