1 \documentclass{article}
3 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
13 \hypersetup{bookmarks, bookmarksopen,
14 pdftitle={VYM - a tool for visual thinking },
15 pdfauthor={Uwe Drechsel},
17 pdfkeywords={map, tool},
18 pdfpagemode={UseOutlines},
19 bookmarksopenlevel={1},
26 \newcommand{\vym}{{\sc vym }}
27 \newcommand{\ra}{$\longrightarrow$}
28 \newcommand{\la}{$\longleftarrow$}
29 \newcommand{\ua}{$\uparrow$}
30 \newcommand{\da}{$\downarrow$}
31 \newcommand{\key}[1]{[#1]}
35 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{vym-logo-new.png}
37 VYM \\ -- \\View Your Mind}
38 \author{\textcopyright Uwe Drechsel }
49 \section{Introduction}
50 \subsection{What is a \vym map?}
51 A \vym map (in short words {\em map}) is a tree like structure:
53 \includegraphics[width=12cm]{example1.png}
55 Such maps can be drawn by hand on a paper or flip chart and help to
56 structure your thoughts. While a tree like structure like above can be
57 drawn manually \vym offers much more features to work with such maps.
58 \vym is not another drawing software, but a tool to store and modify
59 information in an intuitive way. For example you can reorder parts of
60 the map by pressing a key or add various information like a complete
61 email by a simple mouse click.
63 Once you have finished collecting and organizing your ideas, you can
64 easily generate for example a presentation in Open~Office based on a
67 \subsection{Why should I use maps? Time, Space and your Brain.}
68 \subsubsection*{Space}
69 A map can concentrate a very complex content on little space e.g. a
70 piece of paper. It helps to use both sides of your brain: the logical
71 side and also your creative side (e.g. by using pictures, colors and
72 keywords in a map, so called {\em anchors}). It is a technique to
73 organize the way you think: It can help you by developing, sorting and
74 memorizing your thoughts.
77 Because you just use keywords and drawings, it is much faster than good
78 old fashioned notes. Your brain memorizes things by associating them to
79 other things -- a map makes use of those connections and stimulates
83 \subsubsection*{Your Brain}
84 In 1960 the Prof. {\sc Roger Sperry} discovered that both hemispheres
85 of the human brain have different tasks (of course both of them
86 basically {\em can} do the same):
88 \begin{tabular}{|p{5.5cm}|p{5.5cm}|} \hline
89 Left side & Right side \\ \hline
91 \item verbal speech and writing
93 \item logical thinking
94 \item analyzing and details
101 \item visual thinking, day dreams
102 \item intuition and emotion
103 \item overview of things
105 \item art, music, dancing
106 \item non-linear thinking, connecting things
107 \item spatial awareness
108 \end{itemize} \\ \hline
111 In our science oriented society we have learned to mainly rely on our
112 left side of the brain, the "rational" one. In other cultures,
113 especially like the native americans and other "old" cultures, the right
114 side is much more important. Maps are just one way to stimulate the
115 other side and make use of additional ressources we all have.
118 \subsection{Where could I use a map?}
119 Here are some examples, how you can use those maps
121 \item to prepare articles, papers, books, talks, \ldots
122 \item to sort complex data
123 \item to memorize facts, persons, vocabulary, \ldots
124 \item to sort emails, files and bookmarks on your computer
125 \item to moderate conferences
128 \subsection{What you shouldn't do with a map...}
129 A map drawn by somebody shows the way the author thinks. There is
130 no right or wrong in the way it is drawn, so there is no way to criticize
131 it. "It is, what it is" ({\sc F.~Lehmann}).
136 \subsection{Internet Ressources}
137 A good starting point to learn more about maps in general is Wikipedia:
140 \href{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map}{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind\_map}
142 \href{http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindmap}{http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindmap}
148 \section{Concept of \vym}
149 %TODO may add a general introduction here...
150 \subsection{Windows: mapeditor and noteeditor}
151 \vym uses two windows: an editor for the map itself and another one for
152 notes, which are part of the map. Let's call them {\em mapeditor} and
155 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{windows.png}
157 Usually you will work in the {\em mapeditor} by just adding new
158 branches, moving around and reordering them. The various ways to do this
159 will be explained in \ref{mapeditor}. You can store additional
160 information e.g. the content of a email easily in a {\em branch}: Just
161 type or copy\&paste it into the {\em noteeditor}. Working with notes is
162 explained in \ref{noteeditor}
164 \subsection{Menus and Context menus}
165 On top of each window you find the menubar. The options you find there
166 are similar to those you are used from other applications. Note that
167 many (and even more) options are availabe via {\em context menus}. Those
168 are available if you right-click onto an object in a map (on Mac~OS~X
171 \subsection{Toolbars}
172 The toolbars in the mainwindows give quick access to many functions and
173 also visualize the state of an object. For example a part of of the map
174 can be hidden when the map is exported into an Open~Office presentation.
175 To show this the branch in the map will have a little cloud symbol,
176 which is also "switched on" in the toolbar.
178 Note that you can reposition all toolbars by simply grabbing them. For
179 example you can move the flags-toolbar from its original horizontal
180 position on top of the mapeditor to a vertical position on the right
181 side. You can even detach it and make it "float" separate from the other
182 windows. Or just insert it again at its original position.
185 The map itself has always a {\em mapcenter}. The
186 mapcenter has {\em branches} just like the trunk of a tree. Each branch
187 in turn may have branches again.
189 \includegraphics[width=10cm]{branches.png}
191 We will call a branch directly connected to the mapcenter a {\em
192 mainbranch}, because it determines the position of all its child
195 The mapcenter and the branches all have a {\em heading}. This is the
196 text you see in the mapeditor. Usually it should just be one or a few
197 words, so that one can easily keep track of the whole map.
