Mindjet Labs

A new Mindjet Labs site

2006-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

This blog has served its purpose but will now be retired.
You can now find all Mindjet Labs blogs on the new Mindjet Labs site:

Synergist - Michael Scherotter
Hobart's Mindjet Blog II - Hobart Swan
Vivek's Mind - Vivek Vishist
Really Blossom - Tom Blossom

Michael S. Scherotter

Map Explorer Now Supports Ink

2006-07-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

I just added ink support to the Map Explorer Add-in that I built last month after Jason Dorko posted that it did not support ink in topics.

Building Upgrade-Safe Add-ins for MindManager

2006-04-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

April 17,2006 Mindjet has updated all its addins to use a signed Primary Interop Assembly (PIA). This follows Microsoft best practice, and we strongly encourage all .Net developers that build integrations with MindManager to follow suite.

In this article I have tried to answer the need for PIA, the problem it causes, how to create addins in MindManager referencing PIA and how to update the addins to use PIA.

You can download Mindjet signed MindManager PIA from http://www.mindjet.com/us/devzone/6/PIA

What is PIA and why do we need PIA (Primary Interop Assembly)
MSDN has explained it on http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/whypriinterop.asp

How all this works, currently, and what is the problem?

How the COM and .NET communicates:
.NET CLR creates something called as Runtime callable wrapper (RCW) and this is what is used by .NET code to communicate with COM server, its primary function is to marshal calls between a .NET client and a COM object. In our case .net client is our Addin and COM object is MindManager.

In current scenario:
When you create an addin using Visual Studio and add a reference to MindManager Type Library, VS creates an Interop assembly (IA) (if PIA is not registered). So let us say that you created an addin with an older version of MindManager and then you installed a newer version of MindManager and built another addin. At this time there are two different versions of IA that each of these addins use when they load in MindManager. Now when you start MindManager it loads an addin and tries to load another one, since both the addins were NOT built using PIA they load their respective IA’s from their application folder.

Now the problem:
Here is what we need to know, when the first addin loads it creates a RCW (let us name it RCW1) for itself and when the second addin loads (and since this also does not uses a PIA) it creates another RCW (alias RCW2) for itself. So we get two RCWs whereas, at any time, there should NOT be more than one RCW for one application. The reason why we need only one RCW is: once you modify a COM object in first RCW the updated metadata would not be visible to second RCW.
For e.g. you modify the applications (MindManager’s) commands object collection in first addin (or using the RCW1) and then in your second addin you loop over the commands collection at this time the RCW will know that there is something changed in the commands object but what has changed it (RCW2) wont not know because the metadata for the modified object is not visible to RCW2 at this time, therefore CLR throws an invalid cast exception (“Specified cast is not valid”) or “Query Interface for .. failed”

How to build new addins?
We need to make sure that we have only one RCW at any given time for all the addins that we load. To achieve this you need to make sure that you have only Mindjet signed (strong named) MindManager Interop (Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.dll) in the GAC (global assembly cache) and is registered.
It is strongly recommended that you use Mindjet MindManager PIA redistributable merge module with all your addins so as to make sure that the Interop is available in the GAC and if a newer version is required the installer for your addin automatically installs it.
Once you have the required files in the GAC and registered, you do not need to do anything different from what you have been doing. Open VS and create an addin and add a reference to MindManager type library at this time VS silently use the registered PIA instead of re-importing the type library.

To create an addin you can use Mindjet’s Visual Studio Project Template for C# and VB Add-Ins that takes care of these things automatically but you would still need to

Click here to download the Mindjet MindManager PIA redistributable. This installer installs MindManager PIA (Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.dll) in the GAC and installs a merge module in your %Programfiles%/Common Files/Merge Modules/ MindManagerredist_>version<.msm While building new addins make sure that there is no local copy of PIA. If Addin setup project has Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.dll as the dependent file, make sure that it is excluded.

Will it affect the current addins?
Yes, it might affect you current addins.

How to update current addins?
--> Get the latest installer for Mindjet MindManager PIA redistributable from Mindjet’s devzone website. Install it.
--> Open your addin project. Remove existing reference to MindManager. Now add the reference to MindManager again.
--> Now compile your project you will get the namespace errors. You need to change the namespace from “MindManager” to “Mindjet.MindManager.Interop”
--> Build your project again. At this time, in your setup project, you might see that there is an added dependency for “mindmanagerredist_>version<.msm”. This is a Mindjet’s redistributable merge module, to ensure that when you distribute your addin if the user has an older version of PIA it updates the older version with the version that you used to build the addin. If they have a newer version of the PIA installed the merge module does not change anything. If you don’t see this added then right click on your setup project (in solution explorer in VS) and then select Add Merge Module and select from %Programfiles%/Common Files/Merge Modules/ MindManagerredist_>version<.msm

Remember:
--> Make sure that you have installed the latest PIA Redistributable on your computer. It will make sure that you have the latest PIA and the merge module for backward compatibility.
--> While building addins make sure that Mindjet.MindManager.Interop.dll is not copied locally.
--> Make sure that you include the MindManagerredist_>version<.msm in your addin’s setup.

