Recent Posts

5401

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 11, 2008, 12:25 PM »

Pierre, it seems like that when I update SQL with the daily build, it replaces the user code.  Isn't this dangerous?  What if I add my own custom user codes?  They shouldn't be replaced by the daily build.  In this case, it's ok, because it's not much and you and I worked together on it (and you included it in the daily build).  Just for the future.  Also, in the future, do you plan to have the user code section more organized than just being one long text file?  Not only would it be easier to use, but less chance to accidentally alter the existing code.

5402

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 09, 2008, 11:58 AM »

Have you entered a grade and a courseunit for the courses ?

-PPLandry (January 09, 2008, 11:42 AM)

Yes, I had those in before I added the equations and function.  Here's a screenshot:

5403

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 09, 2008, 11:39 AM »

1- After entering an equation, click on Update if you want to apply it to existing items

I still can't get any of my equations to display anything in the grid.  I've taken that CalcGPA code, entered it into the user code area, validated and saved it.  I entered those equations in the fields like you said, and I clicked the update button.  Still, nothing appears in the grid.

5404

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 09, 2008, 11:21 AM »

4- sorting: right-click on the item and select sort ascending or descending. You can also manually drag-drop items. The column you right-click on is used to perform the sort. So to sort by CourseUnits, right-click that cell of the semester item. Doing it this way will save the sort order (make sure Grid>Sort criteria applies to sub-items is not checked).

I understand that.  This works in most cases.  However, there are times when I will sort manually by dragging-dropping in a totally random way (it's not ascending/descending by any column).  Once I have painstakingly sorted something manually, sometimes I accidentally will click on the column and it will change the sorting according to that column.  how can I save the manually sorted grid?

5405

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 09, 2008, 10:57 AM »

[By the way, Pierre, this is really great!  Can't say enough about the power of this program.]

CourseUnits hierarchy operations: Parent=sum(children)

My hierarchy operations are not working.  in the box, I'm only supposed to input "sum" right?  because the "((children))" automatically appears on the right when I choose "parent" from the drop-down.  Similarly, none of my equations for fields are calculating.  They are all blank in the grid, even after I close/reopen the grids.  How do I "activate" these calculations?

Also, for the last line of your code, I modified it to be:

[Select]

if isnull(Grade) or grade="" or grade="P" then CalcGPA=null

so it can ignore classes with P for passing.


Another point I wanted to make is about sorting, I think I've mentioned this before.  Sometimes, especially in cases like this transcript, things are ordered and sorted in a random way (ie not alphabetically or numerically).  If I accidentally click on one of the columns and it adjusts the sorting, I lose the sorting I had before.  How can I save a random sort to retrieve it later?

5406

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 08, 2008, 06:54 PM »

I think that if you
1- Add a column for NbCredit and fill it. Set column calc to Parent=sum(children)
2- In the CalcGPA add a parameter to now read Function CalcGPA(Grade,NbCredit). Set column calc to Parent=sum(children)
3- Add a column AVGGPA and set the equation to GPA / NbCredit

I think this should do it (but I haven't tested it).

-PPLandry (January 08, 2008, 06:00 PM)

For the NbCredit field, isn't that the same as my Unit field?  I think it is.  By the way, I realize you're using the conventional naming methods with "Nb" for number and so on.  Should I be doing this also?

5407

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 08, 2008, 05:00 PM »

OK, I need more help with this.  I've created 5 custom fields for my transcript grid; course department, course number, grade, number of units, and GPA.

Now this automatic calculation of the GPA is difficult.  I made the function like you said:

Code: Text [Select]

1. Function CalcGPA(Grade)
2. dim t
3. select case Grade
4. case "A": t=4.0
5. case "A-": t=3.7
6. case "B+": t=3.3
7. case "B": t=3.0
8. case "B-": t=2.7
9. case "C+": t=2.3
10. case "C": t=2.0
11. case "C-": t=1.7
12. case "D+": t=1.3
13. case "D": t=1.0
14. case "D-": t=0.7
15. case "F": t=0.0
16. end select
17. CalcGPA=t
18. End Function

I put CalcGPA into the field (named the same as the function).  However, I need the GPA weighted by units.  Also, the outline is organized by all 4 years, year, semester, individual classes.  For each higher level, it should give the cumulative GPA of the children items.  It's not simply an average because it has to be weighted by GPA.  So how can I do this?  Do I have to make another function?

