Hello David Blutenhof!
You wrote:
TapForms can’t import a “raw” Bento database file. You have to Export from Bento and then Import into TapForms.
For very simple isolated forms, you can just export from Bento as a CSV and import that into TapForms. But it’s best to — and for anything complex you need to — export from Bento as a “template”, including all the data, and then use File > Import Bento Template … to import that template into TapForms.
It worked great for most of my Bento data.
The only problem I had was that I’d used Bento Simple Lists for several critical databases to record multiple values; and TapForms can’t import those. After a lot of experimentation and exchanging information on this forum, I worked out a Python script to massage the Bento export into a form that TapForms could handle. It was a messy multi-step process, but it only had to be done once for each of the forms, and then I was blissfully free of Bento.
Welcome to the Light Side, Padawan.
I am one of the late migrators from Bento to Tapforms, exactly because i can’t get my simple lists over. Is it possible for a lot less IT-skilfull person to do, what you did? Would it be possible to ask you for a guide in simple words?
Best regards
I.M. Petersen, DK
The Time field stores an actual time, not a duration. So that’s the problem here.
What you need to do is write your script so that the duration is generated in seconds. Then import that into a Number field in Tap Forms and then set the Number Format to one of the duration formats, such as HH:MM:SS, etc.
I have the following form that is a component of a set of forms that helps me keep track of my anime library:
Each video file is associated to a record here. If an anime series is 12 eps long, I will have 12 records for it.
To quickly add each episode record, I wrote a script that writes a tab-separated CSV. This is a sample of a CSV it has generated:
Ep Number Storage Fansub Source Resolution Size (MB) Sub Dub Hardsubs Duration Comments
1 OCZ BD 1080p 667 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
2 OCZ BD 1080p 668 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
3 OCZ BD 1080p 705 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
4 OCZ BD 1080p 695 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:29 Imported with eps_generator.sh by Andy Ibanez
5 OCZ BD 1080p 789 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
6 OCZ BD 1080p 631 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
7 OCZ BD 1080p 733 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
8 OCZ BD 1080p 656 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:27 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
9 OCZ BD 1080p 927 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
10 OCZ BD 1080p 937 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
11 OCZ BD 1080p 771 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
12 OCZ BD 1080p 791 English English,Japanese 0 00:23:28 Imported with eps_generator.sh by
Then I try to import it:
Like you can see, all the fields in the “Assign field types” get properly selected. The one gotcha is that I have to manually choose “Time” for “Duration”. But when the records are imported, it has all the information BUT the duration – it is blank.
Am I doing something wrong here?
I exported the records I had added manually and they export the time in the same format I am trying to import it. So I’m not sure if it’s a bug or if I am doing something wrong.
Yes, an Applescript would be useful to extract specific records, but as best I can tell, TF does not support AppleScript.
As the LaTex/HTML export, those may be useful to others, but not me. I want to use the raw data in TF to construct my own HTML/LaTex.
For now, I will just export the file as text using pipe as a delimiter and go from there. Going back the other way may be copy and paste.
That would probably require some AppleScript support or something like that. I do hope to export records as HTML at some point. But probably not LaTex. That’s pretty specialized.
If you use the Export Tap Forms Archive function, Tap Forms generates a .tfarc file which is really just a zip file that contains a .json file with all the data and an associated attachments folder that contains all the media and stuff. So maybe you could write some code to parse that. Might be tricky though.
First, wife and I upgraded to TF 5. Migrated our old TF and learning our way around the new. Much to like. The separation of databases and local syncing make it possible for us to share certain Dbs rather easily. Kudos!
But on to my question. I am starting a new project that consists of a catalogue of texts of medieval MS. There are Note fields that contain the text of the item, plus a good deal of other Text fields that contain other information.
Now since this project is just part of a much larger overall project that will produce LaTex and HTML files, I would like to develop some scripts that can access the records in the TF database and extract certain details. Likewise, I would like to be able to go the other way, namely I have accessed a particular record say, modified the contents of a field for some reaon, and then I’d like the app to send the updated field/record back to TF and back to the particular record.
