Hi Brenda – sorry, I don’t know who to do this. I’ve installed BBEdit but it won’t open the Bento template. How do I access the embedded Template.xml file you mention?
Hi Graham,
I’ve seen the occasional one fail due to some invalid characters within the Template.xml file. So you could either look inside there and find the invalid characters and remove them, or you can email me your .bentoTemplate files and I’ll give it a go here and fix any problems I find with them.
Thanks!
Brendan
I have just started using Tap Forms.
I have managed to import one Bento template, but others have failed.
What can I do about this?
Yes, you can email a 25 MB file. You could also zip it first before emailing it. That’s always best. Apple’s Mail Drop built-in to Mail will allow you to email up to 5 GB files.
Just attach it to an email and send it to support@tapforms.com
I’ll see what happens when I open it in my copy of Bento.
Ouch! My own stupid fault – 4 years is long enough since Bento stopped for me to have found an alternative – I guess last week’s MacOS update just won’t read Bento files at all now?
If you could try that, it would be much appreciated! I presume I can’t just email you the 25MB .bentodb file – can I share it with you via dropbox/google drive? If so, you have my email I guess?
FYI – I did thankfully save one version of the files as .XLS about 12 months ago, so I at least have access to 15 years of interview notes via that route. I didn’t know how to do it, so think I just cut and paste into that .xls file, so can’t imagine it’s in a format that I could import it into Tap Forms – presume it would be some kind of tedious manual process! Anyway, the world continues to turn! :)
In summary – yes please, any effort you can make to save anything from my bentodb file would be much appreciated!
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
There are some changes that are made in Contacts which won’t properly get updated in Tap Forms after re-importing. It will get a duplicate value in Tap Forms instead for that contact and value. This happens because the data that I get from Apple Contacts doesn’t have a unique identifier for the values for me to be able to properly update an existing value. It happens on multi-valued fields, such as phone number, address, etc. But something like changing a name or other single valued values work fine.
You need to be able to open your Bento database and use the Export Template file to generate a .bentoTemplate file for importing into Tap Forms. Tap Forms won’t directly import a .bentodb file.
I may be able to import your .bentodb file into my copy of Bento that I run within an OS X 10.9.5 Parallels installation. However, generally that doesn’t include the “Address Book” Bento Library because Bento simply points that to the built-in Contacts database, so therefore it would show only my own contacts. But I can try it out for you to see if it gets your own. Maybe I can export the .bentoTemplate files for you that you can then import into Tap Forms.
…and further to that last message Brendan, I’ve kind of made an assumption that I can import not just apple contacts, but also the associated Bento database details. Is that right?
When you say “import contacts”, is that just Apple contacts it’s importing (rather than the Bento contacts)? Ultimately I’m hoping I can import all 4,000 contacts to Tap Forms, AND that I can associate the database details (interview notes/check box skills, etc) that are recorded in Bento with the correct contacts.
Thanks Brendan
Just so I make sure I understand: if I want my apple contacts to mirror my Tap Forms contacts with just the one edit, I would have to ensure all editing happens in Apple contacts, ie. all new contacts are added via Apple contacts, all contacts I delete have to be deleted via apple contacts (is this correct??), and any edits to contact details for existing contact also need to be done via apple contacts. And then I would need to do an “import contacts” which will update Tap Forms for any changes I’ve made since last import (ie. there is no auto sync)? Does that all sound right?
Also, my Bento has been unstable for a few years for sure but has always been usable, BUT as of last week it won’t open my database at all!! Is this a problem? I’m hoping you’ll tell me all I need is the bento.bentodb file!! Or am I in some trouble if I can’t open via Bento? FYI – my bento.bentodb file is 25MB!
Cheers
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
Tap Forms does not sync with the Apple Contacts database like Bento did. You can import from the Contacts database into Tap Forms, but a change you make in Tap Forms will not be reflected back in the Apple Contacts database. However, if you make a change in the Apple Contacts database such as adding a new contact and re-import, then Tap Forms will update existing contacts and add the new ones it finds. It won’t delete from Tap Forms if you delete from the Apple Contacts database though.
Other than that bit, Tap Forms can do the other things you need well.
In Tap Forms Mac there is an Import Contacts function in the File menu. You can download the 10 day trial version for Mac to see if it’s something you could use:
https://vendors.paddle.com/download/product/503174
You can sync those imported contacts with iOS, but they won’t be synced to the Apple Contacts database. They’ll effectively live inside Tap Forms.
Thanks,
Brendan
Hi – I was wondering if someone can advise whether Tap Forms is a good replacement for my particular use of Bento. I’m a recruiter and work on my own and have a data bases of 4,000 candidates. I’ve used Bento for a very basic purpose – set up candidate data base that then can sync with my apple contacts – ie change name/address/phone details in apple contacts, it is reflected in bento database, and vice versa. The database then holds additional information that apple contacts cannot (eg. interview notes, coding for qualifications that I can search on, etc.). Ideal would be if I could access this database on my mobile as well. Does this sound like something Tap Forms would be capable of? Or is there another product that would handle that better? Cheers
I know this has been mentioned before, but I have recently imported about 2 dozen databases from Bento.
