Let me repeat the most recent issue:
Before you migrate from Mobile Me to iCloud or otherwise turn on on iCloud,
do this:
Make sure you have Bento 4.06
Launch it.
Quit Bento.

After that, you should be ready to surf the new Clouds.

Since Mobile Me will be available until June 30, 2012, I personally am not in a hurry to get OSX Lion and iCloud. But since there are very few issues which have been reported in the Bento forums, I have to assume that Bento is generally ready for the transition. That doesn’t mean that the problems reported here on BentoUsers are not real. But they are not the norm, but rather horrible bad luck.
Still, let’s all keep our eyes and ears open…

You are taking great care designing a form that looks great on your particular screen – be it a 13″ Macbook or a 27″ iMac. Then, big disappointment: the printout looks horrible. Why? Because Bento automatically squeezes any screen layout into whatever paper size is selected in the print dialog, therefore often making text sizes much smaller. In most cases that kind of printout is frustrating and not usable at all!

Bento needs page guides that should fetch the current print settings. It should be possible to switch them on and off.

Dear Filemaker: Thanks for listening.

Let’s face it: The Bento List Fields are pretty ugly, but they are even uglier with scroll bars. Whenever possible I am trying to avoid them.

The Simple List field contains a bug (or to put it nicely: an oversight) that makes avoiding horizontal scroll bars very hard:
The rightmost column is always called “new column.” It’s very unsightly because it’s like constantly displaying the edit-mode. Even though you can re-size it like the other columns (making the words disappear), Bento does not remember the new column size! It always expands back to the full size if you click on a different form and then go back. Only the sizes of the active columns are remembered.
This also falls into the category “Unexpected Results,” because first Bento let’s us resize the column, then later just ignores that action and reverses it!
Dear Filemaker: please fix this or at least tell us that you won’t. If you never address these valid concerns you are giving us the impression that you simply don’t care. Bento is branded as a database designer’s dream. Unsightly problems like these spell trouble in paradise!

Another Simple List field bug – same Category: unexpected results.
You can copy data and paste them into a Simple List field. But even though the Simple List field looks and feels exactly like Bento’s Table View, it acts differently all of a sudden:
You can not paste into multiple columns, and first you have to create the correct number of empty cells before you can paste anything!
In Table View on the other hand, you can simply click into the last row (the one with the “+”) and paste muliple columns!
Dear Filemaker: please fix this. Thanks.

Next issue – Category: missing basic feature.
For a while now, Smart Collections can also be used as Related Data fields which is very useful. But they still won’t be filled automatically with records to match the functionality of the Smart Collections. This feature is so logical that I really don’t understand that it hasn’t been implemented yet.

Finally, I really wish the option of creating a one-line Related Data field would be re-implemented, therefore eliminating the need for an ugly List field in many situations.
Dear Filemaker: why did you not reconsider this yet? The initial design of this feature had so much promise, and many users had requested it.

There are a few things I have learned to live with, and I’m pretty sure that they will never change:
I know that you will never guarantee that they will even be another new version of the program.
I know that you will never tell us in advance what new features/refinements are considered or in the works.
I know that you will never add certain advanced features, so not to compete with your own Filemaker Pro (i.e. scripting).
(I’ll add more items to this list as I think of them)

More importantly though, there are a few things that you could communicate to us, the users:
Could you please give us a complete list of advanced features that will never be added to Bento? We can take it
(Similar request) Could you please tell us occasionally which user request will never be added? (That one’s important: users requested simple features since Bento 1: will they ever come?)
Could you please include a list of ALL new features/improvements in a new release/upgrade/update? (i.e. I found out that you reduced the minimum size of the Spacer, which is a great help in form design)
Could you please include a list of ALL fixes of reported and/or acknowledged bugs? (i.e. I found out that Bento 4 fixed this bug in forms: now all elements in a duplicated form are independent)
(my brain’s tired; again, I will add to this list as needed)

Summary:
I strongly believe that any effort on your part to increase communication with your users will benefit everyone involved.
As it is now, we, the Bento users, feel a little abandoned between new releases. The Forums are helpful, but they don’t really address any of the items in my lists without a lot of lucky coaxing.
Still, the great TS people at the forums could be the middle-men for items on my lists.
Another middle-man could be the Bento e-newletter.

