Virtual nodes

Virtual nodes are nodes in the tree which behave in a special way. A virtual node does not contain its own text in KeyNote, like normal nodes do. Instead, a virtual node is linked to a file on your disk. The text of that file is displayed in KeyNote and may be edited in exactly the same way as any normal note. However, when KeyNote saves the file, the text in the virtual node is saved back to the original file on disk, rather than being saved in the KeyNote file itself.

This allows you to keep certain files separate and be edit them in other applications (such as NotePad or WordPad), and at the same time to edit these files inside KeyNote.

Note, however, that if you copy the KeyNote file to a diskette or move it to another computer, the virtual nodes may become "orphaned", because their linked files will remain in their original location on your hard disk.

You can only link text (*.txt) or Rich text (*.rtf) files to a virtual node. If the file on disk is a plain text file, any formatting styles that you apply to this file's virtual node will be lost, because the file will be saved in its original, plain text format.

TIP: If a file you want to link as a virtual node does not have the ".txt" extension, but it really is a plain text file, you can add that extension to the list of file extensions that KeyNote recognizes. Click here for more information.

To create a virtual node: Add a normal node to the tree the way you always do. Do not type anything in the node's editor window. Right-click the node with your mouse, and from the context menu select the "Virtual node" command. A standard "File open" dialog box will be displayed, allowing you to choose the file on disk which you want to link to the node. Select the file and click OK.

Important: If you encrypt a file containing virtual nodes, the text in the disk files will not be encrypted. Click here for more information.

Additional note:

A virtual node can be reverted to a "normal" node. If you click the "Virtual node" command in the tree context menu on a node that already is virtual, you will be given an option to revert the node to normal. The contents of the linked file will be retained, but the link with the file will be broken, and the text will now be stored in the .KNT file. This enables you to import RTF and text files directly into tree nodes, although in a somewhat roundabout way.