iData Pro File Link Example

In addition to text and images, iData Pro can contain a variety of links (URLs), including links to files on disk.

Here is a practical example showing how all these elements might be combined in a single record. It also shows how to use the iData entries in the Services menu.

In the following image, the background shows a Web page in Safari. This Web page contains an image showing a piece of guitar music. It also includes a link for downloading a MIDI version of that music. On top of that image is a record from my bookmarks datafile (MW's URLs). It contains the music image and some other text from that Web page. It also includes a link to the MIDI file, which I had downloaded to my hard drive. Finally, it shows QuickTime Player in the foreground, playing that MIDI file.

The MIDI file was opened in QuickTime Player simply by clicking the link to the file in the Bookmarks datafile.

 

Here are the steps by which this record was created in iData Pro:

1. Downloaded the MIDI file from the Web page, which was open in Safari.
2. Highlighted the sheet music image in Safari, then selected Grab URL and Selection in the IData sub-menu of the Services sub-menu of the Safari menu, causing the MW's URL datafile to open in iData Pro, with the highlighted image pasted into the Freeform Text Area of a new record (and with the Web page title and URL in the appropriate fields).
3. Clicked just above the music image.
4. Clicked the Insert link to a file or folder button in the datafile toolbar. This brought up a dialog that let me select the newly downloaded MIDI file. The result was that a link to that file was added to the record. I wasn't too crazy about the file name, so I renamed it as "Beaumont Rag Flatpick Rolls MIDI".
   
5. Saved the changes to the datafile.

Now, whenever I want to work on these guitar rolls, I can open the MW's URL datafile, type "Beaumont Rag" or "Flatpick Rolls" into the Find Box, click the Find Button, and view that record. I can look at the sheet music right there, and if I want to hear what it sounds like, I can simply click the link to the MIDI file (which is what I did to get this screen shot). Clicking a file link in iData Pro produces the same result as double-clicking the same file in the Finder--the file opens in the appropriate application.