...continued (MaxThink and Traveller hypernets)
Special Key Commands in Topic Mode
- ----------------------------------
F5 -- Your next question is probably "How do you mark a range of topics?"
In TOPIC MODE, the F5 key starts the marked range on the currently
selected topic, and then you move the cursor with the cursor control
keys to elsewhere on the currently listed level, and press F5 again
to mark the other end of the range. Most of the menu commands and
special key commands work on a range as well as an individual topic,
though there are exceptions. In addition, many commands allow you to
type in a range -- but marking a range with the F5 key is usually
easier. In edit mode, F5 activates the text marker, for
standard word-processor block copies/moves/deletions.
Shift-F6 -- Define the Macro. Extremely powerful, even though limited to
about 80 keystrokes. This feature allows you to create
powerful command combos on the fly, including editing text and
the activation of commands. Unfortunately, MaxThink can only
have a single macro defined at one time -- Therefore, until
this feature is upgraded, having a third-party macro program
(or macro-capable operating environment) can boost the power of
MaxThink by at least a magnitude. Works the same in Edit Mode,
and allows the switching of modes within the macro. To use,
press Shift-F6 to record your macro, and again when you are
finished. Press Shift-F6 twice to clear the current macro --
it is a good habit to clear the macro after finishing up with a
destructive or data-shuffling macro.
F6 -- Execute the Macro. Be sure you remember which mode you defined the
macro in, for you will need to start the macro in that mode for it to
work right. The same keystrokes mean different things in MaxThink's
various modes, so getting this right is critical. Saving the outline
before extensive macro use is definitely a good idea.
F7 -- Creates a topic one level up from the current topic, moves the topic
pointer to the new topic, and automatically enters EDIT MODE. Works
just as well from EDIT MODE.
F8 -- Creates a subtopic under the current topic, moves the topic pointer
to the new topic, and automatically enters EDIT MODE. Works just as
well from EDIT MODE.
F9 -- Creates a topic immediately before the current topic on the current
level, moves the topic pointer to the new topic, and automatically
enters EDIT MODE. Works just as well from EDIT MODE.
F10 -- Creates a topic immediately after the current topic on the current
level, moves the topic pointer to the new topic, and automatically
enters EDIT MODE. Works just as well from EDIT MODE.
THE BRAINSTORM MENU
- -------------------
The pinnacle of MaxThink's text-manipulation technology lies in the
Brainstorm Menu. Pressing Enter while the Brainstorm item is highlighted
(being the first entry on the main menu, it usually is highlighted), or
typing "B" from anywhere on the main menu, will change the menu display as
below:
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Traveller from scratch
1 My Traveller Collection
2 Traveller Product List
3 Traveller Wish List
4 Traveller Bibliography
5 Traveller Index
-> 6 Traveller Campaign and Background
================================================================================
BRAINSTORM:[Main] Binsort Categorize Divide Fence Gather Join
Levelize Prioritize Randomize Sort Tag Untag
Return to Main Menu
TEXT 2 PATH: 0 194 Kbytes
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's say your mind is going a mile-a-minute, and you are being bombarded
by your imagination with lots of ideas. You start pressing F10 every few
seconds, creating a new topic and type like mad entering text. It's all
you can do to keep up with your thoughts, so you don't bother categorizing
as you brainstorm. Before too long, you have a very long list of possibly
unrelated ideas, task reminders, and observations. That's where the
Brainstorm commands come in.
Or, perhaps you have generated a very long list of vehicles of every
conceivable description. Selecting a particular type of vehicle for game
play would then require searching across many irrelavent entries. Sorting
them into categories would make finding a specific kind of vehicle much
easier in the future. This is where the Brainstorm commands come in.
Again, all you have to do is type the first letter of the command, so from
the main menu you would type B (to select the Brainstorm Menu) followed by
the first letter of the brainstorm command you wanted to activate. Of
course you could use the Space bar and Enter key to make the selection
instead.
----------------------
SUPER-POWERED COMMANDS:
-----------------------
Typing from the main menu:
BB = Brainstorm/Binsort -- Best used after marking a range. This powerful
command turns the selected topic or range of topics into bins numbered
from 1 up to 16 into which the rest of the items on the same level can
be interactively tossed into with ease. Simply determine your
categories, place them at the top of the list, mark them, and then
press BB. They will be seperated from the rest of the items on the
level by a line marked prominently with +++++BINSORT+++++++ (I call
this the "Binsort Barrier"). For the item at the top of the remainder
of the list below the Binsort Barrier, type the number of the bin you
want it sent to and press Enter, and that topic is instantly MOVED to
the sub-level below the topic (bin) chosen, becoming a subtopic of it.
