Author Topic: NANY 2009 Release: LifeSaver diary (Read 85612 times)

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #25 on:** January 01, 2009, 03:10 PM »

I've just uploaded the official first release, version 1.0.3288. The original post has been updated to reflect the changes:

Add EULA to installer and About box
Fix installer to overwrite old version
Fix bug where changing entry body text forced rebuild of calendar
Fix bug where XML export didn't close file immediately
Add meta data to XML export
Remove BETA warnings

The screenshot has been updated to match the changes to the app's look. And the app itself has been uploaded to my normal repository, as well as attached to the original post.

Folks, January First is a great day to start keeping a diary of your own

redstarnyc · « **Reply #26 on:** January 01, 2009, 08:22 PM »

I just downloaded this app. Thanks so much for developing this. I've been looking for this sort of app for a long time. Keep up the great work. Yet another genius at DC.

ssoundman · « **Reply #27 on:** January 09, 2009, 01:03 PM »

Nice work, CWuestefeld! I've been looking for a diary like this for a long time... ever since the one on my Palm PDA refused to work with my latest hardware. So frustrating to lose your info because of an inability to save data in a common format! Good idea and good job on implementing it.

Can I make an observation or two?

I just downloaded/installed version 1.0.3288. The navigational buttons for moving between entries are really close to the calendar buttons, and I clicked on one of the calendar navigational buttons by accident, after entering some things into an entry. When I went back to look later I realized that some info was missing, so I did a little test, typing in some numbers in this series: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (with no space after the 1) and the only thing which was saved was the data prior to 5, 4, 3 (with no space after the 3). It appears that the last 6 characters I type are lost if I click on a navigational button in the calendar itself without clicking on anything else first.

Questions: Is it possible to relocate those Entry navigation buttons to the area immediately above the list of entries (or perhaps incorporate a Save button)? Also, is it possible to make the font style and size preferences permanent?

Thanks a lot for all the work you did on your diary program. I don't suppose you might port it into a Palm OS-compatible application?

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #28 on:** January 09, 2009, 07:45 PM »

Thanks for trying it, ssoundman.

I just downloaded/installed version 1.0.3288. The navigational buttons for moving between entries are really close to the calendar buttons, and I clicked on one of the calendar navigational buttons by accident ...

Is it possible to relocate those Entry navigation buttons to the area immediately above the list of entries (or perhaps incorporate a Save button)?
-ssoundman (January 09, 2009, 01:03 PM)

Honestly, I've done the same thing. But I don't want to move the prev/next arrows as you said, because my intent is to add Tagging to the app, and the buttons would move between similarly-tagged entries when in that mode. Let me give it some more thought.

I thought that it should automatically save whenever the HTML editor loses focus, but perhaps I missed something there. I'll put that down as a bug and see what I can do.

is it possible to make the font style and size preferences permanent?
-ssoundman (January 09, 2009, 01:03 PM)

Not as such. But I was thinking of allowing you to apply a CSS style sheet to editor, which would get much the same effect. How does that sound?

I don't suppose you might port it into a Palm OS-compatible application?
-ssoundman (January 09, 2009, 01:03 PM)

Sorry, no chance of PalmOS. The whole thing is written for .Net, and I don't think that Mono runs there, does it? Perhaps I will make a PocketPC/SmartPhone version.

Let me know if you encounter any other issues.

ssoundman · « **Reply #29 on:** January 09, 2009, 08:22 PM »

Not as such. But I was thinking of allowing you to apply a CSS style sheet to editor, which would get much the same effect. How does that sound?
-CWuestefeld (January 09, 2009, 07:45 PM)

I think that would probably work fine. Thanks for being flexible.

I figured that asking you to port it to PalmOS would be asking a lot.

Dex · « **Reply #30 on:** January 10, 2009, 05:42 AM »

Hello.

Could I run this on 2 (or more) machines at the same time and use a single datastore on a mapped or network drive?

