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901

Living Room / Re: Opinions on database items that can be provided otherwise ... ?

« Last post by barney on June 09, 2011, 11:02 PM »

Good points, all.  My personal approach, i.e., not client dictated, is to create a function, then load that as needed.  Not much different than a flat file, but normally only accessible by a developer, so to speak  .  Granted, it's not an appropriate commercial approach, for the most part, but it serves me well in lesser circumstance.

902

Living Room / Opinions on database items that can be provided otherwise ... ?

« Last post by barney on June 09, 2011, 12:11 AM »

OK, this is kinda dumb, but I need a think break  .

Some acquaintances and I have been having a discussion on database inputs.  I'm partial to using HTML select items for miscellany that, while important to the database app, do not have to be in a table.

For instance, if I'm listing a series of options, particularly if there can be multiple choice, I'll create a select with the available choices with binary values, e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, ... .  They are hard-coded into the appropriate page/form, and it's easy to make additions when required.

The quarrel is that this data is not truly in the database until a value is selected, thus there is no source for it.  I can appreciate the concept, but at the same time, no call to the database is required to populate the appropriate select(s).

This discussion has been going on for a couple of months - the group involved is, while small, global - and some good points have been made on both sides of the issue.  I suspect this is one of those discussions that no one wants to win, but everyone seems to have a [rather fervent] opinion.

Given that, I'm curious what the folk here might think - and why  - one way or the other.  (And, if you happen to be one of the group (yeah, I know, I just branded myself), please abstain from comment - this is a search for outside opinions  .)

903

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: [freeware]:WikeNotes for you to manage your notes with ease

« Last post by barney on June 08, 2011, 06:28 PM »

yes, links do not work when editing a note, links work only after a note is saved.

-ahhha (April 21, 2011, 08:14 AM)

Well-l-l-l, not exactly  .  Links that I paste in do not work even after the note having been saved.  Using v0.4, btw, after I finally managed to get past the password issue when upgrading from v0.3.  Mind you, links within the note work just fine, it's only the origin URL that I copy and paste into the top of the note that never becomes a link  .

Actually, I have quite a wish list for WikeNotes  , but don't know how to get it to you ... tried contact form on the site, but either got no response, or it's in my spam folder - if the latter, I'm behind on checking it due to current workload.  One thing I'd really like to see, though, is to add a title list, prolly outline style, to the tag and month lists in the left panel  .  The month list, btw, looks to be very handy.  In fact, it has been a couple of times lately.  The only thing I really miss is automated title and source url.

904

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 07, 2011, 07:14 PM »

I'm inclined to agree.  However, I've made so many changes/adjustments, I suspect starting from scratch might be advantageous.  And there is the possibility that, since my system is kinda  sorta  overloaded, something else is interfering that I wot not of  .  For instance, after dropping an indeterminate number of clips, every drop becomes one (1) particular clip.  Only thing I've found to cure that is to kill, then restart, URP.  But it shouldn't be happening, and it's likely something else running is interfering.  However, I can't afford the time to hunt that particular needle - it's a big haystack  .

905

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 07, 2011, 06:14 AM »

Aha!  Your 2nd example shows information that does not present on my system, the Document attributes.  Even though they are selected in the View | Choose Columns (?) menu window.  That is, both Web site and URL are selected, but neither shows in the item attributes window.  And for some reason, the UR folk apparently don't believe that, even with screen shots  .  I don't doubt that the product is good, but it simply does not perform as advertised on my system.  My next step, when time allows, is to deinstall, reinstall, see if something went awry in the original install.  That seems more and more likely, as new [non] events occur  .

906

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 11:28 PM »

An impressive list, indeed.(

I think I've tried about half of those, although not always with current purposes in mind  .

Nothing ever came close to InfoSelect, but the latest version of that has proven to be unreliable.

Just encountered a problem with URP - the last seven (7) items I copied were all identical copies of a former - but not immediately previous - copy.  Well-l-l, the copies weren't, but what was pasted was.  I think I'm converted to WikeNotes - at least it hasn't screwed me up - yet  .

(Yeah, scrapbook is very handy.  Don't know, yet, if it functions with 4.x, though.)

907

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 10:11 PM »

Yeah, they told me I could see the URL in the Attributes window ... but it ain't not never there.  I see system attributes - which do not, on my system, include URL.  I recall a reference to another attribute window, but 'tain't there, nor can I discover how to evince it.  Maybe a bad install on my system, or maybe something else, system-wise, interfering, but I misdoubt.  In the Tools | Attributes window, URL is selected.  It just does not display.  I'm not averse to being wrong, mind you, but so far, no one has been able to tell/show me how I am  .

