PpcSoft iKnow features - txt+
txt + (advanced users)
Please note that this information is only for users that wants to view and edit their data on a different platform than MS Windows (Unix/Mac etc) !
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Easy access to your data is crucial for a personal knowledge base. PpcSoft iKnow uses a custom, simple text-based format which can be edited directly in any unicode-capable text editor, on any platform. This means that you can view and edit your data on both Unix and Mac as long as you have a generic text editor. The main purpose of the formatting options is to improve readability, not to make your note 'prettier'. The formatting is therefore quite limited, but still increases readability quite a lot (see example). You can even add new notes, as long as you make sure they are positioned correctly (alphabetic) and use the currency sign (¤) to indicate the new note. |
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This is the 'plain text' version of the image above (how it is stored in the file)
¤Formatting
This is an example of the simple text format **iKnow** uses.
# Heading 1
Different heading styles will give better readability for large documents.
You may use **bold** and //italic// to emphasize text, and --strike out --tasks.
## Links
Autolinks look like normal text, while [hyperlinks] are special.
{{
[hyperlinks:www.ppcsoft.com]
}}
The format
| ¤Note | Title of note (notice the '¤' sign) |
| # Heading 1 | Large heading (blue) |
| ## Heading 2 | Medium heading (red) |
| ### Heading 3 | Small heading (green) |
| | |
| **bold** | Bold text |
| //italic// | Italic text |
| --strike-- | strike-through text |
| [hyperlink] | Hyperlinks |
Important: Each note MUST be listed alphabetically
Hyperlinks are listed in 2 parts:
The text will show a [hyperlink] like [this].
At the end of the note, the links will be listed like this:
{{
[hyperlink:www.ppcsoft.com]
[this:www.ppcsoft.com/download.asp]
}}
As you can see in the 'source' above, the text will still be very readable in source format. By separating the links and addresses, it is easier to read and simple to see what are hyperlinks and where they link to.
You cannot see the automatic links between notes as they are dynamically generated in PpcSoft iKnow. This means that you can edit the data file in a unicode-capable text editor (like Notepad) on any platform (like Linux and Mac) if you need to. The next time you open the file in PpcSoft iKnow, any new notes and new connections will be automatically updated.
Other benefits with a text-based dataformat (for power users)
Because your data are stored in a simple text format, you can also manipulate the data directly using scripting tools outside of PpcSoft iKnow.
Depending on your operating system and tools, you may search your iKnow data using global search (without using PpcSoft iKnow or opening the data file directly).
You may also use revision control tools to create backups and to revert to older versions of your data if you make any mistakes (but PpcSoft iKnow automatically creates a few backups for you temporarily in Windows).
No Lock-in
The final advantage of this simplified format is that you avoid data lock-in. You don't need PpcSoft iKnow to access, view or edit your data as they are stored in plain text (and all images are stored separately in an 'images' subfolder).
