No clue what this means. If Explorer crashes - which it rarely does -
just restart it.

What happens, is the tray icon apps gets hidden or invisible. So you have to use end-task. This work-around we posted is to solve this problem.

Beta coming soon.

Thanks.

StoryServer — The World’s Toughest One-Pane Grid — Color Customization, Sorted View and Notepads.

The developers at Polywick Studio implemented, perhaps, the world’s hardest programming challenge: a one-pane grid, as well as implement features made by in-memory patches to the original organizer via extensions.

Grid Colors

Besides the world’s hardest grid, are the monstrous menus and pop-up menus and power-features found in the original one-pane organizer.

In the screenshot below, you will see well-thought Format Menu that merges the old and new menus as one-single Format Menu.

Everyone knows the red-line and it’s usually red. In the below screenshot, this will be changed from Red to Blue.

A professional color-picker is provided to the user to select color.

For more info:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-the-worlds-toughest-one-pane-grid-color-customization-sorted-view-and-notepads-cabb8c6ca08a

Polywick Studio wrote:

StoryServer was built ground-up from scratch, as a one-pane organizer.
All what you see, is effort from years of work.
The developers at Polywick Studio implemented, perhaps, the world's hardest programming challenge: a one-pane grid (...)
For more info:

https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-the-worlds-toughest-one-pane-grid-color-customization-sorted-view-and-notepads-cabb8c6ca08a

Got it... the cat is finally out of the bag.

Prove me wrong, but all this points to: "Polywick" just took the original Ecco Pro, plus Slang's amazing work with EccoExt (improved it somewhat further), included perhaps YSWT Magic extension (based on a screenshot showing the "Magic" menu), and...

and falsely called it their own "new app". This is Ecco Pro, not "Polywick StoryServer"

This effort may have value, especially if the back-end database was indeed improved, but all this must be spelled out clearly.


Pierre

Hm, yes, I'm afraid that does make sense. The decision to leave the old UI untouched suggests that Pierre has hit the nail on the head - the look is so old-fashioned!

This sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

Polywick Studio wrote:

>No clue what this means. If Explorer crashes - which it rarely does -
>just restart it.

What happens, is the tray icon apps gets hidden or invisible. So you
have to use end-task. This work-around we posted is to solve this
problem.

Beta coming soon.

Thanks.

In your Medium article, why are there several strike-throughs of terms like "in game" and "game mechanic"?

And you wrote:

"For nearly 21 years — from 1997 to 2018 — time stood still. There were no worthy one-pane organizers."

Of course there were. (Perhaps some unintended irony in that statement, as your user interface harks back more than 21 years.)

I continue to wish you luck with this project, but I'm still not feeling the thrill.

Polywick Studio wrote:

StoryServer — The World’s Toughest One-Pane
Grid — Color Customization, Sorted View and Notepads.

The developers at Polywick Studio implemented, perhaps, the
world’s hardest programming challenge: a one-pane grid, as well as
implement features made by in-memory patches to the original organizer
via extensions.

Grid Colors

Besides the world’s hardest grid, are the monstrous menus and
pop-up menus and power-features found in the original one-pane
organizer.

In the screenshot below, you will see well-thought Format Menu that
merges the old and new menus as one-single Format Menu.

Everyone knows the red-line and it’s usually red. In the below
screenshot, this will be changed from Red to Blue.

A professional color-picker is provided to the user to select color.

For more info:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-the-worlds-toughest-one-pane-grid-color-customization-sorted-view-and-notepads-cabb8c6ca08a

You are all right, all this smells fishy.
And i would advise this guys behind it to be more honest about what they do.

There are strike-through because our company is also game-studio.
The developers here also create games.
There are artists here.

Do you remember the first posts?

What's wrong?

What's wrong with making a one-panel grid?
See the OSX Apps and Windows app, they use the similar User-Interfaces (WinForms, WPF, Cocoa, Metal, etc.) and follow either Microsoft's or Apple's Human Interface Guidelines:
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/overview/themes/

All the coding was made ground-up from scratch.
All the screenshots show a new product under development.

The CUA (Common User Access) Guidelines are of the same standard of any Windows App or OSX App.

For the UI, there are court-cases which have set the precedents - Lotus vs. Borland where -

1) The court made an analogy between the menu hierarchy and the arrangement of buttons on a VCR. The buttons are used to control the playback of a video tape, just as the menu commands are used to control the operations of Lotus 1-2-3. Since the buttons are essential to operating the VCR, their layout cannot be copyrighted. Likewise, the menu commands, including the textual labels and the hierarchical layout, are essential to operating Lotus 1-2-3. [Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l, Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 817 (1st Cir. 1995)]

2) The court also considered the impact of their decision on users of software. If menu hierarchies were copyrightable, users would be required to learn how to perform the same operation in a different way for every program, which the court finds "absurd". Additionally, all macros would have to be re-written for each different program, which places an undue burden on users.[Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l, Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 818 (1st Cir. 1995)]

will PSS have a file synchronization feature that works like the Ecco Pro feature?

The point isn't that you can't swipe the original Ecco interface, it's why would you? That interface is old and ugly, by today's standards, and likely won't appeal to anyone but those nostalgic for Ecco.

As for the strikethroughs, my concern is quality control...


Polywick Studio wrote:

There are strike-through because our company is also game-studio.
The developers here also create games.
There are artists here.

Do you remember the first posts?

What's wrong?

What's wrong with making a one-panel grid?
See the OSX Apps and Windows app, they use the similar User-Interfaces
(WinForms, WPF, Cocoa, Metal, etc.) and follow either Microsoft's or
Apple's Human Interface Guidelines:
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/overview/themes/

All the coding was made ground-up from scratch.
All the screenshots show a new product under development.

The CUA (Common User Access) Guidelines are of the same standard of any
Windows App or OSX App.

For the UI, there are court-cases which have set the precedents - Lotus
vs. Borland where -

1) The court made an analogy between the menu hierarchy and the
arrangement of buttons on a VCR. The buttons are used to control the
playback of a video tape, just as the menu commands are used to control
the operations of Lotus 1-2-3. Since the buttons are essential to
operating the VCR, their layout cannot be copyrighted. Likewise, the
menu commands, including the textual labels and the hierarchical layout,
are essential to operating Lotus 1-2-3. [Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland
Int'l, Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 817 (1st Cir. 1995)]

2) The court also considered the impact of their decision on users of
software. If menu hierarchies were copyrightable, users would be
required to learn how to perform the same operation in a different way
for every program, which the court finds "absurd". Additionally, all
macros would have to be re-written for each different program, which
places an undue burden on users.[Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l,
Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 818 (1st Cir. 1995)]

StoryServer —The World’s Toughest One-Pane Grid — 64-bit Unicode Support (Katakana, Korean, Chinese and more)

Suppose you are getting business from Japanese, Korean, Thailand, Russian, Czech, Chinese customers and from countries where English is not widely used — and using Ecco, the famous one-pane organizer.

Once you enter Chinese, Russian or non-English words (such as French with non-standard diacritics) the characters turn to ‘?????’.

For more info:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-the-worlds-toughest-one-pane-grid-64-bit-unicode-suppor-katakana-korean-chinese-a538ea13d028

Ecco users, past and present,

Polywick showed a screenshot of what looks like Ecco Pro, but with Unicode characters:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-the-worlds-toughest-one-pane-grid-64-bit-unicode-suppor-katakana-korean-chinese-a538ea13d028

So, this appears to be real and I'm sure many users will want to try it.

As for me, I'll stick with InfoQube of course... LOL

Pierre
p.s. I hope I didn't offend anyone by my "perhaps false" whistleblower post :-)

I made the move from Ecco to Infoqube a long time ago. There are some Ecco features I wish were in Infoqube, but to me the advantages of IQ far outweigh the things I miss. IQ has many capabilities that Ecco does not. But there are some (users in the Ecco Pro Yahoo Group) who are more attached to Ecco than I was, and PSS might be a great thing for them.

Polywick Studio wrote:

There are strike-through because our company is also game-studio.
The developers here also create games.
There are artists here.

Do you remember the first posts?

What's wrong?

What's wrong with making a one-panel grid?
See the OSX Apps and Windows app, they use the similar User-Interfaces
(WinForms, WPF, Cocoa, Metal, etc.) and follow either Microsoft's or
Apple's Human Interface Guidelines:
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/overview/themes/

All the coding was made ground-up from scratch.
All the screenshots show a new product under development.

The CUA (Common User Access) Guidelines are of the same standard of any
Windows App or OSX App.

For the UI, there are court-cases which have set the precedents - Lotus
vs. Borland where -

1) The court made an analogy between the menu hierarchy and the
arrangement of buttons on a VCR. The buttons are used to control the
playback of a video tape, just as the menu commands are used to control
the operations of Lotus 1-2-3. Since the buttons are essential to
operating the VCR, their layout cannot be copyrighted. Likewise, the
menu commands, including the textual labels and the hierarchical layout,
are essential to operating Lotus 1-2-3. [Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland
Int'l, Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 817 (1st Cir. 1995)]

2) The court also considered the impact of their decision on users of
software. If menu hierarchies were copyrightable, users would be
required to learn how to perform the same operation in a different way
for every program, which the court finds "absurd". Additionally, all
macros would have to be re-written for each different program, which
places an undue burden on users.[Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l,
Inc., 49 F.3d 807, 818 (1st Cir. 1995)]

Kudos to you! I'm interested to follow your development progress.

Regarding the interface: I think you can ignore the complaints about it looking "old-fashioned". Yes I'm an Ecco Pro user, but honestly, I haven't seen a better approach to providing this kind of information on screen this concisely. It works. Why mess with what works? InfoQube is well-done - excellent work, Pierre - but I have yet to see any Outliner that presents data in this manner as efficiently on any platform.

Regarding copying Ecco Pro: brilliant! Yes, there's a hole in the marketplace that has not been filled. It is a difficult one from a marketing standpoint, but only because users have a difficult time understanding sophisticated software that addresses difficult problems. There's a relentless dumbing-down in the market. And Microsoft killed this product category by throwing Outlook out there for free: NetManage had made the mistake of presenting Ecco Pro as essentially an initial set of apps (calendar, contacts file...) to make it easier to understand. The market saw that and only that when they looked at Ecco Pro, and opted for that limited functionality in Outlook, for free. The category has been largely dead ever since, as you rightly point out. The closest anyone has come is in providing "notepad" apps. And, to be fair, Microsoft's own OneNote. Which, for all those who have criticized Ecco Pro's (& Story Server's?) interface as "old fashioned", is much more "modern" & up-to-date, and for this user, much more limited in what it can do. It's a different tool than Ecco Pro. There are valid use cases for both; the point is that the way the data is presented has implications for how you can use & manipulate it.

So about the marketing conundrum: can I offer two suggestions?
1. You made an interesting allusion to GTD in a previous post on this forum. One underused feature of Ecco Pro was that it was a multi-user app, out of the box. Few firms utilized that feature. I knew of a dentist's office that did, but that doesn't signify much. A better example is the Wealth Management group at Royal Bank of Canada who had many tens of users running Ecco Pro as their primary workplace app on a network. I suspect record locking wasn't available - the app is RAM-bound - so file locking was the level of data protection, but Ecco Pro has a data update feature that ensures updates to individual records could be automated on the same network. The name of your product suggests you want to leverage multi-user access somehow. There are existing notebook apps; there are existing simple outline apps for things like shopping lists or travel packing lists. There are better outliner apps for assembling/writing essays or book content - I'm thinking OneNote - but this is a poorly-served market niche. And there are GTD-oriented task tracking apps that support delegation & tracking of responsibilities & tasks, supporting both projects (discrete individual projects with a defined start-&-stop date) and workflow (ongoing day-to-day task & detail assignments). This market niche is also poorly served. I think there are opportunities here as well. And looking at the mobile market, writing a bit of code to streamline data capture & input from peripherals like bar code readers would facilitate a variety of useful applications: stock keeping, logistics, etc.

