Would realy like to have comments integrated into the main window rather than being in a separate window. Before someone suggests display comments in a column in one of the list views - that doesn’t work if a comment runs to say 10 lines. The info window just gets in the way all the time or I have to keep bringing it to the front. It’s also too big and most of what it contains (aside from comments) is not generally of interest to me. What about a hideable section in the main window (possibly under the treelist on the left). That way people who don’t want them displayed in the main window can hide them. I have quite a lot of pdf’s and other similar docs (djvu) and the only way I can tag them or annotate them is via comments. A proper system of tags would also be helpful (and yes I’ve read the other discussions on this topic and I still believe that a controlled way of assigning metadeta to files stored in DTPro is essential. Replicates and duplicates don’t really work for me).
For several years I’ve made the Info panel a permanent part of my DT Pro windows that are opened each time DT Pro is launched.
I do this both on my 15" MacBook Pro and on my Power Mac G5 with 24" screen.
See http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/wa/default?user=wbdeville&templatefn=FileSharing5.html&xmlfn=TKDocument.5.xml&sitefn=TKSite.2.xml&aff=consumer&cty=US&lang=en for a JPEG image of my windows setup, named 'Modified Vertical Split View.jpg. Works in Three Panes view, also. My windows always remember their size and placement. If I need to temporarily minimize the Info panel so that I can see, e.g. the drawer for ‘See Also’ I just click Command-M on the Info panel to send it to the Dock. Afterwards, I bring it back up from the Dock.
Here’s a kludge that I use when I want to make copious notes about a PDF document and perhaps link those notes to other notes/documents. I create a new rich text document and give it the same name as the PDF document. I make a note in the Comment field of the PDF that there’s an associated document. So if I want to bring up that associated note I select the name of the PDF and do a search on that name in the Search window. There it is, even if not in the same group as the PDF.
Hi Bill,
I’ve read your solution to this particular request (voiced this time by psmyth) before and have tried on a number of occasions to do as you do.
Unfortunately your solution never feels very satisfactory to me. One way or the other the separate window gets in my way and hinders my personal work flow such that after a while I go back to opening and shutting the info window to add and retrieve the (meta)data that I store there.
So for what it’s worth I’d like to second psmyth’s request. I’ve been using DT all day every day for over 3 years now and if there was one addition to this great program which I’d LOVE to see it would be the info window incorporated in the vertical split view under the tree outline (as psmyth suggested).
Thanks!
– Paul
I agree Bill’s method isn’t entirely satisfying. Add to this the fact that you have to search your database and notes separately.
One somewhat satisfying solution that goes along with Bill’s suggestion is if wikilinks worked in the notes info window. That way RTF notes on a PDF (or movie, etc) could be wiki-linked which makes it easier to get to what you need.
Another option is what I suggested in another post about DT hierarchy structure- like the app Mori, be able to put RTF notes hierarchically ‘under’ other files. This way you can have RTF notes on a PDF or movie that sits underneath it and goes where it goes.