Jan

17

An Update About The Bento Database Manager / Digestive

Filed Under Editorial | Leave a Comment

Some of you may be using my original Bento Database Manager that was released back in 2008 and some of you may also be aware that I have been working on a replacement to it for an overly long time. To explain what has been going on and what I’m doing to resolve it I’ve just posted an article over at my own blog and I’d like people to post any comments or thoughts about it there please.

Once Digestive has been launched there will be a further announcement on the BentoUsers site.

Simon

Oct

6

Power Users Beware – Part Two

Filed Under Bento Bugs, Bento Tips, Editorial | 2 Comments

My problem is I’m too meticulous. I want things to run perfectly smoothly to be happy. That doesn’t mean I don’t like challenges, but when the challenge is met I want to relax again. But Bento 3 doesn’t let me relax, because it doesn’t keep its promises. Here are some of the most annoying examples:

Back to my daughter’s athletics: I created two Related Data fields side-by-side to compare results from 2008 with the ones from 2009. For this to be useful, both fields have to display the records in the same order.

Strange behavior #1: as long as I browse library records in sequence everything’s fine. But the moment I use split view and choose a record in the middle of the pack the display in the Related Data fields gets out of order AND they don’t match up anymore! Now it’s become useless for me.

Strange behavior #2: the same happens with the new Simple List field. The only good thing is I only need one field instead of two since I can enter the results from both years in the same field. So they match up at least, but still get out of order.

Strange behavior #3: Simple list field again.
You are supposed to be able to copy and paste data (says the user’s guide). If you paste spreadsheet data in Table View, all the data gets automatically distributed in rows and columns. You can’t paste something into an empty Simple List field at all. And if it has only a single cell it puts all the data in that one cell! So first you have to create enough cells so the pasted data will fit. That shouldn’t happen!

Strange behavior #4: Simple List fields again and again…
In general I like to avoid scroll bars in Bento, because they’re simply ugly. I try to design my templates so they fit on the screen, and the list fields so they contain all the data I need – all without scroll bars. It works most of the time, just takes a little extra work.
The Simple List field has two bad display problems: it shows a (redundant) empty row (for new data) even though it has a “+” icon for adding a row, and it displays an empty column (called “new column”). You can resize the empty column, making it a sliver, but whenever you restart Bento, it’s full size again! All the other List fields retain the width of their cells, NOT the Simple List field!

Strange behavior #5: Form View.
Recently I duplicated a form, because I wanted to make slight changes for displaying the final record of a collection. The duplicated form is supposed to be a separate entity. But in this case Bento 3 maintained some kind of a link between the forms. I made my changes to the duplicate and when I went back to the other form, it was messed up. SOME of the changes to the duplicate had also effected the original!

Enough for today. I will amend this article whenever I notice more of this unexpected behavior. Please also report similar problems right here.

As I commented before: Bento is just not doing its part when it comes to consistent or expected results – especially for power users.

Oct

5

Bento Power Users: Beware!

Filed Under Bento Bugs, Bento Tips, Editorial | 12 Comments

My first important Bento 3 project was a disaster: Bento crashed about 50 times in the process! Before I go on I want to stress that this long article is mainly for the benefit of Bento power users like me. What is a “power user” ? Here’s my personal definition (a summary):

I read all versions of the Bento user’s guide from cover to cover, I was an award winning beta tester for Bento 3, I am using Bento for countless ongoing and archival projects, both personal and business. I’ve learned to use most features to the extreme and to my advantage to create highly useful, informative, and visually pleasing Bento Libraries.
By now, I’m also experienced in finding workarounds for Bento’s shortcomings. But most importantly, I’m expecting Bento to cooperate. In other words, I expect a stable environment AND consistency: the advertised features have to work as described and should yield predictable results. And they really don’t in many cases. But that will be the subject of another comprehensive (power user’s) post.

