Any Way to Open Second Instance of Evernote Main Window?

[persistentone 11]

Sometimes I am reading a Note, buried deep into a multi-page PDF, when I need to refer to another Note.   So far I have been losing my context by jumping to another notebook.    Is there any way for me to open a second instance of the main window in Evernote?   Failing that, is there any way for me to open a Note I am already reading in a new window, while preserving any context I may have inside that Note?

I know that once you are in a Note, you can open up a Note Link with <shift>+<left-mouse-click>.   I see that <ctrl>+<ENTER> does something similar when opening a Note, but that will not catch your context if you were already reading the note and have advanced through many pages of a PDF.

[jefito 5,589]

No, there is not.

[jefito 5,589]

2 hours ago, persistentone said:

Is there any way for me to open a second instance of the main window in Evernote?

No, there is not.

2 hours ago, persistentone said:

Failing that, is there any way for me to open a Note I am already reading in a new window, while preserving any context I may have inside that Note?

You can open a note as a separate window by either double clicking on it in the note view, or right-clicking on the note in the note view and selecting "Open Note", or by using Ctrl+Enter in the note.. Also "Open in a New Window" is the first option in the main menu's Note submenu. Not sure what you mean by "context"; I think that you lose the current cursor position and selection in the new window; it's not a problem for me as I tend not to have long notes.

[gazumped 11,656]

...If desperate I guess you could open more than one Web window and split the tabs out of your browser...

[EdH 1,670]

No. I am hoping the new tab view for Mac makes it to Windows. 

 

[CalS 5,280]

8 hours ago, persistentone said:

buried deep into a multi-page PDF

You could open the PDF in its own window and not lose your place when changing notes in EN.

[Darwinsbear 1]

I also would like to open a second instance. I want to use my second screen for an ever-changing to do list. Since I use EN to keep track of things it would be great if the second screen were a second instance of EN. Since I am doing other things in EN this can't be my only instance. Is there a way to open a second instance on the same machine?

[DTLow 5,736]

9 minutes ago, Darwinsbear said:

I also would like to open a second instance. I want to use my second screen for an ever-changing to do list. Since I use EN to keep track of things it would be great if the second screen were a second instance of EN. Since I am doing other things in EN this can't be my only instance. Is there a way to open a second instance on the same machine?

As discussed above; a second instance is not supported.

fwiw  I keep my journal/to-do visible on a second monitor by opening the note in its own window

[gazumped 11,656]

Yup - double-click note title in notebook view,  opens in a separate window which I move to another monitor for logging / reference purposes while the main window is used for other lookups.  No apparent limit to how many independent windows can be maintained and updated.

[CalS 5,280]

12 hours ago, Darwinsbear said:

I also would like to open a second instance. I want to use my second screen for an ever-changing to do list. Since I use EN to keep track of things it would be great if the second screen were a second instance of EN. Since I am doing other things in EN this can't be my only instance. Is there a way to open a second instance on the same machine?

You can open EN in a browser window to create a second instance of sorts if you like.  Try not to have the same note open in both to avoid conflicts.  

[BK_ 1]

On a Mac: 

$ open -n -a "/Applications/Evernote.app"

Ref: https://www.cnet.com/news/how-to-open-multiple-instances-of-an-application-in-os-x/

Update: Opps, I just realized this is from the Windows sub-forum, my apologies!

[CraigZ 21]

It would be useful to be able to open multiple instances of Evernote, because I usually have different tasks going on different Windows desktops... and would still like to be able to search/filter notes differently in each of those tasks (so opening a note in a window isn't always a solution).

The Web solution might work, except that doesn't help with local databases or when working offline.

Also, if I try to "open" evernote when its running on a different desktop, nothing happens (it doesn't even switch to that desktop, as other programs do).  So then I'm left hunting for it, ha ha.

 

[MacherTVPeter 2]

Push! This is essential for me. I have a whole notebook for my inbox stuff and I need to have one window with my inbox notebook and then navigate threw my other notebooks to sort things in their appropriate places. I use the GTD method. Please, update this feature

[OldGrantonian 18]

I think you can open a second instance inside the free Sandboxie.

The two instances are independent - unless you deliberately choose to allow them to communicate.

https://www.sandboxie.com/

[jefito 5,589]

6 minutes ago, OldGrantonian said:

I think you can open a second instance inside the free Sandboxie.

