Recent Posts

301

General Software Discussion / Re: issue trackers: do you use one? What's the best?

« Last post by PPLandry on March 16, 2008, 09:15 PM »

I've been using Mantis for the last few months for SQLNotes. I did some customizations of the UI (colors, changed some listing to tables, added categories, added edit links, etc: anyone interested can get these changes free, just PM me.).

I'm very pleased with it and so are beta testers. They can enter bugs and feature request and see progress. Roadmaps and release changelogs provide documentation. Sorting and filtering are easy to use. Unlimited number of notes can be added.

It is fast and reliable using MySQL (I tried to get it going on SQL Server but did not succeed). I downloaded the MySQL ODBC driver and can see all tables in Access and perform queries and batch updates. SQLNotes can even pull the data from the MySQL database and display the issues, allowing users a much more responsive and flexible UI.

Flexible permission settings (albeid not always obvious to understand how it works). Anonymous login (read-only) is also possible.

I highly recommend it (plus it's free!).

http://mantis.sqlnot...t/changelog_page.php

302

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 14, 2008, 04:05 PM »

@superboyac and Armando (and all others)

Thank you  . Such great support gives me even more energy and motivation, to bring SQLNotes further and further, and one day, soon I hope, have a complete product, ready for release.

303

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 14, 2008, 03:55 PM »

The name will be changed. You're welcome to post suggestions here or at http://www.sqlnotes....e/posts/Default.aspx

304

Note Taking Software / Re: SuperboyAC's Notetaking Software Roundup #1

« Last post by PPLandry on March 14, 2008, 03:12 PM »

I've been looking for a good notetaking software for a long time.  I've tried the top 3, and decided on Mybase.
The only problem is to use it at multiple computers and keep it in sync, I had to keep the DB on a USB stick.  Then, I was informed by my boss, that it was against our security policy and I could get fired!
[...]
Can you include online/sync/portability features in the next roundup?  I'm not sure if InnoKB is the only one that can do this.

-leisenstein (February 29, 2008, 06:51 AM)

SQLNotes will support Ecco-style off-line / sync.

For those that haven't used Ecco, it had outstanding on-line/off-line capabilities. It was used when working on multiple computers (sync between home and work computers) but also as a collaborative tool, to behave as a network (i.e. share information and allow private items) with live updates.

p.s. I'm the designer of SQLNotes

305

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 14, 2008, 02:57 PM »

I wouldn't want to try to go through the 735 posts (or whatever huge number we're at right now), or the 3000+ posts on the SQLNotes main web site, to find what describes it best. A good start would be:

1- A very flexible and powerful information organizer / processor as described in the home page: www.sqlnotes.net
2- Page 1 of this thread
3- The SQLNotes wikispace: http://sqlnotes.wikispaces.com/

I hope this helps!

306

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 14, 2008, 01:43 PM »

It is a bit buggy right now, but you can drag-drop images from Windows Explorer to the grid. The image will be displayed if View > Show pictures is checked.

As for the rich text pane, this will be added soon. I've added it to Mantis: http://mantis.sqlnot....net/view.php?id=172

Glad you find SQLNotes useful!

307

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

« Last post by PPLandry on March 12, 2008, 11:12 PM »

I got your file, Thanks. Most of the work required is quite easy. SN seems well suited for this kind of information gathering.

You mention Zotero. Would you actually use it? It is rather nice since (1) it uses a SQLite database which SN could read and have live links to Zotero collections and (2) supports many exports type, including XML which SN can easily read.

If you don't plan to use Zotero, I can enhance the importer to support importing biblio formats

I'll be back with a SQLNotes file setup for you

308

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 12, 2008, 12:30 PM »

How come the "auto add new items" in the field manager is grayed out?  I want to use this option, but no combination of clicking on boxes enables that checkbox.

-superboyac (March 12, 2008, 12:21 PM)

The auto add new items is not currently implemented. You can use Auto-List instead. It does basically the same thing. An auto-list will scan all values in that field and provide you with the list

309

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 12, 2008, 11:30 AM »

Is it always going to be necessary to uninstall first to install updates?  What will happen if you don't uninstall?