The next item on the list instantly steps up for its turn to be
categorized in this way. To skip an item on the queue, press Enter
and it will be sent to the end of the list for reconsideration later
(thus, you can scroll through the list if you want). If you want to
send an item to two or more bins, Alt-C will make a copy of whatever
item in the you are currently pointing at. Binsort is arguably the
most powerful command in the program, competing for this position with
the Brainstorm/Gather command, the Brainstorm/Sort command, and the
Lock Command.
The Traveller vehicles list mentioned above can thus be easily sorted
into the categories of Land Vehicles, Water-borne Vehicles, Air
Transport, Sub-light Spacecraft, and Starships. Those categories
could then be further subdivided (by using BB again) -- For example,
Land Vehicles could be subdivided into Tracked Vehicles, Wheeled
Vehicles, Air-Cushioned Vehicles, Legged Vehicles, Pogos, Rail
Transport, Tubular Transport, and Cable Cars.
BC = Brainstorm/Categorize -- Restructures a list divided by fences so that
all the topics between the "fence" topics become subtopics of those fences.
Useful for reversing a Levelize (see below) but also useful for outline
building similar to Binsort above. Some people think best in terms of
boundaries rather than in subclasses. These fences represent boundaries.
Simply move your topics around so that they are within the proper
boundaries (delineated by the fences), and then type BC. To make a topic
into a "fence" topic, use the Brainstorm/Tag command below.
Brainstorm/Categorize is best used with a marked range.
BD = Brainstorm/Divide -- Divides a topic by line, paragraph, sentence, or
word. Great for breaking up documents into their component bits of
knowledge. If you want to retain the orignal undivided topic in your
outline, then make a duplicate of it first with Copy or Get/Put, and
then Brainstorm/Divide the duplicate.
BF = Brainstorm/Fence -- Places a fenced topic before, after, or as a
subtopic of, the current topic. The first 11 characters of a "fence"
are 10 equal signs followed by a space. You can enter the text to
follow the fence in the command itself, or you can go back and edit
the topics created by this command. This command provides a way of
inserting boundaries into lists. It is very useful in conjunction
with Brainstorm/Categorize.
BG = Brainstorm/Gather -- An extremely powerful interactive
sorting/moving/copying command. This command has its very own buffer,
and has two modes of operation:
Brainstorm/Gather/Auto -- Gathers globally or selectively into
MaxThink's Gather buffer all topics that contain a search string
specified by the user. The topics in the buffer may then be
copied or moved to the desired location. If moved, they no longer
exist from where they were gathered. If copied, they still can be
found in their original locations as well as in the new one. This
command is perfect for gathering all the material on a particular
subject from within an outline/document, for instance to gather
all the topics that mention a particular character, government, or
alien race.
Brainstorm/Gather/Manual -- Probably my favorite command, because
it gives you full juggling control over your material, and is best
used for the sorting of ideas and random thoughts. When this
command is active, the F5 key becomes the grab key. The cursor
keys move the topic pointer as normal, but most other keys will
not work, except for the following: When the F5 key is pressed,
the current topic (and all of its subtopics) are moved to the
Gather buffer. The F7, F8, F9, and F10 keys will reinsert the
last gathered topic to the level above, to the level below, as the
topic immediately before, or as the topic immediately after the
current topic, respectively. Topics in the buffer are NOT wiped
out by subsequently gathered topics, but is cleared (as explained
below) when the command is completed or exited. This command
operates on the Last-In-First-Out principle, and you can cycle
through the gathered topics by spitting them out (with F7, F8, F9,
and/or F10) and reswallowing any of them at any time with F5.
After you are through gathering, or gathering/juggling, or
swallowing/spitting, you may press Esc to abort on those items
left in the Gather buffer, or press Enter to copy or move the
items left in the Gather buffer. Esc sends the topics still in
the buffer back to where they came from, while Enter sends the
topics (or copies of them as you desire) to the location you
specify.