Vivek Vishist

http://labs.mindjet.com

Map Notes from Mix06

2006-03-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

Here is my map posted to date for my Mix06 notes using MindManager

Heading to Mix06!

2006-02-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

I have just made plans to go to Mix06 in Las Vegas next month! I am excited to learn about the next generation of cool stuff, but my primary goal will be to meet people from companies implementing cool Web Services.
Through my work in the Mindjet Labs, I have found ways for MindManager to consume and interact with web services. If your company makes a web service and you want to get it in front of 750,000 users while they are brainstorming, planning, and running business processes, meet me there!

Visual Mind to MindManager

2006-01-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

A customer of ours asked us how to get data from Visual Mind to MindManager. I went to the Visual Mind website and downloaded their free trial software, created a simple map and selected the file save option to save the file as XML.
As you may know, MindManager X5 and 6 are based on XML and transforming one XML format to another XML format is a trivial exercise (for me) using XSLT. The basic requirement is that the input XML be well-formed. This transformation can happen automatically during file opening and saving in MindManager X5 Pro and MindManager Pro 6 if you have installed additional inbound and oubound transformations.
The problem that I ran into was that the XML produced by Visual Mind is not well-formed so it could not be transformed using XSLT. You can easily see the error if you open the Visual Mind XML in Internet Explorer. If you are a Visual Mind customer (strangely we don't have any at Mindjet). Tell them about this problem and maybe they can fix it.

Michael

.Net 2.0 Growing Pains

2006-01-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

Now that Microsoft has released the .Net framework 2.0 with Visual Studio 2005, we have noticed some good things and some bad things:
The Good:
Once you install the .Net framework 2.0, the Research Accelerator works with Web Proxy Servers. It did not with 1.1.

The Bad:
Once you install the .Net framework 2.0, the Salesforce.com Accelerator will start exhibiting errors when refreshing building and refreshing maps. We will fix this but in the meantime, the Salesforce.com Accelerator is incompatible with .Net framework 2.0.

Spoke at Government User Group Meeting

2005-12-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last week, I went to Washington D.C. to speak at the first session of the MindManager Government User Group. I talked about all of the different solutions available on the Mindjet Labs and how MindManager can be seen as a great platform in addition to how everyone already sees MindManager a great productivity platform. The response was very good. Email labs@mindjet.com if you want me to come speak at your event.

Michael S. Scherotter

Upgrading to .Net Framework 2.0 breaks Accelerator for Salesforce.com

2005-12-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

As some of our users have noticed, it they download and install the .Net Framework 2.0 on their system (2.0.50727.42), the MindManager 6 Accelerator for Salesforce.com window looks strange and you start to get errors when refreshing Map Dashboards. We are looking into these problems and this is what we found:

The layout code for Windows forms is different from the 1.1 .Net Framework to the 2.0 .Net Framework so controls are right-aligned in a tab control are pushed out of the window.
the xpath expression $style/ap:Color works in 1.1 even if $style is empty (nothing is copied). If $style is empty in 2.0 a System.XML error: Expression must evaluate to a node-set. happens.
We can fix the code but once we recompile the DLLs on a system with the 2.0 .Net framework installed, we cannot debug it with Visual Studio 2003.

We will keep you posted on anything new. Our suggestion to anyone who is using the MindManager Accelerator for Salesforce.com is to not install the .Net Framework 2.0 or uninstall it if you have already installed it.

We apologies for the inconvenience.

Michael

Copernic Desktop Search

2005-11-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are using Copernic Desktop Search and MindManager X5 or 6, try out this. It allows Copernic users to search for MindManager X5 or 6 maps. Since Copernic does not (yet) have a programmatic interface to their application, we cannot add it to the Research Accelerator as a service.

Michael

Installer Quirk with Google Desktop Search Plug-in

2005-11-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

A few of our users found a problem with the installer for the Google Desktop Search Plug-in:
When the user selects “Everyone” in the installation instead of “Just me”, the installer will work but you won't see the MindManager plug-in in the plug-in list.
It will work if you reinstall the plug-in and select “Just me” in the Select Installation Folder step. I sent a question to Google to see if there is a work-around. It seems that this is a "known problem" with Google Desktop Search.

Use Windows Media 10 for MindManager Presenter

2005-11-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

A user found that Windows Media 9 did not work with the MindManager Presenter, but once he upgraded to Windows Media 10, it worked.
Thanks, Vaughn.