5408

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 08, 2008, 01:13 PM »

Good example of some advanced features
I suppose that the grade will be letters (B, B+, etc). To calculate the GPA (which is a number) simply create a user-defined function:
Function CalcGPA(Grade)
dim t
select case Grade
case "B": t=3.5
case "A+": t=5
case [repeat for every possibility]
end select
CalcGPA=t
End Function

If the choices are too many, you can also using string functions to extract the letter and the +/- modifier and "calculate" a value: something like: 69-asc(letter) + modifier

And in the GPA field, set the equation to =CalcGPA(Grade)
Also in the GPA field set the Hierarchy equation: Parent=AVG(children)

That should do it! 

-PPLandry (January 03, 2008, 07:46 PM)

Quick question, where do I create a user-defined function?  Is it in the Option box inside the field properties?

5409

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 04, 2008, 12:37 AM »

Side note,
Doing it this way will give you a total average = average of all years, which technically is different than the total average of the individual grades. Shout if this is a problem.

p.s. another type of average is if you want it weighted by the number of credits of each courses 

-PPLandry (January 03, 2008, 08:00 PM)

Yes, that is true.  I need it to be weighted according to credits.  But hold off on that for now, I'll try doing what you've suggested so far, and I may be able to figure the rest out.  If not, i'll ask.  This program is simply too cool.

By the way, I was thinking about something.  Pretty soon, I'm going to have dozens of grids in my SQLNotes because I'm excited about sticking all of my life's information into it.  Are there plans to change the grid chooser in the future.  The toolbar with the grid names on it works for a few grids, but what if you have 50 grids?  It might be nice to have another pane (with the option to auto-hide) that has all the grids in there.  The grid Manager is nice, but I was thinking of something dockable and without all the extra information in it, basically, a grid chooser.

5410

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 03, 2008, 06:57 PM »

OK, I'm trying a new application for my database.  My undergraduate transcript:
I'm going to use the Item field for the course name.  I'm going to create a new field for "grade" and it will have a drop-down list of possible grades.  Then I want to create a field for GPA average.  Here's the trick, I want the letter values in the GRADE field to have a numerical value associated with it (4.0, 3.7, 3.3...etc).  How do I do this?
Also, for the GPA field, I want it to behave in a kind of fancy way.  The items will be set up in a heirarchy based on semesters/years/total.  I want the GPA to calculate the GPA based on whatever is under it as subitems.  So the total GPA will give me the GPA for all 4 years, but if I just go to the semester item, then it should show me the GPA for just that semester.  How do I do this?

That's it, thanks.

5411

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 03, 2008, 05:24 PM »

OK, just a couple of bug reports...
--Whenever I make changes to grid names or update stuff in the field properties, the grid always acts a little funny until you close to grid and reopen it.  Then everything is fine.  This behavior should be refined a little if possible.
--Today, I experienced a couple of crashes.  I can't really say what exactly caused them (it's running fine now).  It happened when I was fiddling around with the auto-hide and pinning of field/html pane options.
--About auto-hide...Most auto-hide behavior has a delayed action to it.  That is you have mouse over and mouse away for a fraction of a second before the pane appears/disappears.  Most people like it this way.  However, I'm impatient and I like the pane to appear and disappear immediately upon mouse over/mouse away (no latency or delay).  Could there be an option to control this, sort of like in TweakUI for Windows where you can set how long (in milliseconds) to delay the menu rollouts?

5412

Developer's Corner / Re: Best way to start learning C++?

« Last post by superboyac on January 03, 2008, 05:09 PM »

OK, I'll tell you why I would be interested in learning C++.  There are quantitative analyst jobs out  there ("quants") that I'm trying to get into.  You have to have a strong math and analytical skills to do the job, but furthermore, it's recommended to have some decent programming experience because the job requires you to construct mathematical, statistical models and algorithms.  It's been suggested that people should get familiar with C++ to do this.  But I've also noticed that a lot of these people use the programming languages in Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple also.  Maybe these languages are similar to C++ so I don't know.  The important thing is to have a programming background, and C++ is recommended, so that's why I would want to learn it.
Now, I have some programming experience from some introductory courses in college, but nothing I've used in the real world.  I did research for a while and used Matlab a lot, and I was pretty good at it.  I've been good at programming, but never went beyond sort of an intermediate level.

