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DonationCoder.com Software => DC Member Programs and Projects => Skwire Empire => Topic started by: skwire on March 16, 2011, 01:03 AM

Title: Release: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 16, 2011, 01:03 AM

Name	Birthdays
Short Description	A simple, straightforward app to help keep track of birthdays. Use the menu entries or toolbar buttons to add or delete birthdays. The checkboxes are there to track whether or not you have sent a gift or card to said person for that year.
Supported OSes	All Windows
Website:	http://skwire.dcmembers.com/fp/?page=birthdays (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/fp/?page=birthdays)
Download Link	Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip)
Author	Jody Holmes - Skwire Empire (http://skwire.dcmembers.com)

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Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 16, 2011, 03:48 PM

Very nice, and clever idea with the checkboxes. :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup:

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: timns on March 16, 2011, 03:56 PM

I wanna be like Granpa Pete and have 2 birthdays a year! :'( Also, I see the sex-change went well for him. Her.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 16, 2011, 03:59 PM

;D you have good eyes.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 16, 2011, 04:04 PM

A little background on this app... My wife's grandmother has had a cloth version of this magneted to her refrigerator for time immemorial. :D It has twelve clear pockets (one for each month) and within each pocket is a paper card with all family children's and grandchildren's names and day handwritten on them. Each month, she checks it, writes out birthday cards and sends them out. She's never missed one in the eighteen years I've known her. :P My wife asked if I could make a software version of it and what you see is what I came up with. She uses the checkboxes to mark off who she has sent cards or gifts to for the year. She also prefers to-the-point apps that aren't complicated with all manner of bells and whistles. As such, there is no complicated scheduler or anything like that in this app (nor will I add one :)).

I wanna be like Granpa Pete and have 2 birthdays a year! :'( Also, I see the sex-change went well for him. Her.
-timns (March 16, 2011, 03:56 PM)

Actually, their last name is Peterson, hence, the Grandma and Grandpa Pete. :P

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: timns on March 16, 2011, 04:16 PM

Actually, their last name is Peterson, hence, the Grandma and Grandpa Pete. :P
-skwire (March 16, 2011, 04:04 PM)

Damn, I hate those perfectly reasonable explanations ;)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: zzynx on March 17, 2011, 05:56 AM

Nice little app!

Request: An <Edit> button in the toolbar would be nice. Now, if I made an error I have to create a duplicate and delete the previous.

Issues:
[1]
And with trying to correct an entry I found another issue:
Scenario:
1. Press the "Add Birthday" button
2. Fill in "Name", "Dec" and "10"
3. Entry is created correctly
4. Now I realize I've spelled the name incorrectly. So, I select the entry in the calendar (but there's no edit, so that selection was in vain)
5. I press the "Add Birthday" button again
6. I fill in: "Corrected name", "Dec" and "10"
7. The new entry is created. (The old one is still shown selected)
8. I press the "Delete birthday" button
And guess which one is deleted... the last one I added <= Bug

[2]
Also, don't let the user enter non-digits ("abc") or invalid numbers ("300") in the day spinner text box.

My 2 cent...

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 18, 2011, 03:01 AM

Thanks for the feedback, zzynx; Give this version a try.

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.1 - 2011-03-18 + Added a "Delete" key hotkey to delete an entry. + Added a "Ctrl-N" hotkey to add a new entry. + Added right-click context menu to the listviews. * Changed a few toolbar icons. + Added entry edit functionality. (Thanks, zzynx) ! Fixed a delete entry bug. (Thanks, zzynx)

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Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: zzynx on March 18, 2011, 04:54 AM

Hi skwire,
very quick ànd useful update.

Can I do some more suggestions? ;)
1. Don't enable the "Edit birthday" and "Delete birthday" buttons and (main and right-click) menu items if no birthday is selected.
(That's better than letting the user click/choose it and then saying "Please select a birthday to edit")
2. Make the button tooltips correspond the menu item texts ("birthday" vs. "entry")
3. Make the 'Day' columns by default as narrow as possible (to display the "Day" header). That way more space can be used for the name.
4. I don't know if AHK allowst it, but it would be great to be able to resize/maximize the application.
5. I was rather surprised that pressing ESC exits the application

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 18, 2011, 10:27 AM

Can I do some more suggestions? ;)
1. Don't enable the "Edit birthday" and "Delete birthday" buttons and (main and right-click) menu items if no birthday is selected.
(That's better than letting the user click/choose it and then saying "Please select a birthday to edit")
2. Make the button tooltips correspond the menu item texts ("birthday" vs. "entry")
3. Make the 'Day' columns by default as narrow as possible (to display the "Day" header). That way more space can be used for the name.
4. I don't know if AHK allowst it, but it would be great to be able to resize/maximize the application.
-zzynx (March 18, 2011, 04:54 AM)

All done in the latest update.