This command competes with the Binsort command because not only
can you interactively categorize topics, you can regrab any topic
that you decide you don't want to put there. However, this
command is more of a general purpose interactive copy/move command
with more emphasis on moving around, and therefore it is not as
streamlined as Binsort is for categorical sorting. The
grab/move-cursor/reinsert sequence of the Brainstorm/Gather/Manual
command is even more powerful than the Lock command at rearranging
lists and reorganizing entire outlines, and is best used for
industrial-sized outline remodeling jobs. :)
BJ = Brainstorm/Join -- Join a marked or specified range of topics by line
or word. Joining by line saves paragraph information (useful for
redividing back into paragraphs later), while joining by word
wordwraps the joined material into a single paragraph. Great for
combining gathered concepts into essay form for editing. Some data is
better viewed in paragraph form rather than outline form, for
instance, that is how I prefer character descriptions.
BL = Brainstorm/Levelize -- This command collapses a specified portion of
your outline from multiple levels into a single level. You may
specify how many levels to collapse. Levelizing starts from the
current level and affects the sub-levels below it. The most useful
feature of the command is that it allows you to specify if you want
the parent topics to receive fences (labels) or not. This allows the
use of the Brainstorm/Categorize command to refold a levelizedlist
back into its orginal hierarchical structure. Brainstorm/Levelize
converts outlines or portions thereof into boundary-separated lists,
and Brainstorm/Categorize converts them back again.
BP = Brainstorm/Prioritize -- Similar to the Binsort command in execution,
this command is used to order a marked or specified range of topics
from high-to-low or low-to-high priority. The screen is divided by
the Priority Barrier, and the marked topics form a selection queue
below the barrier. You then move the topic pointer through the queue,
and press Enter when you are pointing at the highest (or lowest)
priority item. The topics so chosen are sent to the list above the
barrier, ranked in the order they were sent to that list. This is
like the procedure used by kids for picking teams for a kickball game
or other team sport. When you are done selecting, or when you abort
using the Esc key, you are returned to Topic Mode, and the order of
the topics in the current level is reflected by whatever prioritizing
you did.
This command is most useful for short or medium-sized lists. Long
lists are rather cumbersome for this technique, and are better
prioritized using the Lock command or the Brainstorm/Gather command.
Where precise prioritizing is not needed, a very useful technique is
to manually grade/label each topic with its priority rating (say,
on a scale from 1 to 5, for instance) at the beginning of the topic,
and then sort the list (this rating can then be easily removed with
the Brainstorm/Untag command - see below). Brainstorm/Binsort can be
used in a similar fashion to categorize topics into bins labeled
Priority One to Priority Five.
BR = Brainstorm/Randomize -- Randomizes the order of a marked or specified
range of topics. Great for busting up assumptions and preconceptions.
Reading down a list after it has been randomized can give you many
more ideas, because it will expose you to many more relationships as
you associate each item on the list with the next. And yes, as you
observant ref's have instantly seen, this command can also be used for
randomizing encounter tables, or any kind of table, and even for
rolling dice (to roll multiple dice, randomize an entire distribution
list). With this command and a macro, you can rapidly generate as
many random numbers as you need for character generation or what have
you. A similar macro can be used for skill selection. Note that
these numbers and selections are not truly random, as they rely on the
use of a computed or stored "seed" value, but it approximates
randomness well enough for RPGaming purposes.
BS = Brainstorm/Sort -- Sorts a marked or specified range alphabetically
according to ASCII value or in the standard order used in
dictionaries. Sorts in ascending or descending order, as you specify.
You may also specify the column on the screen which to sort from,
which makes MaxThink a basic database program on top of everything
else! Thus, you can sort your Traveller bibliographies and product
list by Title, Author, or Publisher; sort your AD&D spells by name,
level, or type of magic.
BT = Brainstorm/Tag -- Places a user defined string (or "fence") at the
beginning of a topic or each of a range of topics. The default fence
is 10 equal signs. This command works well in combination with the
Brainstorm/Categorize command above. It is also useful for creating
data fields within topics, giving them temporary or permanent labels.
Once you have labeled everything you need to, the Brainstorm/Sort
command can by used to order them.
BU = Brainstorm/Untag -- Removes a specified number of characters from the
beginning of a topic or each of a range of topics. Useful for
removing fences and labels.
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
Creating a Traveller Hypernet
------------------------------
Linkouts are contained in angle brackets <>, and can be placed
anywhere within a topic. A link-out usually contains a path and
filename <y:likethis.mt>, which can be another outline, or a file
in a different format (usually ASCII). Angle brackets can also
contain call outs to DOS, to load programs to view files of
specific data formats. For instance, the linkout <dos 123
d:\trav\spread\koors.wks> would load the lotus spreadsheet named
koors.wks from its directory on my hard disk. More useful, would
be call-outs for loading a graphics file viewer, along with the
filename to be viewed -- such call-outs could be quite useful if
placed in the appropriate locations in an adventure write-up, for
instance.
