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General brainstorming for Note-taking software

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nudone:
i'm pleased to see things have (momentarily) woken up on this thread and like Darwin and kfitting, my current thoughts really are that i need something like ACDSee and Directory Opus combined - add to that adobe bridge because i want to see adobe illustrator files as thumbnails.

my original request focused on using txt files as notes/nodes within a tree structure, i'm grateful for the suggestions and i shall try them out.

but i do have to admit that managing all types of files/folders within a explorer like program is what i really need. for those of you feeling adventurous then, like Darwin, i'd recommend you try playing around a bit with ACDSee. if you enable it to show all file types it does become a VERY powerful file explorer. thinking seriously for one moment it's almost insane how powerful it could be. you have the ability to tag, rate, comment and keyword on any file AND/OR folder. you can view the contents of several folders all at once - and you can collect disparate files/folders into a single category - like a project group i suppose.

so why am i not using it for such things? simply because it won't thumbnail illustrator files and they are what i use in my projects. so why don't i use adobe bridge in a similar way to ACDSee? well, it's slower and doesn't quite fit the task(s).

directory opus is almost there but ACDSee would offer you more in the way of tagging and viewing things. the main drawback for both of these programs is that you are unable to edit the files directly, i.e. you can't edit a txt file without opening it up with another program - the previews are simply for looking at the file. is that a such a terrible drawback, i guess it must be otherwise i'd be using either ACDSee or directory opus to do everything regarding txt file editing.

i understand there is a plugin architecture for directory opus so maybe it already has the ability to edit files - if not then someone ought to make such a thing for it.

i suppose the bottom line is that no matter what functionality a program has you'll always think of something missing. if the deficiency is something you can't help but dwell upon, so much so that you abandon the software, then it probably is time to go back to basics.

i think maybe dismissing something like ACDSee as a general file explorer may also be down to prejudice - it's hard not to simply see it as an image management program - anything more just seems wrong. even with the things i've just said above i'm still thinking to myself "i can't possibly use ACDSee as a file manager, it's just not cricket."

Darwin:
There is an excellent DOpus plug-in that allows you to edit txt files, amongst other things (it's called the Source Code Viewer plugin). Find it here...

From the website:

anchor | Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:40 am    Post subject: Source Code Viewer Plugin   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Source Code Viewer is a freeware plugin for Directory Opus. It provides an enhanced viewer pane for viewing your source code using the freeware Scintilla control (http://www.scintilla.org). This control provides a host of features including syntax colouring, line numbering, code block folding, word wrapping and brace matching amongst others.

The plugin also allows you to edit your code, search for text, goto lines, add your own languages, etc.

--- End quote ---

I have version 1.2 installed and find it very useful. You view and edit your files and and are then prompted to save them when you switch to a different file.

PS I didn't even realize that ACDSee would index and organize more than multimedia stuff (I only had it installed for a brief time couple of years ago, but I know that it's very powerful).

nudone:
thanks, Darwin, i'll get the DO plugin.

tomos:
nudone, was going to post this in new thread but it seems to tie in here with your request/idea:

just the last couple of days I've been thinking of/looking at using text files & dopus as an Organiser/todolist.

You have Project Folder e.g."ProjectA"
next action txt files:
1A
2A

Then ProjectB
1B
2B

The advantage being, using flat view (without folders), I can sort files having "next actions" of various projects at the top of the list ... (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, etc.)
Also I can simply entitle the txt file with the action e.g. "1A_check their last mail" & add more text to file if necessary.

The disadvantage of using Dopus's collection (for me anyway) is that you cant create a tree structure within it

Now all I need is a calender in Dopus !!

Also could use one of those hardlink programmes to link files from elsewhere.

Do you know offhand the command for to make a new text file in Dopus?
I'll go look in their forum anyways
and get that plugin as well ..

Edit: I havent used "Descriptions" in dopus, but it appears you can add your own description which can be displayed in its own column. see PDF Manual p.138
I presume this could be used as another way of sorting files - not as good as tagging but better than nothing

nudone:
very interesting, tomos.

i shall give your naming structure some thought as i see what you mean about the 'collections' being a bit restrictive.

the 'descriptions' thing is okay but one very nice feature of ACDSee is that if you view your files in 'thumbs + details' mode you can have a very large area for displaying notes related to each of the files - it will easily show you a paragraph of text within the columns of the details view (you do have to make the thumbnails large, though, for  it to work).

i'd like to know a keyboard shortcut for creating txt files in DO, so if you find it please let me know.

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