Back to my problem over the weekend. I visited my daughter at college and gave her a copy of Bento 3. Then I wanted to give her the elaborate Library Collections I had compiled from her athletic prowess in High School. Databases of races and events from three sports: Cross Country Running, Nordic Skiing, and Track. Since Bento supposedly can export & import templates and data files, it should be a straight forward process, especially for a power user…
But first there is that huge (template) export/import bug that nobody but me seems to care about (see my previous report). The bug only involves the iCal and Address Book Libraries and their Collections. Unfortunately, my project ONLY consisted of iCal Events Collections. But I know exactly how to edit the exported Collection templates to squash the bug and make them usable on another computer. It just takes a lot of time. I start with a virgin database file, import the template to delete erroneously duplicated forms, collections and fields (I even forgot that last step this time). And since you can’t import any data into Smart Collections I also had to “convert” them to regular Collections before exporting the now “clean” template again. And this was the point where all the crashes started:

Bento 3 has a potentially great feature: you can now copy Forms within the same Library and its Collections. Now I am given a TOOL to convert a Smart Collection into a regular one, so I can import my data. All I have to do is copy all the forms from the Smart Collection into a regular Collection and then delete the Smart Collection before exporting the template.
After copying several forms successfully, Bento crashed all of a sudden when I ctrl-clicked a form to copy it! And after the crash the database file became so corrupt that Bento would not restart! So I had to ditch the database file and had to start over with a fresh one. And that happened over and over again, now triggered by various actions. I saved the template a few times anticipating the crashes but I could never finish it before Bento crashed again.
Finally, I figured out that I could keep editing the template even after Bento crashed – because the application didn’t actually quit, even though the pop-up window said so…

But the final template file is not working perfectly – it displays some strange behavior, sometimes random, sometimes consistently – both are very annoying. At least just using the template and editing its data doesn’t trigger crashes… and until the Bento team fixes all the bugs, I can say I found another workaround I can live with, even though it doesn’t make me happy.

Bottom line: the new feature of copying forms is not stable! It was a last minute addition and should have been tested much more thoroughly. Make sure you work with a copy of your database file before you use it! It was clearly the main trigger of the crashes, together with the incomplete and misleading (template-) import/export function (I really call it a bug too). This function has to be totally re-designed, but at this point I’ve given up hope…

My clear verdict: even the newest version of Bento does not even come close to satisfy the high standards of a power user like me. And that has nothing to do with a lack of features. IMHO, it just has sloppy implementations of even the most basic features which I wlll explain in detail in my next post.

And I would rather wait longer for an upgraded version if it would mean that all features were tested more thoroughly before its release.

Jun

26

Graham, Gareth Is Granting Your Request

Filed Under Bento Tips, Editorial, Templates | 2 Comments

Attention, Bento users: from today on, look for your name in the title of a new post!
Gareth, BentoUsers‘ brand new guest-contributor will make templates for you, even simple ones like this one: Gardening.
Submit your requests as a comment in the article Template Ideas, Please! where Gareth will choose his victim. This time it’s Graham’s request that tickled his fancy.

I will still give tips as well, but Gareth will do the actual work – thanks a bunch, my friend! I like the idea especially because it offers something that the new Filemaker, Inc. Template Exchange does not offer.

Gareth is a MSCE and a CCNA (computer specialists know what this means) and has been working on a Mac for three years. He loves Bento even more, after he found out that its limits can be overcome “… if you are clever and look beyond the problem. Ideas just keep popping into my head!” Gareth, I would like to add that you also have the tenacity to keep trying until you find the right workaround or solution!

Read more

Apr

25

Your Special Category – Bento Issues

Filed Under Bento Issues, Editorial | 17 Comments

This category will only have this one post – these instructions. It is for all the odds and ends that you, the Bento User, would like to have tied up. Leave a comment about anything. Ask for help, describe your wishes and problems in detail. Emphasis on Detail. I do reserve the right to summarize.

This does not replace the private Contact Form. But anything you want to share with other Bento Users should go here.

If an issue comes up that fits into another category I will create a post over there where we can expand on it even further.

Have fun and don’t hesitate to discuss any Bento issue you like.

Next Page →