MaxThink includes its own file viewer to read non-outline files
specified within angle brackets. As usual, all it takes to
link-out to view the file is a press of the Right Arrow.
However, MaxThink's text file viewer can only view the first 20k
of a file -- the remedy for this is to specify a dos call
to run your favorite file viewer (the one I use is LIST by
Vernon D. Buerg), like this: <dos list c:\example\filename.any>.
Here are some examples of link-outs and call-outs:
<filename.any> If this is a MaxThink outline, MaxThink will
save the current outline and load this one.
<filename.any> If this is any other kind of file, MaxThink will
try to view it with its built-in file viewer.
<y:filename.any> The use of the y: (or other non-drive letter)
assumes you've predefined y: using DOS's SUBST
command. This saves having to include the entire
path in the link-out, and provides for portibility
between DOS systems with various drive
configurations.
<dos list filename.any> Use this callout to view a text file greater than
20K in size.
<dos cshow picture.gif> Here's a callout for viewing graphics files.
MaxThink has many more menu and key-based commands and other
features that I haven't even mentioned yet, but I've been writing
all day, and I'm about ready to pass out.
My Traveller hypernet has grown many times too large for MaxThink
to handle as a single outline, as it measures several megabytes
in size. Therefore, it includes scores of interlinked outlines.
It also contains link-outs to every bun or text file downloaded
from Sunbane and every text file I've obtained from the HIWG and
other sources.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
A SAMPLE TRAVELLER HYPERNET
---------------------------
I shall wrap up by printing out below one of the outlines
contained in my Traveller hypernet. It will allow you to see how
I keep track of the various branches in my Traveller campaign,
and the players in each:
My Traveller Campaign. Branches: <y:campaign.trv>
- Player survey for scenario selection <y:psurvey.cmp>
- ========== Branches -- by players included
- Solo branches
- Solo 1 branches (Carlin) <y:carlin.cmp>
- Cruising the Abyss Rift -- <y:abyss.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej2.bra>
- They Live -- (beyond charted space) <y:they.bra>
- Venejen -- (Carlin) 12/25/93 <y:venej1.bra>
- Voyages of the Viper -- (Talos) <y:viper.bra>
- Solo 2 branches (Dan) <y:dan.cmp>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej3.bra>
- Solo 3 branches (Brandon) <y:brandon.cmp>
- Generations -- (Far Frontiers) <y:gen.bra>
- Leader of the Pack -- (Spinward Main) <y:pack.bra>
- Solar Flare Mystery -- (Old Expanses) <y:flare.bra>
- Solo 4 branches (Matt) <y:matt.cmp>
- Adventures of Jax Plax -- (Regina) <y:regina1.bra>
- Sold into Freedom -- (Freedonia) <y:frdonia.bra>
- Solo 5 branches (Chris) <y:chris.cmp>
- VACC SUITS, Inc. -- Glisten <y:vacc.bra>
- Duo branches
- Duo 1 branches (Carlin & Brandon) <y:duo1.cmp>
- Asshole of the Universe - (Roget) <y:horde2.bra>
- Alternate Reality -- (Terra 1994) <y:selves1.bra>
- Homos and Holographs -- Regina <y:holos.bra>
- Predator -- (Terra 1994) <y:pred.bra>
- Rescue on Ruie -- (Regina, Ruie) <y:ruie1.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej4.bra>
- Duo 2 branches (Sky & Dan) <y:duo2.cmp>
- Adventures in Moss -- (Regina) <y:moss.bra>
- Duo 3 branches (Carlin & Rinehart) <y:duo3.cmp>
- Research Station Gamma -- Venejen <y:venej3.bra>
- Group branches
- Group 1 branches (Sky, Matt, Dan, Raimi, Carlin) <y:group1.cmp>
- Chamax Plague -- (Reschev) <y:horde1.bra>
- Group 2 branches (Chris, Sky, Dan, Matt, Carlin) <y:group2.cmp>
- Spinward Main -- (Regina) <y:main1.bra>
- Group 3 branches (Deandre, Dan, Sky, Matt) <y:group3.cmp>
- Spinward Main -- (Regina) <y:main2.bra>
- Group 4 branches (Sky, Dan, Brandon) <y:group4.cmp>
- Down on Dinomn -- (Dinomn/Lanth) <y:dinomn.bra>
- Dead branches
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej1.bra>
- They Came From Beyond -- (Junidy) <y:junidy1.bra>
- Abandoned branches <y:lost.cmp>
- ========== Branches -- by branch name
- Adventures in Moss -- (Regina) <y:moss.bra>
- Adventures of Jax Plax -- (Regina) <y:regina1.bra>
- Alternate Reality -- (Terra 1994) <y:selves1.bra>
- Asshole of the Universe - (Roget) <y:horde2.bra>
- Chamax Plague -- (Reschev) <y:horde1.bra>
- Cruising the Abyss Rift -- <y:abyss.bra>
