Search Results for 'bento'

[Brendan]

Hi Ron,

Rather than exporting to an Excel file, I would recommend exporting a .bentoTemplate file using the Export Template function in Bento. As long as you’re using at least Bento 4, then you will get not only the form structure but also the data in the .bentoTemplate file. Tap Forms will re-generate to the best of its ability all your custom layouts and import all the data from that file.

As far as what’s best to do, you may want to clean up everything in Bento first before importing into Tap Forms just so you’re not importing things you don’t need.

You can also just export it as is and import it into Tap Forms into a new document to see how it goes for you. The nice thing about Tap Forms is you can create as many separate databases as you like, whereas Bento could have only one. This gives you the peace of mind that you can play around with different copies of your data and once you’re satisfied then just use that one without having to worry about making mistakes because you can always import again into a new database document in Tap Forms.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Ron Sorensen]

I have a bento database and will move to tap forms5 however it contains over 23,000 records and 53 fields. I’m sure there are fields not needed, Sparcely populated etc that could be eliminated. Is it better to convert to tap forms then. Cleanup the fields or export from bento a excel file then sort data by column/field to see what is used etc and the. Delete fields etc in bento before the migration to tap forms or how would I do this after migration? Bento is on an old computer that is being kept only until I migrate to tap forms thanks for the help

[Brendan]

Hi David,

As long as you have your .bentoTemplate files, just copy them over to your Mojave Mac and create or open a document in Tap Forms 5 and then use the Import Bento Template command.

There’s instructions and screenshots for it here:

https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/5.3/en/topic/bento-template-importer

Thanks!

Brendan

[David Trotman]

p.s
I have my Bento backup files on Dropbox.

[David Trotman]

My Bento 4 (version 4.1.2) is on a computer using El Capitan (10.11.6). How to do I import it to Tapforms 5 on another computer using Mojave.

[Brendan]

Hi Cheryl,

This is usually a symptom of a mismatched File Encoding setting.

Also, if you’re using Bento to export your data, make sure you use the .bentoTemplate format and not CSV format. You’ll get a much better export and import that way.

Thanks,

Brendan

[John Morgan]

Thank you Brendan. Not only did it work, but it was so easy and everything seems to be there. Since I have my 2 Bento databases now safely in Tap Forms, I will explore my options for further refinements. It already is easier to read than Bento was. Again, thanks so much for taking the time and patience seeing me through this possible. Now, it seems like an idiot could have done it, so I must be one rung lower on the ladder. Lots of stuff I am sure I will discover in this great program. I think I am using about 1/1000 of things Tap Forms can do.

[Brendan]

Hi John,

Thanks for purchasing Tap Forms 5!

Now that you have your 2 .bentoTemplate files on your desktop, create a new document in Tap Forms using the New Document command. Then click the File menu and select Import. Then select Bento Template from the Import sub-menu. You’ll be asked to find a Bento Template file.

Find your .bentoTemplate file and select it to import.

Tap Forms will import all the records into your document.

For more information, see the Bento Import topic in the online user manual here:

https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/5.3/en/topic/bento-template-importer

Hope that helps!

Brendan

[John Morgan]

Hello. I purchased TAP FORMS ORGANIZER 5. I recently updated to (mini) Mac (Mojave). This kind of forces me to update certain things as they either are very slow, and I fear they will be unusable shortly. I am overwhelmed with all the stuff Organizer5 offers, but my main reason is I read that it could transfer my two databases from Bento (4.1.2). When it comes to computers, I must admit I hover around the idiot level.
My two databases on Bento is one for my video (movies) database and one for my SACD discs.

For the movie database, I have 5113 records.
I have 5 categories: TITLE, FORMAT, INFORMATION, COMPOSER, and GENRE.
I also have included 2 screen shots of my partial movie list. One is a general list of everything that I can browse easily, the other is another format that is per title, which is easier to read and I use to add and/or subtract from the master database.

I am hoping someone could give me a step by step list of the process….from what I need to extract from the BENTO program to putting that information in a Organizer 5 database. The Organizer 5 is so complex, I don’t know where to start. I can’t even find where the choice is for Bento.
Much thanks,
John

PS I was able to export my Bento databases (2 of them) to my desk, where they are ID as John’s Video Library.bentoTemplate

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[Brendan]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for taking Tap Forms out for a spin.

To transfer your data to Bento, did you export a .bentoTemplate file from Bento? If you used one of the other export options (such as CSV or Excel), then you won’t get photos imported into Tap Forms.

