Search Results for 'bento'

[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

[Mark Kristan]

Thank for that reply, Brendan, but you misunderstand my questions, maybe I should ask them in separate posts. As for doing what you say about the proper conversion from B4 to TF, I am aware that there is supposed to be a way to do this but I decided it is not worth the hassle for these few db docs, I would have to try to find an older copy of my operating system (maybe use the install disc I have and end up with Mountain Lion, I think, then upgrade one by one to Mavericks, or whatever, on order to run Bento). I have the raw data for those databases, I will just use that without all the proper formatting, but my question really relates to even a brand new TF document I create.

About the column to the L of the main body of the database in the default view (single column view), I attached a screenshot of that document with a freehand line drawn through the column I am talking about. This column contains dates, the information taken from the “Date Created” field in the document; this would be fine for a document where the date is an important field (such as a db doc I created for trips I do for work, if I wanted to know what I did on, say, some date in August of 2014, it would be easy to scroll down to those dates in that column); in this case, it would be a lot more useful if I could configure this document such that Tap Forms would take the data in a different field and put it in that column (I would choose the “Artist” field – would make it much easier to navigate to media I own by that artist); I can choose multi column view, make it bigger so that I don’t only see like five records, click on “Artist” and click on the arrow to sort ascending or descending, but it would be a lot quicker to just scroll down that column on the left to that artist (there is a letter at the top of each grouping of artists that start with that letter, but I still have to click on a date, then look at what comes up for a record on the righ, then if it isn’t what I’m looking for scroll to find the record I am looking for). Is there a way to program Tap Forms to put the data from another field in the document, other than “Date Created”, in that column to the left of the main body/record in the document? I do know how to change the order of records by dragging a field up or down in the form editing section.

Thanks

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[OkieG8r]

Hello all,

I’ve been using TapForms since migrating from Bento years ago and love it. So much so, that my original database now contains 35+ forms and occupies >2 GB of storage. It is my peripheral brain and most used app on my phone. I’m not so concerned about the size for the MacOS version, but do have available space issues on the iPhone – I really don’t need for all the forms to be on the phone. SO, am wanting to transfer some of the forms and data to a different database document that I do not sync with the phone.

Looking for guidance as to the best way to do so to preserve all the data in a new functional document. Anybody have any experience doing this? Any advice or instructions would be greatly appreciated.

[Brendan]

Hi Mark,

If you’d like to email me your bentodb backup file then I can do a proper conversion for you to export all your libraries as .bentoTemplate files which you can then easily import into Tap Forms. Bento 3 is unable to export the records along with the template. Bento 4 can do that which is what I have to help my customers convert if they can’t do it themselves or don’t have the latest Bento version.

You can rearrange the fields by clicking on the Form button, then the Fields tab. Drag the fields up and down and that will change which fields display first on the single column list view.

You can send the file to support@tapforms.com

Thanks!

Brendan

[Mark Kristan]

I love this program, it is great for my needs, just trying to get the most out of it. My question is two fold, can I change the information TF places in a column, and can I change the type of field without losing all the information in that field in records I already created.

I had a few Bento (3) documents, would have been a nightmare to try to get everything transferred to Tap Forms (would have had to revert to an older version of osx for starters), I just exported individual Bento documents as a comma separated value file then imported that into TF, but I guess I lost some things in the translation. I have the raw data from those Bento docs on two Macs, one of the docs is a music collection, when I created it on B3 I created two date fields, date created and date modified – those two fields show up in the TF document but they are text fields. I tried changing that field to a date field in a new record I was creating and lost all the data in that field on every existing record (I had the document on another Mac, so just deleted the instance with the new date field). Is there no way to change that field, which contains the dates data from Bento, from a text field to a date field without losing the data in that field in all records?

My other question is about one of the columns in the default (single column) view, I’m talking about the second column from the left. The first column’s heading can be toggled between “All Forms” and “My Forms”, to the right of that is the column I am referring to which is the name of the document, to the right of that column is the main body of the db. That middle column contains the information from the date field in the document (the filed labeled “date”, even thought it is a text field), dates in that column would be great for a lot of databases but in this case the artist name would be more useful. Is there no way to change what TF populates that column with?

Thanks in advance.