- Down on Dinomn -- (Dinomn/Lanth) <y:dinomn.bra>
- Generations -- (Far Frontiers) <y:gen.bra>
- Homos and Holographs -- Regina <y:holos.bra>
- Leader of the Pack -- (Spinward Main) <y:pack.bra>
- Predator -- (Terra 1994) <y:pred.bra>
- Rescue on Ruie -- (Regina, Ruie) <y:ruie1.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej1.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej2.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej3.bra>
- Research Station Gamma -- (Venejen) <y:venej4.bra>
- Solar Flare Mystery -- (Old Expanses) <y:flare.bra>
- Sold into Freedom -- (Freedonia) <y:frdonia.bra>
- Spinward Main -- (Regina) <y:main1.bra>
- Spinward Main -- (Regina) <y:main2.bra>
- They Came From Beyond -- (Junidy) <y:junidy1.bra>
- They Live -- (beyond charted space) <y:they.bra>
- VACC SUITS, Inc. -- Glisten <y:vacc.bra>
- Voyages of the Viper -- (Talos) <y:viper.bra>
- -------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that it would have probably taken me 10 times longer to
organize the information in the example outline above using a
word processor, because of the way I've ordered the information
(in a way most useful to me). If I had to use a wordprocessor to
it, I probably would not have embarked on the task of organizing
my campaign records in the first place. Each branch entry in the
outline above includes a linkout to the file that contains the
information for that branch, so getting to any information on
my campaign is quick and easy. No shuffling through piles
of papers.
Having MaxThink would allow you to do the following: Keep
records on your campaign, organized the way you want. Make your
own adventures for and custom developments to the game, and keep
all these writings organized in a single structure so that you can
easily find what you need when you need it. It's like having a
road system to access your knowledge, with highways leading to
major areas, and roads branching off leading to the various
pieces of information contained.
Your Traveller hypernet could in turn be hooked-into and made
accessible from any number of other hypernets. For instance, on
my computer, I have an all-encompassing hypernet (which I call my
"Master Outline"), which links to and therefore encompasses
almost everything I've ever written over the past few years,
including a branch designed for Self-Management (to plan,
schedule, and execute projects, programs of activities, and
individual tasks). It also contains a branch on Business,
another containing my personal Researches, and another for my
favorite hobby (RPG's). Each branch of my Master Outline
branches off, so the whole contains a great many reference areas
and development areas relating to many different subjects
(philosophy, ideas, nutrition, sleep, exercise, property
management, hypertext/hypernet technology, catalogs of utilities,
bibliographies on several subjects, etc., etc., etc).
Each branch of a hypernet can be referred to as another hypernet
(or subnet) if it in turn links-out or branches (otherwise it is
just a file of some kind, like an outline or document, but not a
hypernet in and of itself). My RPG hypernet has a huge branch
dedicated to AD&D, and another even larger branch designed to
support my Traveller campaign and TML activities.
One way to visualize a hypernet is hierarchically, like this:
. Master Outline
. --------------
. |
. |
. --------------------------------------------------------------
. | | | |
. | | Writings, |
. General Self-Management Researches, Hobbies
. Knowledge System & Studies |
. ----------------- --------------- --------- |
. P S B P A | | | | | | RPG's
. h c u o r |--Plan Devel. | | | | | ---------
. i i s l t | | | | | | | |
. l e i i s |--Time management | | | | | AD&D Traveller
. o n n t | | | | | | Health
. s c e i | |--Schedule | | | Thinking systems
. o e s c | | | | Learning systems
. p s s s | |--Execute | Self-mgt. systems
. h | Philosophy
. y |--Self-evaluation
Each of the above branches could then branch out, even to each
other. Extensive interlinking makes the structure more akin to a
network than a hierarchy. Networks can include circular routes,
star patterns, group-ins, group-outs, and imbedded hierarchies.
Speaking of hierarchies, Traveller breaks down rather easily into
a hierarchy. Here is the Traveller branch from the tree above
expanded to show one possible breakdown: