The BoxPress modular display expression
Number ($DENum)
To prepend sibling order numbers at the very start of your note, set the note’s $DENum to true.
Doing this will also prepend numbers to your headings upon export. So you have two ways of activating numbering for export:
- Add NUM to the
$blogExpOptof the note(s) parent, and - Set
$DENumto true for that note.
$DENum on).Proticon ($DEIcon)
BoxPress distinguishes prototypes in two ways—by color and by Proticon. A Proticon is an icon at the start of the display expression that denotes the note’s prototype and, in the case of imagemaps, imagemap information.
Presence of the Proticon segment is activated by $DEIcon.
$DEIcon off).Proticons for HTML Imagemaps
Additional two-part Proticons are prepended to notes that have HTML Imagemaps. The left-half indicates software platform (Tinderbox vs OmniGraffle), the right-half indicates LinkMap vs FillMap.
- If the Imagemap is a Tinderbox Imagemap, the display expression starts with
; an OmniGraffle Imagemap, with 
. - LinkMaps are denoted by
; FillMaps, by 
.
Date ($DEDate)
Set to true to prepend the date to the displayed name in a format appropriate to the prototype.
For normal_note, audio_note, and the four map-type notes this means $StartDate; if empty, then, $Created. Format is Y.M0.D hmm (YYYY.MM.DD 1456).
For person_note, this means $DueDate; if empty, then $StartDate – $EndDate (with ellipses for missing values). Format is Y (YYYY).
For article_note, book_note, quote_note, and quote_ana_note this means $DueDate. Format is Y (YYYY).
For event_note, this means $DueDate; if empty, then $StartDate – $EndDate (with ellipses for missing values). Negative dates are transformed into BCE format. Format is Y (YYYY).
$DEDate for all prototypes. You’ll notice that some prototypes always show their date (and that code_note never does).Count ($DECount)
Set to true to append the $DescendantCount to the displayed name; set to false to remove.
Export-aware descendant counts
Blog PAGES and Blog POSTS have special count indicators to give you total export knowledge at-a-glance.
The Blog PAGES count indicator tells you how many PAGES are being exported out of how many total. It’s $DisplayExpression is:
$Name + " (" + count(collect_if(children, !$HTMLDontExport, $tmpNum1)) + "/" + $ChildCount + ")"
The Blog POSTS count indicator tells you (1) the number of categories, (2) and how many POSTS are being exported out of how many total. It’s $DisplayExpression is:
$Name + "【" + $ChildCount + "】(" + count(collect_if(descendants, ($OutlineDepth==4 & $blogReady), $tmpNum1)) + "/" + sum(children, $ChildCount) + ")"
Counting children rather than descendants
If you want to display the number of descendants rather then mere children, find the appropriate code-filled utility note and change “$DescendantCount” to “$ChildCount.”
Bips ($DEBips)
BoxPress lets you know about a note’s export options and external resources by appending Bips. Bips are icons that appear at the very end of the display expression.
BoxPress has four Bips for export options and five Bips for external resources.
Bips denoting export options
There are four Bips for export options:
- BLOCKS—Children exports as blocks.
- COMPILE—Children are embedded as subsections.
- COLUMN—Children are arrayed as columns.
- NOKIDS—Children are ignored.
Bips denoting linked resources
When I work on a project, I often make a project folder inside of DevonTHINK. I can also work on my draft there. If the text of my Tinderbox note has been pasted from a DevonTHINK draft, I will put the link to this draft in the $DTSource attribute. (To copy a link from DevonTHINK, just select the note you are working on and hit ^⌥⌘C). Notes whose content is duplicated from DevonTHINK—that is, notes having a “DevonTHINK source”—bear the 
Bip.
Notes that link to a DevonTHINK project but which are not directly copied therefrom bear the 
Bip.
Similarly for online information. BoxPress distinguishes between online sources (say, the full text of a journal article or short story) and online information that is merely related. In all, there are five Bips for external resources:
- DevonTHINK source: Bip.
- DevonTHINK item: Bip.
- Online source:
Bip. - Online item:
Bip. - Featured image:
Bip.
