Ebt

[ashikase]

EBt is a simple memo application written in Ruby (RubyQT):

http://tio.cocolog-nifty.com/irrational/zaurus/index.html
http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/tokada/SL-C...0.1.0-4_arm.ipk (latest English version)

EBt is similar to programs such as IQNotes and StageOne, in that memos can be arranged in categories in a tree-like structure. But EBt's organization is more than just a simple tree... a memo can be linked to several branches in the tree. This means that a single memo can be listed under multiple categories.

EBt provides four default (non-deletable) memos:
- Root, the root of the tree
- Trash, to which deleted memos are moved (linked) to
- Bookmark, a place to add links to frequently used memos (which may be buried deep in the tree)
- Recent, which links to the last 30 memos

When a memo is selected, all links connected to the memo are listed beneath it, *including* parent links. In fact, EBt does not differentiate between parent and child links.. all links are simply links.

Each memo is stored using two files - a text file containing the title and text of the memo, and another file listing all other memos that are linked to it. Memos are stored in directories according to year and month created. Memos can be renamed and edited without destroying the contents or breaking links.

Some of EBt's newest features include outputting portions of the tree to HTML and the ability to create a hand-drawn memo (similar to IQNotes) (note that the hand-drawn input is still a work in progress).

EBt is being developed by a Japanese programmer, and started out as Japanese-language only. The developer has been working on adding English to the latest versions. At present, the translation is not quite complete - some portions of the program are still Japanese-only, and some of the English is not quite accurate. However, I believe that even in its current state it can still be quite useable for non-Japanese speakers.

My words can not do the program justice. I suggest giving it a try; though it might be difficult to grasp at first, once understood, it's extremely useful and simple to use (I've tried to include enough info in this post to make it easier to figure out). I personally replaced IQNotes with EBt on my Zaurus.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[ev1l]

will try it tonight and report back with some thoughts. are you going to forward our thoughts to the author? (with a nick like yours, I take you master Japanese).
Thanks for bringing it up to the attention of the ZUG
To me this looks like a mini-www in your pocket, but I might be missing something. More once I've tested it.

[Stubear]

Thanks for the English version, I've been looking for it for a while.

Just one little correction, I think the app is written in Ruby rather than Python. (At least the Japanese version I had was) doesn't make much difference as they both do QT (PyQT and RubyQT)

Stu

[ashikase]

ev1l:

I definately wouldn't call myself a Japanese master. I have been in contact with the author though... I was the one who originally requested an English version. The author has also asked me for help with making corrections to the translation.

Stubear:

Oops, you're right, it's Ruby. I wrote that post at about 2AM, after a long night... hence the disorder (^_^;).

The original post has been corrected.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[lantana]

I wrote a program called Linkz to have a similar functionality and use it all the time on my SL5500 (Sharp Rom 2.35). It uses Python, Sqlite and Anygui.

Any item can be linked to any others. When an item is shown, all links for the item are shown in the bottom half of the screen.  Items each have a user-definable category for easier top-level access (eg. W=work contacts; T=todo; S=major subjects) but you can link anything to anything.

More info at www.lantanasystems.com.au/linkz if you are interested, although I think the Python links are now broken.

Regards,

Stephen

[ev1l]

Which IPK are you guys using for the ruby interpreter?

[ashikase]

ev1l:

I'm using the ruby and ruby-qte ipk files from the zaurus-ja SourceForge page: http://sourceforge.jp/projects/zaurus-ja/

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[ev1l]

THanks, I'll take a loot at it tonight.

[xenophobe]

Can anybody trasnlate Japanise text from initial files conents? (rootfile.txt, bookmark.txt, lastmemo.txt and trash.txt)

[Stubear]

rootfile.txt

Root Memo
This memo is the starting point for all memos

bookmark.txt

Bookmark
This memo is for bookmarks. It may be useful (convenient?) when well used memo is bookmarked.

lastmemo.txt

Recent Memo
When a new memo is made it automatically links to this memo. When it exceeds a fixed number the oldest link is removed

trash.txt

Trash Can
When a memo is deleted it is moved under this memo. (lit A link is removed to the link under this when "Delete Memo" is selected)

That's about the best I can do, anyone else want to make suggestions?

Stu

[ashikase]

That's about the best I can do, anyone else want to make suggestions?

