Outline, Chart & Treemap Views

OUTLINE VIEWS

An outline view shows the hierarchical structure of the document very clearly, as an indented outline. An outline is also handy for seeing many notes in one window. It is easy to restructure the hierarchy of the document in an outline window, by dragging parts of the hierarchy to other parts of the hierarchy. An outline view does not show any of the links in the document.

Outlines are best when you understand the structure of your information, and when it’s easy for you to put everything in its proper place. If you frequently find yourself puzzling over where to put a note, consider working in Map view for a while. You can always reorganize later.

Keep in mind that you can have several outline windows open at once, focusing on different portions of your document. You may also wish to keep maps and outlines open simultaneously.

The disclosure triangle

A note which has children is displayed in an outline view with a little triangle to its left.

When that triangle points down, the children are shown in the outline. When the triangle points right, the children are not shown.

• Click a triangle to alternate between these views.

or

• With a note selected, option-right-arrow turns the triangle down, option-left-arrow turns it up.
• Choose Expand from the Note window to turn the arrow down and show the note's children.
• Hold down the cmd key while you click a triangle to flip that triangle and the triangles of all its siblings in the outline.
• Hold down the option key while you click a triangle to toggle that triangle, and also expand or collapse all the siblings of that note.
• Hold down the cmd and option keys to toggle a note, its siblings, and all their descendants.
• Select Expand or Collapse from the Note file menu.

Editing a note title

To edit a note’s title in an outline, simply click on the title. After a brief delay, a frame will appear around the title and you may revise the title at you wish.

Several key shortcuts are available when using the in-place note editor:

• ESC will cancel editing and restore the previous title.
• RETURN will confirm the new title and terminate editing.
• ENTER will open the Rename dialog. (On computers that lack a dedicated Enter key, press Fn+Return instead)
• Shift+RETURN will confirm the new title, terminate editing, and will create a new note immediately following this note.
• TAB will confirm the new title, terminate editing, and select the next note visible in the outline.
• Shift+TAB will confirm the new title, terminate editing, and select the previous note visible in the outline.

You may also finish editing by:

• clicking on the note’s icon, OR
• selecting a different note

The conventional Rename dialog is always available from the Note menu, the note’s contextual menu, or by pressing ENTER.

Changing Prototypes

In outline view, right-click the note icon for a menu of available prototypes.

Hoisting

Hoisting a note focuses the view on it and its descendants. Unhoist returns the focus to the top-level note. These commands are available in chart and outline views.

• select Hoist from the Note file menu

or

• select Unhoist from the Note file menu

Identifying prototypes

In outline view, the note icon for notes which can serve as prototypes is now surrounded by a light green circle. This helps distinguish notes intended to serve as prototypes. See the Prototypes section of the Notes chapter for more information.

Separators

A separator is a horizontal line in the outline view that may be colored and titled like other notes via the Note and Colors menus.

To make a separator:

• Create or rename a note
• Check the Separator checkbox in the dialog

CHART VIEWS

A chart view shows the hierarchical structure of the document very clearly, as a tree chart. A chart is also handy for seeing many notes in one window. It is easy to re-structure the hierarchy of the document in a chart window, by dragging parts of the hierarchy to other parts of the hierarchy. A chart view does not show any of the links in the document.

The disclosure triangle

A note which has children is displayed in a chart view as a pointy-ended block (rather than a plain rectangular block).

• click a triangle point to alternate between showing or hiding that note’s children in the chart view.

Or

• with a note selected, option-right-arrow shows the children, option-left-arrow hides them.

TREEMAP VIEWS

A treemap view shows the hierarchical structure of the document as boxes within boxes, taking up the entire window. You can re-structure the hierarchy of the document in a treemap window by dragging the box representing a note (and the boxes it contains) into another box in the window. A treemap view does not show any of the links in the document.

THE UP-ARROW or LEFT-ARROW

The bottom-left corner of every view window contains an arrow button: an up-arrow in map and treemap views, a left-arrow in chart and outline views.

If you press the arrow button, the view will “zoom out” to show a view of one level up in the hierarchy. In chart, outline, and treemap view windows this will make more of the document visible, including what you were seeing before.

If the view is already zoomed all the way out—showing the entire document—then the arrow button will be inactive.