Database Browser
Zoot is designed to browse databases much the way a Web browser navigates Websites. Zoot lets you open multiple databases simultaneously and work on them, switching back and forth between them as needed.
Database File Name
Every Zoot database is a self-contained database stored in a single file with a .ZOT file extension. To see where your database files are stored on disk, click the Databases button on the toolbar or press Ctrl+F8 to launch Windows Explorer.
Desktop Databases
The Desktop Databases you see running across the top of the screen (Tasks, Calendar, Contacts, Mail etc.) are designed for quick access. To open one of the Desktop Databases, click the corresponding button on the toolbar. To open other databases click the Open button at the far left side of the toolbar (or press Ctrl+O).
Cycle Open Databases
To switch among open databases, click the Go Back button on the toolbar. To see a menu of currently open databases, click the small DownArrow [v] next to the Go Back button and Zoot will produce a pop-up menu of open databases. Notice that a check mark appears next to the currently active database.
Saving Changes
If you make changes to an open database, the changes are saved to file when you close the database or when you click the Save button on the toolbar. In the event of a system crash or power outage, Zoot will restore any unsaved work when you restart the program.
Backups
Zoot automatically creates backup copies of your database files in case you need to restore one. Backups are stored in the same file folder as the database files themselves. To view backup files, choose File | Backup | View Database Backups from the main menu and Zoot will open Database Manager and display your backup databases.
Window Panes
Zoot's main application window is divided into three panes. The pane on the left is called the Folder Tree, the pane at the top right is called the Item Grid and the pane just below it is called the Item Editor. You can change the pane configuration by clicking the Panes button on the toolbar.
New Items
To create new folders or items, right-click on the Folder Tree or the Item Grid and choose New from the pop-up menu. Keyboard users can use the Insert key instead. The Insert key creates a new folder or item depending on where the input focus is. If the input focus is on the Folder Tree and you press the Insert key, a new folder is created. If the input focus is on the Item Grid or the Item Editor, a new item is created. To create a new item and open it in a detached window, click the New button on the toolbar.
Database Storage
A database is a collection of items. An item is essentially a single database record which has a document associated with it. An item also has numerous properties associated with it to which values may be assigned. For instance, every item has a <Subject> property, which lets you briefly describe the contents of the item. Other properties include <Date Created>, <Priority>, <Status> and many more. To see all of the properties available for an item, right-click the item and choose Properties from the pop-up menu (or press F8).
Database Fields
In addition to the built-in item properties you can create user-defined database fields. User-defined fields appear as delimited values in the Item Editor. Field values can be entered directly in the Item Editor or in the Item Grid if you add the field to the grid as a column.
Grouping Items
Most of your work in Zoot will focus on collecting or creating items of information. Think of an item as a chunk of text which can be classified in countless ways. Using these classifications you can group together items related to a given activity. For instance, Zoot can quickly show you all items with a due date that falls in the next 7 days, or all items that have been given a high priority level. Each of these contexts is represented by a folder.
Folders
Folders are used to group related items in a database. Zoot folders work much like Windows file folders, but with a few important differences. An item can be assigned to more than one Zoot folder without creating a copy of the item. This feature lets you view an item in multiple contexts, with each context represented by a folder. For instance, when you create a new item in Zoot, the new item is automatically assigned to both the New Entries folder and the Recent Entries folder. Assigning an item to multiple folders does not increase the size of your database because only one copy of the item exists in the database. Similarly, if you make changes to an item in one folder, the changes will be reflected in any other folders to which the item is assigned.
Folder Assignments
To see the folders to which a given item is assigned, click the Assign button on the toolbar and Zoot will open the Folder Assignments window. The Folder Assignments window is split into two panes. The pane on the left shows the database Folder Tree and the pane on the right shows the folders to which the item is currently assigned. Use the arrow buttons in the center to add or clear folder assignments. Next to the Assign button you'll find a [+] and [-] button. These buttons let you quickly assign a folder [+] or clear an existing folder assignment [-].
Smart Folders
Folders with rules and actions attached to them are called Smart Folders. To create rules or actions for a folder, click on the folder you wish to smarten up, then click the Smart button on the toolbar and choose either Rules or Actions from the pop-up menu.