200 In the toolbar above the mapeditor you see various symbols.
202 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{default-flags.png}
204 These are called {\em flags} and can be used to mark branches in the
205 map, e.g. if something is important or questionable.
206 There are also more flags set by \vym automatically to show additional
207 information, e.g. when a exists for a particular branch.
209 By default some of these flags are set exclusively e.g. when the
210 "thumb-up" flag is set, then the "thumb down" is unset and vice
211 versa. You can change this default behaviour in the settings menu.
213 %TODO add info about toolbars e.g. undo/redo, ...
215 \section{Mapeditor} \label {mapeditor}
216 \subsection{Start a new map}
217 After \vym is started two windows will open: the mapeditor and the
218 noteditor. Usually you will work in both windows, but at the moment we
219 will just need the mapeditor.
221 Select the mapcenter "New map" in the middle of the mapeditor by
222 left-clicking with the mouse. It will turn yellow to show that is
223 selected. There are several ways to add a new branch to the center:
225 \item In the toolbar click on this icon
226 \includegraphics [width=0.5cm]{newbranch.png}
227 \item Using the context menu by clicking with the
228 right mouse button (CTRL-Click on Mac) onto the
229 mapcenter and choose Add \ra Add as child
230 \item Press \key{Ins} or \key{A}
232 A new branch will appear and you will be able to type the heading of the
233 branch. Finish adding the new branch by pressing \key{Enter}.
235 Sometimes it comes handy to add a new branch above or below the current
236 one. Use \key{Ins} together with \key{Shift} or \key{Ctrl}. It is also
237 possible to add a branch in such a way, that the current selection
238 becomes the child of the new branch, which is like inserting it {\em
239 before} the selection. This can be done using the context menu.
241 \subsection{Navigate through a map}
242 \subsubsection*{Select branches}
243 To select branches you can use the left button of your mouse or also the
244 arrow keys. Depending on the {\em orientation} of a branch type
245 \key{\la} or \key{\ra} to get nearer to the mapcenter or deeper
246 down into the branches. Within a set of branches, let's call them a
247 {\em subtree}, you can use \key{\ua} and \key{\da} to go up and down. You can
248 also use \key{Pos1} and \key{End} to select the first and last branch.
251 \subsubsection*{Zoom a map}
252 While adding more and more branches the size of the map may become
253 bigger than the mapeditor window. You can use the scrollbars on the
254 right and the bottom of your mapeditor window to scroll, but it is
255 easier to just scroll using the left mouse button: Click onto the {\em
256 canvas} itself, the empty space somewhere between the branches. The
257 mouse pointer will change from an arrow to a hand, now move the visible
258 part of the map to show the desired part.
260 If you select branches using the arrow keys, the map will scroll
261 to ensure that the selected branch is always visible.
263 Working with huge maps, the {\em zoom}-function comes in handy: You can
266 \item from the menu View \ra Zoom
267 \item the toolbar buttons
269 \includegraphics[width=3cm]{zoom-buttons.png}
272 The crossed magnifying lens resets the zoomed view to its original size.
275 \subsubsection*{Find Function} \label{findwindow}
276 With huge maps there is the need to have a
277 find function. Choose Edit \ra Find to open the Find Window:
279 \includegraphics[width=6cm]{find-window.png}
281 The text you enter here will be searched in all the headings and also in
282 notes. Everytime you press the "Find"-button it will look for the next
283 occurence, which then will be selected automatically. If the search
284 fails, there will appear a short message "Nothing found" or a few
285 seconds in the {\em statusbar} on the bottom of the mapeditor.
287 \subsubsection*{Keep the overview -- scroll a part of the map}
288 A very big subtree of a map e.g. a branch with hundreds of childs makes
289 it very hard to keep an overview over the whole map. You can hide all
290 the childs of a branch by {\em scrolling} it -- this function is also
291 often called {\em folding}. Think of the whole subtree as painted onto a
292 big newspaper. You can scroll the paper to a small roll, leaving just
293 the headline readable.
295 To scroll or unscroll a branch and its childs, press the
297 \item \key{Scroll} key or \key{S}
298 \item press the middle-mouse button or
299 \item choose the little scroll from the toolbar.
301 If you select parts of a scrolled branch e.g. using the find function or
302 by using the arrow-keys, it will unscroll temporary. This is shown as a
303 scroll with a little hour glass. If the temporary unscrolled part is not
304 longer needed, it will be hidden again automatically. It is also
305 possible to unscroll all branches using "Edit\ra Unscroll all scrolled
308 You can also hide parts of the map while exporting it e.g. to a webpage
309 or a presentation, see \ref{hideexport} for details.
311 \subsection{Modify and move branches}
312 \subsubsection*{Modify the heading}
313 You can edit the heading by selecting the branch and then
315 \item pressing \key{Enter}
316 \item double-clicking with left mouse.
318 Just type the new heading (or edit the old one) and press \key{Enter}.
320 \subsubsection*{Move a branch}
321 The easiest way to move a branch is to select it with left-mouse and
322 drag it to the destination while keeping the mouse button pressed.
323 Depending on the branch it will be
325 \item moved to the destination or
326 \item {\em linked} to a new {\em parent} (mapcenter or branch)
328 If you drag the branch over another one or over the mapcenter, you will
329 notice that the link connecting it to the old parent will be changed to
330 lead to the new parent which is now under your mousepointer.
331 If you release the button now, the branch will be relinked.
333 If you release the button in the middle of nowhere, the result will
334 depend on the type of branch you are releasing:
336 \item A mainbranch is directly connected to the mapcenter.
337 It will stay on its new position.
338 \item An ordinary branch will "jump" back to its original position.
340 Thus you can easily rearrange the layout of the mainbranches to avoid
341 overlapping of their subtrees.
