Basic TreePad manual.
Covers all TreePad versions

Version: 2003-FEB-14
Copyright 1996 - 2003, Freebyte!
TreePad homepage: http://www.treepad.com

Contents

Introduction
Versions covered
Using TreePad
The tree part
The article part
How to create a new file
How to save your data
How to open a new database
More TreePad documents (online)...

Introduction

TreePad is a very easy to use, so many users will not need to read any manual to start working with it. This document, 'Basic Treepad Manual' can be very helpful for the beginning user. It explains the basic functions of TreePad, like adding, removing, rearranging and editing data. If you are not a beginning user, you might want skip this manual and use the program right away.

We are currently working on a complete manual covering ALL the functions; it will be part of future distributions and also be available online. Currently, for a comprehensive reference on TreePad's wide range of features, please see the online manual. It covers TreePad PLUS, SAFE and Business Edition, and is also useful to Enterprise users, since these programs have so many features in common.

TreePad versions covered

This document, 'TreePad basic manual' covers the following versions:

* TreePad Lite for Windows
* TreePad ASIA
* TreePad Lite for Linux
* TreePad PLUS
* TreePad SAFE
* TreePad Business Edition
* TreePad X Enterprise 4 Gb single user version
* TreePad X Enterprise 256 Gb single-user version
* TreePad X Enterprise multi-user

Using Treepad

To have an idea on how to use TreePad, you can start the program and open the file "manual.hjt".
TreePad consists of a tree (the left part of the screen) and an article (the right part of the screen).

The right pane, the 'article' can contain texts, links, etc. The article is similar to a document inside a Word Processor. The left pane, the tree, can contain a large number of 'nodes'. 'Nodes' are similar to folders and files on your harddisk, or more poetically, leafs of physical trees in the real world.

A node can contain an article, which is a text or a document. When you select a node (in the left pane), the text inside that node is displayed in the article (right pane).
If you press the little "+" of a tree node with the left mouse button, the node becomes 'expanded'. If a node is expanded, the 'sub tree' of that node is shown. This subtree consists of child nodes of the selected node. So nodes can not only contain texts, but also other nodes (child nodes)!

When you click on a node, you select that node, and the text inside that node will be displayed in the article in the right pane. And when you click on a '+' of a node, the subtree of that node will be shown (the node becomes 'expanded'). If you click on a '-' of a node, the subtree of that node will be hidden (the node becomes 'collapsed').

Tree nodes can be easily moved around, deleted, inserted, edited, copied and pasted. Articles can be edited in exactly the same way as in a standard word processing program.

Although TreePad is very easy to use and conforms to Windows standards, actions like moving, deleting and adding nodes, editing texts are explained in full detail below.

The tree part.

How to add a node
* Method 1: click on a node with the left mouse button, then using the keyboard press the 'insert' or 'ins' key. A new node is created, below and slightly to the right of the original node. You can type the node name of the newly created node. After you have finished typing in the node name, press 'enter' on the keyboard.
* Method 2: click the node with your right mouse button and use the tree context menu (the menu that pops up when you right-click on the tree).

How to delete a node
* Method 1: click on a node with the left mouse button, then using the keyboard press the 'delete' or 'del' key.
* Method 2:click the node which needs to be deleted with your right mouse button, and use the tree context menu.
Important: when you use this function, not only the selected node will be deleted, but all of it's child nodes as well.

How to change the node name
* Method 1: select a node by clicking on it once with the left mouse button. Wait for one second. Click on it again. A small edit cursor appears in the node title.Type the new node name, then press 'enter' using the keyboard.
* Method 2: select a node by clicking on it once with the left mouse button. Using the keyboard press the 'F2' function key. Type the node name, then press 'enter' on the keyboard.

How to expand a node
* If the node displays a little "+" sign on its left, click on that "+" sign and the node will expand, displaying all of its child nodes. If the node does not have a little "+" sign on its left, the node does not contain any child nodes and can not be expanded.

How to collapse a node
* If the node displays a little "-" sign on its left, click on that "-" sign and the node will be collapsed.

How to move a node (so that it becomes a child of another node)
Place your mouse cursor over the node you want to move. Press down the left mouse button down, selecting the node. While keeping the left mouse button pressed down, drag the mouse cursor to the destination node and release the left mouse button. The result is that the dragged node has beomce a 'child node' of the destination node.
The above procedure is called 'drag-and-drop'.
Important: the node and all of it's child nodes are moved to the new location.

How to move a node (so that it becomes a sibling of another node)
Place your mouse cursor over the node you want to move. Press down the 'shift' key on the keyboard and keep it pressed down. Then press down the left mouse button down, selecting the node. While keeping the left mouse button pressed down, drag the mouse cursor to the destination node and release the left mouse button. Finally release the shift key. The result is that the dragged node has beomce a 'sibling node' of the destination node.
The above procedure is called 'drag-and-drop'. This command moves the node to the position just below the destination node. The difference with the previous command is, that the node will not become a child of the destination node, but a sibling. Note: as indicated above, you need to press the shift key BEFORE you start the mouse operation.

The article part.

The article part can be found in the right half of the screen. In the article you can type texts, edit, cut, copy, paste, delete and select blocks of characters just in the same way as in any regular Word Processor or text editor.

As explained above, each node contains one article (or document). When selecting a different tree node, a different article or document will appear in the right half of the screen. Any changes you made in the previous article are remembered and shown when you return to that article. You can return to the previous article by clicking on the previous tree node.

By clicking on the article with your left mouse button you 'focus' the article. When the article is 'focused' it accepts keyboard input, meaning that you can start typing in your text. Right clicking on the article will make the article popup menu appear. This menu contains menu useful editing functions, like cut, copy and paste.

How to create a new file

All TreePad versions except TreePad Enterprise: to create a new file, click on the 'file' entry in the main menu, then click on 'new'.

TreePad Enterprise single-user: to create a new database, click on the 'database' entry in the main menu, then click on 'new'.

TreePad Enterprise multi-user: only your system/database manager can create new databases.

How to open a new database

All TreePad versions except TreePad Enterprise: to open another file, containing a different tree and other articles, click on the 'file' entry in the main menu, then click on 'open'.

TreePad Enterprise single user: click menu/database/open local database.

TreePad Enterprise, multi-user: click menu/database/open remote database.

How to save your data

All TreePad versions except TreePad Enterprise: to save all the changes you made in the tree and the article, click on the 'file' entry in the main menu, then click on 'save'. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard and press 'ctrl' and 's' simultaneously.

TreePad Enterprise, all versions: changes in the tree are stored immediately onto your harddisk when you add a node or change a node title so you do not explicitely need to save the tree.
Changes in the article are instantly stored onto your harddisk when you click on the tree, close the database, exit the program, or click on menu/database/save current article.
Alternatively, you can use the keyboard and press 'ctrl' and 's' simultaneously.

This concludes the basic manual.