908

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 09:20 PM »

Hm-m-m ... if [I think] I understand what you are saying, a URL in the data tree won't work.  I need a title there, the URL in the note- ? - that is produced. 

To make that a bit more clear, a list of URLs is intrinsically worthless, since there's no indication what that URL references until you click on it.  Sorry if I misunderstand, but I've had that result.  Oh, yeah, it's also difficult, if not impossible, to edit the note attached to that URL.

I may be talking about something different than what you mention, but my experience to date has been ... abysmal, shall we say?

But that may go back to my - lack of? - appreciation for the documentation, I suspect.  I do tech writing in my copious spare time  , and what I've seen to date falls far short of standards.  Help files should be written for those who have not used the software, as well as for those familiar with it.  Too many unclear terms  .

909

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 05:09 PM »

As mentioned earlier, I got URP, but the tech writing for it leaves a lot to be desired ... and it took something like forty-eight (48) hours plus to get a response that didn't really address the question I asked.  That does not bode well for future issues, although I might be a bit on the impatient side  in that respect.

The biggest problem I have is getting the URL of stuff I've imported from the Web ... need it for source and, occasionally, attribution when it's from someone else's site.  If I have to manually copy and transfer it, that increases my time per item by about 5%-10% ... when you're grabbing 300-500 segments per session, that becomes significant time  .  There are some other issues - graphics come to mind - but that's the biggie, the show stopper, as it were.

910

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 01:17 PM »

Looks as though I need to check OneNote.  Since it's a $$$ app, I hope there's a trial, but I suspect that'll be the case  .

911

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 06, 2011, 11:53 AM »

My understanding of OneNote is that it is primarily a cloud-based app, with, appropriately enough, cloud-based storage.  I quit using EverNote when it went to the cloud:  I don't see a significant advantage to opt for a different cloud entity.

(I don't have anything against MS ... I've used a lot of their stuff over the years, usually to my advantage, even though there has been a significant amount of creep and bloat in later editions of things I've used.  Mostly, I'll use any software that does what I need done at the time  .)

Since my work is pretty much solo, a collaboration tool would seem to be a kind of overkill.  And, since I don't trust cloud storage - on several levels - anything cloud-based is pretty much anathema.

I was trying UltraRecall Pro along with WikeNotes, but I don't think URP is going to be able to do the job.  I've sent a help request for the problem(s), but have yet to see a response.

On the other hand, WikeNotes, young as it is, does a significant part of what I want to do.  It would help if it had an alternative tree/outline view along with the tag view - I'll try contacting the vendor to see if that's in the works - or even possible.  If I can get reasonable response from the author(s), that looks to be the route I'll be taking.

Unless something better comes along, of course  .

912

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 02, 2011, 07:34 AM »

Punch line to an old joke:  king talking to vizier about assassination prevention says, "Yes I know I'm being paranoid.  My worry is whether I'm paranoid enough."

Yep, I do much the same, albeit within a somewhat shorter time frame.  The rub, always, though, is that material which has been created with the newer version that is usually not backward-compatible  .  Or, in this case, loss of such material due to a failed upgrade  .  That's always been one of my biggest complaints of IS - the devs don't seem to even have a concept of a change log, so there's no real way of knowing whether ya really need the most current upgrade  .  I've stayed with it because of its [comparatively] blazingly fast search, in spite of that.

Ah, well ... I've pretty well settled on UltraRecall Pro (UR)  , although I'm having a bit of trouble getting URL automation working.  Also using WikeNotes.  Don't have enough data stored to compare search speeds, but looks as though I'll have to live with what I get.  Do wish WikeNotes had a - supertag? - classification system  , e.g., software, how-to, website, but other than that and automatic capture of heading(s) & URLs, it seems to work well so far.

Oh, yeah, that ability to import IS data into UR?  You have to first export it as text in IS, then import it into UR, a process that I suspect will take much time, considering the gigabytes of .wd2 and .wd3 files I have  .

Ain't software wumderful  ?!?

913

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on June 01, 2011, 08:00 AM »

But as to your data loss, well, shame on you for not:
   (a) having proper backup in place.
   (b) not testing that the backup worked (could be recovered).
   (c) keeping v10 away from your current data and backup, before you had tested it out.