342 There is another convenient way to move branches, especially if you want
343 to {\em reorder} a subtree: You can move a branch up or down in a
346 \item pressing \key{\ua} and \key {\da}
347 \item selecting Edit \ra Move branch
348 \item clicking on the toolbar buttons:
350 \includegraphics[width=1.5cm]{move-buttons.png}
354 There is yet another way to move branches: If you press \key{Shift} or
355 \key{Ctrl} while moving with the mouse, the branch will be added above
356 or below the one the mouse pointer is over. This helps also to reorder a
359 \subsection{The right side of your brain - colors and images}
360 \subsubsection*{Change color of a heading}
361 You can also use colors to put more information into a map, e.g. use
362 red, green and more colors to prioritize tasks. Again you can
364 \item use the menu and choose e.g Format \rq Set Color
365 \item use the toolbar
367 \includegraphics[width=3cm]{color-buttons.png}
370 The first button (black in the graphic above) shows the actual color.
371 Clicking on it let's you choose another color. You can also "pick"
372 another color by selecting a branch with the desired color and using the
373 "pick color" button. Both of the buttons showing a bucket actually put
374 the current color to the selected branch. While the first one just
375 colors the heading of the selection, the last one also colors all the
376 childs of the selected branch.
379 A very useful function is the "copy color" using the mouse: Select the
380 branch which should get the new color, then press \key{Ctrl} and
381 simultanously click with left-mouse on another branch to copy its color
382 to the first one. Here the childs of the selection also will get the new
383 color, if you just want to color the selection itself, additionally
386 \subsubsection*{Use flags}
387 \vym provides various flags. You see them in the toolbar on top of the
388 mapeditor window. (Note: Like all toolbars you can also move them to the
389 left or the right side of the window or even detach them. Just grab the
390 very left "dotted" part of the toolbar with your left-mouse button.)
392 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{default-flags.png}
394 If you have a branch selected, you can set any number of flags by
395 clicking them in the toolbar. The toolbar buttons change their state and
396 always reflect the flags set in the selected branch.
398 Presently \vym uses two kinds of flags: {\em System Flags} and {\em
399 Standard Flags}. The standard flags are those shown in the toolbar.
400 System flags are set by \vym to indicate e.g. that there is additional
401 information in a note (more on this in \ref{noteeditor}). Later versions
402 of \vym may have another kind of flags, which may be edited by the user.
404 \subsubsection*{Images}
405 The easiest way to add an image to a branch is by dragging it e.g. from a
406 webbrowser to the mapeditor while a branch is selected there.
408 You can also add a image to a branch by opening the context menu of the
409 branch choose "Add Image". A
410 dialog window lets you choose the image to load.
411 \footnote{Supported image types are: PNG, BMP, XBM, XPM and PNM. It may
412 also support JPEG, MNG and GIF, if specially configured during
413 compilation (as done when \vym is part of SUSE LINUX).}
414 While an image is selected in the dialog, you can see a preview of the
415 image. It is also possible to select multiple images.
417 You can position the image anywhere you want, just drag it with left
418 mouse. To relink it to another branch, press \key{Shift} while moving
419 it. To delete it, press \key{Del}.
421 If you right-click onto an image, a context menu will open which let's
422 you first choose one of several image formats. Then a file dialog opens
423 to save the image. Hint: This is used to "export" the image, it will be
424 saved anyway in the map itself! You can also cut and
425 copy images, but it is not possible to add objects to an image\footnote{
426 Images are regarded as "extra feature". It would make working with
427 the map much more complex if e.g. images could be linked to images.}
429 The option \lq{\bf Use for export} \rq controls the output of exports
430 e.g. to HTML: If set to no, the image won't appear in the {\em text}
431 part of the output. This is useful for large images or if images are
432 used as a kind of frame e.g. the famous cloud symbol around a part of
433 the map. Those shouldn't appear in the middle of the text.
435 At the moment image support is preliminary: Images will be saved
436 together with all the other data of a map in the {\tt .vym}-file.
437 Later versions will include more functionality like resizing the images,
438 changing its z-value (put it into background) etc.
440 \subsubsection*{Frames}
441 A frame can be added to a branch by clicking with the
442 right-mouse button. A context menu will open, where you can choose the
443 frame. At the moment just a rectangle resp. "No Frame" will be offered,
444 nevertheless you can use images as frames. Have a look at the demo map
445 {\tt todo.vym} as an example, where the mapcenter is a cloud. You can
446 use an external drawing program like {\tt gimp} to create an image,
447 preferable with an transparency channel, so that you can design frames
448 which don't use a rectangular borderline, just like the cloud.
451 \subsection{Background design}
452 The design of the background of a map and also of the links connecting
453 various parts of the map can be changed by
455 \item Selecting Format from the menu
456 \item Right clicking onto the canvas, which will open a context menu
459 \subsubsection*{Background color}
460 The color is set (and also displayed) as "Set background color".
462 \subsubsection*{Link color}
463 Links connecting branches can be colored in one of the following ways:
465 \item use the color of the heading of the branch the links is
466 \item use {\em one} color for all links. The default color is blue.
469 The latter can be set with "Set link color". Check or uncheck the "Use
470 color of heading for link" option to choose one of the two designs for
473 \subsubsection*{Link style}
474 \vym offers four different styles for the appearences of links:
481 The "thick" styles only draw links starting at mapcenter thick, the rest
482 of the map is always painted "thin".
485 \subsection{Links to other documents and webpages}
486 \vym supports two kind of external links:
488 \item Document, which will be opened in an external webbrowser
489 \item \vym map, which will be opened in \vym itself
491 In addition to the external links there also internal ones, leading from one
492 branch in a map toanother one. Those are called {\em XLinks} and are explained
493 in section~\ref{xlinks}.
