Recent Posts

251

General Software Discussion / Re: Audio Interview Explaining *Why* EverNote is Going to a Service

« Last post by PPLandry on April 08, 2008, 10:43 AM »

Someone can summary the content  ?

-Nxqd3051990 (April 08, 2008, 10:25 AM)

I did listen to it.
They see themselves as repository for all your textual info (web clippings, text from pictures, hand written stuff). The move to the web is to allow for easier access to this info. Free and subscription based services are planned. Nothing special here. Zoho and others already provide similar things.

IMO, the really interesting part however is that this info would be accessible using an API. This opens the door to other programs using this info.

As an example, you take a picture of a business card with your phone and send it to evernote (you get a special email address to contribute stuff). Evernote does the OCR. Other programs, such as my own SQLNotes, can use the Evernote API to retrieve this info to create a new contact.

Combine this with the Microsoft Sync Framework and you could sync this business card with a whole slew of programs (Outlook, Google, Hotmail, etc)

API should be out in a couple weeks (read a couple of months...)

252

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on April 07, 2008, 10:26 AM »

Exporting to Excel doesn't work that well.  Is it me, or is it a bug?

I have a grid, with a couple of sublevels in the hierarchy.  Whenever I export to Excel, only the top level items get exported (even though I have all the items selected).

-superboyac (April 07, 2008, 10:21 AM)

Export to Excel exports the items that meet the grid source (i.e. the flat view). Do a copy-paste (tab format) to copy sub-items. Excel does not support hierarchy so you'll get a flat list

The Excel export will be expanded with more options.

253

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on April 03, 2008, 11:52 PM »

Being on holidays with little time to really think about it ([edit] and no computer to test it out [/edit]), my initial hunch is that I would :
1- Create items for each of the students
2- Create 1 text field to store the test name (i.e. Math01) or 2 fields for course and test id (Math, 01) (or both where the combined field has an equation = Course & TestID)
3- For each student, add a sub-item for each test and enter the info.
4- Forms could be used to fill-in common test info (Math and 01) automatically. Changing the form default values when changing test

Then using the ItemParent field, the new grid grouping (outlook-style) and pivot tables/charts should allow all the flexibility required (calculate group average for each test, student average, etc)
If you need to calculate credit-based weighted averages, the transcript sample could be instructive. Talk to superboyac.

254

General Software Discussion / Re: Text outliner/organiser/editor

« Last post by PPLandry on April 03, 2008, 05:50 PM »

As you said, SQLNotes could be used for this. Basically, create a new grid and start entering your outline. Whenever you want to add body text, simply enter it (or drag/drop) in the HTML pane. You can get a combined view by doing an HTML Export (settings mode). You can export the bodies with the outline or without (i.e. just the combined bodies). You can add a tag column to the grid to easily tag outline items (or use the properties pane to do the same thing). You can then search/filter on tags (or date for a toilet paper like view)

Improvements to come (as soon as someone requests it)
1- Toggle between sub-items and body content: often one starts by putting content in the outline (as sub-items) to make the creation process more fluid. With this feature, one-click could move the content from the outline to the item body and back (both use HTML so simple formatting will be preserved)
2- HTML pane to show a combined view of all items enabling editing while preserving the outline. See this thread on outlinersoftware for details: http://www.outliners...com/topics/viewt/680
3- View the body as a sub-item: Body (entered in the HTML pane) could be shown as the first sub-item of an item.

255

General Software Discussion / Re: Professional Task Scheduling/Task Management

« Last post by PPLandry on March 28, 2008, 08:58 PM »

I'll second that. I haven't used it myself, but know other who have and are satisfied.

EssentialPIM is also a good affordable choice.

TimeTo is a good choice if you want task/schedule optimization

I used Ecco for years (freeware now), before designing my own.

256

General Software Discussion / Re: Professional Task Scheduling/Task Management

« Last post by PPLandry on March 28, 2008, 08:38 PM »

OK... First series of questions:

- single-user or multi-user ?
- if multi-user, is it strickly LAN or do you require some WAN (i.e. web) access ?
- if multi-user, do you need access control, permission levels ?

- Have you fixed a cost to purchase the software(s) ?
- Have you fixed a cost to adapt / configure it for your needs ?

- Have you considered the omnipresent Outlook ?
- Do you require PDA sync ?

257

General Software Discussion / Re: Professional Task Scheduling/Task Management

« Last post by PPLandry on March 28, 2008, 07:48 PM »

Sunbird and Google Cal are online tools... is that a requirement?

If yes, have you tried Airset? Zoho? Scrybe? 30 Boxes? (some of these also support off-line mode)

If no, there are 100's. Need more information to guide you.

