Merge nodes

Introduction

In Tana, every new node is given a unique ID, unless it is some form of a Reference to a node. References link to the original node by ID, not name. This means that sometimes, you may end up with multiple nodes with the same name. You might also have nodes named differently which you realize are referring to the same concept.

Before, this kind of duplication could only manually be solved. With the feature Merge Nodes, you can now merge duplicate nodes to one. This action combines node content, and updates all references to point to the new singular node ID.

There are two ways to initiate this

You can put a a reference to the node you want to merge nested below the node you want to merge into (or you can move the node itself there). You then do Cmd/Ctrl-K Merge node, and choose the node to merge into.

Another alternative is selecting several collapsed nodes that are on the same level, to merge all of them into one (you can choose which one).

When a node is merged into another

All the children are combined (if they both have the same fields, children in that field are also combined)

All tags are combined, and the original node is put into trash

All references and inline references in the available workspaces are updated to point to the new node.

If there are workspaces that had not been loaded during the merge with references to the merged node, these references will clearly point to the new node.

Merging supertags

Merge supertags by using the command on the tag definitions

Merging fields

Merge fields by using the command on the field definitions

Note

You cannot merge nodes that live in different workspaces.