495 \subsubsection*{Webbrowser}
496 Modern Webbrowsers like {\tt konqueror} are able to display various
497 types of files, both local or in the internet. To enter the URL of
498 any document, right-click onto a branch or use the Edit Menu
499 and choose "Edit URL". Enter the path to your document (or copy and
500 paste it from your browser). Examples for valid paths are:
502 http://www.insilmaril.de/vym/index.html
503 file:/usr/share/doc/packages/vym/doc/vym.pdf
505 If an URL was entered, a little globe will appear in the branch. By
506 clicking on the globe in the toolbar or the context menu an external
508 The browser can be changed in the Settings Menu.}
511 \includegraphics[width=0.5cm]{flag-url.png}
513 For more information on working with bookmarks and webbrowsers see
514 section \ref{bookmarks}.
517 \subsubsection*{\vym map}
518 To link to to another map right click on a branch or choose "Edit \ra
519 Enter \vym link". A file dialog opens where you can choose the map. A
520 branch with a link is marked with
522 \includegraphics[width=0.5cm]{flag-vymlink.png}
524 Clicking this flag in the toolbar or in the context menu of a branch
525 will open the map in another tab (see \ref{tabs} for working with
526 multiple maps). To delete an existing link, just press the "Cancel"
529 Technical note: Internally \vym uses absolute paths, to avoid opening
530 several tabs containing the same map. When a map is saved, this path is
531 converted to a relative one (e.g. {\tt /home/user/vym.map} might become
532 {\tt ./vym.map}. This makes it fairly easy to use multiple maps on
533 different computers or export them to HTML in future.
535 \subsection{Multiple maps} \label{tabs}
536 You can work on multiple maps at the same time. Each new map is opened
537 in another {\em tab}. The available tabs are shown just above the
538 mapeditor. You can use the normal cut/copy/paste functions to
539 copy data from one map to another.
544 %\subsubsection{Menus}
545 %\subsubsection{Keyboard shortcuts}
550 % Working with tabs (multiple maps)
554 \section{Noteeditor} \label {noteeditor}
555 If you want to save more text in a branch e.g. a complete email, a
556 cooking recipe, or the whole source code of a software project, you can
559 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{noteeditor.png}
561 This editor displays text associated to a branch selected in the
562 mapeditor. To visualize that there maybe is no text yet, the noteeditor
563 shows different background colors depending on its state:
566 Before you can type or paste text into it, you have
567 to select a branch in the mapeditor. Note that the background color
568 of the noteeditor indicates its state:
570 \item black: no branch selected
571 \item grey: no text entered yet
572 \item white: text is already available
574 To show you in the mapeditor itself that there is a note with more
575 information for a particular branch, a little note flag will appear next
576 to the heading of the branch. See the lower branch on the right side:
578 \includegraphics[width=8cm]{branches-flags.png}
581 \subsection{Import and export notes}
582 The note is always saved automatically within the \vym file itself.
583 Nevertheless sometimes it is nice to import a note from an external file
584 or write it. Use "File\ra~Import" and "File\ra~Export" to do so.
586 \subsection{Edit and print note}
587 Editing works like in any simple texteditor, including undo and redo
588 functions. You can delete the complete note by clicking the
589 trashcan. Only the note itself is printed by clicking the printer icon.
591 When pasting into the editor using the X11 copy\&paste mechanism, the
592 editor will create a paragraph for each new line. Usually this is not
593 wanted, so there you can convert all paragraphs into linebreaks by using
594 Edit~\ra~Remove~Paragraphs or \key{ALT-X}.
596 \subsection{RichText: Colors, paragraphs and formatted text}
597 \vym supports formatted text (QT Rich Text) in the noteeditor since
598 version 1.4.7. Colors and text attributes (e.g. italic, bold) can be
599 set with the buttons above the text. The text itself is divided in
600 paragraphs. For each paragraph the format can be set (e.g. centered,
601 right). A paragraph is ended when a \key{Return} is entered. If you just
602 want to begin a new line, press \key{CTRL-Return}.
604 \subsection{Fonts and how to quickly switch them}
605 The noteeditor is ment to be used for simple notes, not really as full
606 featured text editor. Because of many requests \vym supports now
607 formatted text in the noteeditor\footnote{
608 \vym uses the QRichtText format, which is basically a subset of the
609 formatting provided in HTML.}
610 Two default fonts are supported which can be set in the Settings menu.
611 One is a fixed width font, the other has variable width. The fixed font
612 is usually used for emails, source code etc.\ while the variable font is
613 used for simple notes, where one doesn't need fixed character widths.
614 Both fonts can easily switched using the following symbol from the
617 \includegraphics[width=0.5cm]{formatfixedfont.png}
619 In the Settings menu both fonts can be set and also which font should be
622 Additionally to the default fonts any font installed on your system can
623 be used. Please note, that the chosen font also will be used for HTML
624 exports, so you should only use fonts which are available generally.
626 \subsection{Find text}
627 The noteeditor itself has no Find function, use Find in the mapeditor,
628 which will also search all notes (see \ref{findwindow}).
630 \subsection{Paste text into note editor}
631 Often you will paste text into the editor from another application e.g.
632 an email. Normally \vym will generate a new paragraph for each new line.
633 This usually is not what you want, so you can choose from the menu
635 \subsection{Advanced actions}
636 \subsubsection*{Edit \ra Convert subsubsections:}
637 This turns subsubsections in selected text (or all text, if nothing is
638 selected) into linebreaks. This is especially useful for snippets of
641 \subsubsection*{Edit \ra Join Lines:}
642 Tries to format text, so that empty lines are used to delimit
643 paragraphs. This is done for selected text (or all text, if nothing is
644 selected). Especially useful for text like emails, meeting minutes etc.