258

General Software Discussion / Re: How often do you reinstall Windows?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 28, 2008, 05:23 PM »

@PPLandry: System Restore does stuff for you? Any time I try to restore to a restore point, it takes forever to reboot and it just tells me that it was unsuccessful. System Restore has always been worthless to me because it always tells me after the fact of doing it that it couldn't do it.

-Deozaan (March 28, 2008, 04:06 PM)

Works fine and is speedy. But then again, I work on a notebook, nothing ever changes...

259

General Software Discussion / Re: How often do you reinstall Windows?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 28, 2008, 04:01 PM »

My Acer Travelmate 660 notebook is now 4.5 years old and still on the original XP installation. System restore did rescue it a few times  .

In Win98 days, you could simply re-install Windows without erasing your HD and re-installing all software. It refreshed the OS and often (not always) did fix it. I would try to do this first (but I'm no OS expert, perhaps even do it with XP SP3 which I read is pretty stable).

I fear of day I'll need to change PC: Re-install/configure everything = 1 week of non-productive work, plus months of tuning/tweaking everything...

260

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 27, 2008, 11:47 PM »

I've rolled all daily build changes into version 0.9.22.7.

And yes, the new Quick search (now CTRL-F) has a non-detailed mode which is exactly what Armando and superboyac have requested: items only appear once, even though more than one field match the search criteria.

While the Quick Search is great for searching for text, the advanced search (Shift-CTRL-F), it is still useful to search for dates and numbers and supports AND, OR, *, etc and you can limit which fields are searched.

Checkout release notes for details: http://mantis.sqlnot...t/changelog_page.php

261

Living Room / Re: So how long IS too long for a thread.

« Last post by PPLandry on March 27, 2008, 09:11 PM »

I think it all depends on the thread. Threads are a mean of communicating. As such threads can be:

1- Specific problem looking for an answer
2- Discussion on a given subject
3- Purely informational
4- Persistent chat (much like a conversation) on a specific subject (i.e. a program, a program category)

This last category can go on and on, for as long as people have things to contribute.

Never ending problems (information management and organisation is one of them) that can create never ending threads.

262

Developer's Corner / Re: 'Sorting/grouping' methodologies

« Last post by PPLandry on March 26, 2008, 08:11 PM »

In your example:
ABC001 - 750
ABC002 - 100
ABC003 - 1100
ABC004 - 50

dim col(100) as collection (or you can use arrays if you want)
dim Col2(100) as collection
dim ColRemainder(100) as  collection

scan sheet
iCol=1
col(iCol).add xyz
if groupChange then iCol=iCol+1
loop

Once you have it grouped, then
calculate full sub-groups (qty=500) by using something like col(i).count-(col(i).count\500)*500 to get remainder.
For each full sub-group, copy col items to new collection col2
Put group remainders into a separate collection ColRemainder

You then simply need to output your col2 collections and ColRemainder collections

263

Developer's Corner / Re: 'Sorting/grouping' methodologies

« Last post by PPLandry on March 26, 2008, 07:35 PM »

Hi see.

For such a case, an all Excel solution could be:
- Data > Sub-Totals
- VB Code to generate text files (scan rows and change file when count=500 or when cell contains 'Count'

264

Developer's Corner / Re: 'Sorting/grouping' methodologies

« Last post by PPLandry on March 26, 2008, 06:28 PM »

Access can link to Excel data (no need to export). Then a query can return records 1-500, 501-1000, etc. I can provide the query if you're not too fluent in SQL

265

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 26, 2008, 01:32 PM »

You must check Grid>Column Filter buttons to see column buttons (notice that it is a split button + menu)

266

Developer's Corner / Re: 'Sorting/grouping' methodologies

« Last post by PPLandry on March 26, 2008, 09:39 AM »

How about using the pivot table for grouping? Is the grouped output still supposed to be functional or only for presentation purposes?

[edit] Working with data is generally much more flexible and efficient in Access. I would import it and then perform various queries, pivot table, etc in Access (an then move it back to Excel if need be)

267

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by PPLandry on March 25, 2008, 04:40 PM »

I owed you a big one superboyac for bringing up SN to DC. Here's my way of thanking you...
Congratulations on your 1000th post, one filled with generosity

268

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 25, 2008, 01:59 PM »

What does the Grid>Column Filter>Auto display mode option do?  I turned it on and I don't know where it applies.

-superboyac (March 25, 2008, 01:56 PM)

In auto mode, the column filter buttons are only displayed when there is space for them (calculated for each column, based on the caption and the column width)

269

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 25, 2008, 12:27 PM »

This is all well and good for people who do everything by the keyboard, but what about mouse users?

