Importing from PersonalBrain 4 or 5

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Assumptions:

1. That you have latest version of 3D Topicscape Pro. TS Pro v.1.5 and above is required to import from Personal Brain 4, 5 or 5.5.
2. That, if you have PB3 files that you want to import into Topicscape, you have already converted them to PB4 or 5. If not please use the above method.
3. That you have the full Pro version of PersonalBrain 4, 5 or 5.5, which is the only one that provides the necessary export function. Open PB4 and check the File | Export menu. Depending on your version of Brain there will be an item "Export to BrainEKP XML" / "BrainEKP XML" / "XML for BrainEKP". If this is active, then select it to export the Brain file currently open. If that menu item is grayed out, you do not have a full version and cannot export. If the item is missing you have the Free or Core version. Topicscape imports .pba files that the PB Pro export process produces.

Options:

There are two options for importing PB 4, 5 or 5.5 Brains.

• Your may import everything that PB exports (which is not the entire content of a Brain); or
• You may also import additional items: Thought Tags, Thought or Link Labels, and Types.

Users who do not use Tags, Labels and Types in PersonalBrain can choose the direct import described next.

Option 1: direct import -- Actions:

Step 1. Open Personal Brain 4, 5 or 5.5. Choose menu items as follows: File | Export | "BrainEKP XML" (or "Export to BrainEKP XML" or "XML for BrainEKP" depending on version) export the .pba file to a suitable location - for the description below, we assume you save it in a new folder on the desktop called "Topicscape import".

You should wait a few minutes after the export appears to have finished before closing Personal Brain: As mentioned in Importing from PersonalBrain some work to put all of the results into one .pba file continues after the progress message in the top right of the window suggests that the export has finished.

Step 2. Close Personal Brain.

Step 3. Open 3D Topicscape Pro.

Step 4. Be sure that you are in Mode: User's (or Expert) - there is a drop down near the left-hand end of the toolbar that controls this. If in User's Mode, make sure that Enhance Main Menu functions is on as follows: Tools | Options | User Preferences tab | Enhanced Menus heading | Enhance Main Menu functions checkbox is checked.

Step 5. Then start the import. Choose menu items as follows: File | Import. . .

Step 6. On the Import panel, select the 'Other products' radio button and choose PersonalBrain (.xml, .pba) from the drop-down beside it.

Step 7. Leave the radio button "New Topicscape" selected. (For the other option, Floating topic in this Topicscape, please see * Note below.)

Step 8. In the "File name" text box, please navigate to the "Topicscape import" folder on your desktop and choose the .pba file just exported from PB and press Open. For this example, we will assume the Brain you are importing is called "Reference". Press OK in the Import panel.

Step 9. Choose a name for the Topicscape - it will default to the name passed by Personal Brain: In this example "Reference".

Step 10. Choose a destination for the Topicscape (My Topicscapes is the recommended location). Topicscape will make a folder there with the same name as the one you chose for the Topicscape - in this example "Reference".

Step 11. Press OK.

Step 12. Topicscape will unpack the .pba file (this takes a minute or so with a large Brain), make the folder called "Reference" at the specified destination and build your new Topicscape from the exported data.

Step 13. It may be that files referred to in Personal Brain have been moved since they were stored in PB. Topicscape will show a report of such files, if so. In this case, you will have the option to write a list of these files to a .csv file that can be opened with a spreadsheet program. Then you can either specify the folder that files are in now, or "Use this Topicscape's folder". If you select the latter button, you can later drop the files into the new Topicscape's folder ("Reference") and the links will be restored.

Step 14. Topicscape will then physically copy the files to the folder "Reference".

Step 15. Once Topicscape starts to build the 3D structure from the Brain data, you will see progress bars for four stages. This will usually take less time than the file unpacking and copying.

Step 16. When the Topicscape appears, the original first Thought of your Personal Brain will be the Topicscape's Home topic. To center that (i.e. make it into the Current Topic), please use the Favorites menu - Topics> and choose the Home: entry.

Importing as a floating topic

* Note: You can also choose to import an entire Brain into the present Topicscape instead of making a new one if you wish. In that case, in the import panel, please select the radio button captioned "Floating topic in this Topicscape", select the pba file as above, and press OK. Then you will see the Create New Topic dialog. Choose a name for the topic and press Add. This will be the top of the topic hierarchy that represents the Brain being imported. Drop the red floating topic on the topic that is to be the parent of the new hierarchy that you are importing.

Option 2 -- Actions:

The PB Import Extender (a separate, free, download) will get any Thought Tags, Thought or Link Labels, or Types direct from PB (version 4 and above) files. The extended import procedure is as follows:

Step 1. As usual, open the Brain that you want to send to Topicscape in PersonalBrain; export it to Brain EKP (File | Export | "BrainEKP XML" (or "Export to BrainEKP XML" or "XML for BrainEKP" depending on version)), noting where it is saved and where the .brain file that you are exporting is stored. This is still necessary - Topicscape will extract the other data in a later step. You need a full version of PersonalBrain to do this. The function is disabled in the free version.
If you have private Thoughts in that PB, and you want to avoid possible isolated areas in the Topicscape produced (topics under Topicscape Islands), be sure to tick the "Include private thoughts" checkbox.
Don't close PB too soon! If you close PB early, and try to import the PBA file into Topicscape, it will fail.

Step 2. Close PersonalBrain (PB cannot be running with the same Brain open while the PB import extender is run).

Step 3. Open a small Topicscape (to maximize memory available for the conversion), go to the File menu and select Import > Other products: > PersonalBrain (.xml, .pba)

Step 4. At this point you will see the choice of doing a simple .pba file import or an extended one. To do an extended one for the first time, you will have to download and install a small extension, a process Topicscape automatically initiates and walks you through once you have indicated that you want to do an extended import (see Selecting .pba file with the PB import extender not installed, below).

Step 5. To do an extended import when the import extender is already installed,

• select the appropriate radio button
• enter the full path and filename of the .pba file you saved in step 1,
• and the full path and filename of the corresponding .brain file (the one you exported).
  For example:
  C:\Documents and Settings\Jimmy\Desktop\Jimmy's Reference.pba
  and
  C:\My Brains\Jimmy's Reference.brain
  Ensure that the brain's folder (Jimmy's Reference_brain) is in the same folder as the .brain file, or it won't work. That's how PB organizes it, anyway.
• Carry on from there as normal with Brain import.

Selecting .pba file with the PB import extender not yet installed

If you haven't imported a Brain since this improved process was added to Topicscape, this message will appear:

You should see a File Download - Security Warning panel on your screen now. Please press Run to install the PB import extender (recommended), or press Save to place the installer on your desktop. If you choose Save, please run it (by double-clicking on it) when it has finished downloading. If you press No it will continue as normal and do a simple import of the pba file.

If you press Yes, a browser window opens briefly, and the security warning appears. A panel also appears and tells you what to do. You can choose whether to continue with the download, with the installation and then with the import.

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