Outliners and the file system, again (and a hint to get the max out of TB free edition)

Posted by 22111
Nov 23, 2013 at 06:09 PM

I just discovered an old thread, with a new post, in the Milenix (MyInfo) forum:

http://forums.milenix.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3640

where people ask for “Multiple Attachments per Document” (meaning item within the tree), and where again MyBase is mentioned regarding this unique (?) feature.

As I have said before, the problem with this lies within the (currently) missing synching functionality of such outliner subsets of your file M documents; either outliner developers do their homework at last, and introduce synching of special sub-folders of the file system, or you, as a user, you would be better advised to reconsider your outliner use, i.e. relegate your outliner files to the status of any other files in your system (technically speaking, at least), and work from your file system, again, as you did in the ancient days.

Both alternatives would imply “virtual folders” within your file system, i.e., why not, regular folders but in which there are some original files, but links to files, too - the “original” being stored “systematically”, i.e. by taxonomy, whilst the “extra” folder would be by project.

You can also include such a system into your outliner, by FINALLY REFRAINING from linking to files, but by systematically LINKING TO FOLDERS. In the end, your additions, your add-ons, will be processed by your file system, and within your file system, and even if you do it from within your outliner (much more sophisticated than current outliners), the physical storage will be handled by the file system, again, so it seems natural to have, to introduce, PROJECT FOLDERS, instead of endlessly trying to gather some disparate files into a special file subset within your outliner - my concept to avoid file linking from within the outliner, and to replace it with folder linking, will resolve almost all possible synching problems that today seem to be virtually insoluble (for details please refer to my previous posts).

Sidestep: We know there are some file managers who introduce “virtual folders”. The problem here is that the CONTENT of these folders is not transferable, so you are STUCK to the file manager in question, and this is enough said to prove that this is not a viable concept. No, the replication has NOT to be made within your outliner; it has NOT to be made within any of your paid file managers: It has to be made within the file system itself, to a project folder, and to which then, in your file system, in your outliner, or from anywhere else, there will be references to this project folder: Don’t do your core work in 3 places concurrently, then hoplessly try to synch: Do it once: There, where the core work is to be done… and then refer to that “first-level” container.

Idem for web sites and everything: Don’t try to import them into an outliner, import them into a project folder, but have that project folder’s every content READY within your relevant outliner context, or wherever you could need it (which might be TheBrain, some mind manager item, or wherever it pleases you).

And now let me tell you something really nasty, but TB people ARE nasty, so my hint will not harm business of kind people, which they are provably not:

Their free edition allows for linking to just ONE target, per item… but if you follow my above advice, you will quickly get that you will not have to buy or rent their 250 dollar-or-whatever-it-might-be-now “professional” edition, at least not for its file linking features.