Notices

This is a great app. Thanks a lot.

I am importing a database from MobileDB that has fields specified as numbers. Some are integers and some are decimal. In the converted Portabase file, the field is always integer. Is there any way to force the correct data type?

I want to make a new simple database. The column is Date, Baht (integer), Rate (decimal) and NOK (calculation).
I try to make the folloving equation: Baht * Rate = NOK

According to the helpfile, Portabase support such an equation. It's a reference to "similar to many file explorer programs".

My problem is, I have not been able to make this equation to work.

I have these questions:
Can Portabase make this equation in N900 version? If yes:
Have anyone made such an equation?
Please tell me (step by step) how to do it?

jmbowman,
I am sorry but I need some help.
Are you watching this tread. If yes please help
Arne

First, the MobileDB import question I missed a while ago: PortaBase should correctly handle importing decimal fields, but I don't think any of my sample files have them (the import code was borrowed from another application several years ago). Do you have any sample files I could test with to debug the issue?

About the calculated column definition:

• Create the "NOK" column of type "Calculation" after defining the other columns. Click the "Edit Calculation" button in the column editor dialog for it.
• Click the "Add" button to add a node to the calculation.
• Click on the "Operation" button to the left (that's a more intuitive-looking radio button on all other platforms), then click the "*" list entry (for multiplication) and click "Done".
• Click "Add", leave "Column" selected, select "Baht" from the list, and click "Done". Because the "*" operator was selected, this adds an operand to it.
• Click "Add", leave "Column" selected, select "Rate" from the list of column names, and click "Done".
• The "Equation" line should now show the equation as you wrote it in your question. Adjust the number of decimal places to use, if desired, and then click "Done".
• Click "Done" to finish the "NOK" column definition, and "Done" again to finish editing the database format definition

There's a little documentation about calculated columns in the help file, available online here. The tree-based equation definition dialog is a little unintuitive at first, but it prevents you from making typos in the equation and makes it easier to keep the calculation definition valid through changes in the database format (deleting or renaming columns, etc.)

Yes it works nicely, thank you.
Portabase impress me again.

I don't it was me raising the "MobileDB import question", even after scrolling back to first page checking.

Anyway I appreciate your program and your help.

Thanks a lot for maintaining this great tool!

I have a couple of requests to make it even better in my opinion:

- Would it be possible to include boolean columns to calculations? (values would of course be 0 and 1)

- Some way to sync the n900 portabase files with my server files over the internet.

This last one is reaching a little high

- A "signature" column. When entering data to this column a box where one can sign his/her name, using the stylus, would popup and the resulting image would be saved to the db.


These are just some random ideas, but the boolean calculation thing would make my life a lot easier right now.

Thanks,

Slarti

Allowing boolean columns to be used in calculations turned out to be a one-line change, so I just checked that in; it'll be in the next release. Syncing is much more complicated, and I suspect different people have substantially different expectations of how it should work. Are you syncing with a PortaBase file stored on a server, or with another application or database? What happens if conflicting changes were made simultaneously on the N900 and on the server? There are lots of possible variations, and even the simple cases aren't trivial to implement. It's something I may eventually tackle, but there are lots of other features that I'm inclined to implement first. There's always the option of using an external script to sync things the way you want, especially since you can export to and import from CSV and XML using PortaBase from the command line.

A "signature" column seems like a special case of a "sketch" column, which could be interesting and fairly useful. Not something I'll tackle for the next release, but I'll start looking into it.

Great! I actually started thinking about using a script to just append new data to a file on my server right after I posted. That should be enough for my needs.

Thanks again,

Slarti

PortaBase 2.1 has been released. Summary of the changes from version 2.0:

• Added HTML export
• Improved the column statistics dialog, added a column width control widget to it
• Improved the file properties dialog, added a button to launch the column statistics dialog
• More logical workflow for importing MobileDB and XML files
• Added a button in the preferences dialog to clear the recent files list
• Boolean columns are now allowed in calculations (treated as 0 or 1)
• Added a preference to allow the height of rows in the data grid to shrink with the font size on the N900
• Fullscreen images (and optionally the entire application) now auto-rotate to match the device orientation on the N900
• The backlight on Maemo devices no longer dims or turns off during a slideshow
• Removed the feature to double click a row to show it in the Row Viewer; it was redundant and buggy
• Improved the help pages, added a search feature for them
• Added a Slovak UI translation, and the French translation is being actively maintained again
• New application icon
• Assorted bugfixes

Version 2.1 is already in the Diablo extras repository, and is in extras-testing for Fremantle waiting on votes and the expiration of the QA quarantine period.

I've also launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising enough funds to get the next batch of major new features done in a few months of full-time work instead of having to space it out over a few years using bits and pieces of free time. I've written up my plans for future PortaBase development there and offered up an assortment of rewards that you can get in exchange for contributing, so if you're at all interested please take a look and spread the word!

The extras-testing quarantine period for PortaBase 2.1 is over, but there are still only two votes in approval of promoting to extras. If you've been using it without trouble or can spare some time to verify it works ok, please add your vote.

Also, another reminder that the Kickstarter campaign is in progress, although it's off to a pretty slow start so far. If you use PortaBase but don't intend to contribute, I'd appreciate hearing some feedback on why either here or via email or other channels of PortaBase communication. It would be really useful to know if I chose the feature goals poorly, people are basically satisfied with the current feature set, there aren't as many PortaBase users as I thought, people just can't afford the money right now, everybody's simply allergic to spending money on software (I'm somewhat guilty of this myself), or some other reason.