Notecard search

[Jon]

There is a rather long thread that covers a number of topics, the last being the ability to search notecards

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3056

To make things easier to follow, here's where we are. It has been proposed that one could use the Live Search field to search notecards. The resulting reference hits would appear in the usual reference list, and (if the note stream view is selected), the corresponding notecards that matched the search would appear on the right (notecards not matching the text in the live search box would not appear). There would need to be some restrictions in this case, such as no rearranging/editing/deleting of the matching notecards. I'm leaning toward this scenario at this time. Another solution would be to show all the notecards for a matching reference, but show the ones that don't match in gray or another color. Editing, etc., would then be possible.

Another request that would fit in is the ability to assign searchable tags to a notecard. I've suggested doing this by preceding a such a tag in the notecard with the % symbol. One could search for "%relativity" (without the quote marks) and find all notecards dealing with that subject.

Please discuss if you'd like to voice an opinion.

Jon
Sonny Software

[w.yaqoob]

Both aspects (using live searching notecards and adding searchable tags to notecards) would, I think, make notes a lot more useful. Especially the ability to search. On that note, I don't think that the second option you suggested – showing 'all the notecards for a matching reference, but show the ones that don't match in gray or another color' – would be helpful. First one seems a lot better.

[Tony Higgins]

Jon,
Thanks for starting a new thread for this specific issue. I agree with w.yaqoob. Showing just the notecards that meet the search criteria is a lot more useful than option 2. That, combined with the ability to command-click specific notecards that are returned by a search, would make it very quick and easy to wade through thousands of notecards to find and export just the ones that contain the information that is appropriate to a given writing project.

And I think it is fine to restrict the ability to rearrange/edit/delete notecards when searching the notecard field. I think this function is just for finding information that has already been collected for the purpose of exporting it to use in a writing project. Rearranging/editing/deleting notecards associated with just one specific reference can take place when the notecards field is not being searched.

Thanks for considering this.

[ozean]

Notecard search would be neat – I would also go for the first option.

[Jon]

Another question:

Tags are preceded by a %. They should be entered on a single line like this:

%one%two%three

These tags will not be included when you do things like Copy Notecard and Citation. The question is, should they be visible in the notecard list? Or hidden? I'm leaning toward hidden. Here's what a notecard might look like if they are shown:

The Header
%mince pie %cooking %deserts
This are the actual notes.

If note shown, you'd see

The Header
This are the actual notes.

Of course, if you edit the notecard, you'll see (and be able to edit) the tags.

Jon
Sonny Software

[w.yaqoob]

whether tags should be visible in the notecard list: I think they should (then the user can know whether he wants to add further tags without having to enter the edit mode in the first place).

But only if they can be given different formatting from the rest of the notecard text, e.g. in grey and/or slightly smaller, and comma separated instead of with the '%. Otherwise they might end up overwhelming the text of the note itself (upon first scan)...

[Jon]

How does this look?

Jon
Sonny Software

[Jon]

Notecard search is pretty much done for the next update (of course needs more testing). The basics are:

1. You can enter tags (preceded with a %) on one line in notecards (before or after the note, doesn't matter)
2. Tags will be displayed in grayed text.
3. In the live search box you can specify a Notecard search.
4. Such searches will only match references with the corresponding text or tag (if preceded by a % in the search box) in the notes field
5. Only the notecards that match the search will be shown in the note stream.
6. Notecards shown as the result of a match can't be edited, deleted, or rearranged. You need to be in the regular view (where all notecards are shown) to do that.

We have time before the next update, so changes can be made if needed.

Jon
Sonny Software

[w.yaqoob]

Looks great Jon.

[ozean]

Nice work!

[Tony Higgins]

This looks outstanding and sounds like it will be a very useful addition to an already great piece of software!

I like some of what "aechallu" says here: <viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3056&start=45#p13810> But I agree with you that the kind of functionality he mentions would warrant a major (paid!) upgrade. What you have provided here is really great (and worth a paid upgrade), too!

Thanks, Jon.