Michael

Proxy Server for Research Accelerator

2005-11-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard to figure out how to get the Research Accelerator working with Proxy servers. As many of you have found out it doesn't. We tried a fix but that didn't work. If anyone has any suggestion on how to use .Net 1.1 with proxy servers, I am all ears.
I have tried the usenet but still haven't gotten any response.
Michael

New Research Accelerator in Mindjet Labs with Google Desktop Search

2005-11-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

We just updated the free Research Accelerator again in the Mindjet Labs to add these new features:

If you install Google Desktop Search you can now search your desktop (and GMail and chat) from the research task pane. Adding this was remarkable easy: it only took about two hours to build! This is similar to the Windows Desktop Search service that we added previously.
If you add a result set (from any of the services that we built) to the map, you will see a refresh icon to the right of the topic. Pressing on this icon requeries the service, refreshing it in the map. One way that you could use this is to do a Technorati search for your favorite term, "MindManager" and bring the topic [Technorati Search for "MindManager" (Results 1-10 of 1,996)] into the map. Press the refresh every day and I'm sure that you will see the number of results grow!

Updated MindManager for AEC

2005-11-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Robin Capper found a bug with the MindManager for AEC addin where MindManager would crash when certain 3D DWFs were loaded. We fixed it; those files still cannot open in MindManager but it no longer crashes. Download the latest version.

New Research Accelerator version with Windows Desktop Search

2005-11-02T13:44:00.000-08:00

We have just uploaded a new version of the MindManager Research Accelerator (1.0.21) with Windows Desktop Search as an available service. Once the MSN Search Toolbar is installed (free download), then you can search files, Outlook, and Outlook Express using the fast Windows Desktop Search.

Google Blog Service is working again!

2005-10-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

It looks like Google fixed their Blog Search API so it works again with the Research Accelerator! We've also updated the Research Accelerator (Version 1.0.20) to search multiple services in a category at one time and it now uses the Proxy Server settings from Internet Explorer.
Since we don't have a proxy server setup at Mindjet, I will need some feedback from a user who does to tell me if the changes worked.

On another note, Anthony Roy interviewed me on video about the Mindjet Labs (Vivek Vishist was the cameraman).

Michael S. Scherotter
Business Solutions Architect
Mindjet Corporation

Google Blog Search Has Stopped Working

2005-09-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

One of the services in the Research Accelerator is Google Blogs, a beta service that Google offers to search all of the weblogs (like this). The logic for retrieving those results is at C:\Program Files\Mindjet\Research Accelerator\GoogleBlogSearch.xslt (once you install the Research Accelerator). It seems that when making the web requset from MindManager, a URL is generated to retrieve the document at http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=Scherotter&btnG=Search+Blogs&num=10&output=rss&scoring=d
but now, using the XSLT document() function, no results are returned.
I swear it worked a week ago!
Did Google change something with their blogsearch service?
If anyone has a suggestion, I would love some help with this one.
Michael S. Scherotter
Business Solutions Architect
Mindjet Corporation
If anyone has

Updated Save as Page with Viewer Sample

2005-09-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

Bernhard Straub of MindBusiness pointed out a problem with the Save as a Page with Viewer sample where MindManager 6 files were not being shown in the viewer. I just posted a fixed .reg file for this, but I would like to explain the problem:
The MindManager Viewer reads MindManager X5 files natively. When you point it at a MindManager 6 .mmap file, it has embedded schemas for the new MindManager 6 format. When the viewer's OpenXML() method is called, there are no schemas in the XML string for the parser to understand so any new MM6 XML elements or attributes cause a parsing error.

The transform MapViewerPage.xslt transforms an ap:Map XML tree to a html tree and embeds a copy of the in a script element. When the html is loaded, a script starts to get the map XML from the script element and calls the OpenXML() function.

The fix to this was to open a small existing MindManager 6 map (http://www.mindjet.com/labs/ViewerPage/InitialMap.mmap) before loading the XML. Doing so loads the schemas into the viewer for MindManager 6. It's a bit of a hack but it works. We are looking into a better solution.

Introducing the Mindjet Labs

2005-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.mindjet.com/labs

Over the past two years in the Business Solutions Group at Mindjet, we have experimented with MindManager X5 and 6 to see what innovative ways MindManager could be used to integrate with other applications, and services. In addition to the Accelerator for Salesforce.com, many of the things that we built were technical demonstrations, prototypes and proof-of-concepts that we used to start conversations among ourselves, with partners and customers. We pushed MindManager into directions that we did not even know it could go and we liked the results.

Now we want to share the results of our research with you!
We are posting these samples to show you what can be done but more importantly, what you can do. And to that aim we are releasing the source code for most of the solutions posted here. We are so excited about the possibilities that some of the new features in MindManager 6 present that enable very compelling integrations.

An extensible Research Task Pane like Microsoft Office 2003 that allows you to search Google, Yahoo, Technorati, and other web services.
A topic that has an embedded Autodesk DWF Viewer for sharing Architectural and Engineering drawings.
A topic that links to a Microsoft SQL Server database.
A Smart Map Part used to make composite maps.
Transformations to make the MindManager Map Viewer web control more useful.
Demonstration of how to use the MindManager Map Viewer web control to visualize RSS Feeds.
A macro to reset notes font.
A Wizard for Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 to quickly build MindManager 6 C# Add-ins.

This is just the beginning as we have quite a few more lab solutions that we will post as soon as they are ready. We are posting these because we want your feedback.

Have fun!

Michael S. Scherotter
Business Solutions Architect
Mindjet LLC