two databases
 

Can I run 2 distinct OF databases at the same time?
I have so much 'info only' and 'completed' material that it's clagging up my reviews and such.

I'm not ready to mark 'info only' as 'completed' and there doesn't appear to be a way to filter out a single context from Perspectives.

I could use a separate application altogether, but wondered if I could keep it all in the same livery, as it were

peter

Why not just set the next review date on the "info only" stuff to some time in the distant future? If the only problem it is causing you is that it shows up in the review of active stuff, that should eliminate the issue, no? I do my reviews in a grouped by next review view, with the future groups closed. I'm enjoying the new "move to the next project upon marking this one reviewed" functionality!

Perspectives retain the sidebar selection, so it is possible to set up a review perspective (or action perspectives, for that matter) which doesn't include your info folders/projects. You do have to take a little care when you create new projects/folders that you want included that you update the perspective, but a project mode view grouped by date added will let you spot new additions easily, and you could add a repeating action in your review process to remind you to do that check. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have an automatic means to have a perspective that showed everything [b]except[/b] a fixed list of stuff, but I haven't had any brilliant ideas about what a good UI for that would look like.

> Why not just set the next review date on the "info only" stuff to
> some time in the distant future?

that would work, but would involve lots ( is there a counter somewhere?) of editing - and each new bit of info would need to be dated...

(ponders)

I know! if someone (else) could write a script such that all contexts called 'info only' were set to the apocalypse?

:-)

> I do my reviews in a grouped by next review view, with the future
> groups closed.

how?

> it is possible to set up a review perspective (or action perspectives, > for that matter) which doesn't include your info folders/projects.

assuming i've done the future thing?

peter

Peter, all you need to do is select everything in the sidebar [B]except[/B] the items you want to exclude, then select the "Focus on" command under the view menu. The sidebar items that are not selected will be hidden (and the title bar will change to remind you that they aren't gone entirely.)

Next, just use the "Take snapshot of perspective" command under the perspectives menu to save the modified version of your perspective.

That help?

> Peter, all you need to do is select everything in the sidebar except
> the items you want to exclude,

I don't know how to do that :-(
The items I want to exclude are scattered across dozens of projects and the only thing that unites them is their context "info only'

If I do as you say in context mode, there is no focus available.

peter

Have you considered the option of keeping your reference materials as notes on the appropriate action groups or projects? Another alternative would be as separate projects (which you could then handle in the fashion I suggested).

[QUOTE=peterlemer;58653]I'm not ready to mark 'info only' as 'completed' and there doesn't appear to be a way to filter out a single context from Perspectives.[/QUOTE]

Would it work to set your Info Only context to On Hold or Dropped?

You actually can run two separate databases at the same time (the archive works this way), but what you can do with the separate database is limited. (I think I posted about this somewhere at some point, but you can't sync, can't add things to it using quick entry, it won't remember your preferred view settings, etc.).

[QUOTE=peterlemer;58676]If I do as you say in context mode, there is no focus available.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I misread your original email - you're correct, you can't focus and hide contexts the same way you can projects. We didn't want to create places where you couldn't see how to move the projects you cared about forward. (Because the next action was in a context that was hidden.)

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;58680]Have you considered the option of keeping your reference materials as notes on the appropriate action groups or projects? Another alternative would be as separate projects (which you could then handle in the fashion I suggested).[/QUOTE]

am considering it now.

(later)

ex.1: music productions tips
I have a 'Single-action List' called 'Logic tips'
( Logic is a music application)
In there I have single action 'info' actions which are like FAQs - notes on how to manage various production tasks, such as how to organise sounds, how to manage tempo changes, and so on. Reference materials.

I don't need to review this stuff - it is neither project nor action.

Yes, I could put them into separate notes and they'd be out of inventory but each note would need to be in a parent project, which would remain in inventory = no improvement.

I could put them all into a single note, but then would lose the advantages of database separation.

ex.2 - similar for my annual tax accounting. Lots of individual notes on a range of topics, not all of which are specific to open-ended projects.
eg. the timetable for each annual bookkeeping- final return for the year.
01. Capital Gains ( notes on how to assemble the info and what to do with it)

02. PAYE certificates
03. Install TaxCalc
04.....etc

ex.3: background notes on individual students.

My heirarchy for OF here is:

Teaching (folder)/Student (folder)/coaching (project)/2 x actions

action1: 'homework'/ note = ( updated and printed after each lesson)
action2: 'background'/note = ( parents, phone no. email, history, vision etc)

now, the only moving, flowing items above are action1 and it's note.

I can go on....

From the beginning of my relationship with OF I have expressed concern that
seems to be no way to isolate info-only data. Kind panel members have suggested a variety of solution, but none have yet matched the general ease of use of OF itself.

OF is a wonderful, behaviour-respecting database, and I am increasingly cettain that there is a large 'missing' here: I need the ability to distinguish projects and their actions from background knowledge which may not be immediately relevant, but which needs to be on call at all times.

peter
ex.2:

[QUOTE=peterlemer;58740]ex.1: music productions tips
I have a 'Single-action List' called 'Logic tips'
( Logic is a music application)
In there I have single action 'info' actions which are like FAQs - notes on how to manage various production tasks, such as how to organise sounds, how to manage tempo changes, and so on. Reference materials.

I don't need to review this stuff - it is neither project nor action.

Yes, I could put them into separate notes and they'd be out of inventory but each note would need to be in a parent project, which would remain in inventory = no improvement.

I could put them all into a single note, but then would lose the advantages of database separation.
[/quote]
You've already got them in a single action list. Set the next review date on the single action list to 20 years from now. It won't turn up during your reviews if you use the group by next review option when doing your review. Are you using the Next Review grouping and Mark Reviewed tool when you do your review, or are you just going down the sidebar in order?

[quote]
ex.2 - similar for my annual tax accounting. Lots of individual notes on a range of topics, not all of which are specific to open-ended projects.
eg. the timetable for each annual bookkeeping- final return for the year.
01. Capital Gains ( notes on how to assemble the info and what to do with it)

02. PAYE certificates
03. Install TaxCalc
04.....etc
[/quote]
I'm not really sure why you wouldn't want to keep this sort of thing in a separate application, especially when you could have links to the relevant documents attached to your OF projects or actions if desired.

[quote]
ex.3: background notes on individual students.

My heirarchy for OF here is:

Teaching (folder)/Student (folder)/coaching (project)/2 x actions

action1: 'homework'/ note = ( updated and printed after each lesson)
action2: 'background'/note = ( parents, phone no. email, history, vision etc)

now, the only moving, flowing items above are action1 and it's note.

I can go on....
[/quote]
I'm not quite sure I see the question here :-) But why not keep the action2 stuff attached to the coaching project as a note? And it sounds like you just keep changing action1, yet want to keep a history; why not copy action2 each lesson, paste it into a new row, update as needed and check off the previous one as complete? No need to sacrifice a bunch of trees and buy a bunch of filing cabinets.