-Dormouse (March 25, 2008, 12:25 PM)

Double-click below the list of items (in the grid, adds a new item. Click on the HTML pane to start entering text

270

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 25, 2008, 10:52 AM »

Is it possible to create an item without typing it anywhere? I am using wikipad for my notes(which is faboulous tool), and in Wikipad I can just press ctrl+o and type title of my note, if there is a note about it it would open the file, if it there is no such note it will create a new one and I will type the necesssary information in it. These kinds of notes are unlinked to anything but I can call them anytime I need(by just using autocompletion and wiki tags). I was wondering if that is possible to do it in Sqlnotes on the fly like Wikipad.

-kartal (March 24, 2008, 10:48 AM)

This is a good idea.

Right now, you can easily open an item with a Quick Search and Add by:

• Press F12 to move to the grid
  
• Press INS to add a new item
  
• Press F12 to move focus to the HTML pane

A minor change could allow it. So if I summarize, you're in the HTML editing pane:

• Hit shortcut key. A dialog comes up where you can enter the item title. A drop-down matches existing ones.
  
• If you select an existing one, focus goes to that item
  
• If what you typed does not match an existing one, a new item is created

If you hit a different shortcut (say CTRL-L), the same dialog opens but allows you to create a link to an existing or a new item.

271

Living Room / Re: Restating Godwin's Law

« Last post by PPLandry on March 25, 2008, 08:40 AM »

I've avoided the SQL Notes post because it's just tooooooo long. I suppose I should have a read now though.

-Renegade (March 25, 2008, 08:20 AM)

Yes it is discouragingly loooong.

Spoiler

I'll summarize the major posts and publish it on the wikispace with the rest of the documentation

272

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 24, 2008, 09:31 PM »

EDIT :  pierre answered as I was writing something... his answer is more concise... but here's mine anyways :

-Armando (March 24, 2008, 09:18 PM)

Sorry Armando. This is the second time (or third, I'm not sure) that I wrote an answer as you were writing. Bad me  
Many thanks for the energy you put in learning SQLNotes and explaining it to others.

@Kartal: refresh
As part of online/offline/sync/multi-user/private item features (à la Ecco), Grids will no longer require refresh (with an option to disable it). Add/Delete/Modify items will raise events on other grids (local instance, and for other users connected to a shared file).

273

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 24, 2008, 09:05 PM »

Armando can you please explain this one little more please  ?
"select the items you want to associate with another grid and tick the right fields (corresponding to the grid's source) in the properties pane."

-kartal (March 24, 2008, 08:49 PM)

This is actually pure Ecco. If you want an item to be shown under a folder, it requires a value in that folder. True for all folders (in notepad, calendar, phonebook, etc)

So if you have grid1 with source=Field1 and grid2 with source=Field2 then if you want an item that's in grid1 to also show in grid2, simply put something in Field2 for that item.

274

Living Room / Re: Restating Godwin's Law

« Last post by PPLandry on March 24, 2008, 07:53 PM »

The threadjacking referred here is probably the one relating to evernote 2.2:
https://www.donation....msg106253#msg106253

... which is a september thread, actually "hijacked" by EverNote 3 beta users dissatisfied with the major shift in version 3 from a local app to a web app. As SN can do some of what EN can, some enthousiast users pointed to it as an alternative to those totally against a web app.

Perhaps, discussion lasted a bit too long, but I only responded when many users mentioned that they could not figure out how it works. Hopefully this will not happen again.

275

General Software Discussion / Re: SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 24, 2008, 07:18 PM »

However I am having major issues with copy pasting items from one grid to another. [...]
 
I created my item with ctrl alt n. I added some features like contact, dates etc. I copied as xml format. When I paste it to another grid none of those values comes with. In fact it does not paste.  In Ecco simple copy paste carries the cell values as well, unless you are in edit mode and copying the plain text. It looks like it is copying all the values but pasting is either not working or is an awkward way. I am all for Sqlnotes as a previous Ecco user. But this does not feel right.

-kartal (March 24, 2008, 03:28 PM)

Well it did paste but was not visible in that grid since it created a true clone. Ecco copy/paste copies the item text only, not columns, so it was simpler. Also Ecco data model is simpler. It showed folder content, you could not have as in SQLNotes a source like NOT in FolderX,  or FolderX AND FolderY.

That said, copy/paste is another issue which has been much improved in the last version, but needs a bit more improvements:

2 modes: tab delimited and XML

TAB delimited is great to pasting into other programs, Word, Excet, etc.
XML is great to export item information from one database to another and to create item clones

Improvements coming:
- Pasting TAB delmited into SQLNotes does not work well right now.
- Pasting XML from one grid to another should offer what you want to do: (1) simply make the item visible in that grid, (2) make a true clone or (3) make a clone and also make it visible in that grid.