-superboyac (March 12, 2008, 11:29 AM)

Like it says on the download page, uninstall is needed if using a version prior to 0.9.22 (controls were changed to support unicode)

Otherwise, uninstall is not needed.

310

General Software Discussion / SQLNotes: the next generation information organizer

« Last post by PPLandry on March 11, 2008, 10:32 PM »

Version 0.9.22.5 is now available here: http://www.sqlnotes....abid/61/Default.aspx

See change log for details: http://mantis.sqlnot...t/changelog_page.php.

Major new features are:

• Parent lineage in the properties pane
  
• In the properties pane, show the grids in which an item is displayed
  
• Add support unicode editing in the grid and properties pane
  
• Allow links to Outlook items
  
• In Quick search: Show grids where items are displayed

Enjoy!

311

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

« Last post by PPLandry on March 11, 2008, 07:23 PM »

What if there are line breaks in the file that i'm trying to import (not commas or tabs)?

-vevola (March 11, 2008, 07:20 PM)

I'm working on this issue right now, so if you can send me a sample (betasupport @ sqlnotes.xxx), I'll make sure that the import goes smoothly

312

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

« Last post by PPLandry on March 11, 2008, 06:19 PM »

Understood! don't worry. I was referring to a previous post of mine, where I said I'd look at it monday...

313

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

« Last post by PPLandry on March 11, 2008, 05:34 PM »

Sorry, I was busy releasing version 0.9.22.5. I'll look at this tomorrow

314

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 11, 2008, 08:21 AM »

There are several free and lightweight database options available these days and having your data not locked up in a proprietary db format never hurts

-gottadoit (March 11, 2008, 03:16 AM)

You are quite right. Eventually support for different back-ends will be added.

JET however, while proprietary, is installed on every PC, and every app can read it, so your data isn't exactly locked up. It is as open and accessible as it can be.

Did you try to view your SN data live in Excel? Do you know of many PIM-like application that allows that?

315

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 10, 2008, 06:14 PM »

SQLNotes web site www.sqlnotes.net appears down. Please post here until I can get it fixed...

[edit] I've set-up an alternate download page. Post here (or PM me) if experiencing problems downloading from the main site (www.sqlnotes.net) [/edit]

316

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

« Last post by PPLandry on March 10, 2008, 11:52 AM »

Will do.

BTW, in the coming update, you'll be able to copy/paste items from one DB to another. Not quite a full merge just yet, but a big improvement over the current.

317

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

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

OK... Like I said PPLandry (Pierre) is the expert. And he'd probably get you to where you want in no time. But I can try to give it a shot since Pierre might be taking his Sunday off  .

-Armando (March 09, 2008, 05:09 PM)

I'm back from a day off (as Armando correctly guessed) and will gladly read this thread closely tomorrow. That said, contributions from beta testers have been truly invaluable. They use SQLNotes in ways that I had not envisioned  . Suggestions from Armando, superboyac or tomos (just to name those most active here on DC) are as valuable as mine.

318

Post New Requests Here / Re: Willing to pay for a small code... $$$

« Last post by PPLandry on March 08, 2008, 08:19 PM »

After reading the linked thread, I'd lke to recommend SQLNotes. I'm the developper of this "notetaking" software. It is actually much more than notetaking, but it does that quite well.
- It has user-defined fields where you can enter bibliographical references, categories, etc.
- It support hierarchy so you can add many notes to a single reference. All notes can inherit the bibliographical reference
- It supports hyperlinks so you can link a note to another, to a group of notes, to a web page, etc
- It support both 1-pane and 2 pane rich-text outliner. So you can highlight the outline items and drag-drop web content and references
- Items (and sub-items) can be exported to HTML (and then to Word). Many formatting options
- Foreground and background color, font, etc can be set manually or through some other properties (it supports equations, but you'll likely not need them much)
- Citations can be shown in hierarchy context or without (i.e. separate from context: all citations with a given tag, with specific words, etc)
- Full search and filtering
- Multi-view of your information
- A give citation can appear in many views (i.e. many chapters) and under many parents
- Some GrandView features are being added, namely option to show the content pane within the outline
- The UI is modern and the program is being developped right now.