The two instances are independent - unless you deliberately choose to allow them to communicate.

https://www.sandboxie.com/

Do they rely on the same Evernote database file (.exb)? That would be a problem right there (simultaneous write access to the database, presumably unprotected against concurrent writes). Or you're going to have to make a copy of the database files, which is somewhat fraught.

Otherwise you're going to have two separate Evernote instances talking to the Evernote servers, which may lead to note conflicts.

I'd be very wary of this, myself, and have a solid, verifiable backup ready before I started tinkering...

1 hour ago, MacherTV_Peter said:

Push! This is essential for me. I have a whole notebook for my inbox stuff and I need to have one window with my inbox notebook and then navigate threw my other notebooks to sort things in their appropriate places. I use the GTD method. Please, update this feature

If all you're doing is moving things around to different notebooks, then you can just navigate your inbox and change the notebook for a single note (easy) or make a multiple note selection and change them all to live in the notebook of your choosing (also easy). Maybe I'm not understanding your process well, though...

[OldGrantonian 18]

1 hour ago, jefito said:

Do they rely on the same Evernote database file (.exb)? 

I haven't tried to run a non-Sandboxie session and a Sandboxie session simultaneously. But AFAIK, there's no danger if the user does not actually change anything in the SB instance.

AFAIK, here's how the process works. 

The non-SB EN uses all the normal files.

When the SB EN starts life, all the current non-SB files are copied within the SB. After that, the files lead independent lives.

If the user does not cause any files to be changed within the SB, the SB session can be closed at any time with no effect on the non-SB files.

Assume that the user causes some files to be changed within SB. When the user closes the SB session, she is presented with a list of files that have changed during the session. She can then choose which of those files will overwrite the current non-SB files. IMHO, the safest options are either (a) to overwrite no files, or (b) to overwrite all changed files. In both cases, the result will be a consistent database, with no conflicts.

Obviously option (a) would be chosen by the OP.

 

1 hour ago, jefito said:

...you're going to have two separate Evernote instances talking to the Evernote servers, which may lead to note conflicts.

 

Good point ?

But, IMHO, the situation is no different to having one instance on your laptop and one instance on your phone. I admit that no-one is likely to make changes on both of these devices simultaneously. 

I'll run this suggestion past the SB forum, and get their opinions.

Thanks.

[CalS 5,280]

3 hours ago, MacherTV_Peter said:

Push! This is essential for me. I have a whole notebook for my inbox stuff and I need to have one window with my inbox notebook and then navigate threw my other notebooks to sort things in their appropriate places. I use the GTD method. Please, update this feature

Until/if this gets implemented, workaround could be to open your inbox in a browser window.  No need for any extra syncs if you aren’t editing the same notes on both platforms.  FWIW. 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, OldGrantonian said:

Assume that the user causes some files to be changed within SB. When the user closes the SB session, she is presented with a list of files that have changed during the session. She can then choose which of those files will overwrite the current non-SB files. IMHO, the safest options are either (a) to overwrite no files, or (b) to overwrite all changed files. In both cases, the result will be a consistent database, with no conflicts.

Interesting.

Even so, this is wide open to "oops, I changed something in both instances, each of which may or may not have synced, now what?" I'd have great difficulty recommending this to a casual computer user. My workflows are intentionally kept pretty simple so that it need be I could transfer them to some other application; so far, I don't see that shuffling notes around different notebooks would justify the complications. But that's just me...

[jefito 5,589]

3 minutes ago, CalS said:

Until/if this gets implemented, workaround could be to open your inbox in a browser window.  No need for any extra syncs if you aren’t editing the same notes on both platforms.  FWIW. 

Yep, that's right, and it was on my mind to suggest that, but I got distracted by a thing (which shouldn't surprise you)...

[CalS 5,280]

Just now, jefito said:

Yep, that's right, and it was on my mind to suggest that, but I got distracted by a thing (which shouldn't surprise you)...

Them damn things....

[OldGrantonian 18]

Just one more thing.... (Columbo).

 

Before posting on the Sandboxie forum, I tried running one non-Sandboxed EN and one SB EN. (After backing up my database.),

 

I tried various combinations of the following tests. To speed things up, I used manual synch in the window being edited, followed by a manual synch in the other (SB) window. So I've exceeded my free monthly allowance for the first time. Each synch is an upload ?

 

• Create new note on non-SB
• Create new note on SB
• Edit a note on SB
• Edit the same note on non-SB
• Edit a note on non-SB
• Edit the same note on SB

 

The behaviour, IMHO, is clear and understandable. Adding something in one note causes the same text to be added to the other note. Conflicting notes are shown in the left panel and in the "Location column".

