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5426

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

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

Well, they are mostly notes in proprietary format of other software right now.  But, for example, texnotes has the ability to export notes in a variety of ways, including text files, rtf files, a parsed test file (with user-specified delimiters).
I'll drag-drop as much as possible.  Either way, it's going to be a painful process.  But I'm comfortable with it because I know that once it's in SQLNotes, I'll be able to export in other flexible ways in the future, if necessary.

By the way, when will encryption/password be available for SQL?

5427

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 04:49 PM »

I'm starting to import my information from other programs into SQL.  Is there a way I can import text files into SQL?  I might even be able to get them parsed in some ways and even retain RTF formatting, but I don't know if SQL can handle that kind of importing yet.

5428

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 03:48 PM »

Where I'm from "grunt" has a scatalogical connotation (as in "having a grunt") that Pierre might want to avoid 

-Darwin (December 18, 2007, 02:27 PM)

That's good to know, I'm going to start using that!  Coffee makes me grunt.

5429

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 01:07 PM »

DataKebab
tabuladata

-Armando (December 18, 2007, 12:35 PM)

HAHA!  That's freaking hilarious.  Those are some of my dad's favorite dishes.

5430

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 11:52 AM »

Darwin, you're crazy!  12 file managers?!  Wow.  If you actually use them all, I'm even more impressed!

As for TC, it does have a context menu...you have to press and hold the right mouse button.  I actually prefer TC's mouse controls over DOpus.  It's one of the few features I can tweak just right on DOpus, otherwise, Dopus is definitely the best of the bunch.

5431

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 11:33 AM »

I still like Outline Commander (yes, I'm quite narcissistic).
It has a professional quality.  It pays homage to the initial purpose of the program (outlining) even though it does much more now.  The "Commander" name has a good reputation in the software world.  People will start calling it OC (maybe that's bad!).

The non-descriptive names always seemed weird to me.  I think those names work better for geekier software aimed at hardcore computer people who get a kick out of that sort of thing.  I don't know, maybe it's just me, but those names just sound silly and ultimately just make me do research on the web to figure out what it does.  I feel the name should be somewhat descriptive.

5432

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 11:16 AM »

Nice suggestions, Superboyac. One thing I realize from looking at the list of suggestions on the sqlnotes site is that the name SHOULD be descriptive of what the software does - names like Squirrel and Synergy (which I actually quite like, too) are liable to start sounding dated and a bit silly as time goes by...

How about Data Commander?

-Darwin (December 18, 2007, 11:12 AM)

That's good too, the Commander part gives it a poweruser feel.  When I hear things like iPod and such, it doesn't have as professional a feel to it...it reminds me of bubbly programs geared towards teenagers.  I think we definitely want SQLNotes to have a professional feel to it.

5433

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 10:55 AM »

Hmm, I always like picking names (I'm a musician, so it's fun choosing album names or group names).
SQLNotes is so much more than an outliner.  It's also a database, notetaker, webclipper (potentially), scheduler, calendar, mindmapper (potentially).  It's a PIM, but very different and more flexible than other PIM's out there.  I think the name should reflect that somewhat.

Don't use Tao, there is already a TaoNotes out there and it's a funky program.  How about these suggestions:
FlexiPIM
DataFlex
PowerPIM
PIMP (sorry couldn't resist)
GridMaster
Datamolder
MindPad (I like this one)
Outline Commander (I like this also)

5434

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by superboyac on December 18, 2007, 10:26 AM »

marek, I have the same complaints as you do.  On my end, I was very particular about TC's excellent mouse navigation features.  I wrote several long threads about the subtleties of why it was good in the DOpus forums, but it seemed like nobody else was interested.

It's difficult to convince people to make these little changes that are seemingly insignificant, but actually make the user experience so much better.  It's even hard to describe because it's borderline miniscule...like in your example above, you're explaining pressing the down arrow and enter, etc...most people are probably thinking "So, what's the big deal?"  It's frustrating.

5435

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« Last post by superboyac on December 17, 2007, 03:58 PM »

RoboForm is my choice as well, by far.  But like everyone said, you have to be clear of the application.  ROboForm's primary strength is how easy it is to fill forms AND password/logins on webpages.  If you're simply looking for a program to store passwords, that's entirely different and there are probably several free programs available for that.  But for automatically filling passwords on webpages, it would be hard to beat RoboForm.  I love it.
Yes, it has a weird online activation routine, but I didn't have a problem with it.

