Compendium

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Posted by Gorski
Oct 20, 2006 at 12:23 AM

Given the discussion here of mind mapping, concept mapping, etc., does anyone have an experience with Compendium? http://www.compendiuminstitute.org/

It’s Web site focuses on its collaborative uses, but there’s no reason it has to be used that way. And it’s free.

I gave it a try and made a note some of its features:

* Can insert your own node images.
* Can take multiple notes on each node.
* Can draw lines between nodes and label them.
* Can export as images, HTML or XML. When export can export files, images, etc, with the export.
* Drag and drop files, images, etc. Images show when drag and drop.
* Highlight seen/unseen nodes
* Can tag nodes and create your own tags.
* Can assign one node to more than one “parent” (this is not the terminology used by the program)
* Can do a lot of this with the keyboard. It is very easy to move around with the keyboard and enter new nodes.
* Has both a mindmap view and a Windows Explorer tree-type view.
* Create multiple maps, nested inside and each other and linked in multipe ways. The same node can be part of multiple maps.
* Bookmark particular nodes so you can return to them easily.
* Written in Java so runs on multiple platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
* Starts slow like a typical Java app but is very responsive once open
* Can drag a table from Excel and create a map, though I don’t understand yet exactly how this works
* Has a DTD on the Web site so can develop own ways to import and export data

Posted by Cassius
Oct 20, 2006 at 06:53 AM

There is another product with a similar name, but that is not free. Here is the short note I wrote to myself about it.

Compendium TA: Latest version, 1.4.51, apparently 2/3/2005. Can have hierarchies in several windows. Can produce graphics. About 100 English pounds for full version.
http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/compendium-ta/default.php

I’ll take a look at “your” compendium soon.

-c

Posted by Cassius
Oct 21, 2006 at 08:06 PM

Cassius wrote:
>There is another product with a similar name, but that is not free. Here is the short
>note I wrote to myself about it.
> >Compendium TA: Latest version, 1.4.51, apparently
>2/3/2005. Can have hierarchies in several windows. Can produce graphics. About 100
>English pounds for full version.
>
>http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/compendium-ta/default.php
> >I’ll take a look
>at “your” compendium soon.
> =============
1. Well, I won’t be looking at “Compendium” after all. I’m running Win98SE and it runs on WinXP.
2. The different product, “Compendium TA” is not moribund after all. Here is what the developer told me:
“We went through a period where there has been development work done on Compendium-TA to internally change some code, but none of it was released.

“Development work on features has recommenced and there should be a new release fairly soon with some bug fixes, gui enhancements, external automation through dde, and the ability to change which fields are displayed in the lists.

“Development will be ongoing throughout the year.”
>-c

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