Add "notebooks" menu to switch between notebooks

[dotancohen]

An option to change the current notebook without opening another window (or the tray icon) would be nice. It could be implemented with a new Main Menu item named Notebooks (to appear between Go and Help), with a list of available notebooks. It could even have the keyboard shortcut Alt-N which seems to be unused.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

This is a "will not fix" because the design simply does not fit opening another notebook in the same window. Also from a usability point of view it seems better to keep apart notebooks as separate "physical" objects.

[dotancohen (dotancohen)]

Could there be then added an easy method to open another notebook and close the current one in one operation? I find that I am switching between notebooks many times per day and I find it cumbersome to keep opening new notebooks and closing others. I never need _two_ notebooks open at the same time, but I switch notebooks frequently.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

You could have a "notebooks" menu with other notebooks. Clicking one
would minimize or close the current and open the new one. Can be
implemented as a plugin easily hooking into the interface used by the
trayicon.

[dotancohen (dotancohen)]

> You could have a "notebooks" menu with other
> notebooks. Clicking one would minimize or close
> the current and open the new one.

Yes, this is the exact feature that I am requesting (close current notebook and open selected notebook).

> Can be implemented as a plugin easily hooking into
> the interface used by the trayicon.

I am currently unfamiliar with the plugin architecture as I no no programming beyond basic PHP and C. I need be I can look into implementing this plugin in a few months when I finish this terrible semester and I will have the time to learn some Python. Hopefully the Python port of Zim will be available by then.

Thank, Jaap. Can this issue be reopened now that it is clear how to implement it? You could even assign it to me to motivate me to start learning Python in time for the Python Zim port.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

Proof of concept plugin that adds "Notebooks" menu.

* Option to list all notebooks versus open notebooks only (shared code with trayicon to query daemon)
* Option to close/hide the current notebook on switching versus just popping the new one open on top

Check HIG for hint on implementing a "Documents" or "Windows" menu.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

Closing this request for now as I don't want to add this as a standard feature. Can be done with a plugin.

[Ana Pras (fab4ap)]

A menu item with notebooks listed (as is standard in many similar programs) would really help as I do find it really cumbersome to switch between windows. There could be done as a simple - "open as new window dialogue" or even an item in options whether to replace or open as new window. Within few weeks after using Zim, I already have 9 notebooks and the current way of handling notebooks looks rather dated.