Good translation, but I think it should be cleaned up to sound a bit more natural, as well as to add some useful information not found in the original memos.
How about:

rootfile.txt

Code: [Select]

Root
This memo is the starting point for all other memos.bookmark.txt

Code: [Select]

Bookmarks
This memo is for bookmarks. It can be useful for linking to often-used memos, especially those that are buried deep in the memo tree.lastmemo.txt

Code: [Select]

Recent
When a new memo is created, it is automatically linked to this memo. When the number of links to this memo exceeds a fixed value, the oldest link is removed.trash.txt

Code: [Select]

Trash
When a memo is deleted, it is linked to this memo. To permanently delete all linked memos, the trash must be emptied.
I will go ahead and forward this to the author. Of course, if anyone else has any further suggestions, feel free to post. Also, if anyone sees any other portions of the program that need translated (I know of a few), please post those as well.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[mars]

Ashikase, Thanks for pointing out EBt.

So far intriguing. Some quick comments:

- Needs a hot key / menu option for returning to the root level.  I inadvertantly found that Option -- Change Data Directory will have this effect.

- Would be useful to be able to have different Ebt projects besides one on each storage device. Each project could in a subdirectory under the Ebt data directory.

- I would suggest adding a way to differentiate between forward and reverse links. I know at the moment a link is a link with no preference for direction. It  would be nice to have reverse (up the tree) links colored differently or displayed differently. It would also be nice to hide the reverse links under an item.

- A nice export would be to select a starting node and export the tree of all forward links below it to an outline format, such as OPML or emacs outline format.

- When I did a search, it seemed that a search item was added to the tree. Can searches be done without adding to the tree?

--------

The linking feature seems cool, but I have not tried/figured it out yet. An outliner that has implemented linking well is LEO (a python outliner). In that program, any node and its children can be linked to any other node in the tree. Changing one instance changes all the other instances.

[ashikase]

- Needs a hot key / menu option for returning to the root level.  I inadvertantly found that Option -- Change Data Directory will have this effect.

This already exists - Ctrl-R. There are also hotkeys for jumping to Trash, Bookmark, 'Home' (set using [Edit]... [Set Home memo]), and last memo; these can all be found in the (confusingly-named) menu (I have suggested to the author that the menu be renamed to "Goto").

- Would be useful to be able to have different Ebt projects besides one on each storage device. Each project could in a subdirectory under the Ebt data directory.

I believe the idea behind EBt is to have one central memo repository. However, what you describe could be accomplished by using the [Option]... [Change Data Directory] function to select different 'project' directories.

- I would suggest adding a way to differentiate between forward and reverse links. I know at the moment a link is a link with no preference for direction. It  would be nice to have reverse (up the tree) links colored differently or displayed differently. It would also be nice to hide the reverse links under an item.

I agree that a lack of differentiation can be a bit confusing. However, I believe that adding differentiation would be quite difficult due to EBt's design, and would go against the core concept of EBt.

- A nice export would be to select a starting node and export the tree of all forward links below it to an outline format, such as OPML or emacs outline format.

EBt's export formats include plain text, 'tree text', and HTML; I don't know if there are plans to add any other formats. I have not used the export function much myself.

- When I did a search, it seemed that a search item was added to the tree. Can searches be done without adding to the tree?

I noticed that too. Hopefully this will be changed in the future.

The linking feature seems cool, but I have not tried/figured it out yet. An outliner that has implemented linking well is LEO (a python outliner). In that program, any node and its children can be linked to any other node in the tree. Changing one instance changes all the other instances.

I find EBt's current linking scheme kind of difficult to use. I'm thinking of suggesting adding a 'links/keywords' input field to a memo; when creating a memo, you could then type in a list of words that categorizes that memo, and the memo would then be automatically linked to existing memos whose titles match those keywords (if no such memo exists, it would be automatically created). However, implementation may be difficult due to various factors.

Fortunately, many people in the Japanese Zaurus community seem to be hooked on the software (in fact, it just appeared in a recent Zaurus C3000 guide book), and the author is pretty active and acceptive to feedback, so EBt is bound to continue to improve.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[penguinsam]

i have been looking for replacements for IQNotes, great jobs!

My problem is, i installed it but when i click the desktop icon to launch, nothing appears. May I know why?

[ashikase]

My problem is, i installed it but when i click the desktop icon to launch, nothing appears. May I know why?
[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

EBt is written in Ruby - Do you have Ruby and Ruby-QTE installed? If not, you can get ipks at:  [a href=\"http://sourceforge.jp/projects/zaurus-ja/]http://sourceforge.jp/projects/zaurus-ja/[/url]

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan