Forum Posts Feed
Amazing new discovery
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 19, 2011 at 10:49 AM
Wow, guys ‘n’ gals, I’ve just been playing with a seriously impressive piece of software, put together in his spare time by a Ukrainian programmer - in C/C++ and SQLlite. Called Smereka, it comes in two forms - the free personal database version (already very impressive) and the commercial TreeProjects version ($49). Take a good look - I suspect you’ll be impressed. Highlights include multiple types of data, including web pages, instant full-text indexing, and very, very fast response rates. So far (and I haven’t played for very long), it’s really impressed me!
You’ll find it at: http://yp.lviv.ua/smereka/en/
The commercial TreeProjects version (side-by-side editing etc.) is at: http://smerekatreeprojects.com/features (that’s the Features page, with screenshots).
Lemme know wot you think!
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Mar 19, 2011 at 02:33 PM
Bill,
Impressive find indeed. In terms of features I find it very close to UltraRecall, including the template logic for data items. Unless I’ve missed it, an important thing it lacks is some kind of mass-export capability. In all other respects though, it’s an admirable achievement, especially given that there’s just one guy behind it, and not even working full time on this.
I should say that I can’t even imagine how you find all these things…
Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 19, 2011 at 02:55 PM
Actually, the TreeProjects version does have mass-export facilities - entire branches can be exported to either RTF or text or HTML files! It’s well worth experimenting with the TreeProjects version - it’s unbelievably clever, and unbelievably quick. I’m currently sitting in a cafe in Glasgow working my way through the Help file (which, sensibly enough, takes the form of a Smereka database). I’ve got a second instance open for experimentation, I’ve got two instances of The Guide (my preferred notes management software for Very Simple Stuff) open, and Chrome open with a few tabs, too. All on an Asus netbook (1101HA running WinXP, to be specific), with 2GB of RAM. And guess what, Smereka is STILL unbelievably quick (and has a tiny memory footprint - my mem tool is reporting just 35% of physical memory in use). It blows UltraRecall out of the water, to be honest! The “tag” search function has just had me giggling, because you can assign tags to items, then ctrl-click on them, and they appear in a separate search list. Beautifully thought-out, to be frank. Oh, and you can mass-import, too (RTF, HTML and text files are all imported into rich-text items, other files are added as attachments and - get this - full-text indexed, so even though you can’t see them, you can search for content inside them). Who is this guy?!
How do I find these things? I am fascinated by knowledge management tools of all kinds (I’m currently devising my own collaborative concept, but it’s a very long way from completion!), and I’m constantly on the lookout for new ideas and new paradigms. This, I have to say, currently takes the Great Big Chocolate Biscuit. Now if only he was working on a collaborative version… Hey, maybe he is! I’ve invited him to join the forum, anyway.
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 19, 2011 at 03:20 PM
OMG! It stores revisions, too, and you can scroll through them in a separate window (if they’re RTF or text files)! What an amazing piece of work!
Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 19, 2011 at 03:39 PM
One final remark before I log off and potter back off to the Highlands again. Smereka is entirely developed using free/open-source software, as follows:
Libraries:
SQLite ( http://www.sqlite.org/ )
wxWidgets ( http://www.wxwidgets.org/ )
wxTreeListCtrl( http://wiki.wxwidgets.org/WxTreeListCtrl )
IeHTMLWin( http://wxcode.sourceforge.net/showcomp.php?name=IEHtmlWin )
IDE and compiler:
Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition (freeware)
Impressive, no?!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Cheers,
Bill