5436

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 16, 2007, 10:33 PM »

DO I have to uninstall before installing the new beta?

5437

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 16, 2007, 10:17 PM »

PPL, since I started using SQL, I've created a few test files.  But now I want to combine the data in those files into one main file.  How can I import grids (and the data inside the grids) from one file to another?

-superboyac (December 16, 2007, 09:55 PM)

I was waiting for that one. You can't right now.
I'll modify the Ecco Pro importer to import SQLNotes files.

Expect it in a few days at most.

[edit] BTW If you really need to, select the grid items, CTRL-C to copy. Paste in Excel. Save as CSV and re-import in SQLNotes (ugly... )

-PPLandry (December 16, 2007, 10:00 PM)

Great.  I'll wait for it.  I was just thinking that if you're going to be able to import csv files and such, then of course you should be able to import data made with the actual program!

By the way, I was watching that video in the download directory showing how the html pane content can appear right under the outliner item.  That was cool!  Is that available yet or is that coming in the future?

5438

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 16, 2007, 10:13 PM »

J-Mac, SQL really isn't that hard to learn.  The confusing part for me was that it was billed as an ECCO replacement, but I never used ECCO so I wasn't used to the interface.  If I were you I'd think of each grid as a regular, hierarchical notetaking program like Mybase, Texnotes, whatever...where the outliner is the tree and the HTML pane is where the note goes.

After you think of it this way, then start thinking about it's more powerful features.  In a notetaking program, the text shown in the tree is usually just the title of the note.  But in SQL, it can be so much more than a title, because you can associate other "fields" (columns) with the title.  Now, you can mold the tree (or outline) into whatever you want.

That should help you think about it easier.  See the screenshots below to understand how SQL can be thought of as a really powerful notetaker:
 

5439

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 16, 2007, 09:55 PM »

PPL, since I started using SQL, I've created a few test files.  But now I want to combine the data in those files into one main file.  How can I import grids (and the data inside the grids) from one file to another?

5440

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 16, 2007, 06:41 PM »

Pierre, you're amazing and generous.

J-Mac, I am just like you when it comes to databases, and that's the primary reason why I even started playing with SQLNotes.  Only after that did I realize all the other things I could do with it (such as using it as a notetaker).

5441

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 14, 2007, 05:29 PM »

> I see that right now, each line represents an item and it's fields. How would you show multiple lines?

I show it that way to show more items. You can resize the line to show more if you want.

As to highlighting found text, yes, I'm waiting on some improvements by the grid manufacturer for that one
I also want to add radio buttons to select the field type to search (text, date, numbers)

-PPLandry (December 14, 2007, 04:28 PM)

No, you misunderstood me.  It's good that the lines are single lines.  I was just talking about the html pane field because there is normally going to be several lines of text in there, unlike the other fields.  So, it's good for the other fields to be shown on one line so that more items can fit in the window.  However, what do you do about the html pane field?  How do you leave the other fields as one line, but mult-line for the html pane?  I don't know.  But it would be nice to see multiple lines for the html pane, like a little preview.  Sort of like the searching in this DC forum:

So, it's an interesting problem, because it's the only field that will consistently have multiple lines.  But you don't want to decrease the effective space of the other search results for just that one field.  I don't know the solution, I can think about it and tell you later if I come up with anything.

5442

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 14, 2007, 04:25 PM »

That is unbelievably awesome!  This program is getting to be more and more exciting.  That search box is really nice an, yes, it would be very cool if it were right on the menubar.

In Evernote, as you type each letter, the list gets filtered just like your search box.  Also, each match gets highlighted as you type in the search box.  It helps draw the eye towards the matching items.  I know it's more complex in SN because of all the fields, though.  For your search box, since the html pane is a special field that will usually have a lot of text in it rather than the short text in the regular items, maybe there could be a way to show more of that field in the matching results and possibly highlighting matching terms, like evernote does.  I can't picture how this would work, but it's just an idea.  I see that right now, each line represents an item and it's fields.  How would you show multiple lines?  I don't know.  Then again, you don't want to show all of the html pane since there might be pages of text in there which would be too much for the search results box.  Maybe other people have ideas on how to make something like that work.

5443

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 14, 2007, 11:58 AM »

I will definitely comment on the SQL calendar as it gets implemented.