5413

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 03, 2008, 01:12 PM »

tomos, sounds like you're experiencing the same confusion I did initially.  Pierre should be able to clear things up.  Basically, you can display the items and subitems in a grid in a flat view if the option is checked (I forgot which option it is).  Sort of like how some file managers have an option to display subdirectory content in a flat view.  Pierre helped me out a lot with the telephone conversation.

I can see that you're really starting to grasp how to use SQLNotes to solve information management problems. It's great to see how you went from inquiring about it, to being totally confused, to seeing the possible use but not knowing how to go about it, to finally seeing the light and now flying on your own. Congratulations.  Thmbsup Thmbsup Perhaps you'll want to share it on / improve the SQLNotes wiki documentation (http://sqlnotes.wikispaces.com/)

Thanks Pierre.  Honestly, in the beginning, I would have had no idea that I would like the program this much.  I was very skeptical.  Now I realize that this is pretty much the notetaking/information management application that I was always waiting for when I first started looking a couple of years ago, which led to that huge notetaking thread and the review here.  You started a very ambitious project, and what's more remarkable is that you've actually been able to accomplish those intended goals.

5414

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

« Last post by superboyac on January 02, 2008, 11:20 AM »

OK, here's what I settled on for the jazz practice sheet.  I'm going to use a flat structure, and I created two new fields, one for the practice description, and another for the time spent practicing.  So each line should look like this:
date, practice description, minutes, (and of course the html pane for comments)

For the practice description, I made a new field instead of using the "Item" field so that I can use dropdown lists to choose between a handful of prenamed descriptions.  I can post a screenshot of it later (it's at home).

The great thing about this method is that sometimes I will only practice one item a day, and other days I may practice multiple things, and this will be able to handle both easily because each line will have the date on it.  So if I practice 4 things, there will be 4 lines for that date.  No need for a hierarchy.  And the dropdown lists will assure consistency in the names.

I love this program, I really do.

5415

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 31, 2007, 02:02 PM »

I can still sum up the individual items later if I need to.  Right?

-superboyac (December 31, 2007, 12:50 PM)

Yes, you can create a sum field (=practice1 + practice2 + ...) or use the pivot table or export to excel, etc
Hmm...that sounds interesting, I'll have to give that a shot.  But I think my comments will be long enough to include them in the HTML pane.

[edit]
BTW, if the comment on each practice is generally small, you can include it directly in the practice info. Here is how:
Instead of using a number field for the practice duration, use a text field. First enter the duration and then the comment. Set it to wordwrap if you want.

Now the neat thing, you can still do computations even though it is a text field! SQLNotes can evaluate text fields and treat them as number fields.

-PPLandry (December 31, 2007, 12:55 PM)

That's interesting, I will check that out.

5416

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 31, 2007, 12:50 PM »

Good point Pierre.  In fact, I was going to ask your advice about that very same issue when i wrote the post last night.  The part I couldn't quite figure out was that each practice day, I would have 6-7 practice items, and I want to keep track of how many minutes I practice each item.  Now, I could keep track of it in the HTML pane with a long comment, but I wouldn't be able to sum the practice items individually.  Actually, I don't really care about the total time spent practicing, but the time spent on the individual items.

How about this: one line for each day (flat, like you said) and I'll create a field for each practice item where I can enter how many minutes I spent on it.  Then, if I want to elaborate on the details of the practice, I can include that in the HTML pane.  This way, each day's practice will be included on one line, and I can still sum up the individual items later if I need to.  Right?