2. I think the biggest empty niche is mobile. I've been waiting in vain for a tablet or phone that would let me run Ecco Pro or something similar for two decades. The Android market offers nothing with any real functionality. The closest thing I've found thus far in the iPad market is "Circus Ponies" (I kid you not) and it's pretty brain-dead by comparison. (And not to harp on the "dated interface" theme, but this app on iPad is a good example of the kind of limitations you run into when trying to be more "modern" and accommodate mobile screens. They've hit the wall on functionality, I think in part because of the interface decision, and don't even offer the app on the iPhone).

Yes, I can now purchase a Windows-capable notebook that will actually do something: Microsoft's Surface Go looks especially appealing, but we're still talking $800+ Cdn. I have not been able to test Ecco Pro on it: store demonstrator models run the dumbed-down Windows S operating system which limits users to installing software from the Microsoft Store, and while you can (as a user) upgrade the box to Windows Pro once you buy it, they won't let you do it with a demonstrator in the store. If anyone has experience running Ecco Pro or InfoQube on the Surface Go, please post. And yes, I get that the "dated interface" means finger-selecting fields could be problematic for some, but a stylus addresses that for hand-held use and for hard-core data entry & manipulation, the keyboard is the appropriate tool & works just fine.

I realize you'd probably have to design the application from the ground up for Android or Apple, but it is where the market is. Failing that the mobile market for Microsoft Windows will grow and it's worth pursuing, especially if the code is anchored there, but it will take more time, and Microsoft's decision not to support the phone market will be an on-going handicap. Finally: please take seriously the concern expressed by others about a proprietary database. We don't actually care how the data is stored - that's your business - but we want to know it's stable, doesn't impose unreasonable limits on data size, and above all we need to know our data won't be held hostage. It needs to be really easy to get data in & out of Story Server in standard data formats, as it it in Ecco Pro.

Can anyone else out there suggest better ways to position & market an Ecco Pro replacement? This is almost as significant a hurdle as redeveloping the code. Meanwhile Polywick: keep us posted.

I just came across this thread and have to post my comments --

- I understand the negativity here, but PSS I hope you will not let the bad vibes discourage you.

- Yes we Ecco fanatics have been disillusioned in the past. Yes EccoExt from Slang and Infoqube are the only exceptions from the rule that our hopes will be dashed -- BUT

- After all these years I would like nothing more than what you appear to be working on - an updated and working new generation of software on the Ecco Pro model.

- Seems to me a lot of the concern comes from PSS's phrasing (StoryServer?) ("tough"?). I presume this comes from someone for whom English is not a first language. If not, then trouble is ahead for sure -- BUT

- I for one want to applaud these efforts and wish you the best. The Ecco Pro model may not have taken the world by storm 20+ years ago, and it won't take it by storm now, but from those of us who embraced it over the years then I bet you'll find plenty of support for beta testing and initial deployment.

- To PSS, I say thank you for letting us know that this is on the drawing board and please keep us informed as you proceed.

- I see you have posted here and at DonationCoder.com. One thing that has been missing from the Ecco world forever (as far as I know) is a dedicated forum where Ecco enthusiasts can communicate with each other and help with progress. The Yahoo forum has been our lifeline but the software is absolutely awful. The forum at Eccomagic had potential, but for some reason I never understood was not well used. Donationcoder is better for the announcement, but we really need a FULL PHPBBS or similar forum dedicated to your work where people can post problems and solutions and they can be found in the future without reinventing the wheel. Infoqube has that and it is VERY helpful. PLEASE consider your own dedicated forum software location, and if you do please let us know about it!!!

StoryServer — UTF7 Extended Ecco-Compatible DDE

StoryServer has a compatible DDE interface that has similar API-set. This documents the similarities and differences between the original and StoryServer’s implementation.