Yes, I know I can export/import my DB via CSV etc., but this DB will get rather large. It would be rather cumbersome to export all the records, run scripts, and then re-import everything and removing duplicates. It would be handy to be able to somehow interface TF with some custom scripting of some sort. Ultimately I am hoping to auto generate the LaTex and HTML.
Thoughts?
Hi Brendan,
Thank you so much for taking the time to go through this with me. I think this is the best description of Show Inverse Relationships. Perhaps you could put this as a Frequently asked questions.
John
Thanks Brendan for clarifying this with IBM. It is obviously an important issue.
I must say I would be very surprised if IBM did not encrypt the data, or if the user would not have such an option somewhere. As you said in an earlier reply, IBM is an older company than, eg, Apple; one of the statements of Apple is that, afaik, the data is encrypted in such a way, that data on iCloud cannot be decrypted by them even if they wanted to. This day and age IBM should provide a similar option… Anyway.
If the response of IBM is negative, is it a major change in TF to encrypt the record content before sent to Cloudant? Ie, that only encrypted data would be stored on their servers? Or at least offer that as an option for a TF Form? After all, it is perfectly possible for a specific form that one would want to encrypt only 1-2 fields, not the whole thing (a bit like Bento does).
(I did not get the nearby sync working at all, although I followed, with a brand new database, what is in the description. I got, at first setup, a reply on some system error on both my iPhone and my iPad, and none of the sync works. Cloudant is my only option.)
I actually used one of the pre-defined Applescripts from DevonThink… most likely didn’t save to UTF-8. it happens :)
Thanks for the tip Tuncay!
I would appreciate a funktion that overrides the individual styles in the mac version.
When i create a specific form that requires i.e. A white font i can format all fields according to a black background but the notes field contains its individual styles. So i have to change every contend individual. Thats not real convinient.
( i’ve created an LCARS-form for my library just for fun and every field is looking fine. Only the description of the books is mostly in black instead white and i have to change everything by hand)
Now that it’s possible to add more than one image to a field, TapForms needs a way for users to reference, caption, or describe each image. I added a text field beneath each image field for this purpose, but since I’m dropping more than one image into each field, I have to refer to them by sequence – (1), (2) – in the “description” field, and if I change the sequence, I will have to manually change the numbering.
What would be ideal is for TapForms to provide a way to caption or describe each image – perhaps some meta-information – and that information would be attached to the image and move with it.
On a somewhat related note, when I tried to drag an image from one image field to another, I discovered that if I accidentally “dropped” it en route, or if I didn’t position it just right when releasing it to the new field, it simply disappeared, and there was no “UNDO”! This was particularly disconcerting since I had originally dragged it from my browser where I had captured it with a screenshot extension which I had since closed, and it therefore no longer existed. So I had to reconstruct the page and reshoot it. The best way to prevent this from happening would be to 1) provide an “undo” for dragging and dropping images, 2) when a user drags an image either into the app or between image fields, make image fields highlight when the dragged image is in the correct position to be dropped into place. Typically, this is done with shading and a dotted border along these lines:
Yes it did and it has.
Select the date-time field. from there you can set it and put the description in calendar.
Well said Walter! I agree with everything you said. People need to sit back and relax.
I am pleasantly surprised with Cloudant. I was hesitant at first. I have been using it for months during the beta testing, and really have no issues with it. It is fast and reliable. So far, I have not even come close to being charged. I have multiple databases and use everyday at home and work.
As far as the paid upgrade, you get a lot of value with Tap Forms. Reasonably priced when you break down cost over the life of the software. Much better option than some of the subscription based software out there. People want quality apps, but don’t want to pay for the development and support. There is enough bad software out there. I am more than happy to pay and help support great, dedicated developers like Brendan.
I agree that Cloudant seems to be working well so far — after some frustration with initial set-up. I’m also more than a bit concerned about using a new service with little track record, and having it be the only sync option available. We (software users in general) are starting to catch on to the fact that subscription services may not be around for as long as we’d like to use the software, and that prices and terms will change!
Is anyone else now getting multiple emails from Cloudant sales reps? Gross!
Still, good work on the recent upgrades!
When you click on the open book icon you are placed in the welcome script which is wonderful but there is no exit without creating another My Life database. Please provide either an option to exit without creating a My Life database or simply make the creation an option.
