InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by carloscadu on 2019/05/26 15:55

Hi,

I'd appreciate help.

I already realized that IQ can "auto-assign field list" (grid properties), and I had success handling a simple yes/no field.

Nonetheless, my real scenario is more complex, and as a new IQ user I'm not so sure how to go ahead, and even if the answer for thread question "How to set IQ to fill AUTOMATICALLY FileName/FilePath for new items added into certain grid?" would be the best workflow to handle my need.

Let me clarify my scenario in details through this screencast (http://bit.ly/30HH8dG), and more briefly as follows:

1) I created a grid having as source the yes/no field "statistics". I'm creating content about the topic.

2) Along with my thoughts, I'm inserting content from different authors, who need to be referenced.

3) I added the source file (overall PDFs) as grid items, then I thought FileName/FilePath are the fields I need as references for the authors' content added into IQ.

4) I will spend some time with a particular author, reading and inserting items into that IQ grid (statistics). These items will be spread through different places. The authors' content won't be added as children of the main item file mentioned above in (3). In other words, I can't rely on references based on the parent item. Because of that, I started using FileName/FilePath.

5) For each new item from author content, I'm copying and pasting those fields manually from the main file, into the new added content. However, this manual work is nonsense — a workaround I've found so far. By the way, I created another grid that sorts the items by modified date, so it is easier to see the items I need to paste the content. I'm pasting into several items at once. But achieving complete automation is what I'm looking for.

6) After finishing the reading of a paper, I will start over with another author. So the FileName/FilePath isn't constant. Actually, it will change very often. So I couldn't have permanent criteria in the grid to auto-fill FileName/FilePath. The solution would need to take into account the temporary nature of the auto-fill FileName/FilePath.

In the end, I hope to find a workflow in IQ that allows me to track/attach references to the items, but without losing time with infinite copy/paste procedure. Instead, I would appreciate spending more time focusing on the content itself.

Here there is an additional screencast (http://bit.ly/30KJo3Y) showing an ideal procedure for attaching the source/reference to the created items, however, through a limited outline workflow. While I had all my items connected with the references automatically, I got stuck on organizing the knowledge itself. InfoQube has appeared and is my bet to handle information with freedom and possibilites!

Thank you very much!

Carlos

Comments

Re adding links (not re automation):

you can drag and drop a file on an item in IQ, a dialogue shows:

IF you create a new item choosing (1) 'link to actual file', and with Hyperlink (I dont know nor see the difference between 'Static' and 'Dynamic') and (3) 'Link storage in / File link fields', the Filename and Filepath fields will be filled automatically.

this does not work the same if you dont create a new item -- you are unable to choose (3) above (Pierre?), but it will append a hyperlink to the item text thus: (link) -- which is simply a HTML link

FWIW I've often related various files to a single item:

my solution was to add as a sub-item, rather than delete them when finished, I then moved them below a sub-item as a means of archiving them. I'm wondering could there be a simpler solution for your needs?

You could e.g. add a sub-item and easily remove it (just from this location) using delete shortcut, when finished with the relationship.

If not, and if Pierre could get Filepath and Filename to add correctly to an existing item, with the option to replace existing entries in those fields, it would make things a lot easier for you. Alternatively append link and delete this when finished?

Many thanks for the reply and reflexion @Tom

[quote=Tom]

you can drag and drop a file on an item in IQ, a dialogue shows:

IF you create a new item choosing (1) 'link to actual file', and with Hyperlink (I don't know nor see the difference between 'Static' and 'Dynamic') and (3) 'Link storage in / File link fields', the Filename and Filepath fields will be filled automatically.

[/quote]

Departing from this idea, I performed as shown in this screencast (http://bit.ly/30NN4ll), and described below (it is still not being automated though):

- Created a new item for the main reference choosing (1) 'link to actual file', and (2) 'static hyperlink". Dynamic will not work for me because the underlying link doesn't point to the actual file path, instead of stores the hyperlink as [FileFullName], pointing to another IQ field. Although I kept (3) link storage set to "file link fields", it is not relevant to me, since the main item content is what matters now.

- Copied the main item content - e.g. Author 2015 - to the clipboard, then pasted it into the field [FileName] of the items added in the sequence, related to that specific author.

- The main advantage of this workflow (in relation to the one I mentioned in the initial message) is that I'm handling (copying/pasting) just one field (main item), which stores all information I need for referencing the author.

- In the screencast is illustrated my trial of using Ditto clipboard item to copy/paste easier (since the item would stick on top) and store the main item content for use when needed. My trial was unsuccessful during the screencast, but later I realized I had to update Ditto supported clipboard formats to match InfoQube ones. I recorded a second screencast (http://bit.ly/30KqDNU) showing how to add IQ formats into Ditto, as well as some tips about Ditto (to whom doesn't know this handy clipboard manager) yet, and explored some of its interaction with InfoQube. However, I finished the screencast again with content from Ditto not pasted with the complete file patch as a hyperlink (part of the file path is missing).

a) Any suggestion to achieve similar workflow without Ditto, using just InfoQube? I mean, using Ditto, I always had the item to be pasted in front of me, and could efficiently double click the item on Ditto to fast paste into the fields.

b) Since this process is still not automated, any further reflexion on InfoQube possibilities to automate the process?

Thank you very much!

Carlos

Ditto settings

I remember now what dynamic does:

yes, it use the field you mention, 'FileFullName', but this field reads the FileName and FilePath fields in order to create the full path, and will change if those fields are changed.

This must mean you can have only one dynamic link per item.

[quote=carloscadux]

In the screencast is illustrated my trial of using Ditto clipboard item to copy/paste easier (since the item would stick on top) and store the main item content for use when needed. My trial was unsuccessful during the screencast, but later I realized I had to update Ditto supported clipboard formats to match InfoQube ones. I recorded a second screencast (http://bit.ly/30KqDNU) showing how to add IQ formats into Ditto, as well as some tips about Ditto (to whom doesn't now this handy clipboard manager) yet , and explored some of its interaction with InfoQube. However, I finished the screencast again with content from Ditto not pasted with the complete file patch as hyperlink (part of the file path is missing).

[/quote]

=> After more testing, I can confirm Ditto does work for the purposes shown in the screencast. Sending the clipboard content from Ditto to IQ works most of the time. However, under certain circumstance the content may be pasted missing part of the underlying hyperlink, although item name is always pasted properly. I'm investigating the issue and hope to identify and share a consistent workflow Ditto<>IQ soon.

[quote=carloscadux]

a) Any suggestion to achieve similar workflow without Ditto, using just InfoQube? I mean, using Ditto, I had always the item to paste in front of me, and could simply double click the item on Ditto to fast paste into the fields.

[/quote]

=> I created the tag "reference", which I'm associating to the main reference items. Then double-clicking the tag launches IQ Scratch, which can replace Ditto for most of functionalities I was needing for my workflow.

The process is shown in this screencast: http://bit.ly/2VRF92P

There is still a missing functionality I couldn't replace from Ditto: Double-click the item field, then having content pasted into selected fields in grid, without the need of copy/paste operation. I tried to drag&drop, which didn't work too.

Is there a faster/smarter way to insert content from the Scratch into selected fields in the grid, other than copy/paste?

[quote=carloscadux]

b) Since this process is still not automated, any further reflexion on InfoQube possibilities to automate the process?

[/quote]

=> I'm keeping the same question to nurture further discussion. Any thoughts are very welcomed!

Thank you!