646 \section{Hello world}
647 This section is about how \vym can interact with other applications.
648 Many applications meanwhile can read and write their data using XML, the
649 eXtensible Markup Language. \vym also uses XML to save its maps, see
650 \ref{fileformat} for a more detailed description.
652 So if your an application understands XML, chances are good that someone
653 could write import/export filters for \vym. Volunteers are always
656 \subsection{Import} \label{import}
658 \subsubsection*{KDE Bookmarks}
659 The integrated bookmark editor in KDE is somewhat limited, so why not
660 use \vym to maintain the bookmark mess? To create a new map containing
661 your current KDE bookmarks just choose
663 \item File \ra Import\ra KDE Bookmarks
666 \subsubsection*{Mind Manager}
667 \vym has currently a very basic import filter to convert maps created by
668 {\em Mind Manager}\footnote{Mind Manager is a professional software by
669 Mindjet. Both names are registered trademarks by Mindjet. For more
670 information see their website at
671 \href{http://mindjet.de}{http://mindjet.de}} into \vym maps. Notes and
672 pictures are not converted at the moment. You can import files with
674 \item File \ra Import\ra Mind Manager
678 \subsubsection*{Directory structure}
679 \vym can read a directory structure. This is mainly for
680 testing \vym e.g. to easily create huge maps used for benchmarks (yes,
681 there is still room to optimize \vym ;-)
686 \subsection{Export} \label{export}
688 Often you don't want to export the whole map, but just parts of it. For
689 example you may have additional info you want to talk about in a
690 presentation, while those parts should not be visible to the audience.
691 To achieve this you can "hide" parts of the map during exports by
692 setting the "hide in export" flag.
694 \includegraphics[width=0.5cm]{flag-hideexport.png}
696 You can toggle this flag in the toolbar or by pressing \key{H}.
697 Note that there is a global option in the settings menu to toggle the
698 use of this flag. By default the flag is enabled.
700 \subsubsection*{Open Office}
701 Open Office beginning with version~2 uses the so called "Open Office
702 Document Format", which can be written by \vym. The options are
703 currently limited, but it possible to export presentations which can be
704 opened in Open Office Impress. By selecting
706 \item File \ra Export\ra Open Office
708 you get a file dialogue where you can choose the output file and the
711 \includegraphics[width=12cm]{export-oo.png}
713 The file types represent various templates, which can be created with
714 some manual work from an existing Open Office document. The structure of
715 \vym map is then inserted into a template.
716 There are some limitations at the moment:
718 \item \vym can't take care of page lengths, so you have to check and
719 probably reedit in Open Office to avoid text running over the end of
721 \item Images and flags are not used at the moment
722 \item Notes are just written as plain text, without RichText
724 Some of the templates make use of {\em sections} e.g. insert the
725 headings of mainbranches as chapters for sections into the presentation.
727 \subsubsection*{Image}
728 \vym supports all image formats which are natively supported by the
730 BMP, JPEG, PBM, PGM, PNG, PPN, XPM, and XBM.
731 For use in websites and for sending images by email PNG is a good
732 recommodation regarding quality and size of the image. \vym uses QTs
733 default options for compressing the images.
735 \subsubsection*{ASCII}
736 Exporting an image as text is somewhat experimental at the moment. Later
737 this will probably done using stylesheets. So the output may change in
738 future versions of \vym.
740 \subsubsection*{\LaTeX}
741 \vym can generate an input file for \LaTeX. Currently this is considered
742 as experimental, there are no options (yet).
745 \item File \ra Export\ra \LaTeX
747 you will be asked in a file dialog for the name of the output file. This
748 file should be included in a \LaTeX document using command
750 \include{inputfile.tex}
753 \subsubsection*{KDE Bookmarks}
754 \vym will overwrite the KDE bookmarks file and then try to notify
755 running konquerors via DCOP of the changed file. \vym does not create a
758 \item File \ra Export \ra KDE Bookmarks
762 \subsubsection*{XHTML (Webpages)}
764 This is the format you want to use to create a webpage. For an example
765 have a look at the \vym homepage:
766 \href{http://www.InSilmaril.de/vym}{www.InSilmaril.de/vym}
768 Some explanation how this works:
769 Before a map is exported as XHTML, it will be first written as XML into a
770 directory (see \ref{xmlexport}). Then the external program {\tt
771 xsltproc}\footnote{On SUSE Linux {\tt xsltproc} is installed by
773 will be called to process the XML file and generate HTML code.
774 A dialog allows to set various options:
776 \item {\bf Include image:} If set, \vym will creat an image map at
777 the top of the HTML output. Clicking on a branch in the map will
778 jump to the corresponding section in the output.
780 \item {\bf Colored headings:}
781 If set to yes, \vym will color the headings in the text part with the
782 same colors like in the map.
783 \item {\bf Show Warnings:}
784 If set to yes, \vym will ask before overwriting data.
785 \item {\bf Show output:}
786 This is useful mainly for debugging. It will show how the processing of
787 the XML file works by calling the external {\tt xsltproc}.
789 Additionally the paths to the CSS and XSL stylesheets can be set. By
790 default on SUSE~Linux they will be in {\tt /usr/share/vym/styles}.
793 \subsubsection*{XML} \label{xmlexport}
794 The map is written into a directory both as an image and as XML. The
795 directory is set in a file dialog. If the directory is not empty, you
796 will be questioned if you risk to overwrite its contents.
798 It is possible to export different maps into the same directory. Each
799 file generated will have the map's name as prefix, e.g. {\tt todo.vym}
800 becomes {\tt todo.xml}, {\tt todo.png}, {\tt todo-image-1.png} and so
801 on. This is useful if e.g. for a website several combined maps have to
802 be stored in the same directory.
804 \subsubsection*{Export a part of a map}
805 Select a branch you want to export together with its childs, then open
806 the context menu and choose {\em Save Selection}. This will create a
807 file with the postfix {\tt .vyp}, which is an abbreviation for \lq vym
811 \section{Advanced Editing}
813 \subsection{How to deal with Bookmarks} \label{bookmarks}
814 \subsubsection*{Open new tabs instead of new windows}
815 If you use konqueror as browser, \vym will remember the konqueror which
816 was opened first by \vym. You can also press \key{Ctrl} and click to
817 open the link in a new tab then.
819 \vym can also open a new tab in Mozilla or Firefox using the remote
820 command\footnote{\href{http://www.mozilla.org/unix/remote.html}{http://www.mozilla.org/unix/remote.html}}
823 \subsubsection*{Drag and Drop}
824 If you want to keep bookmarks in a map, select a branch where you want
825 to add the bookmark, then simply drag the URL from your browser to the
826 map. Also you could use an existing heading as URL: Right click onto the
827 branch and select "Use heading for URL".
830 \subsubsection*{Directly access bookmark lists of a browser}
831 Please see the sections \ref{import} and \ref{export} about
832 Import and Export filters.
834 \subsubsection*{Special URLs}
835 \vym can turn an existing heading of a branch into an URL. Currently
836 this works for Bugentries in the Novell Bugtracking system: Open the
837 context menu of a branch (usually by right-clicking it) and select
839 \item Create URL to Bugzilla
841 The URL will be build from the number in the heading.
843 \subsection{Including images into a branch}
844 The default setting of an image is to float "freely". They can be
845 positioned everywhere, but they might end up in the same place as other
848 The solution is to include them "into" a branch. This can be done via
849 the context menu of their parent branch:
851 \item Include images horizontally
852 \item Include images vertically
854 The image ist still positioned relatively to its parent branch, but the
855 heading and border of the branch adapt to the floating image, see below:
857 \includegraphics[width=11cm]{includeImages.png}
860 \subsection{Modifier Modes}
861 Modifiers are for example the \key{Shift}- or the \key{Alt}-keys. When
862 pressed while doing actions with the mouse, they will cause \vym to use
863 a "modified" action. E.g. you can move branches with mouse. If
864 \key{Ctrl} or \key{Alt}is pressed while releasing the branch, it will be
865 added above/below the target, not as child of the target.
867 Without a modifier pressed, the first click on a branch just selects
868 it. For the behaviour of the \key{Ctrl} modifier there are several
869 options, which can be set from the modifier toolbar:
871 \includegraphics[width=3cm]{modmodes.png}
873 The default is to copy the color from the clicked branch to the already
874 selected branch. In the toolbar shown above the default modifier is
875 selected, namely to copy the color of a branch. The second modifier
876 let's you easily copy a whole branch with a single click. The third
877 modifier lets you create {\em xLinks}, which will be explained in the
880 \subsection{Hide links of unselected objects}
881 Sometimes it would be useful to position a branch freely, just like a
882 mainbranch or an image. Though this is not possible (yet) for all
883 branches, you can use a mainbranch and hide its connecting link to the
884 mapcenter. This can be used e.g. for legends or a collection of vymLinks
885 pointing to other maps:
887 \includegraphics[width=9cm]{hiddenlink.png}
891 \subsection{XLinks} \label{xlinks}
892 So far all the data in the \vym map has been treelike. Using xLinks you
893 can link one branch to any other, just like attaching a rope between two
894 branches in a real tree. This is especially useful in complex maps,
895 where you want to have crossreferences which don't fit on the same
896 visible area, which fits on your screen. The following example, which is
897 part of the \vym package, still fits on one screen, but shows how data
898 can be crosslinked. In the graphics there is a link from a task (prepare
899 a presentation) to general information:
901 \includegraphics[width=12cm]{xlink.png}
903 Note that a xLink which points to a branch that is not visible (because
904 it is scrolled), is just show as a little horizontal arrow. In the
905 screenshot above have a look at the \lq Tuesday\rq\ branch.
907 \subsubsection*{Create a xLink}
908 Choose the link mode from the modifier toolbar (by clicking or pressing
909 \key{L}). Select the branch, where the xLink should start. Press the
910 modifier key \key{Ctrl} and simultanously click on the branch where the
911 link should end. (The link is already drawn before you release the mouse
912 key). If you release the mouse over a branch the xLink becomes
915 \subsubsection*{Modify or delete a xLink}
916 Open the context menu of a branch and select \lq Edit xLink\rq. A
917 submenu contains all the xLinks of the branch (if there are any). They
918 are named like the branches, where they end. Choose one and
919 the xLink dialogue opens, where you can set color, width and also delete
922 \subsubsection*{Follow a xLink}
923 In a complext \vym map it sometimes comes handy to jump to the other end
924 of a xLink. You can do this by opening the context menu of the branch
925 and clicking on \lq Goto xLink\rq and selecting the xLink you want to
930 \subsection{Adding and removing branches}
931 The context menu of a branch shows some more ways to add and delete data
932 e.g. you can delete a branch while keeping its childs. The childs become
933 linked to the parent of the previously removed branch.
934 Similar branches can be inserted into existing maps. For keyboard
935 shortcuts also have a look at the context menu.
937 \subsection{Adding a whole map or a part of a map}
938 Select a branch where you want to add a previously saved map ({\tt .vym})or a part
939 of a map ({\tt .vyp}) , then open
940 the context menu and choose {\em Add \ra Import}. For the import you can
941 choose between {\em Import Add} and {\em Import Replace}: The imported
942 data will be added after the selection resp. replace the selection.
945 \section{\vym on Mac OS X}
946 \subsection{Overview}
947 Basically there are two ways to run \vym on Macs:
948 \subsubsection*{QT Mac Edition:}
949 \vym here provides the well known Mac look and feel. \vym is
950 available as zipped Mac OS X application. It has been compiled and
951 tested in Mac~OS~10.3, but should also work on Tiger. It is using
952 the Mac version of Trolltechs QT library.
954 \vym can also be run using the Linux version, but then menus and
955 handling will also be those of the Linux version e.g. The menu bar
958 \subsection {Contextmenu and special keys}
959 Most Macs unfortunatly just have a single mouse button. In order to show
960 the context menu which usually would be opened with the right mouse
961 button, you can click while pressing the \key{kommand}-key.
963 Especially on Laptops some of the keys usually used on PC keyboards seem
964 to be missing. The QT-Mac Edition of \vym has its own keyboard
965 shortcuts. To find the shortcuts just have a look at all the menu
966 entries, the shortcut is visible next to an entry. Toolbar buttons also
967 may have shortcuts, just position the mouse pointer over a button and
968 wait for the little help window to appear.
970 \subsection {Viewing external links}
971 \vym on Mac uses the system call {\tt /usr/bin/open} to view links.
972 Mac~OS determines automatically if the link is a pdf or www page and
973 opens the right browser.
978 \section{Starting \vym}
979 \subsection{Path to ressources}
980 \vym will try to find its ressources (images, stylesheets, filters,
981 etc.) in the following places:
983 \item Path given by the environment variable {\tt VYMHOME}.
984 \item If called with the local option (see \ref{options} below),
985 \vym will look for its data in the current directory.
986 \item {\tt /usr/share/vym}
987 \item {\tt /usr/local/share/vym}
990 \subsection{Command line options} \label{options}
991 \vym has the following options:
993 \begin{tabular}{ccp{8cm}}\\
994 \bf Option & \bf Comment & \bf Description \\ \hline
995 v & version & Show version ov \vym\\
996 l & local & Use local paths to stylesheets, translations, icons,
997 etc. instead of system paths. Useful for testing\\
998 h & help & Show help\\
999 q & quit & Quit immediatly after startup. Useful for benchmarks.\\
1002 You can also give several filenames at the commandline to let \vym open
1003 several maps at once.
1005 \section{Contributing to \vym}
1006 So far I'd say I have written 98\% of the code on my own. No surprise,
1007 that \vym exactly fits my own needs. Nevertheless I would like to
1008 encourage all users of \vym to contribute. Maybe not only with feature
1009 requests, but also with code, new import/export filters, translations
1010 etc. In this appendix I'll try to show how easy it is to expand the
1011 things you can do already with \vym. I really look forward to hear from
1014 \subsection{Getting help}
1016 \subsubsection*{Frequently asked questions}
1017 Please refer to the FAQ available on the \vym website:
1019 \href{http://www.InSilmaril.de/vym/faq.html}{http://www.InSilmaril.de/vym/faq.html}
1022 \subsubsection*{Mailinglists}
1023 There are two mailinglists: {\tt vym-forum} is the \vym users forum to
1024 discuss various questions, while {\tt vym-devel} is intended for people
1025 interested in contributing to \vym. You can view the archives and
1028 \href{https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=127802}{https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group\_id=127802}
1031 \subsubsection*{Contacting the author}\label{author}
1032 Especially for support questions please try the mailinglists first. If
1033 everything else fails you can contact the Uwe Drechsel at
1035 \href{mailto:vym@InSilmaril.de}{vym@InSilmaril.de}
1040 \subsection{How to report bugs}
1041 Though Sourceforge has its own bugreporting system, I'd rather prefer if
1042 you contact me directly (see \ref{author}) or even better: You can file
1043 a bugreport in Bugzilla, the bugtracking system of openSUSE:
1045 \href{http://en.opensuse.org/Submit_a_bug}{http://en.opensuse.org/Submit\_a\_bug}
1047 I build \vym regulary for openSUSE, so you may report it against a
1048 recent version there, even if you use another Operating System.
1049 Please don't forget to tell
1051 \item the exact steps needed to reproduce the bug
1052 \item the version and build date of \vym (see the Help \ra About
1054 \item hardware and Operating System
1057 \subsection{Compiling from the sources}
1058 \subsubsection{Getting the sources} \label{getsources}
1059 You find the latest version of \vym at the project site:
1061 \href{https://sourceforge.net/projects/vym/}{https://sourceforge.net/projects/vym/}
1063 There you can check them out of the source repository (CVS):\\
1066 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sf.net:/cvsroot/vym checkout code
1069 \subsubsection{The Qt toolkit}
1070 Qt is C++ toolkit for multiplatform GUI and application development. It
1071 provides single-source portability across MS~Windows, Mac~OS~X, Linux
1072 ans all major commercial Unix variants. Qt is also available for
1073 embedded devices. Qt is a Trolltech product. For more information see
1075 \href{http://www.trolltech.com/qt/}{www.trolltech.com/qt}
1079 \subsubsection{Compiling \vym }
1080 Make sure you have installed your Qt environment properly, see the Qt
1081 documentation for details. You need to have the Qt command {\tt qmake}
1082 in your {\tt PATH}-environment, then run
1088 The last command {\tt make install} needs root-permissions. Of course it
1089 may be omitted, if you just want to test \vym.
1091 %\subsubsection*{Compiling \vym on Macs}
1094 \subsection{\vym file format} \label{fileformat}
1095 \vym maps usually have the postfix "{\tt .vym}" and represent a
1096 compressed archive of data. If you want to have a
1097 closer look into the data structure map called "mapname.vym",
1098 just uncompress the map manually using
1102 This will create directories named {\tt images} and {\tt flags} in your
1103 current directory and also the map itself, usually named {\tt
1105 The XML structure of \vym is pretty self explaining, just have a look at
1108 This XML file can be loaded directly into \vym, it does not have to be
1109 compressed. If you want to compress all the data yourself, use
1111 zip -r mapname.vym .
1113 to compress all data in your current directory.
1115 \subsection{New features}
1116 There are lots of features which might find their way into \vym.
1117 Together with \vym you should have received a directory with several
1118 maps e.g. on SUSE~LINUX this is
1120 {\tt /usr/share/doc/packages/vym/demos}
1122 where you find the map {\tt todo.vym}. It lists quite a lot of things to
1123 be done in future. If you have more ideas, contact the development team
1125 {\tt vym-devel@lists.sourceforge.net}.
1128 \subsection{New languages support}
1129 In order to add a new language to \vym you need
1130 the sources (see \ref{getsources}) and
1131 an installation of Trolltechs QT. A part of QT are the development
1132 tools, from those tools especially the translation tool "Linguist" is
1135 In some Linux distributions the development tools are in an extra package, e.g. on SUSE LINUX you should have installed:
1142 If you don't have QT in your system, you can get it from
1143 \href{http://www.trolltech.com}{http://www.trolltech.com} Once you
1144 are able to compile vym yourself, you can translate the text in vym
1145 itself by performing the following steps:
1147 \item Let's assume now your encoding is "NEW" instead of for example
1148 "de" for german or "en" for english
1150 \item Copy the file {\tt lang/vym\_en.ts} to l{\tt ang/vym\_NEW.ts} (The code
1151 itself contains the english version.)
1153 \item Add {\tt lang/vym\_NEW.ts} to the TRANSLATIONS section of vym.pro
1155 \item Run Linguist on {\tt vym\_NEW.ts} and do the translation
1157 \item Run {\tt lrelease} to create {\tt vym\_NEW.qm}
1159 \item Do a make install to install the new vym and check your translation
1162 If you feel brave, you can also translate the manual. It is written in
1163 LaTeX, you just have to change the file tex/vym.tex. (Linguist and QT
1164 are not needed, but it is useful to know how to work with LaTeX and esp.
1165 pdflatex to create the PDF.)
1167 Please mail me every translation you have done. I can also give you a
1168 developer access to the project, if you want to provide translations
1171 \subsection{New export/import filters}
1172 \vym supports various kinds of filters. Data can be written directly,
1173 inserted into templates or it can be written as XML data and then
1174 processed by XSL transformations.
1176 Most of the import/export functionality is available in the classes
1177 ImportBase and ExportBase and subclasses. All of them can be found in
1178 {\tt imports.h} and {\tt exports.h}.
1180 \subsubsection*{Direct import/export}
1181 An example for a direct export is the XML export. This method touches
1182 the implementation of nearly every object of \vym, so whenever possible
1183 you should better use a XSL transformation instead.
1185 If you still want to know how it is done, start looking at
1186 {\tt MapEditor::saveToDir} in {\tt mapeditor.cpp}.
1188 \subsubsection*{Templates}
1189 Templates have been introduced to export to opendoc format used e.g. by
1190 Open~Office. While I read the spec ($>$ 500 pages) about the format\footnote{
1191 \href{http://www.oasis-open.org/}{http://www.oasis-open.org/}}\
1192 I had the feeling that I did not want to write the export from scratch.
1193 It would be too complex to adapt the styles to your own wishes, e.g. the
1196 Instead I analyzed existing Open~Office documents. I found out that
1197 there are lots of redundant bits of information in a standard
1198 presentation, for example each list item is contained in its own list.
1199 In the end I came up with the default presentation style, which still
1200 could be simplified, just in case you have free time\ldots
1202 The existing templates are still work in progress, before you spent too
1203 much time developing your own style, please contact me. Basically the
1204 following steps are needed to build your own style:
1206 \item Create an example in Open Office. Use a title, authors name,
1207 page heading etc.\ which you can easily grep for in the output file.
1209 \item Unzip the Open Office document into a directory.
1211 \item The main file is called {\tt content.xml}. All data is in one
1212 single line. You can split the XML tags using the script {\tt
1213 scripts/niceXML}, which is part of the \vym distribution.
1215 \item Copy the output of {\tt niceXML} to {\tt
1216 content-template.xml}.
1218 \item Looking closer you will find lots of unused definitions, for
1219 example of styles. You can delete or simply ignore them.
1221 \item Try to find your title, authors name. \vym will replace the
1222 following strings while exporting:
1224 \begin{tabular}{lp{4cm}}
1225 {\tt <!-- INSERT TITLE -->} & title of map \\
1226 {\tt <!-- INSERT AUTHOR--> } & author \\
1227 {\tt <!-- INSERT COMMENT -->} & comment \\
1228 {\tt <!-- INSERT PAGES-->} & content of map \\
1231 The content itself is generated in a similar way by inserting lists
1232 into {\tt page-template}. Here the following substitutions are made:
1234 \begin{tabular}{lp{7cm}}
1235 {\tt <!-- INSERT PAGE HEADING-->} & heading of a page
1236 (mainbranch or child of mainbranch, depending on the use of
1238 {\tt <!-- INSERT LIST --> } & all childs of the branch above \\
1242 Currently images are exported and notes just will appear as text
1243 without formatting and colors.
1248 \subsubsection*{XSL Transformation}
1249 \vym uses XSL transformations while exporting (e.g. XHTML) and importing
1250 data (e.g. KDE bookmarks). There is a little code needed to provide the
1251 GUI, the rest is done using the {\tt .xsl} stylesheet and calling the
1252 {\tt xsltproc} processor, which is part of libxslt, the XSLT
1253 C library for GNOME.
1259 %\subsubsection{Menus}
1260 %\subsubsection{Keyboard shortcuts}
1261 %Where does vym save its settings? -> ~/.qt/vymrc