NCSA Mosaic for the X Window System User's Guide

How to Use Annotations

Creating an Annotation

Select Annotate from the Annotate menu. The Annotate Window opens as shown in Figure 4.1. Edit the Annotation Author and Annotation Title default entries if desired.
The Annotate Window

The Include File button lets you include an existing file in your annotation. Click this button to open the Include File in Annotation window. Use the File Selection Box with the Directories and Files fields to reach the file you want to included. When the filename is highlighted, click the OK button to add the file contents to the annotation.

Click Commit to add your annotation to the original document. Notice that a hyperlink has been added at the bottom of the document under the Personal Annotations heading, as shown in Figure 4.2.

Personal Annotation Displayed at End of Annotated Document

Editing an Annotation

You can edit an annotation once it is displayed on your screen as the active window. Display the annotation by clicking on the hyperlink.

NCSA Mosaic recognizes this document as an annotation and makes the Edit This Annotation... item on the Annotate menu active. Select Edit This Annotation.... The Annotate Window opens with the text of your annotation.

You can now edit the contents. Use the Clean Slate and Include File buttons from the top of the window as necessary.

Deleting an Annotation

To delete an annotation, click on the hyperlink to display the annotation in the Document View window.

NCSA Mosaic recognizes this document as an annotation and makes the Delete This Annotation... item on the Annotate menu active. Select Delete This Annotation.... A dialog box opens and asks you to confirm your choice. Click Yes or No as appropriate.

If you instead select Edit This Annotation..., the Annotation Window opens showing your comments. Selecting the Delete button closes the window and deletes the annotation file (the same function as selecting Delete Annotation...).

Formatting Annotations with HTML

Annotations can be entered as straight text into the Annotate Window. Specific coding or formatting is not required, although inserting hard carriage returns into your annotation text makes it easier to read later. If you do not insert carriage returns, all your text is still available; however, you must scroll horizontally to see it.

An annotation can also be coded using the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). This has two advantages:

  1. Your text can include such styles as bold, italics, and nested lists.
  2. You can include hyperlinks in your annotation.

For more information about HTML, refer to the Beginner's Guide to HTML. Select On HTML... from the Help menu.

Annotating an Annotation

You can add an annotation to the text of an existing annotation. This is done the same way you annotate a regular document -- select Annotate from the Annotate menu when you have the existing annotation open in your Document View window. The Annotate Window is displayed, and you enter your comments. When you commit the annotation, a hyperlink is inserted in the first annotation.
National Center for Supercomputing Applications / mosaic-x@ncsa.uiuc.edu