[TW5] User interface for copy by value (vs reference) operations on singleton tiddlers

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Daniel Cunningham

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Mar 20, 2017, 2:48:09 PM3/20/17
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Hi All:

I hope this is not going to be an embarrassing question.  But I did search the docs and groups/forums to no avail, so here goes...

I am trying to do a copy of a single tiddler from one local TW5 file to another.  For example, an "action item" exists in a small "to-do list" TW5 wiki, but perhaps now I am wanting to file & cross reference it into a larger "research notes" TW5 wiki, and then delete it from the "action items" wiki (which I want to keep as small as possible).

I see from the TW5 docs that a copy operation is done by a drag & drop of the source URL onto the destination browser window.  So I generated a permalink for the tiddler in the "source window", and dragged it onto the destination window, which kicked off the import process.

The result of this is import process yields a tiddler with a URI to the permalink.  So it's (kind of) like a "copy-by-reference".  What I seek is more of a a "copy-by-value".  So then I tried the "import" tool via the tool tab.  Which will work to do the copy by value.  But...

...For a single tiddler, it's not very user friendly. To import the one tiddler from the source wiki took about 120 clicks, as I had to disable all the tiddlers that I did not want to copy over.  That's a lot of clickity-clicking!  I did not see any "select/deselect all", which could have made it take only 2 or 3 clicks. 

So, am I missing a key user interface?  It there a simpler way to import (or copy by value) the content (versus the URI/URL) of a single tiddler? 

I can see one response being: "why not just cut/paste"?  As I explore TW5, and think about moving tiddlers from one TW5 "notebook" to another, I also think it's important to try to preserve tagging states, and also custom field states, which a simple copy/paste operation seems insufficient to do. 

If it's missing functionality, perhaps a column header with the aforementioned "select/deselect all/none" functionality would suffice?

Details: I am operating TW5 with Firefox 50.0.2 on Linux Mint 18 (Sarah) XFCE (and loving it, BTW).

Best regards,

-- Daniel


BJ

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Mar 20, 2017, 3:21:54 PM3/20/17
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Hi Daniel,
you can drag tiddlers from the 'open' tab on the right hand side - just open the tiddler you want to copy, then drag it from the list in the 'open' tab to the destination tidwiki

all the best
BJ

Eric Shulman

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Mar 20, 2017, 5:38:54 PM3/20/17
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On Monday, March 20, 2017 at 12:21:54 PM UTC-7, BJ wrote:
Hi Daniel,
you can drag tiddlers from the 'open' tab on the right hand side - just open the tiddler you want to copy, then drag it from the list in the 'open' tab to the destination tiddlywiki

Step by step:

1) Open both the "source" TW and "target" TW in separate browser windows
2) In the source TW, find a link to the desired tiddler (e.g., in the sidebar, or in any other content where there is a link to the tiddler)
3) Drag that link from the source window to the target window
4) Move near the TOP of the target window, a green "drop here" bar will appear
5) Drop the link
6) A core-generated $:/Import tiddler will appear, listing ONLY the tiddler you dropped.
7) Press the Import button

Note: if you want to import a few tiddlers at once, you can drag/drop each of them, one at a time, to the target TW.  This adds them to the $:/Import list.  When you have all the tiddler you want listed, press Import once to complete the action.

enjoy,
-e
Eric Shulman
TiddlyTools: "Small Tools for Big Ideas" (tm)
InsideTiddlyWiki: The Missing Manuals

Thomas Elmiger

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Mar 20, 2017, 6:33:46 PM3/20/17
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Hi

It is also possible to perform a search and drag a title from the search results (the list in the popup) directly.

As Eric noted, you can drag any LINK pointing to the tiddler you want to copy (no visible URL needed).

All the best!
Thomas

(In Firefox I can drag from one tab to another tab in the same window.)

Jeremy Ruston

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Mar 20, 2017, 6:56:17 PM3/20/17
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Hi Daniel

On 20 Mar 2017, at 18:48, Daniel Cunningham <dan...@chintiminifarm.com> wrote:

To import the one tiddler from the source wiki took about 120 clicks, as I had to disable all the tiddlers that I did not want to copy over.  That's a lot of clickity-clicking!  I did not see any "select/deselect all", which could have made it take only 2 or 3 clicks.  

Thanks for reminding me; I’ve added a new select all/none checkbox in the heading of the $:/Import tiddler for 5.1.14. There’s a prerelease you can try at:


Best wishes

Jeremy

Daniel Cunningham

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Mar 22, 2017, 3:13:42 AM3/22/17
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Thanks, BJ.  Now it's clear.  I was confusing "link" with URL/URI.  I'm off to the races now!


On Monday, March 20, 2017 at 12:21:54 PM UTC-7, BJ wrote:

Daniel Cunningham

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Mar 22, 2017, 3:17:54 AM3/22/17
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Thanks for your time on this Eric.  I saw in the TW5 intro tiddlers that newbies like me can volunteer to update the docs and initiate git pull requests.  So I'll try to do that soon, and add some of your instructions, and the other clarifications in this thread.  It's what lesser minions like me should do in return for the help & advice. 

But I'll need to get spun-up on git first, as I am from the paleological age of CVS, which I think was before the great version control extinction event.   :-)

Daniel Cunningham

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Mar 22, 2017, 3:19:48 AM3/22/17
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Now, THAT (the inter-window tab-to-tab drag/drop) is a thing of beauty.  That works SO well with my workflow.  I'm getting misty-eyed.

I'm serious -- that's awesome.  Thanks so much!

Daniel Cunningham

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Mar 22, 2017, 3:27:23 AM3/22/17
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What can I say, sir?  You are... the best.

Can't wait to try it out.

And I take back everything evil I've ever said about JavaScript (as an unrepentant C++ programmer and all around strongly-typed/OO type of guy).

@TiddlyTweeter

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Mar 22, 2017, 4:59:27 PM3/22/17
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i have not seen the use of the word "singleton" for a very long time.

it is a *beautiful* word.
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