Thanks for listening quietly.

Sincerely,

Florian Keller
Daily Bento User/Tester/Evaluator/Teacher

So today I would publicly like to offer my bilingual iChat services (English or German). If you’re stuck with Bento or any project, just leave a comment here and I’ll email you to set up an online meeting.

Recently I learned about a somewhat hidden (and rarely talked about) feature in the iCal application: in the general preferences just click the checkbox entitled:
“Add a default alarm to all new events…” and specify other detailed options. Once you’ve done that, you never have to open iCal again. Whenever you create a new iCal event from within Bento, an alarm will be added automatically and transparently.

This takes care of one of the many strange and basic shortcomings of Bento.

Have fun!

Otherwise, there is a lack of new developments, except for two template kits Filemaker released, the most recent one is a “survival kit” for students. In general, the template exchange is the only place with constant activity.
There is no known progress on Bento 4 to report, which is slightly disconcerting. I was really hoping on a similar schedule as last year – didn’t happen. We users are waiting for some simple features that are years overdue – notably styling of fonts. So the wait continues…

I do have one bit of positive news: I’m using Bento almost daily again, mainly to update my various tennis adventures. I added and edited lots of form elements, and I didn’t have a single crash in recent months. Filemaker didn’t eleborate ever on this, and there was no news about it in the forums – but somehow those few little updates to Bento 3 didn’t just fix bugs but also added program stability. Knock on wood…

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

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.

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.

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!

The Gardening Template includes pretty much everything that you requested, Graham. If there are additional questions, please leave a comment right here.

Screenshot:

Click for a Larger View (Original Size)

Download: Gardening – Template

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.

I’m calling out to any other user, starting with my friends Dan and Barb, you know yourselves, how wonderful you are! I do appreciate the templates users have contributed. Keep them coming! But now I’m also looking for (regular?!) contributors. It could be a weekly column, the occasional tip or trick, special usage ideas, workarounds… pretty much anything. Even just someone who scours through the posts and leaves some comments on a regular basis. Point out the errors of my ways, make suggestions!

I hope I gave you some starting thoughts how to help out. Come out of the woodworks, get famous and help change the (Bento) world!

Thanks for listening…

Yours Truly, Lonesome Florian.

Whether you’re new to Mac or a database expert, join us for an overview of the newest version of the wildly popular personal database from FileMaker, Bento 2.

If you’re using Address Book and iCal to manage your contacts and calendar, see how Bento can bring them together. Learn how to make the most of the lists you’re storing in spreadsheets like Excel and Numbers. Or, if you’re ready to start organizing your busy life starting from scratch, we’ll show you how Bento can you help do it – the easy way!

Register today as space is limited.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009; 8:00-9:00 a.m. Pacific, 11:00-noon Eastern

Tuesday, March 24, 2009; 11:00-noon Pacific, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Eastern

Where: On your computer over the Internet

HOW TO REGISTER
When you come to the registration page, click the “Register” link next to “Event Status” or at the bottom of your screen and enter your contact information. After your registration is accepted, you will be sent an email with the necessary event participation information, which will take place over your computer.

this is your new management talking. I’m excited to publish my first complete post! With my headline I wanted to suggest that I will only support Bento 2.03, the newest version as of this writing. Besides that I’m running it myself, I feel that serious users will upgrade no matter what. The simple reason for upgrading is that you don’t only get new features but especially bug fixes. That doesn’t mean that I don’t understand or respect why people DON’T upgrade. I was mad too that I missed out on the Black Friday special…

Now to give you some ideas, here is an excerpt of my Bento libraries and collections:

(Collections under iCal Events:)

• CC meets (of my daughter)
• Track meets
• Nordic Ski races

(New Libraries:)

• German Legal (dictionaries for my Interpreter job, many special collections)
• The Musical Director (compilations of 20 years of conducting; fancy forms)
• Sheet Music (…that I own)
• Home Improvements
• Home Inventory
• Theme font list (a list with samples of all fonts used in Bento themes)

I’m also using Address Book.

I would love to get your comments like your own special uses of Bento 2.

Florian