5. I was rather surprised that pressing ESC exits the application
-zzynx (March 18, 2011, 04:54 AM)

That's how I like apps to work. Moreover, using escape calls the same routine as exiting the app so everything is saved, etc.

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.2 - 2011-03-18 + Made the form resizable. (Thanks, zzynx) * Enabled/disabled toolbar icons as necessary. (Thanks, zzynx) * Changed menu item text to match tooltips. (Thanks, zzynx) ! Temp directory wasn't getting deleted.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: zzynx on March 18, 2011, 10:42 AM

Great job! :Thmbsup:
(Btw, very handy that the month is already prefilled according to which month's table you last clicked on)

That's how I like apps to work.

That's a valid argument. ;)

Moreover, using escape calls the same routine as exiting the app so everything is saved, etc.

Except for the position/size. :P
Those are not saved when I exit the app with Esc while they are when I exit via the menu or via the upper right close button.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 18, 2011, 10:48 AM

Helps when I uncomment certain lines of code, eh? :D

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.3 - 2011-03-18 ! Size & position weren't saved under some circumstances. (Thanks, zzynx)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: zzynx on March 18, 2011, 11:32 AM

Helps when I uncomment certain lines of code, eh? :D

;D

Thanks for the quick update.

Btw, I browsed around in Skwire Empire and I can't wait to let CoverArt Ops process my quite huge music library... 8)
Would you know if a similar application exists for checking the bitrates? (BitRate Ops)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 18, 2011, 11:39 AM

Keep in mind that CovArt Ops does NOT download covers or anything like that. It simply shows you which folders do/don't have art in them (as well as their "quality" for lack of a better term). My PlayTime (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/playtime.php) app will show you the bitrates of your audio files.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 18, 2011, 11:58 AM

Excellent little helper. Kudos to grandma Marlene. Love the icons. Wish they were pop out cake style icons, though :D

A request (or two)...

1. add to the right-click menu a check/uncheck all just for a specific month.
2. would love to add a comment/note by double clicking on a particular birthday. Is that possible?

Cheers,

Phil

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 18, 2011, 03:02 PM

1. add to the right-click menu a check/uncheck all just for a specific month.
2. would love to add a comment/note by double clicking on a particular birthday. Is that possible?
-PhilB66 (March 18, 2011, 11:58 AM)

For sure.
Hmmm...I'm trying to keep the listviews very simple but, yes, I could do this. There are two schools of thought:
- Store the data (single line only) in a hidden listview column and then display the data in the status bar or edit field at the bottom of the main dialog when said birthday is highlighted.
- Provide one popup (pop out cake?! =) generic edit field where you can keep notes on all the birthdays. Think a basic notepad-style window.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 18, 2011, 03:13 PM

I think having ability to make notes is great, BUT i would like to suggest a much simpler more flexible solution. Instead of giving each entry it's own note, which has some logic but i think would be messy and hard to spot at a glance, can i suggest something much simpler and more straightforward:

A single memo box on the main screen, just a notepad area where one could write whatever notes one wants to keep about birthdays; this might be used to keep general notes and updates and news, and/or a list of addresses, etc.

Whatever minor advantage would be lost by not having a separate note for each entry i think would be made up for by the advantages from simplicity.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 18, 2011, 11:44 PM

@skwire

The generic notepad-like method to keep notes would work for me. Thanks.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: tomos on March 19, 2011, 03:28 AM

Excellent little helper. Kudos to grandma Marlene. Love the icons.
-PhilB66 (March 18, 2011, 11:58 AM)

+1 (for each) :up:

and adding notes would be great, be it pop up or part of the main window

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 19, 2011, 10:47 PM

Here are the two choices.

