not having used DTpersonal at all, because of the lacking german help, I have now upgraded to DT pro because it has at least an English Tutorial. I understand most of it and am looking forward to using DTpro in the near future. The tutorial even was able to teach me, what Devon Think is all about (I really didn’t get it til I have read the stuff about usage scenarios
I am having some difficutlies with searching and finding stuff.
The tutorial says: “To find a document using the search field in the toolbar, do the following:”
I’ve seen this field, but sometimes it isn’t there, the Finden (Search) Field is greyed out.
Can one please explain, why that is?
Then I don’t know how to activate the search database command in the menu Opt COM F. It isn’t greyed out, but there is no reaction when I have choosed it …
And last one regarding searching: How to i search in the column at the left in order to find a certain group?
I would advise doing searches in Tools > Search while you are experimenting, as the search options are far more available and obvious.
Note, by the way, that while you are viewing a document in DT Pro, you can select a term and press Command-/ to open the search window for that term.
You can also use the Tools > Search to find groups and subgroups by name. Just type in the name and, in search options, click on Name. The found groups will have the icon of a folder. Double-clicking on the name will open that group.
You may also find the Tools > Group panel to be very useful. It can be configured as a floating panel that’s available in any application. For example, you can drag a URL from Safari (or other browser) into a selected group (perhaps your collection of bookmarks). To hide the panel, just minimize it to the Dock. (Set preferences General not to hide the panel when it is not in use.)
Bill’s advices are helpful – as always … – to get along with the situation as it is. But I think the situation should not be like it is.
Matze is experiencing some inconsistencies in the User interface. Although the developers may kindly declare that it is logical – because here you have a view of this, there a view like that or you are working in a document and whatsoever.
But, as a user I am not interested in which view or treelike representation of the database I am. When I am looking for something I want to be able to find it, I do not wish to have to change a view or click into another window in order to be able to do so. – When I see a duplicate I want to be able to find it regardless of the window I am looking at… and so on.
I hope for basic changes in the user interface in the upcoming version 2.0. Matzes experience as a newbie should be precious for the developers, because he encounters problems that all new users will encounter – and some will decide not to buy the app.
The keyboard shortcut to invoke the Search window is Shift-Command-F.
For the Toolbar Search, you can change the options by clicking on the ‘magnifying glass’ symbol and change, for example, from All Words to Any Word.
Under what circumstances is the Toolbar Search feature not available? Normally, it will be displaying in light gray text the search options, e.g., All/All Words/No Case/Database. But you should be able to enter a search term.
at first I want to thank you for your very helpfull hints, you gave in the post above.
This is the shortcut for the Search in “Werkzeuge” (Tools). I was refering to the Search in Bearbeiten (Edit), there is a submenu “in Datenbanken” (in databases) and this has the shortcut OPT COM F
When opening the tutorial database I don’t see no Toolbar Search. (I have got the 12inch Powerbook, so the window isn’t opened to its full extend.) But you can click on a double-arrow pointing to the right. The toolbar extends with a little window that says “Finden” /Find, but it is grey and you can not select it. This might be a bug? Because, when I make the whole database window bigger, the Search Window appears in the toolbar. And it works. But I don’t want to have the databases opened with full window size.
The search window will not work if it’s in the dropdown that is activated by clicking the double arrow. Here’s a fix: ctrl-click on the toolbar so that you can select “customize toolbar.” After the customization window is open, go over to the double arrows, grab the search icon and drag it to the left in the toolbar and drop it there. Then click “Done.” That way the search field will be available even though the window is reduced and not showing all the tools. However, one of the other tools will probably drop off into the double arrow zone. Some of them will work when in the double arrow dropdown so that is OK.
