Operations Involving Comments

You can perform a number of operations on comments. You can:

• Add a freestanding comment
• Attach a comment to a node or nugget
• Edit a comment
• Resize a comment
• Move a comment
• Disconnect a comment
• Delete a comment
• Show or hide all comments for a stream

To add a freestanding comment

1. Ensure that nothing is selected on the stream.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the main menu, click:

     Insert > New Comment

   • Right-click the stream background and click New Comment on the pop-up menu.
   • Click the New Comment button in the toolbar.
3. Enter the comment text (or paste in text from the clipboard).
4. Click a node in the stream to save the comment.

To attach a comment to a node or nugget

1. Select one or more nodes or nuggets on the stream canvas.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the main menu, click:

     Insert > New Comment

   • Right-click the stream background and click New Comment on the pop-up menu.
   • Click the New Comment button in the toolbar.
3. Enter the comment text.
4. Click another node in the stream to save the comment.

   Alternatively, you can:

5. Insert a freestanding comment (see previous section).
6. Do one of the following:

• Select the comment, press F2, then select the node or nugget.
• Select the node or nugget, press F2, then select the comment.
• (Three-button mice only) Move the mouse pointer over the comment, hold down the middle button, drag the mouse pointer over the node or nugget, and release the mouse button.

To attach a comment to an additional node or nugget

If a comment is already attached to a node or nugget, or if it is currently at stream level, and you want to attach it to an additional node or nugget, do one of the following:

• Select the comment, press F2, then select the node or nugget.
• Select the node or nugget, press F2, then select the comment.
• (Three-button mice only) Move the mouse pointer over the comment, hold down the middle button, drag the mouse pointer over the node or nugget, and release the mouse button.

To edit an existing comment

1. Do one of the following:
   • Double-click the comment text box.
   • Select the text box and press Enter.
   • Right-click the text box to display its menu, and click Edit.
2. Edit the comment text. You can use standard Windows shortcut keys when editing, for example Ctrl+C to copy text. Other options during editing are listed in the pop-up menu for the comment.
3. Click outside the text box once to display the resizing controls, then again to complete the comment.

To resize a comment text box

1. Select the comment to display the resizing controls.
2. Click and drag a control to resize the box.
3. Click outside the text box to save the change.

To move an existing comment

If you want to move a comment but not its attached objects (if any), do one of the following:

• Move the mouse pointer over the comment, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the comment to the new position.
• Select the comment, hold down the Alt key, and move the comment using the arrow keys.

If you want to move a comment together with any nodes or nuggets to which the comment is attached:

1. Select all the objects you want to move.
2. Do one of the following:

• Move the mouse pointer over one of the objects, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the objects to the new position.
• Select one of the objects, hold down the Alt key, and move the objects using the arrow keys.

To disconnect a comment from a node or nugget

1. Select one or more comments to be disconnected.
2. Do one of the following:

• Press F3.
• Right-click a selected comment and click Disconnect on its menu.

To delete a comment

1. Select one or more comments to be deleted.
2. Do one of the following:

• Press the Delete key.
• Right-click a selected comment and click Delete on its menu.

If the comment was attached to a node or nugget, the connection line is deleted as well.

If the comment was originally a stream or SuperNode annotation that had been converted to a freestanding comment, the comment is deleted from the canvas but its text is retained on the Annotations tab for the stream or SuperNode.

To show or hide comments for a stream

1. Do one of the following:

• On the main menu, click:

  View > Comments

• Click the Show/hide comments button in the toolbar.