I have 2 main PCs I use all day in separate places on the same LAN and I need to be able to type notes and "todos" from either machine and be able to see them on both machines

Best regards
Dex

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #31 on:** January 10, 2009, 07:26 AM »

Could I run this on 2 (or more) machines at the same time and use a single datastore on a mapped or network drive?
-Dex (January 10, 2009, 05:42 AM)

If the app was only running on one machine at a time, it would work, but I'm not recommending it. If it were me, I'd forget to close the app on one machine and muck everything up.

I hate to work against myself, but I'd advise you to look elsewhere. You might consider EverNote, which is designed to sync notes between multiple computers (and if you snag an old Version 2, it will do so right through a file share rather than their over-the-web service). Or take a look at Stickies, which allows you to create sticky notes on your desktop, and has a feature allowing network sync.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #32 on:** January 11, 2009, 07:12 PM »

I clicked on one of the calendar navigational buttons by accident, after entering some things into an entry. When I went back to look later I realized that some info was missing, so I did a little test, typing in some numbers in this series: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (with no space after the 1) and the only thing which was saved was the data prior to 5, 4, 3 (with no space after the 3). It appears that the last 6 characters I type are lost if I click on a navigational button in the calendar itself without clicking on anything else first.
-ssoundman (January 09, 2009, 01:03 PM)

Thanks for alerting me to this bug. I've just posted a new update, version 1.0.3298, that should fix this problem. There are no other changes in this build. You can get the latest version from the original post in this thread.

ssoundman · « **Reply #33 on:** January 11, 2009, 07:19 PM »

Wow, that was fast!

Thanks a lot.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #34 on:** January 11, 2009, 08:08 PM »

Wow, that was fast! Thanks a lot.
-ssoundman (January 11, 2009, 07:19 PM)

It turns out to have been any easy fix. I can't make promises for the future

ssoundman · « **Reply #35 on:** January 11, 2009, 08:15 PM »

Death and taxes, right?

paris27 · « **Reply #36 on:** January 17, 2009, 08:30 PM »

Nice program. Would love a delete entry feature, so keep working. Also, I get some jumping around while I'm typing text. Have you heard that before?

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #37 on:** January 18, 2009, 09:27 AM »

I get some jumping around while I'm typing text. Have you heard that before?
-paris27 (January 17, 2009, 08:30 PM)

No, I haven't observed that. Can you describe a bit more what you're experiencing?

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #38 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:53 AM »

LifeSaver has just given a mention on DownloadSquad

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #39 on:** January 19, 2009, 05:20 AM »

LifeSaver has just given a mention on DownloadSquad
-Perry Mowbray (January 19, 2009, 03:53 AM)

Whoa, cool! Thanks for the pointer, Perry.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #40 on:** January 24, 2009, 11:07 AM »

Just a quick update.

First, insert the usual excuses: busy at work, got sick, yadda yadda.

But today I'm trying to look at this again, starting with adding an MRU list to the menu so you don't need to keep finding your diary file.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #41 on:** January 24, 2009, 03:24 PM »

OK, Version 1.0.3311 is now uploaded to the original post, as well as my own web site. The only difference here is that the File menu is now enhanced with an MRU list of your files.

Note: I also discovered an issue with the installer. You'll need to uninstall any previous version before installing this update.

Darned installers. I hate 'em. I wish there was decent documentation from Microsoft. There's lots of stuff that says "if you select this then X", but it really never tells you what the heck "X" means, and what its implications are.

thane777 · « **Reply #42 on:** January 25, 2009, 06:49 PM »

I just downloaded your app. So far I love it. Thanks so much for your hard work on this and for making it free.

One question I have is about exporting to xml. When I try viewing it in either FF3 or IE7 I only get the document tree (raw html code). FF3 gives the following information: This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

Am I saving it incorrectly? I am just appending .xml to the end of my diary name when saving.

Thanks again!

Thane

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #43 on:** January 25, 2009, 08:57 PM »

One question I have is about exporting to xml. When I try viewing it in either FF3 or IE7 I only get the document tree (raw html code). ...

Am I saving it incorrectly?
-thane777 (January 25, 2009, 06:49 PM)

No, you're doing everything correctly, this is exactly what's supposed to happen.

The idea of the XML export is that all of your data is encoded in a form that's easily read by any software that cares to do so. That is, any other diary software could easily extend their features to allow importing LifeSaver's output. It's not supposed to be human-readable, at least not in any pleasing form.