 

Q:  How do you know whether you're working in non-SB or SB?

A:  (1) On the taskbar, the icons are the same, except that the SB icon is preceded by "[#]". (2) The SB window has a yellow border. (Presumably yellow is chosen as the colour of sand).

 

Each instance has its own Trash. I don't know how Trash is handled if you have two devices (laptop + phone). But maybe you should check each Trash before closing the SB instance.You should try this with fake notes as soon as possible.

 

And if you're still worried about conflicts, you can disconnect from the internet, and close SB after use. Don't accept the offer to overwrite any of the non-SB files.

 

 

[OldGrantonian 18]

The Sandboxie developers didn't say "no" to my suggestion. But they didn't say "yes" either:

https://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=25754

The important thing is that they didn't disagree with my description of how a sandbox handles files, and that the user has complete control over which files are allowed out of the sandbox (which of course is the whole purpose of any sandbox).

If no files are allowed out of the sandbox, then the only communication between a sandbox and a laptop is synching via the internet - exactly the same as between a smart phone and a laptop.

[OldGrantonian 18]

I said in an earlier post:

 

Quote

And if you're still worried about conflicts, you can disconnect from the internet, and close SB after use. Don't accept the offer to overwrite any of the non-SB files.

 

This is ambiguous. Sorry about that. The statement should have referred only to Sandboxie. So the correct statement is:

 

Quote

And if you're still worried about conflicts, you can disconnect Sandboxie from the internet, and close SB after use. Don't accept the offer to overwrite any of the non-SB files.

 

Within Sandboxie, you can configure which files are allowed to access the internet:

• All files.
• No files.
• A list of files (whitelist), which would include "Evernote".

[CraigZ 21]

On 5/8/2018 at 4:23 AM, OldGrantonian said:

Just one more thing.... (Columbo).

 

Before posting on the Sandboxie forum, I tried running one non-Sandboxed EN and one SB EN. (After backing up my database.),

 

I tried various combinations of the following tests. To speed things up, I used manual synch in the window being edited, followed by a manual synch in the other (SB) window. So I've exceeded my free monthly allowance for the first time. Each synch is an upload ?

 

• Create new note on non-SB
• Create new note on SB
• Edit a note on SB
• Edit the same note on non-SB
• Edit a note on non-SB
• Edit the same note on SB

[deleted]

[Edit: re-reading the thread, I guess I just re-iterated what was posted above, ha ha ha... sorry / sort of ? ]

So really Sandboxie is a copy-on-write kind of virtualization solution, which I can run a separate copy of Evernote and either rely on syncronization through evernote servers to keep the two copies in sync, or ultimately overwrite the local copy fully with the Boxie changes (or only keep the original and any of its changes).  That should generally work well, if I'm primarily using it to lookup information in the middle of another task.  Thanks!  [it doesn't really help me entirely as I heavily rely on local databases, but it's a step forward]

Other ideas for Sandboxie 

1) if it also allows me to run installs, it might offer a way for me to easily test Evernote betas on current data, without risking my working copy of Evernote -- that's something I'll look into more as I'd like to test or at least evaluate Evernote betas and never versions to see if they work for me (ie, I'm staying on the old version until the PDF viewer is workable again)

2) I could see it allowing more complicated setups of running multiple evernote accounts on a machine at once (I don't see a need for me right now, but it opens that possibility, probably without any real data risk even for local databases)

 

 

 

[chuckkahn 4]

Yeah this is possible on EN Mac desktop.   Too bad not in EN Windows.  I wanted to put my 2021 tax notebook beside my 2022 tax notebook to compare side by side what 2022 was missing as I add forms, receipts, etc to 2022.   TurboTax runs in Windows so I am resorting to EN Windows and find this EN Mac advantage missing.  (Not one note in a separate floating window but the entire notebook list of notes floating beside the other.)

[gazumped 11,656]

1 hour ago, chuckkahn said:

Too bad not in EN Windows

You're a little late answering a 4 year old post...  Open Evernote Web alongside the app?  Open notes in their own windows?  What exactly are you trying to do?

[PinkElephant 8,088]

The original post described an obscure 3rd party tool allowing to run different sessions of the same app in parallel.

If I needed something like it today, I would start installed the client and web client side by side (2 sessions). Or I use the web client to open several tabs.