SUPPORT NOTES
Table of Contents
Add an Existing Database to Ibidem
To add an existing database (hereafter referred to as ExistingDB; your database name will be different) to the list of accessible databases in Ibidem:
1. Locate your existing database files
- If you are not certain where they reside, or what they are named, you can use the Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder search option/field (usually at the top right of that operating system dialog) to find all files of type “*.#00” (without the quotes)
- From the results, you should hopefully be able to identify your database, and where the files that comprise it are located
- If there are multiple candidates that show up, find the ones with the largest number (and most recent versions) of the files of type .#0x (.#00, .#01, .#02, etc.) — these contain the database’s actual records
- Still in File Explorer/Mac Finder, browse to that folder:
- Confirm that in addition to any actual data files (.#00, .#.01, etc.) there are another two dozen or so similarly named files, with different file types
- If you had note-taking files linked to your database, you should also find a folder named ExistingDB1 ‐ that is, a folder sharing the name of the database files, but with a “1” added to the end of it
2. If the ExistingDB files are not where you’d like them to be, you can copy them to the desired location
- If you used the new home folder option, one good place would be ..\Nota Bene\Databases\ExistingDB – that is, a folder named the same as your database, into/under which you should copy all ExistingDB files and any ExistingDB1 folder
3. Open Ibidem
- If a version (blank or abbreviated) of ExistingDB is open, close it (File, Close Database)
- Go to File, Ibidem Gateway, select ExistingDB, and click Remove (at the bottom left) to remove it from this list (this only removes the name from the list; it does not delete any files)
- Go to File, Add Database, and use the browse button to point the database to this location, after which you can add a description if desired, or simply click OK to add it
The database should now be accessible.
Configuration Settings
The folder that contains many of your custom settings can be found under the Nota Bene home folder, which is one of the following folders:
- New Installation Structure (one of the following)
- Users\YOURUSERNAME \Nota Bene\Settings
- Users\YOURUSERNAME \YOUR_SYNC_PROGRAM \Nota Bene\Settings
- The Settings folder under the folder shown by going to Files, File Options, Set Home Folder (in NB)
- Legacy Installation
NBWIN\USERS\DEFAULT
A. Restoring Original/Shipping NB.INI Settings
If you are asked (by technical support) to restore the original NB.INI file (the file that contains most customer settings), the steps are to:
1. Quit NB
2. Find the NB.INI file in the custom settings folder (see above), and rename it
- You can use any name
- The point of renaming it, rather than deleting it, is so you can restore it if asked to do so (see B. Restoring Your Original Settings below)
3. Copy the shipping/default version of this file into your settings folder
- New Installation Structure
- Copy the NB.INI file from the Initial folder under the Settings folder (..\Settings\Initial) into your ..\Settings folder, replacing the renamed version
- Legacy Installation
- Copy the NB.INI file from NBWIN\USERS\INITIAL to NBWIN\USERS\DEFAULT
Note that after restoring the shipping NB.INI file, your most-recently-used file list (under the File drop-down menu) will need to be repopulated (this will happen automatically as you open files from the File, Open dialog), and some other custom settings may need to be reset.
B. Restoring Your Original Settings
- If restoring the original settings fixes whatever issue you were encountering, you may want to use these defaults as a starting point, and recustomize other settings as desired/needed
- Note that if the reason to restore the original settings was to solve some problem caused by earlier custom settings, you should probably re-add these custom settings one (or a few) at a time, checking after each change to see if that custom setting is the one that seems to be cause of the original problem
- If restoring the original settings causes the problem to disappear, that usually means that the problem is in one of the custom changes you made, and we may ask you to send us the file with your original (problem-causing) settings, that is, the renamed file — that is, the one before you replaced it with the shipping version (see A.2. above)
- Alternatively (whether or not the original file resolves the problem) you may wish to restore your original seetings (those in effect before replacing them with the shipping defaults)
- Quit NB
- Delete the NB.INI file from the Settings folder (see above)
- You can do this since this file is the original version of this file that you just copied in, without your custom settings (unless you already changed some of these)
- Rename the file you renamed earlier (A.2. above) back to NB.INI
RTF
The RTF filter is not intended to provide a mirror image of the file. Indeed, RTF is a least-common denominator, and lacks many of the academic structures that NB provides. For example, smart citations, many kinds of cross referencing, and multiple series of notes are simply lacking in this business-oriented format. This general reality has shaped our implementation of the RTF filter. Our goal has been not to convert every NB function, but to get ALL the text, and the vast majority of the formatting, to the recipient (usually a publisher), who can/will then reformat and restructure it, something that they can do if they have the entire text (which RTF preserves). Publishers do not expect to take the RTF format and print it as-is; they always need to rework it. Indeed, in most cases they strip out your (RTF) formatting entirely, and replace it with their in-house styles. The same is true if the recipient is a professor or reader – they need to have your text; you can tell them that minor details of formatting will be handled later.