5417

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 31, 2007, 12:41 AM »

OK, I'm trying something new now.  I want to keep a log of my jazz piano practices.  For each day, I want to track how long I spend on each item and maybe a comment in the HTML pane.  I'm thinking that the forms is the way to do this, here is what I want it to look like (with proper indentations):

12-30-2007
   practice item1 (15 minutes, comment)
   practice item2 (15 minutes, comment)
   practice item3 (25 minutes, comment)

For the form, it would be ideal if it could fill in the date to be whatever the date is when the form is invoked.  Also, if it could automatically set up the 4 lines in the grid with the proper indentation, that would be great.  Then I just fill in the time spent in a separate field, and comments in the html pane.  For each day, I would invoke the form and the basic outline would be setup for that day.  Is this possible?  Then I could print it out for my teacher.

5418

Developer's Corner / Re: Best way to start learning C++?

« Last post by superboyac on December 29, 2007, 11:28 AM »

superboyac,

The world of financial software isn't dominated by any particular language. The low-level control C++ provides is not a requirement like it is for 3D games. Much of it is also written in Java. However, that also means that you don't need to learn anything special or do anything differently. A standard course of study in C++ should suit you just fine. Just don't get distracted by flashy graphics or physics, etc. Just learn solid programming skills.

-tinjaw (December 28, 2007, 08:30 PM)

Well, just to clarify, I just want to familiarize with the language.  I'm not trying to actually do any functional programming.  I just don't want to be rejected from the program because a lack of programming skills.  Most people in the field say it's best to know the C++ language in general.

5419

Developer's Corner / Re: Learn C++ the fast way?

« Last post by superboyac on December 28, 2007, 06:03 PM »

wreckedcarzz opened a thread asking the same thing a while ago. It might help you

-Lashiec (December 27, 2007, 06:31 PM)

Thanks, I posted in there now.

5420

Developer's Corner / Re: Best way to start learning C++?

« Last post by superboyac on December 28, 2007, 06:01 PM »

Buy a book.

-mouser (October 11, 2007, 07:30 PM)

Which book shall I get?  I'm trying to learn C++ in the way they use it at financial institutions for statistics and analysis.  I'm trying to get into a master's program and knowing C++ would help, so that's the application for me.  It's called finance engineering.  I'm not sure if you guys know how they use C++.  I'll try to find out more about it and post later, but if you have any ideas, please let me know.

5421

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 28, 2007, 12:07 PM »

@superboyac,

Importers will be developped on an as-demand basis, so if you have a need, shout and I'll do it.

Merry Christmas

-PPLandry (December 24, 2007, 07:51 AM)

OK, I'm shouting.  I need an importer that will take a bunch of text files and import them into SQLNotes in the following way:
--The filename of the text file ('mynotes' if the filename is "mynotes.txt") should go into the "Item" field of the grid (or whatever field I assign).
--The content of the text file should go inside the HTML pane field.

In this way, I could import most of my notes from other programs, at least texnotes.

5422

Developer's Corner / Learn C++ the fast way?

« Last post by superboyac on December 27, 2007, 06:23 PM »

I might be interested in learning C++ soon.  I'm going to need to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I don't need to master it, just learn the basics and be able to establish a foundation, with the potential to grow later.  I should be able to write simple programs.  If anyone has recommendations for good books, tutorial websites, or tutorial software, please chime in.  Thank you!

5423

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 24, 2007, 02:02 AM »

OK, I'm going through the process of importing my notes from other programs into SQLNotes.  One of the problems with the importer is that I need something much more flexible and customizeable.  Right now, the only option is to change the field delimiter and text qualifier.  I can't use these to import my texnotes data.  Here are the exporting options for texnotes:

The easiest way to import these into SQLNotes is to export each note for texnotes as one file.  Then, the filename will be the "Item" field of SQLNotes, and the the actual note content inside the text file will go into the HTML Pane field for SQLNotes.  That seems to be the ideal way for me.
Another way would be to export all the content as one big text file, where the text is separated by certain delimiters, but that gets more complicated since how will SQLNotes know what is the title and what is the note content?

Other software, like EverNote, will most likely have fewer options to export data, which is annoying.  Evernote will only export data as XML.  I have no idea how to import that into SQLNotes, but if you could figure it out, it would be brilliant.

5424

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by superboyac on December 21, 2007, 01:28 PM »

Cool nevf, good to hear from you.  So what do you have planned for Surfulater's future?  Are you going to turn it into the Zoho for notetaking?

5425

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 06:51 PM »

OK, Thanks!  I will keep you informed as I go through the process.