What it doesn't do is the last part of your cited post, regarding citations creation (but it could generate a numbered list of references)

Finally:
- A lengthy thread deals with it here: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=10432.0
- The official web site is here: www.sqlnotes.net
- It is currently free to use
- I can help in setting it up for you

BTW Superboyac, the author of the Great notetaking review: https://www.donation...oteTakers1/index.php is totally sold on this 

319

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by PPLandry on February 29, 2008, 11:13 PM »

Nope. No database support either, as far as I can tell. At least not with default settings (I tried searching for some stuff in some Access files. No joy. One thing that irks me a bit about WDS is the lack of options... it's hard to tweak it. Anyway, I'm enjoying it as an Outlook indexer and still love Archivarius. As you note, the plain text approach does make it lightning fast 

-Darwin (February 28, 2008, 11:02 PM)

WDS indexes MDB files (and hence SNDB). However, it only gives you the filename. Once you've identified the file, you then repeat the search with SQLNotes.

320

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 04:32 PM »

I wonder whether you would be able to expand a little more on this (very old) post, Pierre.  I found it quite useful and I would probably enjoy if you went "on and on" for a few more sentences at least...

-suleika (February 27, 2008, 04:15 PM)

Well, that is quite open-ended... SN is build on top of a relational database. Currently JET, but SQL Server is coming very soon (I've got a paying customer who's willing to contribute to change to that back-end).

Each field in SN is actually a query against a table. That way, fields can be added/removed easily. Plus this removes the 255 fields limit that many databases have. Such an approach also greatly reduces collisions, hence making multi-user access less problematic. Finally, with 100's of fields, a regular table would be like a sparse matrix, hence not efficient.

Grids are based on queries (source, filter, datefilter, alphafilter, sort). This allows for filtering/sorting on fields which are not even displayed in the grid. Being based on queries, also allows other apps access to the grid. So you can mail-merge in Word with SN data, Excel can view SN grid data, Access can link to and generate a report on SN data. No need to export, no syncing, this is live database reads.

The UI builds on this data framework. Rich-text, outlines, forms, field equations, inheritance, etc

Hope this helps, I've got to run to pick up my 4 year-old from daycare 

321

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 04:15 PM »

>I didn't grasp that the core filter, the source, is "special" because it defines the grid. 
It is only conceptually "special". In practice it is the same as the others. All filters get ANDed

322

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 03:48 PM »

Correct the term folder comes from Ecco. In Ecco, fields were called folders.

The use of the term Folders (as a container) only makes sense for checkmark fields (yes/no). Items are "in" a folder. Also, it is convenient to visualize grids as displaying items that are in a given folder. SQLNotes information display is rather abstract (at least compared to most other software), so it needs all the help it can get.

For other field types, the folder metaphor sort of breaks down.

323

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 03:05 PM »

Forms are nice, but what about option 3 ? Set inheritance for that field so that sub-items get the date too (if you want)

324

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 02:43 PM »

As far as I know, only the items are using ID numbers. 

-superboyac (February 22, 2008, 05:01 PM)

ID's are used for items and for fields. For fields however, it is strickly internal use (for performance reasons and to ease renaming issues)

But grid criteria and field equations use field names, so renaming may break those. Some of this will change when support is added for disconnected mode / replicas, etc

325

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

« Last post by PPLandry on February 27, 2008, 02:34 PM »

If you set an auto-assign on the item field, it will be triggered when you add items, all items. A few options:
1- If you want a create date, why not use the build-in ItemCreated field
2- You can use forms to create the item. Form can have default values, so creating an item using a specific form will add your date field
3- Base your grid on a yes/no field and add the auto-assign to that field

You can certainly create a specific text field for this grid (instead of "item"), but it is not recommended