What's new in FreeMind version 0.9.0

Last year, I reviewed version 0.8.0 of FreeMind, the open source mind mapping software program that has made significant strides in recent years. In early September, the development team introduced a beta version of 0.9.0. While still somewhat buggy, it shows the direction this unique program is taking.

Here's what's new in FreeMind version 0.9.0:

HTML compatible notes: The notes window now has 2 tabs, named "layout view" and "HTML code view." You can not only edit your notes in a rich text format, but also go under the hood to manipulate the HTML and tweak its appearance even further.

Attributes: You can assign values to map nodes in numbered pairs. I have no idea what this can practically be used for, and unfortunately the FreeMind wiki doesn't provide a clear explanation of what it does.

Filters: You can create map filters, which can be saved. Clicking on funnel icon in the toolbar opens up a panel just below the toolbar where you can add, edit and utilize filters. It toggles on and off. You can filter on text in your map nodes, on greater than/less than values, icons and more.

Scripting via Groovy: Groovy is a Java-based programming language, which can be used to automate a variety of tasks, such as setting the color for all child nodes, add the modified date to a node's text and other arcane capabilities that only a programmer could truly appreciate. Examples of what it can do are here.

Support for TaskJuggler, an open source project management tool for Linux that enables you to add tasks and resources to map nodes in such a format that they can be read in TaskJuggler when exported.

User icons: If you add PNG images to a specific program directory, FreeMind will regard them as part of its library of map icons. This allows you to customize the icon library.

Latex plug-in: This enables you to add mathematical formulas to your map nodes.

Find and replace: Found nodes can be sorted by date, text, icons, created, modified and notes text. From the find and replace dialogue, you can choose: export selected nodes, replace all, replace selected, go to, and select. Sounds pretty flexible!

Tabs: Open maps are now displayed in tabs.

I wouldn't recommend using this version of FreeMind for any production work, but it's a good opportunity to catch up on where the open source development team of Freemind is headed. You can download FreeMind version 0.9.0 here.

Comments

[Roy]

Chuck,

You mentioned uncertainty about practical uses for FreeMind's attributes. They can be useful to anyone wanting to use a mindmap as a front end for some activity, while having data in the map that other software can use. As a FreeMind (.mm) mindmap is really a zipped XML file, other software can extract the attribute data with no difficulty once they know the XML schema, and that's public information.

So, for example, a FreeMind user might use a mind map to plan a departmental reorganization. They could have a node per person (or vacant post) with job titles, qualifications, training needs and salaries in attributes. They could have other nodes (accommodation, resources, and the like) without such data. The flexibility of mindmaps makes this easy. Other software - an H.R. system, say - could then be fed the personnel data by a small extraction program using XSLT.

I could think of other examples, but the attributes are there initially for the techies, I'd say. Once they produce the applications, regular users will be using attributes probably without thinking about it. I haven't looked at TaskJuggler, but that might well be an example.

We use them for importing and exporting FreeMind files and retaining concept map information that would otherwise be lost in a mindmap.

Roy

[darryl]

I use attributes fairly regularly in conjunction with the filter.

A specific example is when I take notes at staff meetings. I create two attributes with multiple values: a) Attribute is staff, and the values are the staff persons' names; and b) attribute is priority and the values are numbers 1-5.
After the meeting, I quickly assign the staff name to specific comments and actions (with the assign attributes dialog, you can assign attributes to multiple selected notes instantly). When necessary, I assign priority levels as well. With the simple filter creation tool, I can easily show all nodes attributed to a specific staff person, or all nodes of a certain priority, or a combination of the two.

While it is true version 0.9 is still in beta, I have used it since revision 8 and have had no issues whatsoever in regular, daily use.