HyperBox’s linking features offer many advantages and open a world of possibilities.
• any document can have any feature. For example, any document can launch a QuickTime movie.
• users prefer reading hyperlinked documents, as this manual illustrates.
• all linked documents remain in their native format and are fully editable.
• the linked files can be renamed and moved without distrupting the links.
• related documents can be associated in any number of ways.
You can use HyperBox to create links to reports, drawings, charts, testimony, documentation and other important supporting materials. In fact, any time you are trying to create, navigate, or present information and are using electronic documents, HyperBox can help. This document provides some examples of how you can use HyperBox to solve everyday challenges.
Create Document Easier
Problem: It’s inconvenient to refer to supporting information while creating a document.
Solution: Create HyperBox links from the new document to the reference material. Open the appropriate link to instantly refer to the supporting material.
Advantage: You concentrate on creating content instead of digging through folders or Internet sites to re-reference documents.
Edit Documents Collaboratively
Problem: Creating documents often requires a group effort with many iterations. However, it’s impossible to add comments or suggestions to a document without marking up or altering the original document.
Solution: Create a HyperBox link to external files containing your comments and changes.
Example: An art Director suggests either cropping or replacing a picture in a QuarkXPress layout. He links the picture’s caption in QuarkXPress to a Word file where he types his concerns. He creates two links in the Word file: one points to a Photoshop file of the cropped image, the second points to an alternative graphic in LivePicture.
Create Hypertext Document Sets
Problem: Readers often want to jump to information that interests them. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to deliver hypertext documents that are easy to produce and maintain.
Solution: Create a set of documents and link related concepts with HyperBox links.
Example 1: A software developer delivers a set of read me files with an expanded table of contents in the first document. Readers quickly jump to read the installation procedure for their particular computer without scrolling through non-applicable information. In addition, the files include Internet links to their home page, a frequently-asked-questions page, and pre-addressed e-mail for technical support.
Example 2: A company develops its annual report with HyperBox links. A manager reads a WordPerfect document explaining North American sales and opens a link to a spreadsheet containing sales data. She activates another link that opens another spreadsheet document with her region’s sales data. She opens another link which opens a pie chart showing her regions percent of total sales.
Advantages: The freedom to use any applicaton to make a point while focusing on a particular issue helps writers create more informative documents. The ability for readers to select specific information means they get more information in less time.
Add Comments to Program Code
Problem: If developers don’t comment their program code properly, the code is hard to maintain. If there are too many comments, then the actual code is hard to read.
Solution: Create a link from a function (procedure, object, etc.) to a word processing file that contains the comments. This file can also link to a flow chart or sample code.
Develop Product Specifications
Problem: Product development often requires creating many documents from many different applications. There is no simple method to tie these documents together. With the rise of internal web sites, this challenge is made even more difficult.
Solution: Create HyperBox links between all the different documents and web pages. This makes it possible for presenters and researchers to explain their concepts effectively and for readers to focus on the materials.
Example: An entrepreneur writes a business plan that includes links to forecast spreadsheets, market share graphs, product designs, and project management schedules.
Create Internet URL Directories
Problem: Creating a personal address book of Internet URLs (Universal Resource Locators) requires a dedicated application.
Solution: Create HyperBox URL links in your favorite word processor. Use the word processor’s outlining features to group related sites. Add descriptive text to the URLs so you remember them later. Use HyperBox to go directly from your word processor to the selected URL.
Relate Documents Scattered Across Various Folders
Problem: The MacOS Finder provides only one dimension for organizing documents: the folder. Aliases add a little more flexibility, but you still have to remember their locations and file names.
Solution: Link related documents with HyperBox.
Example: A consultant or graphic designer uses WordPerfect to prepare a project quotation. She links to a spreadsheet to calculate the actual cost and transfers the total to the WordPerfect file. The client calls to inquire about specific costs. She opens the quote and uses the HyperBox link to open her spreadsheet.
Build a Multimedia Database
Problem: It’s difficult to catalogue different types of media - text, sound, video, graphics, etc.
Solution: Create a custom database and create HyperBox links to your files. Here’s a multimedia database in FileMaker Pro 3.
Catalogue Documents
Problem: It’s impossible to conveniently search for and launch documents. The MacOS Finder requires that you remember the file name and ‘Find Content’ searches are relatively slow.
Solution: Create a custom database with HyperBox links to your documents. Here’s a document database in FileMaker Pro 3.
