Re: UR Links

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 2567

Posted by daly_de_gagne
2005-01-17 08:03:14

Stephen Diamond: Who else has an automated cloning system? Not ADM. It is UR’s best feature, a feature any hierarchical information manager should have.

No one is saying that UR should not have an automated cloning system. It is a good feature. The point is that there is a need for other kinds of links, whether they are represented in the outline or not.

SD: UR’s developers face a choice point on this. Do they want to go the direction ADM seems to be traveling of multiplying features incoherently or will they stick with some _theory_ of data management that they make explicit.

Stephen, I think you are being grossly unfair to ADM. There is nothing incoherent about ADM’s development of features. ADM began as an outliner with the objectives of adding features that would enable it to manage information. In version 3 it began to add metadata capabilities that could be viewed as either columns or as a “form” on the text card (infoitem) itself. Unlike UR, ADM does not restrict the kind of metadata that may be viewed—the user can define their own metadata, views, etc. to a far greater degree than any other program in the field.

In addition to the above, ADM added a keyword feature so that there would be more than one way to search out data. Keywords do not necessarily follow the topic in an outline, and you can have a keywrod for an item that is in neither the topic nor the corresponding text card. You have made arguments that because of some principle that is beyond my understanding that keywords must be reflected in the hierarchy; in practice, I find it just as easy, if not easier, to use a dedicated keyword list.

Right now, ADM is enhancing its word processing capabilities so that its features are at least on a part with the best in the field.

Further development will see improvements in the browser, with probably the option for using Firefox.

At the same time ADM remains one of the fastest, easiest outliner for brainstorming and planning. Metadata capabilities allows the user to go back to brainstormed items and add costs, times line data, task delegation, etc.

Your biggest problem with ADM appears to be that it doesn’t have unlimited undo capability, and I believe this feature will be added in the current round of development.

Daly

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