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1 free PageFour license (and one only)
gpetrant:
What attracted me was its open format.
-gpetrant (March 17, 2009, 09:18 AM)
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any chance you could tell us a bit more there :)
Is it a chuck everything in there and search programme :D
It's hard to get a decent idea of it from it's home page and I hate having to look at videos (will do at some stage if there's no other choice but now not a great time)
ah they do have a list of features page (hidden in a drop-down list :-\) but that's not very helpful either.
https://www.asksam.com/brochure.asp?file=products.ask&b=askSam%20Features...
It would be great if you could give us even a vague idea of how it can be used
-tomos (March 17, 2009, 10:13 AM)
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Yes, it's a chuck everything in there and search program (a lot like my apartment and girlfriend's purse). It's a user friendly wizard-driven database which accepts almost everything but the kitchen sink: MS Office docs, PDFs, pictures, text files, emails, etc. Its search facility reminds me a lot of Archivarius in function: fast once indexed.
It's the perfect database for someone who has no inclination to code or to organize all his/her docs into neat categorized folders like normal people do. For instance, as a writer, I have different document formats scattered and strewn all over my hard drive. Using an askSam wizard, I can import them all without disturbing the sublime beauty of my disorder. Now centralized in a searchable database, they're at my fingertips.
Another use: again using askSam's import wizard, I imported all my email. I can now empty all my OE folders (yes, they're backed up, but they're not very convenient to access in their archived format, plus the fact I hate OE's search facility), and should I need to retrieve an old message, it's as simple as calling up askSam, and do an Archivarius-like search.
Draw backs: I don't think askSam would be suitable as a back-end for a desktop/web app, although the pro version does ship with an ActiveX control which you can use in your VB/ASP app (but I mean, really, with a name like askSam, what enterprise database programmer would take it seriously?). Also, the undiscounted price is prohibitive, imo. In fact, I don't think I would've shelled out for the pro version without the hefty 70% discount (now expired, I think) flagged earlier in this forum.
Summation: It's a Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none database for the rest of us. I like it a lot for that reason. Hope this was helpful.
tomos:
thanks for the info gpetrant :)
sounds like the indexing is a very important aspect ... makes it v.expensive, as you say: without that 70% off!
So when you import something - does that create a link to the original, and, (pro version) index the contents
or does it actually make a copy of imported file in the database?
Must make for a very big database either way though - do you bother with incremental backups or does the programme itself have any sort of backup system?
I've been using dropbox for backing up my IQ (SQLNotes) database (it saves revisions but only saves the difference to the file) - it's under 30mb but before dropbox I was making a few backups per day and managed to have a lot of gigabytes of backup before I noticed. Havent had to restore the dropbox revisions so not sure how dependable it is for this ..
wraith808:
I'm actually using BenuBird Pro for the same sort of thing as askSam. Any idea of what advantages askSam has over Benubird Pro? (BTW, that link is to the current discount for members. It was supposed to end yesterday, but you can try it and see if it still works)
gpetrant:
thanks for the info gpetrant :)
sounds like the indexing is a very important aspect ... makes it v.expensive, as you say: without that 70% off!
So when you import something - does that create a link to the original, and, (pro version) index the contents
or does it actually make a copy of imported file in the database?
Must make for a very big database either way though - do you bother with incremental backups or does the programme itself have any sort of backup system?
I've been using dropbox for backing up my IQ (SQLNotes) database (it saves revisions but only saves the difference to the file) - it's under 30mb but before dropbox I was making a few backups per day and managed to have a lot of gigabytes of backup before I noticed. Havent had to restore the dropbox revisions so not sure how dependable it is for this ..
-tomos (March 18, 2009, 11:24 AM)
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Concerning the indexing feature: the search facility in askSam standard is very decent for small database users such as home users, writers, hobbyists, etc, whereas askSam pro's indexing is ideal for larger database users such as small business owners, developers, etc. I only purchased the pro because the discount was too good to miss.
askSam makes copies of the original when importing docs. My needs are very modest so the size of my database is still very manageable. It doesn't have its own fully featured backup system, but does 'pack' your files on demand into backup archives (optimized for space and indexed searches). I don't rely on that feature much, however. I use Genie Backup Manager Pro on a scheduled basis instead. (Haven't tried dropbox. Where can I take a peek at it, and what's your opinion of it as a backup manager?)
Without the discount, I might have been tempted to get the standard, and if I found that I needed the pro features later on, I would've considered purchasing the upgrade ($139 US).
I'm actually using BenuBird Pro for the same sort of thing as askSam. Any idea of what advantages askSam has over Benubird Pro? (BTW, that link is to the current discount for members. It was supposed to end yesterday, but you can try it and see if it still works)
-wraith808 (March 18, 2009, 12:00 PM)
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I was all ready to slap down my $50 for Benubird Pro, but being the scatter brain that I am, waited till the last day (March 17) without taking into account the time difference between NA and Europe (so when I tried to purchase it last night, the Donation Coder discount no longer showed up upon check-out). I don't know if askSam has any killer advantage over Benubird Pro; perhaps the breadth of things you can stuff into it and the templates/wizards with which to organize them, making it a PIM, Address Book, Email archiver, Personal Journal, Cataloger, etc, all rolled into one. (If the Benubird Pro discount ever comes around again, I wouldn't be surprised if I purchased it. I really like Benubird's interface and PDF handling abilities.)
wraith808:
I was all ready to slap down my $50 for Benubird Pro, but being the scatter brain that I am, waited till the last day (March 17) without taking into account the time difference between NA and Europe (so when I tried to purchase it last night, the Donation Coder discount no longer showed up upon check-out). I don't know if askSam has any killer advantage over Benubird Pro; perhaps the breadth of things you can stuff into it and the templates/wizards with which to organize them, making it a PIM, Address Book, Email archiver, Personal Journal, Cataloger, etc, all rolled into one. (If the Benubird Pro discount ever comes around again, I wouldn't be surprised if I purchased it. I really like Benubird's interface and PDF handling abilities.)
-gpetrant (March 18, 2009, 01:58 PM)
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The people there are very nice, and I'm sure if you e-mailed them and told them the situation, they'd be willing to give it to you if possible. Worth a try IMO if you were thinking about pulling the trigger. I'm really enjoying it, personally.
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