Integrated:
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Separate (popup is complete resizable and positionable):
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Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 19, 2011, 10:52 PM

Integrated!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 19, 2011, 11:46 PM

What happens to the main application when the popup window gets focus? Does it stay on top?

Also, could you offer the option to add background image to both the Birthdays app and the notes window?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 19, 2011, 11:56 PM

hahaha phil what makes you want background images?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 20, 2011, 08:06 AM

Another suggestion, hopefully not too complex -- how about the option to store a start year, so that it's easier to keep track of birthdays where the age matters -- kids' and ones ending in 0 in particular? (So I'd be asking for an on-the-fly age calculation too, of course!)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 20, 2011, 03:43 PM

hmm thats a pretty good idea actually.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 20, 2011, 03:48 PM

It's already in the next build. =]

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 09:50 AM

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.4 - 2011-03-21 + Added "Check/Uncheck this month only" functionality to the right-click context menu. (Thanks, PhilB66) + Added notes field. (Thanks, PhilB66) + Added optional "Year" field when adding a birthday. Bear in mind that the displayed age is what the person WILL BE in the current year (even if their birthday hasn't actually arrived for that year). (Thanks, oblivion) * Double-clicking a birthday will now edit it.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Ath on March 21, 2011, 10:09 AM

* Double-clicking a birthday will now edit it.
-skwire (March 21, 2011, 09:50 AM)

Could a Double-Click on an empty spot be turned into Add birthday, instead of an errormessage? That's a bit more intuitive, IMHO

For the rest it's just steady as a rock :Thmbsup:

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Stoic Joker on March 21, 2011, 11:51 AM

Okay... Completely off-the-wall thought: Babies (not a freaking clue why I went there either)

For the new parent users, can you add something that does (something like) month anniversaries for the newly born? Seems like they measure time in month for the first year or so for the little ones (e.g. how many months is he/she/it...).

So anybody under 2 years old (that seems like the usual cut-off) gets a monthly entry for being X months old.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 12:22 PM

Could a Double-Click on an empty spot be turned into Add birthday, instead of an errormessage? That's a bit more intuitive,
-Ath (March 21, 2011, 10:09 AM)

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.5 - 2011-03-21 + Double-clicking an empty area in a listview will now add a birthday. (Thanks, Ath)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Ath on March 21, 2011, 12:30 PM

Thanks :up:

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 12:35 PM

For the new parent users, can you add something that does (something like) month anniversaries for the newly born?
-Stoic Joker (March 21, 2011, 11:51 AM)

Do you mean it would add a separate entry in every month for said newborn?

Thanks :up:
-Ath (March 21, 2011, 12:30 PM)

You're welcome.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Stoic Joker on March 21, 2011, 12:44 PM

For the new parent users, can you add something that does (something like) month anniversaries for the newly born?
-Stoic Joker (March 21, 2011, 11:51 AM)

Do you mean it would add a separate entry in every month for said newborn?
-skwire (March 21, 2011, 12:35 PM)

Yes, which admittedly sounds terribly cluttered ... But new parents (and grandparents) are (ok with) like that. :)

Oh yeah, but only up to the age of 2.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 01:49 PM

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.6 - 2011-03-21 + "Add as monthly" option when adding a birthday. (Thanks, Stoic Joker)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: cranioscopical on March 21, 2011, 04:39 PM

how about the option to store a start year, so that it's easier to keep track of birthdays where the age matters -- kids' and ones ending in 0 in particular?
-oblivion (March 20, 2011, 08:06 AM)

How about a vanity option to lop off a year or three for those of us whose advance on senility has turned into a charge?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 04:42 PM

[ ] Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

Like that?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: cranioscopical on March 21, 2011, 04:57 PM

[ ] Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

Like that?
-skwire (March 21, 2011, 04:42 PM)

Okay, as long as it's on a sub menu!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 05:03 PM

Aye aye, cap'n!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: cranioscopical on March 21, 2011, 05:51 PM

Do you have a cross-platform version? If not I fear that you have a list to port.

(and I have the topics confused :-[)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 06:03 PM

If you were serious, most AHK stuff runs fine in Linux using Wine.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 21, 2011, 06:35 PM

Excellent updates, thanks.

