InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by Pierre_Admin on 2009/11/18 02:19

By popular demand (!), work was done on the Concept Map, as an alternative display to grids and to allowing easy navigation in the item hierarchy. (Similar to MindMaps)

Open a grid, select an item and do Grid>>Concept Map. If the selected item is different from the last mapped item, user is prompted to choose which one to view. Once mapping, you can:

- Double-click to edit the item text
- Shift+double-click to explore from the selected item
- Item parents are shown above the explored item.
- Items arrange horizontally or vertically automatically
- Properties pane and HTML pane are enabled

- Icon shown to indicate that the item has HTML content or linked to a web page (separate icons for each)

- Item backcolor is shown
- Adding items, drag-drop and hyperlinks are not currently enabled

More features will be added eventually.

Video is available here (15MB).

Comments

C'mon, now you are teasing. Working calendar and treeview in one release?

Please, give it up!

This looks like a great start, Pierre. Presumably icons / images will have to wait for now?

To have both a working calendar and a usable concept map in the same release is almost dreams come true!

Bon courage.

Mark Gregory, Rennes, France - GMT +1/+2; EST +6

I am amazed as well! I am really looking forward to this next release!

Thanks a lot for your dedication to IQ's development!

Nice news to read first thing in the morning.

Even if I first saw the Mantis note last night... ;)

Good stuff Pierre !

Pierre, congratulations on an attractive prototype.

It actually looks like a Decision Tree more than a Concept Map as yet. Concept Maps, as I understand them, have to multi-parent:

[Pond](contains)[Frog, Salamander](is a form of)[Amphibian]

If [Frog] and [Salamander] each has its own [Amphibian] branch then the concept of Amphibian is sacrificed, and the map spreads like kudzu. [Frog] is also a subitem of [Pond], yet parent item of [Amphibian] which may upend the natural IQ hierarchy a bit.

MindManager doesn't support multi-parenting as IQ does, yet its maps quickly become unmanageable. So I'm curious about how you intend to handle recursion...and am actually a bit skeptical about whether a true map can realistically be squeezed into Version 1. Although I'd never bet against your wizardry.

Cheers

Jerome

I'll readily agree that it may not be a full-fledge Concept Map, and if someone knows a better name for it, please suggest one (I know very little about this: Decision tree, Mind Map, Concept Map), but...

it does support multiple parents (shown in the Context Parent color defined in Tools>>Options):

Regarding your example, would this be the view you'd expect to see:

or, if we add some turtles to our pond eco-system:

Map? (no adjective), simple like grid

When are we going to get to play w this exciting release?

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

>I'll readily agree that it may not be a full-fledge Concept Map, and if someone knows a better name for it, please help me (I know very little about this: Decision tree, Mind Map, Concept Map),

I think Concept Map has a recognized meaning these days, one which customers will expect if IQ uses the term. Wikipedia has a good article and image.

Actually, the best name I can think of for this device is simply "Tree View." But you're using that same name in Item Properties. (Can't quite determine what it does, though; the Manual ~~doesn't say.~~ Update: Description added. Thanks Tom!)

re Tree View: It is much more than a tree view as multiple parents, recursion, and hyperlinks allows you to navigate anywhere in the IQBase (whereas a tree limits you to its branches). How about either:

Map View
Explorer View

This is the first step in using such a view, one can easily see that the following are natural further steps:

Drop a field on the view and items in that field will be shown
Drop a wikitag on the view and items with that wikitag will be shown
[edit] Adding selected field (i.e. column) info for each item [/edit]
Any other suggestions?

another vote for Map View

With Explorer View I think I would expect something else

sounds / looks super !

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Map View
Explorer View[/quote]

Greetings Pierre

A map would not have Moscow in two different places, at least not the same Moscow. Compare "Amphibian" in the image displayed. We can see all the sub-items but not all the parent items; the entries and routes proliferate.

A calendar, by contrast, can have "Choir Practice" at multiple dates and times. They're not strictly the same Choir Practice, but they refer accurately to the same Item from a database standpoint. So you'd click and see the same choir checklist, the same people to call. The user could run a query and see all Choir Practice for the year. Similarly, the Analysis Matrix, which I'm suggesting as a derivative of the calendar, can associate the item "Central Storage of Email" with several different products, and we can run a query showing which ones.