[aechallu]

4. Such searches will only match references with the corresponding text or tag (if preceded by a % in the search box) in the notes field
5. Only the notecards that match the search will be shown in the note stream.
6. Notecards shown as the result of a match can't be edited, deleted, or rearranged. You need to be in the regular view (where all notecards are shown) to do that.

Following Jon's post, particularly the search logic outlined in this quote, I want to pose the following scenario.

I have a reference titled "Bookends" with two notecards:
a) This software rocks
b) I keep all my bibliography and notes in it

I want to retrieve notecards that match "bookends rocks"

According to the logic quoted above, I bet I would get no notecard, because BE is looking within the notecard stream for notecards matching all words. My feeling is that BE should identify notecard (a), because it's a very common case that you look for something within a notecard but some attributes are inherited from the reference (such as the keywords, the author, the title, etc.) It's a common scenario. I know some author dealt with the concepts X Y Z. Then I want to search author X Y Z to find those notecards, but I can't expect that all four terms occur in the same notecard. I likely have X, Y and Z in different notecards in the same reference, and it's unlikely that any of them would have the author's name.

My suggestion is to implement notecard searches in two complementary ways:

Way #1: exactly as Jon described it. I suggest to use a different background to signal that these are not editable. (Apple typically uses dark/light gray background in these cases.)

Way #2: Essentially I propose a mechanism that works almost like a regular works now with the "view summary" pane: all matching search terms are shown in red. But it would extend this approach to notecards and highlight those with matching terms. There's no need to choose notecard in the search menu. A regular search retrieves references that match ALL words in the search field (an AND search). If the user flipped a switch(*) notecards matching ANY of the words (an OR search) are highlighted. That is, "bookends rocks" retrieves the reference. I click on it and I get notecard (a) with a different background than notecard (b) because it matches one of the words. Any notecard is editable. If there's nothing in the search field then users get all notecards with the default coloring. (*) I propose to have this switch as a checkbox next to the little notestream icon. Or maybe in the toolbar?

Thanks for listening!

[Tony Higgins]

I'm not sure I follow exactly how "Way #2" works.

Just to make sure I understand, are you saying that (under the "Way #2" scenario) if I type "bookends rocks" in the search field (and it's an "All" search), what would be returned is:

• • All References with either "bookends, or "rocks"," or "bookends rocks" in the title field, regardless of what is in any associated Notecard;
  • AND all References with either "bookends, or "rocks"," or "bookends rocks" in the Notecards field, regardless of the Reference title.

Then, if I flip the little Notecard switch(*), what would be returned is:

• • All References with "bookends", "rocks", or "bookends rocks" in the Reference title;
  • AND of those references, any of their associated notecards that have either "bookends", "rocks", or "bookends rocks" in the Notecards field are highlighted in a different color.

Is any of this even close to what your proposing? Sorry for my denseness.

[Jon]

In response to aechallu:

You've covered a lot of ground.

1. Your desire to have Bookends find "bookends rocks" when that term does not exist is telling Bookends to read your mind. It won't. I will point out, however, that you can do exactly what you want as it now stands -- do a Find for "bookends" (or make a smart group that finds "bookends") in notes (or title, or all), then in the live search field (notecard search) type "rocks". You'll get exactly what you're after.

2. I believe that in this or the related thread I suggested something like your #2 (as I understand it), having Bookends show all notecards, but distinguish those that matched the search. This would actually have been easier to implement. Feedback was against this idea, instead asking that only matching notecards be shown. So I did.

We've added a lot to notecards in the last two updates, and I think we should let the new functionality sink in for a bit. Once everyone has had time to work with it in a real life setting we can discuss changes and improvements.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Tony Higgins]

I agree with Jon. And, BTW: I had not thought about the usage scenario you (Jon) mentioned:

you can do exactly what you want as it now stands -- do a Find for "bookends" (or make a smart group that finds "bookends") in notes (or title, or all), then in the live search field (notecard search) type "rocks". You'll get exactly what you're after.

WOW! Pretty Neat! You're good!