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Ariadne on the Move
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Posted by Daly de Gagne
Mar 23, 2010 at 04:09 PM
After two years plus with out development, it’s good to see that Ariadne is on the move again, and that the new developer, Yuriy, is responsive to suggestions from users.
Ariadne is not the flashiest program out there, but it has a lot of power, and I think the surface has only been scratched in terms of what it might do. Graham yesterday pointed out to me on the Ariadne Yahoo forum how fast Ariadne is, and the importance of careful development so it does not become bloated.
I’ve enjoyed rediscovering Ariadne. And I would go so far as to make this prediction - that if Ariadne is carefully developed over the next year or so, that it, along with Pierre’s InfoQube, would be one of the two top information management programs in the market.
I see Ariadne and InfoQube as the two potential killer aps, which many of us Crimpers have longed for.
Yuriy has set up a Yaho database for suggestions for new Ariadne features; it’s at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ariadneorga/database?method=reportRows&tbl=1.
The latest Ariadne download can be found here: http://www.prokarpaty.net/ariadne/ . It is free to use, and a small donation is suggested if people wish.
For me the one great feature of Ariadne is that it allows me to open up more than one note at a time, and that this enables me to compare drafts easily, as well as have research material in one or more notes, while doing my writing in another, never having to take my eyes away from the relevant data.
That great feature is combined with the ability to put a specialized note, called a comment, with any item in the outline, be it a folder, note, particle (brief one line item), or table record.
The method of linking is very powerful, as is the variety of predefined searches done by way of GREP, as well as the conventional search ability.
I have no vested interest, financial or otherwise, in either of the two programs mentioned here - other than, of course, that they are helping me to get more work done, more easily.
Daly
Posted by Jon Polish
Mar 23, 2010 at 05:35 PM
Hmm…
Doesn’t this look like a sensible, non-bloated Info Select? Yuriy too? I have not followed Ariadne. Has it always been so strikingly similar to IS? When did the project begin?
My main concerns are the limited import and export features. Also, as far as I can tell, you cannot attach files. Otherwise, I agree - very interesting.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Jon
Posted by Graham Rhind
Mar 23, 2010 at 05:58 PM
Hello Jon,
One can attach files (or, rather, link to them) using the “Shell Shortcut” feature, or drag and drop. Also, one can import and export table objects to CSV, which you don’t see in the main import/export menu. It does that very fast, incidentally.
Graham
Jon Polish wrote:
>Hmm…
>
>Doesn’t this look like a sensible, non-bloated Info Select? Yuriy too? I
>have not followed Ariadne. Has it always been so strikingly similar to IS? When did the
>project begin?
>
>My main concerns are the limited import and export features. Also,
>as far as I can tell, you cannot attach files. Otherwise, I agree - very
>interesting.
>
>Thank you for pointing this out.
>
>Jon
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 23, 2010 at 06:02 PM
I was intrigued by Ariadne when it was originally being developed, and I’m glad to see it is back. I do have some reservations about it. Particularly, it appears that you can’t create multiple databases—that is, there is no “New” command in the menu. I suppose you can do a “Save As” and create new databases that way, but then you have to keep cleaning out info from the original database. Seems like a weird limitation, unless I’m missing something. If the intent is to put all data in one file, then I fear Ariadne will suffer from the same problem that plagues all hierarchical information managers, namely that the data quickly overwhelms the structure—at least for me.
Maybe I’m missing something here. I would love to have such a misperception corrected.
Steve Z.
Posted by Graham Rhind
Mar 23, 2010 at 06:20 PM
You’re right, Stephen - Ariadne can only use one database (in two files called ariadne.ard and ariadne.dsa) and the “Save as” option creates a .tad (transferable Ariadne file) file to be used to transport data. I can’t say why it was created like this, but perhaps multiple databases could be one of the things that the new developer could start supporting.
Graham
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
> Particularly, it appears that you
>can’t create multiple databases—that is, there is no “New” command in the menu. I
>suppose you can do a “Save As” and create new databases that way, but then you have to
>keep cleaning out info from the original database. Seems like a weird limitation,
>unless I’m missing something. If the intent is to put all data in one file, then I fear
>Ariadne will suffer from the same problem that plagues all hierarchical information
>managers, namely that the data quickly overwhelms the structure—at least for
>me.