All of which is to say...I believe it'll be a long time before IQ can be competitive in the MindMap space. Whereas the Calendar is essential to the PIM, and is a powerful template for visual analysis through object manipulation. So that's the new development I'm hoping you'll prioritize for this round.

Jerome

[quote=JJSlote]

[/quote] **

In the case of certain maps only -- like geographical maps...

"Map" is a generic term and I'm not aware of the above mentioned limitation.

However, questioning the use of the map "term" makes me think that maybe something like "network diagram", or just "Diagram" would probably be more accurate and less ambiguous (?, connoted ?) than "map".

** I'm of course taking the first part of your post a bit out of context... I understand that it's more about calendar work than about "maps" in general...

Concept Map
Mind Map
Geographical map

The word map is used to represent many things. For Mind Map, Wikipedia says:

[quote]

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea[/quote]

I also like diagram except for these aspects:

Diagram is IMO something to represent the whole of a thing, not some part of it
Diagram is a longer word and definitely more "technical"
Is a word, but not a verb (map is both a noun and a verb)

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Concept Map
Mind Map
Geographical map

The word map is used to represent many things. [/quote]

Agreed.

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

I also like diagram except for these aspects:

Diagram is IMO something to represent the whole of a thing, not some part of it
Diagram is a longer word and definitely more "technical"
Is a word, but not a verb (map is both a noun and a verb)

[/quote]

Agreed on all points (well, #1 is debatable... but it's besides the point).

I'd also add that "map" is much more "sellable" if you wish... Connotations (concept map, mind map...) are certainly not a bad thing... in this case, on the contrary.

Great ! Map view side track is now closed. Back to the main 0.9.25 thread... the Calendar !

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Great ! Map view side track is now closed. Back to the main 0.9.25 thread... the Calendar !

[/quote]

Very much looking forward to working with the IQ calendar. Fortunately, anticipation is without the physical discomfort Jan has been experiencing!

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Great ! Map view side track is now closed. Back to the main 0.9.25 thread... the Calendar !

[/quote]

Pierre,

I don't know if you have this in mind for your calendar view at this time or not, but - it would be great if items entered in calendar view could be viewed in the project view and perhaps vice versa.

You wouldn't want to automatically see every item in the calendar in the projects view, and you might only want top level or the top two or three levels in a project to show in the calendar.

Could there be a Ctrl-click to select whatever you wanted to show in the other view and then a "show in calendar" or "send to projects" icon/menu choice?

Perhaps I should have asked first - can this be done already, and if so how?

And, thanks again for the great work you are doing!

David

[quote=Armando]

In the case of certain maps only -- like geographical maps...

"Map" is a generic term and I'm not aware of the above mentioned limitation.

[/quote]

I guess you're right. An organization chart can certainly place the same individual in multiple places: VP of Sales can be member of a committee, for example.

(Bit of a mental lapse there, considering I'm the native speaker in the discussion.)

Hello Jerome and others.

<Discloure> I'm doing a Ph.D in personal and small-group information management. A Ph.D student is not an expert, but is learning to research - so I don't have answers, but I do have questions which I need to answer! My research centres around the question of why people do not use computers more effectively to address the key questions of getting things done and keeping found things found. Take a look at www.scribd.com/doc/18184530/How-to-Audit-Your-Personal-Information-Management to see a practical if interim outcome. </Disclosure>

InfoQube is not competing in the MindMap space. It IS one of the most powerful information management programs I have ever encountered in 25 years of looking! There are many reasons why people do not manage their personal information well; but one is that the various different ways in which data interrelate rarely meet in one integrated way. InfoQube permits tabular representations of information in ways in which each item is linked in arbitrarily complex (and simple!) ways to any other item. It already offers powerful ways in which to make those relationships such as a network with multiple parents, together with the elegance of row and column equations to permit relationships to be processed.

The addition of map view will allow users to represent their information visually and to explore it in additional ways.

I welcome, wholeheartedly, any first foray into concept mapping in Pierre's well-thought-through IQ product. My list of three priorities for IQ development is:

Fully working calendar
IQ synchronisation with anything outside, but ideally a phone
Better usability and ease of appropriation

Map view addresses point 3. The new version also addresses point 1. I can hardly wait...

Mark Gregory, Rennes, France - GMT +1/+2; EST +6

I like Jan's suggestion: A Map View.

Simple and doesn't make IQ cornered in a predefined concept

Yes, "map view" is good.

