SweetCherry 1.1 — an open-source web companion for CherryTree CTB databases

[turkerozturk]

Hello everyone,

I have been using CherryTree for a long time. To meet some of my own needs, I developed an independent companion application called SweetCherry.

It uses CherryTree’s CTB database format and provides a browser-based interface for accessing notes. It is a separate project, not an official CherryTree application or a replacement for CherryTree.

Why I built it

My main goal was to access my CherryTree notes from other devices, especially a phone, while keeping the database on my own computer or server.

SweetCherry provides:

• A desktop browser view with a node tree and content pane, plus a layout adapted for mobile screens.
• Access from the same computer or over a configured network connection, with HTTPS support.
• Filtering by node name, stored content, tags, type and icons.
• Interactive Markmap and Mermaid mind maps, with icons, folding and navigation through the hierarchy.
• Freeplane/FreeMind export, optionally packaged with the referenced icons.

Editing and other features

For databases configured as writable, SweetCherry supports:

• Creating, duplicating, moving and deleting nodes and subtrees.
• Changing node properties, including names, icons, title colors, bold titles and read-only flags.
• Creating and deleting shared nodes, including shared nodes with their own children.
• Plain-text editing and a limited visual rich-text editor, including text formatting, images, attachments, tables and external links.
• Adding and removing bookmarks, and browsing/downloading embedded attachments.
• Optional syntax highlighting.

Export options include:

• PDF export of a node or a subtree, with page options, hierarchical PDF bookmarks, an optional table of contents and controls for including embedded objects.
• CTB export of a node or a subtree, either to a new downloadable CTB or to a common collection CTB.

There is also a specialized table-based view that presents structured node content as rows and columns.

Installation and getting started

SweetCherry is written in Java and requires Java 17 or later when using an existing Java installation.

The Windows x64 installer and portable ZIP include Java 17, so Windows users do not need to install Java separately. A desktop control window provides application status, browser access, settings and shutdown controls. Linux launch scripts are also included; I run SweetCherry on a Raspberry Pi.

Other Java-capable platforms may work, but I have not verified every platform.

The distribution includes:

• A demo CTB for experimenting with features.
• English and Turkish quick-start guides, themselves provided as CTB files.
• Read-only connection definitions for both guides.

The guides can be selected inside SweetCherry or opened in CherryTree.

SweetCherry calls its database connection definitions “tenant configs.” In practice, these are small text files containing the database location and opening settings, including whether editing is allowed. A wizard can create and edit them, so users do not have to prepare the files manually.

SQLite CTB files are the main use case. SweetCherry also supports compatible MariaDB/MySQL and PostgreSQL databases; I have manually tested the main operations with SQLite, MariaDB and PostgreSQL.

Important limitations

• Among CherryTree file formats, SweetCherry currently supports unencrypted .ctb files only.
• Rich-text editing supports a subset of CherryTree’s capabilities; it is not a complete implementation of the CherryTree editor.
• SweetCherry does not create automatic backups. Please test with a separate copy of your database and keep your own backups. Connections can be configured as read-only.
• Both applications can access the same CTB file, but do not edit it in CherryTree and SweetCherry at the same time. This is not a synchronization mechanism.

SweetCherry is open source under GPL-3.0-or-later.

• Project: https://github.com/turkerozturk/SweetCherry
• Download 1.1.0: https://github.com/turkerozturk/SweetCherry/releases/tag/v1.1.0
• English installation guide: https://github.com/turkerozturk/SweetCherry/blob/v1.1.0/documentation/en/setup-and-run.md

Thank you to the CherryTree developers and contributors for the application I have been using all these years.

If anyone would like to try SweetCherry with a copy of their CTB, I would appreciate feedback—particularly on content rendering, shared-node behavior and anything that does not behave as expected.