Forum Posts Feed
InfoQube versus UltraRecall versus Zoot 6
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by Chris Thompson
Feb 16, 2010 at 11:59 PM
You might want to give “org-mode” a look as well. I’d put it on par with InfoQube in terms of learning difficulty, though it has a well-written manual and it’s conceptually based on trees. Structured data is supported via columns, properties, tags, tables, and something it calls “drawers”. Different parts of your outline can have different columns, so you can define a different data entry style in different parts of your outline.
“org-mode” also has the benefit of very robust calendaring and time management, though it sounds like you’ve already moved that to Outlook.
I wouldn’t try learning InfoQube without spending at least a couple weeks mastering Ecco first. Some things about InfoQube are still terrifying if you don’t have a solid grasp on the underlying data model. For instance, panes you’re not working on don’t always refresh automatically, so you can be working on something, exit InfoQube, open it, and have your information look quite different. It takes a moment to realize you didn’t refresh the display before exiting. I can see some beginners packing up at that point, fearing data loss, even though InfoQube is actually quite reliable. I also think the fields dialogs would be very intimidating to anyone who wasn’t used to Ecco. InfoQube is worth the effort to learn though, if you can devote some time to it, as its underlying data model is more powerful than the other products.
—Chris
Posted by quant
Feb 17, 2010 at 09:31 AM
Chris Thompson wrote:
>Some things about InfoQube are still terrifying if you don’t have a solid grasp on the
>underlying data model. For instance, panes you’re not working on don’t always
>refresh automatically, so you can be working on something, exit InfoQube, open it, ...
And they are terrified quite understandably! I would consider is a serious bug/error if the frontend (InfoQube) didn’t match the backend (sql database).
Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Feb 17, 2010 at 10:40 PM
quant wrote:
>Chris Thompson wrote:
>>Some things about InfoQube are still terrifying if you don’t
>have a solid grasp on the
>>underlying data model. For instance, panes you’re not
>working on don’t always
>>refresh automatically, so you can be working on something,
>exit InfoQube, open it, ...
>
>And they are terrified quite understandably! I would
>consider is a serious bug/error if the frontend (InfoQube) didn’t match the backend
>(sql database).
InfoQube currently behaves the same as many database. In particular, it behaves exactly as does Microsoft Access:
1- When a grid is opened, it captures a snapshot of the data in the database.
2- If a field-value is changed, this is updated in all other opened grids
3- If an item is deleted, it is deleted from all other opened grids
4- If an item is added, it is NOT added to other opened grids. A refresh is required to see the new item (if it meets the grid criteria, it will be displayed)
5- If an item is modified and no longer meets the grid filter, it is still displayed in the grid. A refresh will hide it. In Access, the same is true
6- The properties pane is always updated
7- Keep in mind that IQ is built to be a multi-user PIM / database. This has implications which single-user apps don’t have
So I disagree that it has “serious bug/error”. Access 2007 is iteration #9 (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 95, 97, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) and is still behaving this way.
That said, improvements are planned, namely when:
1- Adding a new parent to an item: show it in other grids
2- Add new items to grids if they meet their criteria
Pierre Paul Landry
IQ designer
Posted by quant
Feb 18, 2010 at 02:04 AM
Pierre Paul Landry wrote:
>quant wrote:
>>Chris Thompson wrote:
>>>Some things about InfoQube are still
>terrifying if you don’t
>>have a solid grasp on the
>>>underlying data model. For
>instance, panes you’re not
>>working on don’t always
>>>refresh automatically, so
>you can be working on something,
>>exit InfoQube, open it, ...
>>
>>And they are
>terrified quite understandably! I would
>>consider is a serious bug/error if the
>frontend (InfoQube) didn’t match the backend
>>(sql database).
>
>InfoQube
>currently behaves the same as many database. In particular, it behaves exactly as
>does Microsoft Access:
>
>1- When a grid is opened, it captures a snapshot of the data in
>the database.
>2- If a field-value is changed, this is updated in all other opened
>grids
>3- If an item is deleted, it is deleted from all other opened grids
>4- If an item
>is added, it is NOT added to other opened grids. A refresh is required to see the new item
>(if it meets the grid criteria, it will be displayed)
>5- If an item is modified and no
>longer meets the grid filter, it is still displayed in the grid. A refresh will hide it.
>In Access, the same is true
>6- The properties pane is always updated
>7- Keep in mind
>that IQ is built to be a multi-user PIM / database. This has implications which
>single-user apps don’t have
>
>So I disagree that it has “serious bug/error”. Access
>2007 is iteration #9 (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 95, 97, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) and is still
>behaving this way.
>
>That said, improvements are planned, namely when:
>
>1- Adding a
>new parent to an item: show it in other grids
>2- Add new items to grids if they meet their
>criteria
>
>Pierre Paul Landry
>IQ designer
why in 3 you are able to refresh the panes, but not in 4 and 5? That seems inconsitent to me to say the least. What stops you from checking whether the updated items should be displayed in the grid? It is just checking single item against single condition, isn’t it? That Access does it that way doesn’t mean it’s they way it should be (at least I wouldn’t expect it from the “user friendly app”). If I had an option, I would definitelly want the grids to always display what’s in db, the latest data, not some half and hour old snapshot “because Access does it as well” ...
Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Feb 18, 2010 at 04:35 PM
quant wrote:
>why in 3 you are able to refresh the panes, but not in 4 and 5?
In 4 and 5, this is orders of magnitude more complicated. Let me explain:
# 3: Deleting an item: I simply scan all grids and delete the item if found.
# 4: Adding / modifying an item:
The following actions (by you or any other user, as IQ is multi-user, by design) can cause an item to appear in a grid:
1- Item added
2- Added / Modified / Deleted a field-value. This can be a direct user action or an row / column equation or an auto-assign rule
3- Added a parent
4- Added a child
5- The current day changed
So for any of those changes, one must check, for every opened grid, if:
1- If a parent is displayed in the grid, add it under the parent
2- If any of its children is displayed, add it as a context parent
3- If 1 and 2 are false, check if the item meets the grid criteria (Source, Filter, AlphaFilter, DateFilter)
4- If 3 is true, also add its context parent if there is one
All of this is feasible, and, as I said, it is planned (hopefully, this won’t slow down the responsiveness too much). It is simply that I’ve got more pressing issues to complete first (like completing the full-featured calendar with Outlook and Google Calendar sync).
HTH