I agree with Jerome about the concept map charateristics. I'd add one thing though : there are no such things as "parents" in true concept maps -- there could be, but "parent" is not a concept map "property" per se... There are only linked items with defined (usually) relationships. It is more heterachical than hierarchical.

In any case, I think it would be possible to achieve that kind of representation with IQ, cheating a bit.

If v9.25 was a sexy girl (instead of a piece of software) I'd have the worst case of 'blue balls' anticipating the pleasure of getting my hands on her & suffering from the frustration of having to wait.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

Yes, I'm sorry for the delays. It is a major release, as you know...

Also, I'm having a second set of guests for the apartment to rent I now have, arriving tomorrow morning, so it is quite a bit of preparation.

Calendar work is approx 50% done and the Map View only remaining issue is support for hyperlinks.

Lastly, coming up is PreRel1 of 0.9.25, not the real McCoy

I'm glad you're getting biz w your apt, Pierre. Photos are lovely & Montreal is wonderful.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

1) Does that mean PreRel1 will be for just the calendar stuff on the 0.9.25 roadmap, and the mapview, and not the opml export, named filters, etc?

2) I'm hoping that's the case, to get out the prelease asap, for the current bug fixes, as much as the new features.

3) Is -- link to nonexistent node ID 243 -- still accurate towards 1.0? (or is Mantis more accurate).

I totally understand but you've also fixed a lot of bugs & there's one bug fix in particular that's of particular interest to me which is being able to delete fields without the crazy workaround & without losing extra fields if I make a mistake.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

11/19/09 calendar was 50% finished. 01/31/12 still waiting. plse release calendar in its current shape so we can begin testing improving one of the most -- if not THE most requested improvement. Thank you.

Hi Jan,

The Calendar referred in that post was released a long time ago, and is IMHO quite functional !

Coming up in v0.9.26 is 2 things:

Updated UI for creating / modifying events (instead of the current Outlook-like one)
2-way sync with Google Calendar

Thanks for your patience !

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Hi Jan,

The Calendar referred in that post was released a long time ago, and is IMHO quite functional !

Coming up in v0.9.26 is 2 things:

Updated UI for creating / modifying events (instead of the current Outlook-like one)
2-way sync with Google Calendar

Thanks for your patience !

[/quote]

Thanks Pierre. Can you release it for my birthday -- Feb 10th. It would become my favorite gift.

These are nice diagrams, but I would not call them Concept Maps. The creator of the concept map is Joseph D. Novak. He has information on concept maps at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Here is an example of what a concept map looks like:

Dave

________________________________________________________

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, running under Parallels on iMac

Thanks Dave ! ... would you have a better name for this representation ?

It looks somewhat like Dialog Mapping to me. Ref: http://www.pictureitsolved.com/resources/dialoguemapping.cfm

Dialog Mapping has been around for a while. I have a book titled Dialog Mapping by Jeff Conklin. I think he coined the term. He does his dialog mapping with an open source app called Compendium. I'd tried Compendium a few years ago, but didn't really like it.

Dave

________________________________________________________

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, running under Parallels on iMac

Didn't we already choose to just call it "map view" ? It's vague enough to avoid being criticized for being what it's not. :)

"Map view" is perfect AFAIC. "Mind map" would be ok to... as, really, it's pretty much a mind map. Only with less formatting possibilities than what we've been accustomed to.

From wikipedia :

"Mind maps are, by definition, a graphical method of taking notes. Their visual basis helps one to distinguish words or ideas, often with colors and symbols.^{[citation needed]}They generally take a hierarchical or tree branch format, with ideas branching into their subsections. [...] Mind maps differ from concept maps in that mind maps focus on only one word or idea, whereas concept maps connect multiple words or ideas."

The idea here is that concept maps are more heterarchical, while mind maps are more hierarchical. IQ could easily be made to represent things in a more heterarchical way, but it's not really what it does now -- you can of course fake it (using hyperlinks and event parent-children links... I do it all the time), but the heterarchical nature of one's thoughts won't really show in the "map view".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows XP Home Edition, Service pack 3

Dell Vostro 1500, Ram:3gb, CPU: Intel Core2Duo T7500 2.2ghz

Armando,

Sorry, somehow I overlooked that a decision had been made to call this Map View. You are are absolutely right. Dialog Map it too specific. Map View is general enough to cover concept maps, mind maps, flowcharts, or whatever graphical views outside of Gantt charts that Pierre comes up with.

Dave

________________________________________________________

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, running under Parallels on iMac