May

11

Unexpected Template Exchange Behavior!

Filed Under Bento Bugs, Bento Tips 

I knew about these problems for a while, but only recently discovered all the details.

In my opinion, being able to exchange templates is one of the best features added to Bento 2. It makes Bento effectively a multi-user database app and creates a global community besides the immense promotional benefits!
But there is some unexpected behavior every user who wants to exchange templates should know about.

As a starting point, here’s a description of the Bento feature: you can export the template (without any Records) of any Custom Library plus any Related Data Libraries that get attached through the inclusion of a Related Records List field. These RRLs can also be Collections from iCal or Address Book, or references to the iCal/AddressBook Parent Libraries.
You CAN NOT export the template of only a single Collection of any Library
(which is a feature I would love to see – it would even make sense to limit it to iCal/Address Book Collections/Smart Collections).

Every Parent Library template automatically includes all its Collections which is behavior you would want and expect with Custom Libraries. The problem starts when iCal or Address Book are involved. Because of the integration of those two Libraries, it’s easy to include related data of events, projects, or contact information. I even dare to say that the majority of templates will take advantage of that integration.

So here is what happens:

If you have a RRL in your Custom Library that is referencing a single Collection of iCal Events, iCal Tasks, or Address Book, then ALL your Collections will be attached to the template (like the default behavior for Custom Libraries – but this instance should be treated as an exception to the rule).
And logic tells us why this behavior is still unexpected: after all, the RRL is only referencing a single Collection. Since Bento allows us to do that, it should be man enough to handle the results correctly. You can choose NOT to include Related Libraries, but if you created custom forms, you would want to!

So whoever imports the template will be getting all your “Fishing Buddies” and “Frank’s Plumbing business” Collections, or you now have two “Friends” Collections all of a sudden (the second one will be called “Friends 1″). In the case of Address Book, these unwanted Collections will even be “conveniently” available as Groups outside of Bento in your Mac Address Book!

Secondly, you are inheriting all the Forms of the template owner. Again, the Forms you get should be limited to custom forms of the Library/Collection that is referenced by the RRL field.

Thirdly, you also get all the custom fields from those extra collections and the main Address Book and iCal libraries.

Most importantly, after I had sent them an (admittedly overheated) email, Filemaker, Inc. Management called me today, acknowledging the problem and my concerns, and promising to have it checked out.

The template exchange here at BentoUsers.com is also safe, because I’m going through the painstaking process of “cleaning up” all templates before I publish them. I import them into a test database file, delete all unwanted (unrelated) Collections, and re-export the template.

Warning: if you are planning to clean up your own templates before you export them, be aware that all Address Book Collections you delete, will also be deleted from the Mac Address Book! I don’t use any Groups, so I’m lucky.

But this elaborate workaround costs me a lot of extra time

Update (January 2010): The problem has still not been fixed, and probably never will be!

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