The thing I miss most are the themes that Bento supported so I could not only customize each database but make mass changes such as the font/color for data fields. While I know each form in TF can be customized to a degree every field/label has to be done one at a time. Thus after imported so many Bento databases, they all have the default drab black & white look.
So just another recommendation to add to the already extensive list that Brendan manages – theme support would be a very welcome feature.
thanks
Hi Bonni,
Thanks for your interest in Tap Forms. Well, the difference between FileMaker and me is they’re a big company who had two products and they wanted to just focus on the one product. I am a one-person company with one product. I spend all my time working on and supporting Tap Forms. It’s my only source of income, so it would not be wise of me to just abandon it. But that’s not the only reason why I keep working on it. I truly do love working on Tap Forms and making it better. It’s not only a career, but it’s my passion and hobby too. So basically I work on it nearly every moment that I’m awake. Unless an asteroid hits my house, I’m not going anywhere and I’ll keep working on Tap Forms for decades to come :) I’ve already been working on it for 10 years this September. If that’s not dedication, then I don’t know what is :)
Anyway, if you have a .bentodb file that you need to get access to, you could send it to me and I can open it up with my copy of Bento and see if it’s possible to get anything from it.
As for the .bentoTemplate file, you can import those into Tap Forms easily using the Import Bento Template command in the File menu on the Mac version.
I’m not sure what you were referring to with the “Connect Database” command though. I don’t have that in Tap Forms.
Thanks!
Brendan
I tried leaving a comment under “Exporting Photos from Bento” but it wouldn’t let me so I’m trying here.
I know it was an old post but I don’t think the process you mentioned works the same anymore. I’m not given any of the options like: “Connect Database” for instance. I guess I’ll never know what was on some of those old .bentodb files because Bento 4 won’t open them either!
I think TapForms might be a way to go but truthfully, I’m kinda gun shy after being a Bento user for so long only to have Filemaker ditch us. Are your backup files recognizable in other programs so I don’t go through this again if you decide to close shop?
I DO have a Bento template and half-assed excel sheet of my painting archive, sales ect. at least. I would be nice to have it in working order again.
I’m not sure if I should have selected to make it a template from the get go but I have a pretty big form I created (22 fields), I am trying to figure out how to use it, in probably slightly modified form, as my circumstance changes (I’m not a db power user but I’m pretty sure I am talking about creating a template). I had a similar form on Bento, I will eventually want to bring all those files over but for now I am learning this program and created a brand new form in Tap Forms. I think part of my problem may be how I open this form – it does not appear in the list of forms at startup, only “Sample Forms” and the folder called “Samples International” is in that list. I created this form/data base on a mid-2010 MBP, this involves sharing limitations (cannot use Airdrop, not that I think that matters in this case). After creating in on the book, it showed up in the list of entities on the list when I would start the program (along with “Sample Forms” and “Samples International). I wanted it to also reside on my (new) iMac, the only way I could see to do this with a custom db was to use the Export Tap Form Archive from the file menu, then once it was exported to my Documents folder on my MBP, I proceeded to copy it to the same folder on my iMac over my home network. Now I am able to use this form on either machine, I think I know how to sync info between them as well, but the problem is this form does not appear in the list when I open the program, on either machine (never did on the iMac), what I have to do is go into Documents and double click on it (or from within Tap Forms, go File/Open or Open Recent); if this was my only problem, that I had to get there in a kinda round about way, this would not be a big issue, but I am not sure this isn’t causing other problems. Let’s call the db that the form I created on the MBP resides in “Rips”, within Rips there is one set of records, let’s call that ABC Company (these are details of trips I do for various motor carriers). When I open the db Rips, in there, in the L pane, there is one entity, ABC Company, with the eleven records I added to it; now, as I am no longer with ABC Company, I want to create another entity for the new motor carrier, let’s call it DEF Company. I want the same fields, the same calculations, everything I had with the entries with ABC Company (I would probably make a minor tweak or three), when I click on DEF Company the click on the “+” to add a new record, I want to see the same fields I had with ABC Company. I’m pretty sure I need to make that from the template for this database, what I’m finding from the help menu in the program is to select the document, then choose File/Get Info (never tried pressilng Command-I as it states as an alternative, but the result should be exactly the same); it then goes on to say to select “Stationery Pad” under General, problem is this is greyed out on both machines. Do I need to figure out how to get that document from my main Documents folder into a different place on my hard drive? (I asked about where work created in Tap Forms is stored in an e-mail to support, but haven’t heard back – why I highlight a different document, such as “Sample Forms” or a template I downloaded, go Get Info and try to follow that path, it does not work). How can I make that form a template for every document (entity in the L pane, such as DEF Company) that I create in this database?
Hi Helen,
If you email me your Bento backup file I can convert it to .bentoTemplate files for you which you can import into Tap Forms.
Tap Forms 5 however has a more advanced Bento importer that supports more of the field types from Bento, such as the Simple List field type, which is not supported in Tap Forms 3.5.
Thanks,
Brendan