-IainB (June 01, 2011, 05:49 AM)

Unwarranted assumption(s) on your part  :

• (a) backup was in place - in fact it worked too well
• (b) see (a)
• (c) at some point, ya hafta commit.

Problem with my backup- solution - which had served well up to now - was that it worked too well - too quickly? - when disaster struck.  I'd upgraded, on the advice of one of the IS crew, to a new build because of some recurring problem.  However, the upgrade failed to run the first couple of times - and, in hind-sight, truncated one or more of the existing data files  , not something that was evident at the time.  That's why I say the backup plan worked too well  .  And, since my major backup(s) be on a first of the month schedule, I ended up losing the last month's work.  So there was a functional - and tested! - backup plan in place and in operation.  Hindsight indicates there might be a better way to set the workflow, but then, hindsight has a way of doing that  .

Tornado Notes - and it was great.

-David1904 (June 01, 2011, 05:49 AM)

That was it!  One (1) of the four (4) or five (5) progs that were absolute necessities back then.


Yeah, I was using Evernote alongside IS, as some of its functionality augmented what I was doing in IS.  However, I'm averse to cloud-based data stores for daily usages - too many times I might need the data and not be connected at that moment.  And there are other times, fer instance on dial-up, when cloud access is simply unacceptable in terms of speed.  And until there is some equivalent, cloud-data-wise, to SQL's commit/rollback routines in general usage, I am averse to most cloud-based solutions.

Remember playing with InfoQube a while back ... methinks a revisit is in order.
Remember seeing reference to UltraRecallPro ... don't think I've ever run across it, though.
I've tried several of the Wiki solutions:  with the exception of WikeNotes, they've been inadequate.
Never could quite wrap my head around Zoot.
Never though of TaskCoach in that light, although I use it for general task/project scheduling.

Ah, well ... seems as though there's now something to fill the odd spare moment that occurs now and again  .

914

General Software Discussion / In search of an alternative to InfoSelect ...

« Last post by barney on May 31, 2011, 11:15 PM »

OK, I've had it  .  I've been using InfoSelect (IS) since before it was a Windows app.  Don't recall the name of the DOS TSR then, though.  Anyway, InfoSelect has been a primary application in my life since its inception.  Until now.

The latest version, 10.x.x, totally broke almost every usage I had for IS.  Formerly, there was search capability on colored text - that's gone.  Formerly there was limited capability to copy both text and image(s) from another document - HTML, PDF, you name it - but that's gone ... hindered might be more accurate, since I've seen it drop from roughly 30%-40% to less than 1%, significantly less.  The devs added that damned ribbon and totally destroyed a reasonably comfortable menu system, which was very customizable.  Currently there is a menu bar which, supposedly can be customized.  So I spent half-an-hour customizing it when I first started using IS v10.  Next time I started IS, all customizations were gone.  Gave it another shot, and another thirty (30) minutes, with the same result.

I just upgraded to a new build - 70 - and lost my last month's work in the process.  When I attempted to recover from internal backups, nothing was there  .  So, what had been reliable in the past was, along with other things, rendered unusable.  There's more, but I'd be incited to extreme profanity should I continue in this vein. 

What I'd absolutely love to find is something that has the following capabilities:

• allow drag and drop from almost any other application
• record the URL of the drag and drop origin if a URL, or the title bar if a non-Web application
• record the date (and time?) of any drag and drop operation
• include images along with text in any drag and drop operation
• allow creation of individual notes interactively
• allow - but not require - a tree/outline structure (in order to pre-classify note or drag and drop entities)

There's more, of course, but that would be a good start.  I'm not quite willing to trade my immortal soul - if I still have one  - but such a software would indeed be so dear to me that I might amortize it  .

I've been trying WikeNotes - found it here a while back - and it does a lot of what I'd like, but still has quite a way to go, as far as automation is concerned.  It holds much promise, and I suspect it'll be a primary candidate, young as it is, for my future workload.  However, it's difficult to believe there's not a reasonably mature program already in existence.

IS is touted as being a personal information manager (PIM) and it is, but that is not my primary usage for it.  I've used its email capabilities in the past, off and on, but that's not a significant need.  Same thing with the calendar and reminder capabilities.  I just want record keeping adequate to my needs/purposes.  Some of those purposes are keeping code modules, some are aggregating data for reporting - and citing - purposes, some are for brainstorming/idea/concept purposes (much akin to a mind map, albeit non-graphical).  There's also a daily journal I keep - a significant chunk of which was lost, btw - that could be kept elsewhere, but the convenience of having all this in one repository is to some degree beyond measure.