If you need the recipient to see exactly what you are seeing — that is, not only all the text, but the exactly identical formatting — you should send them a PDF version. That’s a good idea even if you are sending the manuscript to a publisher, since while they cannot usually work from your PDF file, it will show them exactly what you intended, and thus serve as a useful guide to them.
Other notes:
- If it is an option for the press, sending individual chapters might make the most sense, since sometimes RTF has problems restarting note numbers at each chapter (in large manuscripts, although this is usually quite easy to correct in the resulting RTF file)
- The thing to do is to experiment – it’s harmless, and you should be able to see the major issues quite easily (if there are any)
- If you encounter specific problems (with note renumbering, for example, or if you have cross references), feel free to contact us, since we may have suggestions/workarounds
- That said, we are not anticipating making any changes to the RTF filter, instead preferring to utilize our resources on new direct-to/from-DOCX filters that are under development
Function Key Setup
The “function keys” that appear on the top row of most computer keyboards can operate in two different ways, either to implement the actions:
- Depicted by the legends on the keyboard (e.g., changing the volume of the computer speakers, or changing the brightness of the display)
- Enabled/required by the currently running application (for example, Nota Bene)
The rules for accessing and configuring these two states are actually relatively simple.
- Most computers are shipped with the first option — the keys performing general non-application-specific ations — set as the default
- To use the keys in their non-default mode, you hold a special key (usually to the left of the spacebar) labeled “Fn” or “FLock” or something similar
- You can change the default — that is, to control which set of actions can be activated without holding this special key —, but how you do so depends on the computer you are running:
- On some Windows systems, this is easily done by holding the Esc key and pressing this special key
- On Macs, you can normally change this by clicking the Apple icon, System Configuration, and then clicking the Keyboard icon
- If none of the above options work, do a web search for something like “function keys on x” (where “x” is your computer)
Screen Resolution
Nota Bene is designed to run on systems that have screen resolutions of at least 1280 x 720 — its unique research power requires this minimal screen real estate
- You should also be able to work, although less optimally — you may need to click buttons to show some options that are not immediately visible —, on systems with a horizontal resolution of 1024
- 720 remains the minimum vertical resolution — the bottoms of multiple dialogs will be cut off on systems with less than that resolution
- Note that on Windows systems, any screen enlargement you choose (under Settings, Display) changes the effective resolution, thus potentially impacting Nota Bene’s ability to run properly
- For example, a system with native 1920 x 1080 resolution will continue to work with 150% enlargement (the effective resolution becomes 1280 x 720), but not at 200% (960 x 540)
- Since 1280 x 720 is the minimum supported resolution, any enlargement on a system with that native resolution would render NB unusable
- One option if you have one of these lower-resolution systems, and you need screen enlargement, is to hook up a higher-resolution external monitor that does not require using screen enlargement
Configure Text Display
Some people — although we have never encountered this in-house, despite running NB on lots of different resolution systems, with different screen-enlargement settings (see above) — report a “fuzziness” when running Nota Bene on some Windows systems.
If you find that the display within Nota Bene is less than optimal:
- Close Nota Bene
- Right click on the shortcut that starts Nota Bene
- Select Properties
- Select Compatibilty
- Click “Change high DPI settings”
- Under “High DPI scaling override”
- Check “Override high DPI scaling behavior”
- Select “Application” under “Scaling performed by:”
If these steps (note that these may differ slightly depending on the version of Windows you are running) do not resolve the problem, write us at technicalsupport@notabene.com.
