Once some prototypes have been added to a document, they can be applied to a note in a variety of ways. There is no one 'correct' way as the method chosen depends on the type of view in use and the task being undertaken. Amongst the ways to set a note, adornment or agent to use a prototype are:
- In Map view, right-click the prototype tab and select from the pop-up list of prototypes; applies to for notes, agents and adornments.
- In Outline or Chart view, right-click the item's icon and select from the pop-up list of prototypes.
- In any view, select the note, open the Prototype sub-tab of the Properties Inspector, and select from the pop-up list of prototypes.
- In any view, select the note and use the Quickstamp sub-tab of the Properties Inspector to set that item's $Prototype attribute using action code: e.g. using this code
$Prototype="X"as the quickstamp will set the prototype called 'X' for all currently selected items. - If you frequently need to set a particular prototype, make a stamp whose action code sets a $Prototype value. Then (re-)use the stamp, either from the Stamps menu or the Stamps sub-tab of the Document Inspector.
- If most or all the notes in a container use the same prototype, use the container’s $OnAdd action to set a $Prototype, saving you the bother of doing it yourself.
- If all the notes that meet some criterion need to use the same prototype, create an agent whose agent action sets that prototype. In this case, the action code in the agent's action will set a value for $Prototype.