915

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 28, 2011, 11:43 PM »

Actually, I'm feelin' kinda hexed.

916

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 28, 2011, 05:51 PM »

That brings up an aspect unconsidered ... thread wars, left or right ... I can imagine the zealots lining up now  .

917

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 28, 2011, 03:53 PM »

Or would it be an up-turning?

918

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 28, 2011, 03:53 PM »

Heh heh.  I just hope Henry James doesn't turn up as a zombie.

-MilesAhead (May 28, 2011, 03:09 PM)

Hm-m-m ... wouldn't that require an un-turning?

919

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 28, 2011, 11:48 AM »

Are you trying to make some kind of pitch here? If so, we'll have to counter…  and sink it.

-cranioscopical (May 28, 2011, 10:24 AM)

I wouldn't dare ... too many plot twists  .

920

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 27, 2011, 11:02 PM »

We're taking turns  ?  Where's the fun in that  ?

921

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 27, 2011, 07:25 PM »

Optimist  !

922

Living Room / Re: Now you're REALLY screwed...

« Last post by barney on May 27, 2011, 06:32 PM »

Oh, ye gods ... some of the worst pundits in the world have aggregated in/on one (1) thread  .  Is there any hope for salvation  ?

923

General Software Discussion / Re: Question about how to access local box for input ...

« Last post by barney on May 24, 2011, 07:53 PM »

OK, sorry for the confusion ... I just don't deal as well now with 48-hour shifts as a decade ago  .

Nope, the server being accessed is the public server, the one everybody sees.  But I need to block input to the comment form from all but former students and one particular machine (or maybe two).

I can limit access to former students via certification numbers they will have received after completing the course(s).  However, that validation, mailed, will be unavailable for a week or two.  I need to allow students that have just taken the class to input comments/critiques from the classroom box.  

I'm just wondering what is the best way to provide that classroom access, whether to attempt IP validation or to create a bogus certification script.

There is no local Web server, so I can't run the route of allowing local input, then FTPing that to the public server ... everything is live at all times  .  All comments will be moderated for language, of course, and a few safeguards emplaced to prevent comment spam, e.g. no live links.

Hope that un-fuzzied the original request  , but prolly not  .

924

General Software Discussion / 2nd Question tonight ... a good text/tutorial on adapting Web site to mobile ...

« Last post by barney on May 24, 2011, 12:56 AM »

... 'cause none of the books I've bought even come close to providing anything more than concepts and a lot of iOS discussion.

I have a couple of books on the mobile Web, but neither of them really gets into practical coding, other than to discuss concepts.  In another post, I mentioned need for help for a friend's sailing school.  This, it turns out, is related.  A [presumably] young man tried to subscribe to a particular class on a smart phone.  His complaint was that the subscription never completed.

Methinks the reason for that lack was that he failed to scroll one (1) last screen to the right.  When I tried it on my phone, it worked up to the point that I had to commit money.  However, that does point out a flaw in the current subscription system - it's configured for a [minimum] 1024x768 display.  Thus, I need to find out how to re-deploy the display to allow for most smart phones.

Given that, I'd really like to find a reasonably coherent tutorial on mobile web how-to methodology.  I've searched, but have yet to find anything even close to a tutorial worth having.

925

General Software Discussion / Question about how to access local box for input ...

« Last post by barney on May 24, 2011, 12:26 AM »

... or something to that effect.

A friend of mine has recently opened a sailing school, ASA certified, all the training bells and whistles.  What he'd like to do is to set up a way for students to input their review(s) at the classroom, after the testing/certification/approval/disapproval has been completed.  I'm accustomed to setting up database backends, but don't have a great deal of experience with front-end work.  My thinking is that I can use the current IP address, assuming PHP can find it, so that the input form(s) visibility is not site-wide.

Question is whether that is a viable concept, or whether I should take some other approach.

The input/review form needs to be available on one machine initially, but not available to the general public, even though on the same site.  However, that same form needs to be available on the Web site, but only to those who have taken a course, whether pass or fail.  I can limit access on the Web with ASA certification values, so that part is not a problem.  However, I'm uncertain as to how to proceed to allow in-class comments w/o having that certification.  Date/time/class can provide appropriate in-house limits to input capability, but I don't have a good feel on how to limit that particular input to that one machine w/o broadcasting it all over the Web.

Sorry if the description is fuzzy, but the whole situation is somewhat undefined <sigh />.