Manuscript Files
Manuscript files are described in detail in the Nota Bene help file, with the notes here expanding and emphasizing some of the capabilites and requirements.
OVERVIEW OF MANUSCRIPT FILE TYPES
- The component files — preliminary text, individual chapters, backmatter, etc.
- The Manuscript Control (MSC) file that specifies the files to be included, their order, and relevant settings
- The Manuscript Text (MST) file proper — this is transient, only existing while the manuscript file is open
- WHEN OPENING — each of the component files is physically merged into the fuller manuscript (which is recreated each time)
- WHILE EDITING — the component files are locked (they cannot be edited)
- WHEN CLOSING — all changes are written back to the original component files, and the (temporary) manuscript MST file is deleted (it won’t show up on your disk)
SETTING UP INDIVIDUAL FILES
- For consistent formatting, the individual component files must have same academic style manual
- In contrast, the format of bibliographic citations (and the database used) is picked up from the first file setting the style and the linked Ibidem database
- Numbering systems must be set up to match the desired numbering in the manuscript file:
- Continue across the manuscript (e.g., chapters) — select the CONTINUE SEQUENTIAL option
- Restart at each chapter (e.g., notes) — BEGIN SEQUENTIAL
- Since the manuscript control file specifies whether files combined into a manuscript begin on new pages, you should not insert a break break at the end of the individual component files
ENDNOTES AND REFERENCE LISTS
- If your individual files use endnotes, and/or they include a reference list/bibliography, these are normally gathered at the end of a manuscript (although manuscripts composed of chapters from different authors may continue to have these output at the end of each chapter)
- Elements selected for accumulation across individual files — that is, files with the SUPPRESS property — for output at the end (or some other designated place before then) will be output at that designated place (the file with the RETAIN property set) ONLY if there are commands at that position in that component file set to output that (note or reference-list) element
- If your manuscript uses endnotes output together at the end, you will almost certainly want to have chapter headers before the notes for individual chapters
- When setting up endnotes for individual chapters for the first time, you are prompted to enter the chapter-divider text for use in the manuscript
- If these were not set up earlier, the program will notify you of this omission when you set up the manuscript control file, and provide a popup dialog that lists the files that need this chapter-divider text added
FORMATTING CONTEXT/DIFFERENCES
- When a component file (this is true of all Nota Bene files) is opened, any formatting not set explicitly in that file picks up your default settings
- When that file is included in a manuscript, it picks up the settings in effect at the end of the previous chapter, and so if these are different from the defaults, the formatting of the following chapter will appear differently when combined than it appears when opened individually
- In the (relatively rare) case that you encounter this, you can resolve it by explicitly setting the default format at the top of the (affected) component files (FORMAT > PAGE LAYOUT > Write Defaults button)
And Don't Miss Out on Orbis!
Orbis, in many ways, is the heart of Nota Bene (at least, more than anything else, it was the idea that led me to take a leave of absence from my Ph.D. dissertation to design Nota Bene). People tell us that it completely changes the way they work. Here’s just one account (see others here):
I should really tell you too about how crucial Nota Bene was in sorting through the thousands of hand-written note pages by the Eugen Fink of my study of Husserl and Fink. These are what were totally unknown to the philosophic (i.e., phenomenology) public, and no one had read them before, except for a few sampled by a then new acquaintance from Belgium who had seen the mass the summer before I did, but had not time to look very far.
I typed [it all in, and] then I made searches in Orbis by theme, amassing folders of printed out texts on each theme, and then I went through them, referring always to the fuller context of each text unit . . . pulled out by Orbis.
That is how I began to see what was being done, in the way themes unfolded in their sense on the one hand, and on the other how they integrated with everything else. Nota Bene made it possible to discover the contribution Fink was making, beyond the few papers he published or the typed drafts he produced for Husserl.
It was an astonishing revelation.
Ronald Bruzina — professor of philosophy, University of Kentucky
Or, in the words of another user recently: “You have my undying thanks for developing Orbis. Among word processors, Nota Bene is king; but its crown jewel is Orbis.”
With Orbis+, you can search PDF, DOCX, DOC, RTF, and HTML files, making this invaluable tool even more useful.
And in the current NB version, this unique tool is now so automatic, so fast, and — in its new popup mode — always right at hand letting you extend your research options effortlessly.