However, I do plan to build an HTML export into the program as well. Perhaps you could tell me what your expectations are.

How would you like to see HTML output be organized? For example, should it be just one giant long page (probably not)? Or should there be an index page listing all the entries, or maybe the index should be a frame, opening up individual entries internally? Or maybe somewhere inbetween, grouping, say, all the entries within a month into single pages, with an index for the months?

kwacky1 · « **Reply #44 on:** January 26, 2009, 05:03 AM »

Note: I also discovered an issue with the installer. You'll need to uninstall any previous version before installing this update.

Darned installers. I hate 'em. I wish there was decent documentation from Microsoft. There's lots of stuff that says "if you select this then X", but it really never tells you what the heck "X" means, and what its implications are.
-CWuestefeld (January 24, 2009, 03:24 PM)

Hey CWuestefeld, if you need any help with MSI packaging, I'm your man, it's what I do day to day.

thane777 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 26, 2009, 05:14 PM »

Thanks for the quick reply. Being a mainframe programmer I don't delve into html/xml or anything remotely current but it pays the bills. As far as the formatting of html exporting goes I think having an initial index page with links to each entry would be awesome. It would probably be fine to merge multiple entries for a given day on the same page. I would think most people would not make a lot of entries on the same day.

Again, thanks so much!

Thane

One question I have is about exporting to xml. When I try viewing it in either FF3 or IE7 I only get the document tree (raw html code). ...

Am I saving it incorrectly?
-thane777 (January 25, 2009, 06:49 PM)

No, you're doing everything correctly, this is exactly what's supposed to happen.

The idea of the XML export is that all of your data is encoded in a form that's easily read by any software that cares to do so. That is, any other diary software could easily extend their features to allow importing LifeSaver's output. It's not supposed to be human-readable, at least not in any pleasing form.

However, I do plan to build an HTML export into the program as well. Perhaps you could tell me what your expectations are.

How would you like to see HTML output be organized? For example, should it be just one giant long page (probably not)? Or should there be an index page listing all the entries, or maybe the index should be a frame, opening up individual entries internally? Or maybe somewhere inbetween, grouping, say, all the entries within a month into single pages, with an index for the months?
-CWuestefeld (January 25, 2009, 08:57 PM)

steeladept · « **Reply #46 on:** January 26, 2009, 08:29 PM »

Okay, I really like this, but I find myself not using it nearly as much as I thought I would, mostly because my girls (ages 3 & 1) are taking more and more of my time and I am on the laptop less and less. What might be useful to me though is if you actually did target the WindowsMobile platform as you mentioned. If that is reasonably simple, perhaps I can test it out for you?

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #47 on:** January 26, 2009, 09:22 PM »

Mr. Adept, I'd like to attack the WM platform (I've been a PocketPC user for many years myself). But I think the priority is to make the desktop application really notable amongst the field of diary apps first.

When/if I get to the PocketPC platform, I'll keep you in mind.

thane777 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 31, 2009, 11:25 AM »

Hi CW.

I noticed today that the calendar view on the left side of the screen clips off the most of the Friday column and all of the Saturday column. It makes it difficult to find my entries on those days. There is another way at them if I use the calendar pull-down.

I also noted that an entry I made on the 26th of January is now showing up in the Jan 31st grouping. Weird. None of my other entries got moved around. It may have resulted from the way I had to find the entry I made earlier this morning. It is hard to say.

If it matters, I am running Vista Home Premium.

Thanks!

Thane

thane777 · « **Reply #49 on:** January 31, 2009, 11:34 AM »

I am back. It appears that when I use the calendar pull down to get to the Friday and Saturday entries, the date of the currently displayed entry gets altered to the date I select from the pull down. Once I select a date on the calendar pull down menu the date changes but the text area does not. I believe this may be why the dates are getting hosed up.

In the screenshot I attached you can see what I mean about the Friday and Saturday columns being clipped off. Also the dates of the entries below the first entry (from today) have not happened yet today. These are from other days and I think they got moved when I did what I mention above. I only created one entry on today's date.

I have version 1.0.3311.27086.

Thane