There is some similarity to wiki systems, where pages are also inter-linked by tags. But knowde is running as a standalone application and needs no web server or browser. So, it is generally a smaller, faster and lighter version of knowledge management for your desktop. So you can use it also when you’re offline.

Please note that the last release of knowde is long ago. The reason is, that I have used the tool for study purposes myself, when I was at university. Time goes by and I finally made it to the exams. There has been no development work since then. If you have any feature request, please let me know.

The release 1.7.8 adds a default font to a KnowdeFile. This is used if the knowde has no specified font. The Editor class was improved, now one can switch between editing in clean mode and layout mode, and an apply button was also added.

Release 1.7.7 added a new feature to the knowde project. Now a knowde can be displayed using a specific font as well as using text and background colors. The HTML export was bug-fixed and handles now tab characters, too.

Release 1.7.5 adds HTML export functionality for single knowdes, with HTML export for complete files under construction. The source files were all renamed to reflect the names of the contained classes. Since 1.7.1, bugfixes were made in nearly all classes.

Since release 1.6.7 knowdes can have a date information. This extension is displayed using a timeline. Also it makes the use of Knowde easier and faster. A lot of bug-fixes were made (search functions and selection handling). Files can now be loaded on startup as command line parameter. An about dialog was added and unused menu items were removed. This release was also first tested using a one-megabyte Knowdefile and acted without problems.

Changes from the 1.0.2 to the 1.1.1-2.0.0 versions:

1.0.0 is a final release of Knowde using libaries, techniques and paradigms as before. The versions following this are built totally new from scratch, for severel reasons. The new versions try to reimplement (or even) enhance all functionality of the 1.0.0 version, if this will be finished, knowde will have reached the 2.0.0 version number. Nevertheless, releases after 1.6.1 can already be seen as a nearly complete rebuild, since there is also new functionality built in.

Enhancements

• international text handling (Thanks to Gtk+)
• new graphical GUI look
• keywords per knowdes
• second keyword-referenced tree browser
• knowde size information in statusbar
• date information on knowdes
• timeline view

Used Libraries: Up to version 1.0.2 (including Win32 zip), Knowde was built using the Gtk+-1.2 and Libxml1 libraries. Version 1.1.1 and later uses the new Gtk+-2.0 and Libxml2 libraries. The new Gtk+ GUI uses UTF-8 internally, which resolved many hazzles with the everlasting charset problem. Libxml2 handles UTF-8 without problems, so these two go together and we can write in any language we want, finally!

Programming Technique: 1.1.1 and later is written in C++, at least its internal classes. Gtk+ and libxml2 is addressed still using plain C. Reasons for that are: C++’s encapsulation finally more was useful to organize the gui classes than my former C style and the written code is shorter and safer (I have been denying this thesis for a long time, I know). Its about 30 per cent.

Paradigm: (1) From 1.1.1 and later, knowdes are organized in knowdes themselfes. There are no more folders. One view on this change is that “folders” now can contain data as every other knowde. Another is that a knowde now can contain child knowdes. Take it as you need it, I prefer the first. (2) Also, knowdes can be referenced using keywords: Knowdes can hold a comma-separated list of keywords. A new second tree view creates a tree corresponding to the keywords. This paradigm replaces the old references functionality.