I’ve been using Bento and I want to ask a couple of questions before I decide to use Tap Forms.
I’ll be using it on both my Mac and iPad. My Mac is running Lion and I saw where I need to upgrade to Mountain Lion. I’m checking to make sure that my design software will be compatible for the upgrade. So, in the meantime I thought I would try it on my iPad.
Here are my questions:
1. Will I be able to import my Bento database to my iPad, or should that be done to the Mac first, then sync with the iPad?
2. I’ll be using Tap Forms for my business database, which I used Smart Collections a LOT in Bento. I have it set up just the way I want, and my big fear is I’ll lose all the relationships. Does the import of Bento files use the Bento Template file or do you import each collection separately and have to link the relationships in Tap Forms.
Hope that made sense! I’m anxious to try this, but I’ve spent $$ on other apps and software that just didn’t work out.
Thanks!
I used to have a reasonably good data base manager that shared between my mc and my ipad (bento) But that is no longer supported. I bought Tap Forms because the reviews were good and it was a good replacement, better in a lot of ways. Since upgrading to Mavericks and IOS8 i have been unable to sync Tap Forms. I now have Yosemite and I am still unable to sync tap forms, My mac looks nothing like the screen shots in the various instructions. Can anybody send me simple instructions for a database – any data base – i am willing to pay good money – that I can sync between a mac and a couple of iPads. I would like to use Tap Forms as I have already paid for it and made up forms for it but I am quite prepared to cut my loses and ditch it as I haven’t been able to use the sync for over a year. I dont care how it works or what is not up to date. I just need a working syncable database. Any advise.
Hi Tony,
I’m working on a new more Bento like spreadsheet view for the multi-column list view where you’ll be able to select individual cells in the table. But I haven’t done anything with respect to fonts or colours or anything like that. What were you looking for specifically?
If you want to see the code for that, I’ve been working on an open-source project called MBTableGrid. I’ve done quite a bit of work on it lately.
You can see it here:
https://github.com/brendand/mbtablegrid
It’s not up to my requirements just yet, but it’s getting there. I use lots of open source components in Tap Forms and working on that component is one way that I can give back to the open source community.
Thanks,
Brendan
Encrypted fields won’t come over to Tap Forms, so you have to turn them into plain Text fields in Bento before you export.
@Leo, Thanks! I might look into trying that. I guess I was just hoping the transition from Bento would be a little smoother and more direct. Still, Tap Forms seems to have a lot going for it…
Hi Brendan,
Wanted to add that I just brought the passwords section over from Bento again. I had displayed all encrypted fields in Bento before exporting. The encrypted fields didn’t come into Tap Forms. I’m using version 3.0.1.
Thanks!
Hi Brendan,
Thanks for your response. We are on the latest update. However, entries that had been showing began to disappear while we were using the previous version last week. The entire entries disappeared from the form, not just the encrypted fields. So, more than half of our entire listings disappeared.
If we redo the entire passwords section, we don’t want this to happen again. We won’t be in the position of redoing it again in a couple of weeks because we will have transitioned from Bento fully. Please let us know how we can prevent entire entries from deleting.
Thanks for your help!
Here is a big vote for that!
I just spent the last two weeks (posted in another thread) trying to get the sync to work only to realize that I can’t use those form layouts I created on the Mac! Which means I am just going to have to print the forms and skip the iPad. There are just too many fields (100+) to sort through and reorganize on the ipad to do that regularly.
So please do that! It will really make this the Bento replacement I am looking for.
Hi,
More than half of our entries disappeared for our passwords form.
The passwords form was originally imported from Bento and encrypted fields were inputted manually. All were there and functional for a couple of weeks. Now, only entries for specific letters remain.
Please let us know if you have any insights on this or ideas to prevent it from happening again.
Thanks!!
I am looking for a replacement for Bento which I have been using since its release. I am a Filemaker power user since the ClarisWorks days, but the system they have set up for iOS syncing is untenable. Tap Forms seems to be the only product that is both an excellent database and will sync between iOS and OS X. I downloaded the demo with the knowledge that it is limited to adding 15 new records. I attempted a .csv import of 13 records from Bento. Only 4 imported. There does not seem to be any indication in header names or unusual data that would stop the import at the given record.
I am happy to pay the price allowed for Tap Forms IF it is capable of handling the hundreds of records in Bento. Please provide any insight as to why the .csv import may have failed. Thank you.
Thanks Brendan
I’m sure I’ll find a way, but here’s what I was doing in Bento (I think, cos it won’t run for me now under 10.10).
I have a list of jobs, I add them as I’m assigned so they’re in the future. Once I’ve done a number or at the end of a week/month/sometime I need to raise an invoice for each. So that’s why in Bento I was able to see a list of work I had done. In TF I can’t save a search by date (“Date is before 22/11/14”) because next week that won’t work. And I can’t save a search by week or month as I don’t issue invoices on such a strict timescale: I may need to see jobs from this and last week for example. I’m guessing I used relative dates in Bento but TF doesn’t offer that option. If I saved my search as “Date is Today AND Date is before Today” that would work (I think!).
DG
One last request regarding printing labels. For these cards, I’m printing on card stock, so no issue, but for another group I need to print actual sticky mailing labels and sometimes I have 1/2 a sheet of labels left over. I’d like to be able to tell the software which number label to start printing on. I had that capability in Bento and it saved throwing out a lot of half used sheets of labels.
I want to set up a search which shows me records where the date is today and/or in the past. I can’t see how to do that (I did in Bento!). How can I create a search “Date is on or before Today”.
Thanks!
I hope this is a bug not a feature. I just purchased both Mac OS X and iOS versions of the software and imported my Bento template and records. Under “Sort and Group” settings I’ve setup fields under which my form should always list records. When I close the app (both on Mac OS X and iPhone) the sorting resets and I need to do the modifications again.
Hi Rainer,
Those things are definitely on my to-do list.
I understand that Tap Forms isn’t for everyone though. There are certainly things that Tap Forms doesn’t do that Bento did. But for many people it is an alternative to Bento, so I see no harm in calling this an alternative to Bento. I’d say it’s even an alternative to FileMaker Pro for those customers that don’t want the expense, learning curve, and unneeded features of a much larger app like that.
Thanks,
Brendan