If you exported a proper .bentoTemplate file, right-click on that .bentoTemplate file in the Finder and then select Show Package Contents. Navigate into the Contents folder and find the media folder. Look inside there. Do your JPEG photos appear there? If not, then Tap Forms won’t be able to import them because Bento didn’t export them.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Carl Siracusa]

I just downloaded the trial version of Tap Forms to see if it can work as replacement for the Bento app (4.1.2) on my Mac. I then imported one of the Bento libraries, which by and large worked, but with one exception. Each entry in this library has a JPEG image attached. But in Tap Forms, all that has been transferred is the name of the JPEG, not the image file itself. I’ve even tried using the Photo Grid View, which does show each JPEG listed as a “scan” (which it is). It describes it as a “data” file. But when I double-click the icon, nothing happens. Well, Photoshop Elements tries to open it, but then a pop-up says that Elements “does not recognize this type of file.” (Elements opens the JPEGs in my Bento libraries easily.) Is there a solution to this problem? I hope so, because all my Bento libraries have JPEGs attached, so I won’t be able to purchase Tap Forms if there isn’t.

[Brendan]

As Long as the date format on the Import Records screen matches the date format of the values in the CSV file, then you should be ok. What’s your date format?

I’m glad that you’re enjoying Tap Forms! And yes, a direct .fmp file import would be great. But I have no idea how that format works. It’s a pure binary file. It was easy with Bento because when you export a .bentoTemplate file, the format was a readable XML template file along with a bunch of JSON data files which are easy to parse.

[Brendan]

Tap Forms has a built-in Date Modified and Date Created field type. They’re at the very bottom of the list of Field Types in the popup button.

Normally when you import from Bento using the .bentoTemplate format, those fields are automatically transferred over to the Tap Forms equivalents.

As for switching the types, ya, Tap Forms won’t be able to convert those into proper date objects.

So if you add those fields using Tap Forms Date Created and Date Modified field types, then you won’t have to manage them yourself as Tap Forms will do it. You just won’t have all the values from your existing records properly set. They would be all set properly if you imported a .bentoTemplate file though.

[Mark Kristan]

I didn’t realize there was a way to do this without reverting to an earlier version then getting Bento 4 on my system, I though you were offering the same thing the folks at File Maker did a while back (and things haven’t worked out), their method would have required me to do all of that. About a year or two ago I sent them my Bento 3 backup file and they converted it to Bento 4, the problem is I cannot open it with High Sierra or Mojave. I will give that some thought, but for now I want to work on what I have.
Your replies seem to suggest that you think I am trying to change the order of fields or sort order, I do need to do those things sometimes of course but I have no problem with those, I am trying to change the data that automatically gets placed in that column immediately to the left of the database in the single-column list view (the same data that populates the photo grid view, in that view you get a box photo box with a date beneath it, the same dates that I am talking about in the default, single-column view). In this database dates aren’t that useful, I am trying to tell Tap Forms to use a different field to populate that column (or beneath the pics in photo grid view). If you go to the screenshot I attached, it shows a record for a CD by Lee Aaron, forget about that record, it is irrelevant to what I am trying to ask. To the left of that record is a column filled with two dates in each box, the boxes running from the top of the page to the bottom. If you look at the K’s, the fourth entry from the top looks like this:

Oct 27, 2010 at 1:46PM
Nov 28, 2010 at 7:08PM

It would be better if it looked like this:

KISS
Revenge

(the top entry in every case is bolded)

You see that entry? That data, those two dates, are the data from two fields in the document (“Date Created” and “Date Modified”), Tap Forms automatically takes the data from those two fields and puts in there, in that column of dates to the left of the records. My question is, can I reprogram Tap Forms, specific to a particular database, to use data from two different fields, so that when I open the database instead of looking at a bunch of dates, from top to bottom, I would see something else from the record? (I would use “Artist” and “Title”). If I click on that entry a record for the album Revenge by the band Kiss comes up to the right (with those two dates in the “Date Created” and “Date Modified” fields), at this moment I know that the 4th entry from the top is Kiss/Revenge, but it would be easier to find that CD if I could scroll down that column to the K’s and, instead of seeing dates, see something like: Kansas/Wayward Son (in the first box under the K’s), Kinks/Destroyer, *then a bunch of Kiss CD’s, with the title listed beneath “Kiss” in each box*. Right now I am in the process of burning LP’s to CD, it would just be very convenient if I could see at a glance what Kiss albums I already have on CD, for example. Do yo see what I mean?

If I can’t do this I am not gonna spend any more time on this but for a db like this, where dates aren’t very relevant, it would just be a lot more useful if I could populate that column with something else.

Thanks

[Brendan]

Hi Mark,

No worries about the Bento migration. If you ever change your mind, just email me the backup Bento file and I’ll do the conversion for you and send you back the .bentoTemplate files. That way you wouldn’t have to install old macOS versions and go through the upgrade process to get to Mavericks. I already have a Mavericks installation in Parallels Desktop that I use for this purpose.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, to change the fields that display on the Single Column List View, click on the Form button in the toolbar, then the Fields tab. Then just drag the fields up and down to put them in the order you want them to be in. Your screenshot shows the Layout button selected and not the Form button. If you click the Form button, then the Fields tab, you’ll see what I mean.

Also set the First Sort Field to be the field you want your records sorted and sectioned by. Tap Forms will take the first letter of the values in the First Sort Field and display that as the Section Heading.

Thanks!

Brendan