Items
Items are the building blocks of Knovis. Each item has a label, a thumbnail image, and a target, the content it opens when activated. Items are stored independently and can be placed in any number of environments.
Creating an item
Right-click anywhere on the canvas and choose New Item. The dialog has three main sections: appearance, target, and metadata.
Item targets
The target is what happens when you double-click an item. Knovis supports several target types:
| Target type | Opens |
|---|---|
| File | Any file on your computer: documents, images, executables, folders |
| Web link | A URL in your default browser, or inline within the canvas |
| A PDF file in the Knovis PDF viewer (supports bookmarks) | |
| EPUB | An ebook in the Knovis EPUB reader |
| Video / audio | Media in the Knovis player (supports clips: set a start and end point) |
| Environment | Another Knovis environment, displayed inline or as a separate window |
Linking vs. copying files
When you point an item at a file on your computer, Knovis links to it in place by default. The file stays where it is and Knovis remembers the path. This is the right choice for large media files you don't want duplicated, or for files that are actively maintained in another location.
You can also copy a file into your Knovis Data folder. Once copied, the item no longer depends on the original location, which is useful for documents you want to keep alongside your environments regardless of where the source file ends up.
Thumbnail images
Each item displays as a thumbnail with a label. You can set the image by:
- Dragging an image file onto the image area in the dialog
- Pasting an image from the clipboard or from a URL
- Using Generate Image to capture one from the target
How Generate Image works
For PDFs, EPUBs, websites, and video, Knovis can generate a thumbnail by opening the content in a viewer. When you click Generate Image, the viewer loads. Navigate to the page, frame, or section you want to use as the thumbnail, then close the viewer. Knovis captures the view at the moment you close it and sets that as the item's image.
The Open in This View option, available only when using a Knovis viewer, goes one step further: it saves not just the image but your exact position in the content. When the item is next activated, it reopens at that page or timestamp, not from the beginning.
Filenames and titles
When you create an item, Knovis generates a filename from the item's title. A title of "Season 3 Overview" becomes something like season_3_overview.itm. This means your itm/ folder stays readable, so you can find and identify items without opening the app.
If you rename an item's title later, the filename doesn't automatically change. To rename the underlying file, use Rename Item from the right-click context menu.
Why items are binary files
Item files (.itm) store images in a format that Knovis can read instantly, similar to how video game textures are pre-processed for fast rendering. This is what keeps the canvas smooth when you're scrolling and zooming through hundreds of items.
Reusing items
Items exist as files in your Knovis Data folder. When you place an item in an environment, you're placing a reference to that file. The same item can appear in any number of environments, and editing it in one place updates it everywhere it appears.
Editing items
Right-click an item on the canvas and choose Edit Item to reopen the dialog. Changes apply everywhere the item is used.
Inline vs. standalone opening
By default, activating an item opens its target in the appropriate application. You can instead open it inline, embedded directly in the canvas, or in one of the Knovis viewers. This is configured in the item's settings. See The Knovis Viewers for details.
Item templates
A template is a reusable base item. It defines default values (a thumbnail image, DataTag field values, settings) that regular items can inherit from. Templates themselves are not placed on the canvas; they exist as definitions that individual items reference.
Creating a template
In the item panel or from the canvas right-click menu, choose New Item from Template. A picker shows your existing templates as a thumbnail grid. Select one and Knovis opens a pre-filled New Item dialog with the template's image and field values already set. You can override any of them before saving.
To create a template from scratch, use New Template in the item library. Templates are stored in a separate section of the library so they stay distinct from regular items.
How inheritance works
When an item references a template, it inherits the template's thumbnail image and any DataTag field defaults the template defines. The item's own values always win; template values only fill in fields the item hasn't set itself. Changing a template takes effect when you next reload the environment.
Image inheritance is efficient: if 200 items share one template and none of them have their own image, Knovis loads the template image once and all 200 items point to the same copy in memory.
When templates are useful
Templates are most useful when you have a type of item that appears repeatedly with consistent visual style or metadata structure, such as episodes in a series, papers in a research collection, or tracks in an album. Set up the template once with the right image treatment and field defaults, then create instances quickly without filling in the same values over and over.