Another suggestion... add 'days left' column to quicly see how many days are left before an upcoming birthday.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 21, 2011, 06:57 PM

I'm trying to avoid adding more columns since they're such small listviews to begin with. :-[

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 21, 2011, 07:27 PM

I'm trying to avoid adding more columns since they're such small listviews to begin with. :-[
-skwire (March 21, 2011, 06:57 PM)

Well, I would rather have another small column and have the 'Notes' window at the bottom of the of the app or not integrated at all (pop up, YaY!). I think 'days left' is very useful for someone (like myself) who likes to do things at the very last minute :).

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 21, 2011, 09:30 PM

i vote for keep it simple.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Ath on March 22, 2011, 05:10 AM

I'd also vote to keep it simple, and confine the 'days left' feature to only show days until the next birthday(s) ahead (name(s) included), somewhere in the statusbar or toolbar area.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 22, 2011, 05:37 AM

I'd also vote to keep it simple, and confine the 'days left' feature to only show days until the next birthday(s) ahead (name(s) included), somewhere in the statusbar or toolbar area.
-Ath (March 22, 2011, 05:10 AM)

+1

That's a nice idea, Ath. Hope it's doeable.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 22, 2011, 06:22 AM

I hope this will be good enough. :)

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.7 - 2011-03-22 + Added "Days left" and date to the status bar. The "Days left" feature is for the current month only and will show 'Passed', 'Today!' or the number of days left for each birthday that month. (Thanks, PhilB66)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Ath on March 22, 2011, 07:29 AM

I think it's awesome now! :Thmbsup:

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 22, 2011, 12:54 PM

I'm really not liking the Age column being displayed but I don't mind having that info. How about I just show the highlighted person's age in another section on the statusbar instead?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: mouser on March 22, 2011, 12:55 PM

yes please.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Ath on March 22, 2011, 01:25 PM

Hm, I must say I like them as they are.

Afraid it's time for a few optional features for those that don't like or need them:

Age column on or off
Notes on of off
Note per name (that's a new one ;))
Days left feature on or off

This 'small' project is growing a bit out of hand :P

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 22, 2011, 03:32 PM

I hope this will be good enough. :)
-skwire (March 22, 2011, 06:22 AM)

Marvellous! Thank you -- it's perfect!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: PhilB66 on March 22, 2011, 06:37 PM

I'm really not liking the Age column being displayed but I don't mind having that info. How about I just show the highlighted person's age in another section on the statusbar instead?
-skwire (March 22, 2011, 12:54 PM)

+1

That or a tooltip maybe? Display age info, days left, and notes per name (if that's implemented) when hovering over a name.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 24, 2011, 07:07 PM

I have to say I'd rather keep the age displayed (I've used it already today to quickly find out how old two nephews are, and I'm not sure I'd prefer having to click or hover to find that out. I'd rather lose the permanent note display, if the issue is maximising horizontal real-estate.

Maybe the age could be in a different colour, to distinguish it? Or is that not the objection to its display?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: nogojoe on March 24, 2011, 09:16 PM

I have to say I'd rather keep the age displayed (I've used it already today to quickly find out how old two nephews are, and I'm not sure I'd prefer having to click or hover to find that out. I'd rather lose the permanent note display, if the issue is maximising horizontal real-estate.
-oblivion (March 24, 2011, 07:07 PM)

Hi Skwire.
nice app. tend to agree with above. having 65 living 1st cousins plus numerous neices and nephews the age column is great.
Any possibility to having the columns be made to stay at last state after closing the app.
Some of my columns tend to disappear (year and/or age) after closing and I have to fiddle around to find them to dispay

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 25, 2011, 12:10 AM

I serve the public and the public hath spoken! The age column stays.

As for your issue, nogojoe, I haven't seen that happen. The columns get resized when the app first displays, when a birthday is added, and when you resize the app. If you lose a column again, try resizing the app slightly to see if that brings them back in line.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: zzynx on March 25, 2011, 03:14 AM

Afraid it's time for a few optional features for those that don't like or need them:

Age column on or off
Notes on of off

+1

* Giving the user the choice is most of the time the best option - though not for the one who has to program it ;)
* That "Notes" pane takes needless screen space - if you don't use it.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Zhalanna on April 01, 2011, 04:35 PM

Brilliant I love it, thank you... So far I have relayed on my mums excellent organisation-skills to remember birthday, but now time to take responsibility and thanks to you, your wonderful smart wife and mother in law I am a grown-up!!!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on April 01, 2011, 10:31 PM

Notes window and age column are now toggle-able.

