Links having an attribute
Links currently only have a ‘Link Type’. What if each link could have an attribute as well, which could be a piece of text such as a note. In the first instance, short of a more sophisticated approach (where maybe, optionally, the link attribute is displayed permanantly in the plex), this attribute could be displayed when the mouse is hovered over the link. Currently, when the mouse hovers over a link with a particular type, the link type is displayed. This proposal suggests a link attribute should also be displayed in this situation, probably in a different font colour etc. in order to distinguish it from the link type. Also, maybe it ought to be displayed on a line below the link type text, rather than on the same line. The link attributes between two unique pairs of thoughts should be unique/individual. That is, the link between thoughts A and B should be able to specify a different link attribute than a link with the same link type that might exist between thoughts C and D.
Example 1: Link types called ‘name’, ‘birth place’, ‘birth date’, ‘author’, ‘university affiliation’
Example 2: Link types called ‘release date’, ‘release version’, ‘client’
Example 3: a Link type called 'date'. This could be used to implement some of the requests for 'timeline' functionality.
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johnfaig commented
This goes along with my request for more strongly types note attributes. If you embrace attributes, then do it at the link and node level. When a user queries the brain, there should be an option to include links, nodes or both.
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dyslucksia commented
This is an age-old problem. Currently links can have names, though they are not visible unless hovering over the link (and when they are as close as the strings on a guitar, which link does the name/label refer to?) It may be better to break the link with a thought in between, serving as a relationship descriptor. CmapTools does this well.
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vlad1 commented
Hopefully a future release will have this feature implemented, since in http://websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/thebrain/vpost?id=1978480&highlight=notes+links , Harlan had said "Adding full notes and attachments to links is something that we have planned for and laid the foundation for"
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vlad1 commented
There is nothing new under the sun...
In 2008, bookeater had previously suggested that links should be able to have attributes: http://websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/thebrain/vpost?id=2894657
In 2007, there was also a discussion about the same suggestion: http://websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/thebrain/vpost?id=1978480&highlight=notes+links -
vlad1 commented
Please also see the related suggestion: http://thebrain.uservoice.com/pages/general/suggestions/107028-thought-groups