Here's an idea for searching in SQLNotes.  It may be asking a lot, I don't know how hard or easy it would be to implement, but it's just something I thought of:
I keep thinking about EverNote and how I still want to continue using it despite the power that is available in SN.  And it keeps going back to one thing: it's just so easy and so fast to find something ESPECIALLY when you have no idea where to look.  So, i was thinking that it would be nice if SN had a special "search" module or window.  Inside this search window would be a complete list of all the data inside the database, unabridged, with all the fields and everything.  Just a massive, unorganized view of the entire database.  Then there would be on search box (like evernote), and you just go in it and begin typing what you're looking for, and as you type the list gets shorter and shorter until you find what you're looking for.  I can go into more detail, but that's the basic idea.

5444

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 14, 2007, 11:49 AM »

Armando, your post is excellent.  It's getting bookmarked.
I really want to comment on what you said, but I have nothing significant to add.  I think it's a very valuable post that describes how an actual, relatively advanced user would use Evernote.

5445

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 03:55 PM »

OK, since I'm being annoying, here's another interesting little nugget...
betaclock used to be called Alphaclock and it was free like Betaclock.  Unfortunately, some guy ripped it off and is offering it as Alfaclock and charging for it.  So, the author renamed his program to betaclock.

I forgot where I heard that story (I think it was here somewhere).  Crazy, eh?

5446

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 03:35 PM »

Cool.  Did you see my screenshot?  See how I got the time to appear in a bigger font in green and the date in yellow?  You know how to do that?  You have to create two clocks and save them in the options.  That way you can have different looking text for different items.  Cool, eh?  I had to ask the author about that because I couldn't figure out how he did it.  I'm annoying.

5447

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 01:53 PM »

I'll install it first, then! I'm not really after any additional functionality beyond displaying the calendar on mouseover...

This feature creep KILLS me because I look for something simple (like the calendar view) and wind up going for something that will balance my chequebook for me while playing an mp3 and ripping a DVD, so I might as start with something that has been recommended to do what I want it to do, and nothing more!

Thanks for interjecting that comment, Aram. You've likely saved me from, well, myself!

-Darwin (December 13, 2007, 01:38 PM)

Yeah, I went through the same thing.  About the mouse-over, Betaclock doesn't have this feature.  What it does have is you can customize what happens on a single-click, and double-click.  I have it set so the calendar pops up after a single-click.  It's not as convenient as a mouse-over, but hopefully that's not a huge issue for you.  Maybe the author will be open to the idea, I think it's a good one!

5448

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

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 01:50 PM »

J-Mac.  Awesome!  What a great post.  Your program details are invaluable.  There's a big difference between reading the "feature list" of a program on the website, and reading these very-detailed user experiences.

I think I agree with pretty much everything you say.  I'm a note freak also.  There's at least a few pages in this thread devoted to the whole tagging/categories/heirarchy debate.  There's no good answer because the pros and cons of each system are different enough where neither has a significant advantage over the other.  I suggested that the best program will allow the user to choose between different organizing methods.  Sometimes tagging is better.  Sometimes a tree is better.

This is where SQLNotes comes in.  I hate to seem like I'm getting paid for saying this, but this program has won me over recently.  The program is so flexible, and correct me if I'm wrong PPL, that it can allow either a simple, traditional heirarchy; or a category/tag based system; and there are plans to include a more visual "mind-mapping" based feature also (not exactly sure about this one).

I have already begun to slowly move my notes from other programs into SQLNotes.  The only ones I'm holding onto are my clips in Evernote because, like J-Mac said, it's so fast and easy to find something in Evernote.  Also, in SQLNotes, I have my more "serious" notes, that is, the information that I know I need to have.  In Evernote, I keep just interesting stuff that I probably won't mind too much if I lose or forget about (lots of random web clips).  Evernote is like having a drawer full of post-its and piles of paper strewn all over the place, yet being able to find the one you're looking for REALLY fast.  But, SQL will apparently have more powerful searching and filtering features in the future also.

5449

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 01:17 PM »

Gizmo recommended:

Free:
http://homepage1.nif...locklight/index.html tclocklite
http://fileforum.bet.../detail/1092761816/1 LClock

He notes that he uses http://www.12ghosts..../ghosts/showtime.htm 12Ghosts Showtime, which is shareware ($22)...

-Darwin (December 13, 2007, 12:58 PM)

I tried both of these before.  Betaclock is better.  Unless you need additional features like alarms and such.

5450

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2007, 12:33 PM »

I don't know exactly how to measure its overload, but it registers 0 in the windows task manager.  It's just sitting there for the most part.  I don't think I've noticed any lag due to betaclock, not at all.