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.8 - 2011-04-01 + Added a toolbar button to toggle the age column. (Thanks, V. Holmes) * Changed the Notes pane to a separate window and added a toolbar button to toggle it. Size and position are saved.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on April 01, 2011, 10:50 PM

Brilliant I love it, thank you...
-Zhalanna (April 01, 2011, 04:35 PM)

You're welcome. I'm glad you find it useful. :)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Flatop0315 on April 05, 2011, 02:20 PM

Would it be possible to add an import feature, say CSV or XLS format? So one could add their initial list of birthdays without having to enter them one at a time. Just a thought...

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on April 05, 2011, 02:45 PM

That's a good idea; I'll add it to the ToDo. Thanks for the feedback.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: iphigenie on April 07, 2011, 04:40 AM

It's tough, isnt it, to keep a piece of software small and perfectly formed, features seem to just sprout :)

This is just for information - I was looking into the matter for other reasons recently, and it might be useful: both gmail and facebook allow export of birthdays, but only as ical. If you are looking at one off import this might be a useful option to consider.

I would say that is my biggest problem with birthdays: you seem to copy/enter them over and over. Phone, email client, online tool, paper diary. And as a result you dont copy all of them, losing some behind that you might regret later (especially if you forget you hadnt copied everything and reformat the machine) and never have all of them anywhere. My side project was looking into "master data" for contacts but especially birthdays, and how to import/export/convert so i can have them on my phone, online etc. and not miss a birthday whether I am home or travelling :)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on April 07, 2011, 04:45 AM

Thanks for the feedback, iphigenie; I'll research the format.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Leif on January 19, 2012, 09:30 AM

A great little programme! Thanks for providing it!
The only tiny thing that annoyed me was when I had to use Arrow down to increase the date. But no big deal! It would also be nice to have a localized version of it. Any chance of that?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on January 19, 2012, 09:38 AM

A great little programme! Thanks for providing it!
-Leif (January 19, 2012, 09:30 AM)

You're welcome. :) I'm glad you find it useful.

The only tiny thing that annoyed me was when I had to use Arrow down to increase the date. But no big deal!
-Leif (January 19, 2012, 09:30 AM)

Hehehe...sorry about that. That's because of my laziness and decision to use a DropDownList control. :-[

It would also be nice to have a localized version of it. Any chance of that?
-Leif (January 19, 2012, 09:30 AM)

Very doubtful. AutoHotkey doesn't offer any sort of automatic localisation tools. In other words, it would be a lot of work since it would all have to be handled manually.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 13, 2012, 02:52 AM

Not sure whether this is something I've missed or not, but my birthdays dataset is last year's and ages for this year aren't being updated unless I edit the relevant record, even if the date has passed. (My birthday was in February and birthdays still showed me as last year's age until I hit the Edit button and OKed the entry.)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 13, 2012, 06:45 AM

Damnit, I fixed this for my wife earlier this year but neglected to upload it. :-[ Thanks for reporting it.

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.0.9 - 2012-03-13 ! Ages weren't updating properly after the turn of a new year. (Thanks, V. Holmes & oblivion) ! Notes window settings sometimes weren't saved properly.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 14, 2012, 02:44 AM

Thanks!

You may not be aware that this is one of THE most useful programs I've ever used? Particularly with a variety of children to be kept track of, when it's VITAL to get "Happy 12th Birthday" (or whatever) neither a year early nor late? :)

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 14, 2012, 02:49 AM

Oh.

Having updated (using dcupdater because I'm lazy) I find everything's now listed in January... :(

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: nogojoe on March 14, 2012, 04:29 AM

Oh.

Having updated (using dcupdater because I'm lazy) I find everything's now listed in January... :(
-oblivion (March 14, 2012, 02:49 AM)

Same thing happened to me drat didnt back up the data (birthdays text file) just got to guess the birthday months all the other data is in the text file :( :-[ :-[

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 14, 2012, 09:03 AM

Ah, crap. I apologise for this and, after some digging, I know what caused it. It has to do with compiling as Unicode but trying to read the older ANSI birthdays.txt file. Man, what a stupid oversight on my part. I hope I didn't cause you guys too much work. :( :( :( I am very sorry.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 14, 2012, 09:15 AM

I hope I didn't cause you guys too much work. :( :( :( I am very sorry.
-skwire (March 14, 2012, 09:03 AM)

Fortunately, I only have about 40 entries and we have a backup (a Dr Who calendar on the kitchen wall with people's birthdays and anniversaries handwritten onto it!) so the ones I couldn't remember the month of (a handful) didn't take much sorting out! Now stop beating yourself up! :) :trout:

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Herbesj on March 19, 2012, 02:55 PM

Oh.