Folder Rules
Smart Folders can automatically pull in items matching criteria you set up in advance. For instance, the New Entries folder you see at the top of most every Zoot database is designed to pull in items that were created in the last couple of days. Similarly, the Recent Entries folder is designed to pull in items that were created in the last 30 days. Initially, new items you create will be assigned to both the New Entries folder and the Recent Entries folder because these new items match the rules set up for both folders. Most Zoot databases have a number of commonly used Smart Folders (like New Entries and Recent Entries) already set up for you. You can also create your own Smart Folders to help automate information management tasks.
Folder Actions
Smart Folders can also perform actions on items automatically. Actions include things like changing the color of an item, assigning a due date to an item, or moving an item to another database. Actions are triggered as soon as an item is assigned to a folder. For instance, most every Zoot database has a Hot List folder. When you assign an item to the Hot List folder, the item's color is changed to red. Another way to assign an item to the Hot List folder is to change the item's <Priority> value to High. This works because the Hot List folder also has a rule attached to it which pulls in any items marked high priority, so as soon as you change an item's <Priority> value to high the item color will change to red because the Hot List folder rule assigns the item to the Hot List folder, which then triggers the action to change the item color to red.
Views
The term view refers to the column, sorting, display and filter properties of the Item Grid. You create views with different column, sorting, display and filter properties to correspond with a particular context. For instance, you might create a Priority view in order to work with items in the context of their <Priority> value (High, Normal or Low). This view would probably include a <Priority> column to make it easy to change the priority level of items, and might also include a <Date Due> column to enable you to quickly set due dates for the items. The view would probably be set up to sort by priority, so that High priority items appear at the top of the Item Grid. Finally, this view might have a filter attached to it to filter out items whose <Status> property has been set to Complete. This filter would make items marked complete disappear from the view, thus reducing visual clutter in the Item Grid.
A typical database will have a variety of views available for use, with each view having its own custom column, sorting, display and filter settings. While each folder in a database can have its own custom view, most folders will share a view. To see the views available in the active database, click the Smart button on the toolbar and choose View from the pop-up menu. The view currently applied to the active folder will have a checkmark next to it. If no custom view is applied to a folder, the folder uses the database's Default View.
The Default View
Every database has a Default View. The Default View is the view automatically assigned to new folders and typically features the most common column, sorting, display and filter options relative to the database design. The Default View for the Tasks database, for instance, includes <Priority>, <Start Date> and <Due Date> columns so that these values can be entered directly in the Item Grid. The Default View can be edited just like any other view, in case you want to change the defaults. To edit a view, click the Smart button and select the view element you wish to modify (Filter, Columns, Display, Sorting) from the pop-up menu.
Quick Query
To search the active database, type a word or phrase into the Quick Query box, which is located just under the main toolbar (look for the little [?] icon at the top left of your screen). As you type text into the Quick Query box, Zoot immediately displays a list of matching items. Press the Enter key to see all matching items or select a single item from the list.
Quick Filter
To quickly filter the items in the Item Grid, choose Quick Filter from the Query menu. This changes the Quick Query function into a Quick Filter function. Notice the little [?] icon changes to a filter icon to indicate that you've entered Quick Filter mode. Type in a word or phrase and press Enter and Zoot will update the Item Grid to show only those items matching the filter criteria. For instance, if you're looking at a long list of e-mail items and you want to see just those e-mails with the name Garfield, you would type Garfield and press the Enter key to update the Item Grid.
Boolean Searches
By default, words typed into the Quick Query/Quick Filter box are combined using the AND operator. If you type Dog Cat Mouse, Zoot assumes the search criteria is Dog AND Cat AND Mouse. To search for an exact phrase, enclose it in quotes. You may also specify the Boolean operators AND, OR, NEAR and NOT explicitly.
Advanced Query
In addition to the Quick Query feature, Zoot provides an advanced query. Click the Query button on the toolbar to access this feature. The Advanced Query function queries the currently active database only. To search multiple databases, use the Global Query feature (from Zoot's main menu, choose Query | Global Query).
