I’m wondering if it’s possible to run multiple instances of Tinderbox simultaneously.
Here’s my use case: while I’m writing new notes in one document, I often need to consult or cross-reference previously recorded notes in another document. Ideally, I’d like to have two Tinderbox windows (or instances) open side by side — one for writing and one for reference.
Is there a recommended way to achieve this? For example, can Tinderbox be launched twice, or is there a workflow that allows splitting work across two windows/documents efficiently?
Any tips or best practices would be much appreciated.
Hi, welcome to the Tinderbox user-to-user forum. I hope the answer below covers the possible interpretations of your question. If not, do please ask again.
No, you can’t open the same Tinderbox install as two discreet running versions of the app.
If, as some of us beta testers do, you have two different versions/builds of the app you can—accidentally have both open—but this is NOT recommended and should not be done as deliberate practice†.
Yes, you can you have two windows from the same document open at once. To open a second window use, for the File menu, use New Window (⇧⌘N ). A gotcha is that whilst different windows can have different views in their current (front) tab, the selection—the selected note(s)—is shared. Altering the selection in windows #1 sets the same in window #2. So, multiple windows are good for looking at two different views of the same document, but not for looking at two different notes.
Can I view to different notes at the same time? Yes! Open one (or more) notes as stand-alone note windows: use View menu, Text window (⌥⌘X ). You can edit the stand alone and look at other notes/selections/views in the main window. A stand-alone window will show Displayed Attributes (but you can only alter the table in the mean window) but you can’t use drag-drop linking or view the link pane. If you need the latter in the note that you are editing, open the reference note(s) and stand-alone window(s) and edit in the main document window. Or, if you need access to things like whilst writing.
I hope that covers the possible interpretations of your question. If not, do please ask again.
†. Indeed, I only note this in case someone unhelpfully points out that it is possible, causing people to try. But please don’t try this as essentially both instances share all open apps and badness can follow.
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation — this really clarifies things!
So, to recap my understanding:
It’s not possible (or safe) to run two separate instances of Tinderbox at the same time.
I can open multiple windows from the same document with New Window (⇧⌘N), which is useful for having different views side by side (though the selection is shared).
And if I want to actually look at two notes at the same time, the way to do that is with stand-alone note windows (Text Window, ⌥⌘X).
That sounds like exactly what I need for writing while checking other material. Thanks again for pointing me to the right commands!
Yes, your summary looks correct. The multi-window shared focus isn’t arbitrary, there is some underlying constraint forcing this: luckily we have stand-alone windows.
I’ve found that if I don’t need links pane or drag-drop linking, generally it is easier to edit in the stand-alone window. It is counter-intuitive at first, but using the stand-alone window lets one move easily around the rest of the document without having to keep opening new windows.
Glad the info was of help. Out of interest, was there a place you looked in documentation (in aTbRef or elsewhere) that you expected to find these answers but didn’t? I ask just in case we’ve missed some obvious ways to make that findable. I do wonder i’f a an article (where?) in aTbref might be useful, on the topic of viewing multiple notes. With the new search the ‘where’ in the source TBX is more an issue for me as such an article would likely get found by the site (fuzzy) search (search page link is in the quick links bar top/bottom of every aTbRef page, here in atbref10).