Having updated (using dcupdater because I'm lazy) I find everything's now listed in January... :(
-oblivion (March 14, 2012, 02:49 AM)

I am getting something different. Dcupdater keeps downloading v1.0.8 and I download the same version when I download from the software page.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 19, 2012, 10:41 PM

Dcupdater keeps downloading v1.0.8 and I download the same version when I download from the software page.
-Herbesj (March 19, 2012, 02:55 PM)

Yep, sorry about that. I reverted the build once oblivion and nogojoe reported the ANSI/UTF-8 screwup I made. This was to prevent any others from messing up their birthdays until I could write a fix for the problem. Apologies for the trouble; here the latest version:

Website (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/wb/pages/software/birthdays.php) | Download (http://skwire.dcmembers.com/apps/birthdays/Birthdays.zip) v1.1.0 - 2012-03-19 ! Fixed ANSI/UTF-8 issue introduced by the last build.

Backup your current birthdays.txt file before running this version. Ideally, this version should just appear to work as normal on your machine but please let me know either way. Thank you.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: nogojoe on March 20, 2012, 12:05 AM

no problems here skwire thanks

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: oblivion on March 20, 2012, 02:57 AM

Ideally, this version should just appear to work as normal on your machine but please let me know either way. Thank you.
-skwire (March 19, 2012, 10:41 PM)

Looks good here -- but as I was already running the last new version, I wouldn't have seen the same conversion issues anyway, I imagine!

Pleased you worked out how to fix it, anyway -- that bug must have come as a nasty surprise to you!

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: nogojoe on March 24, 2012, 06:38 PM

no problems here skwire thanks
-nogojoe (March 20, 2012, 12:05 AM)

sorry to annoy you skwire having backed up the birthdays txt file (smart me this time 8) ) I thought I had better check the back up file and I find that the months are not being written to the Birthdays text file. :tellme: yet they are still coming up properly when the program is opened.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 24, 2012, 06:48 PM

The months don't get written to the file in a literal sense. You'll notice that the file is separated into twelve sections; each section represents the month.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: nogojoe on March 24, 2012, 07:23 PM

The months don't get written to the file in a literal sense. You'll notice that the file is separated into twelve sections; each section represents the month.
-skwire (March 24, 2012, 06:48 PM)

thats great I can see that now :up:

can you tell me what's the purpose of the add as monthly tick box?

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on March 24, 2012, 07:37 PM

can you tell me what's the purpose of the add as monthly tick box?
-nogojoe (March 24, 2012, 07:23 PM)

It's an easy way to add a new entry to each month in one shot.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Muadib on May 13, 2012, 03:12 PM

Hi Skwire,

Thank you very much for this little gem. I love it and I am using it a lot, but I am missing something that I am not sure if already exist: the possibility of keeping it minimised in the system tray and popping up a reminder when a birthday arrives ... errr... sorry, in fact I think I am asking you for two things :-[

I agree absolutely with the approach of keeping it small, so please take this in account if you decide implement these two things.

Thanks a lot.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: skwire on May 13, 2012, 03:34 PM

Nice nickname and avatar; I loved the Dune series. =] As to your post, I wrote Birthdays with the intention that it didn't stay running in the tray or anything like that since, I feel, there are many birthday reminder apps already out there. That being said, what you're requesting isn't all that difficult to add so I'll try to find some time to add it in. Thanks for the feedback.

Title: Re: Birthdays (simple birthday tracking app)
Post by: Muadib on May 13, 2012, 03:56 PM

Thank you for your kind words Skwire, Dune series always make me think.

As for your great software, I am using it all the time, but I never could find a good birthday reminder that was small, simple and that could just do one thing only without being bloated and RAM addicted. I will be grateful if you can implement the changes, but please do it only when you have time.

Thank you for all your fantastic programs.