This discusses UTF7, ASCII, compatibility and differences, new APIs introduced, usage of unsigned integers, colors, large file support (LFS) and various API differences.

[snip]

Ecco uses DDE-ASCII.
StoryServer uses DDE-UTF7

---------------------------------------------------------------------

New API-Set

StoryServer has several new APIs which extend the original DDE concepts beyond it’s original.

GetAppVersion() — returns the version number of StoryServer.
IsLicensed() — Is StoryServer licensed?
IsAddOnLicensed(). StoryServer will call this to validate, if a third-party add-on is licensed. This allows third-party vendors who provide add-ons, value added services using StoryServer to monetize their work.
IsBusy() — there’s a dialog box in-front and the app is busy. Try again later, or prompt customer to close dialog box prior to usage.
GetAppType() —returns the app type.
0 = Normal App (Windows),
1 = Mac App,
2 = Linux App,
10 =Server (headless),

View-Specific APIs

GetViewColor() —Get the view/notepad tab color.
SetViewColor() —Set the view/notepad color
GetViewOnTop() — Get the view/notepad tab-list if it’s on the top or bottom.
SetViewOnTop() —Set the view/notepad to be on-top or bottom.

Folder-Specific APIs

GetFolderCollapse() — Is the folder + or — ?
GetFolderRules() — get the number of rules in a folder.
GetFolderRulesDetail() — get the rule within the folder.

Column Specific APIs

GetColumnLabel() — get the column label (instead of column name)

DDE Files API

StoryServer uses 32-bit signed-integers (2³²) instead of (2³¹) for Sessions and UTF7 for strings.
Unsigned-Integers for File Sessions

Please do check compatibility with your calling language.

The reason why StoryServer uses 32-bit is because it uses a fast, small hashing algorithm to change the filename to File-Session ID.

The best way how to store StoryServer file-sessions, is, as-text.

Filenames returned from StoryServer DDE is in UTF7 format and this allows non-English, such as Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese characters to pass-through DDE without turning into ‘???????’.
DDE Folders, View and Item API

StoryServer supports all of the original DDE. In order to use, UTF7, ensure you pass string literals as UTF7 strings.

StoryServer introduces a 24-bit color with 8-bit transparency. This means passing color values to and from StoryServer is via Unsigned Integer.
Large File Support

If the API returns texts or data — more than 32kb, StoryServer will write a temp file to disk and return the path as response. The calling application should open the filename and read it’s contents.

Next article will be discussing how to make add-ons for StoryServer.


Story:

https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-utf7-extended-ecco-compatible-dde-6fc7e6beaa71

StoryServer — Unicode Bookmarks — The world’s toughest bookmark system.

The developers at Polywick Studio implemented, in StoryServer, a feature made possible by in-memory patches to the original organizer via extensions.

StoryServer implements four bookmark systems — MRU, Favorites, Local and Global Bookmark system.
MRU and Favorites

The MRU is the most-recently used files-list. This contains the most recently used files.
File|Open Recent

The Favorites-MRU-List are files that are different from the MRU-list. In order to swap files between images, add or remove files.

File|Open Recent|Mange MRU
Global and Local Bookmarks

Local bookmarks are specific to each StoryServer file.

Global bookmarks are not dependent on specific files, and an easy way to go quickly to various bookmarks across files.
View|Goto Bookmark

For more:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-unicode-bookmarks-the-worlds-toughest-bookmark-system-2f5b904c2672

StoryServer —Preview 6— Unset CapLock, Space to Dash, External Graphics, StatusBar Time, File|New Settings, Alarms, Item Levels and Find.

The developers at Polywick StoryServer have been busy adding functionality to StoryServer to to ease the transition from the beloved one-panel organizer.
Laptop Users, Underscore and External Graphics

When StoryServer starts, users have the option to “unset” the Caps-Lock and Num-Lock key on Application startup. This is so users who have small keyboards can use StoryServer without remembering to unset the Num-Lock on those keyboards.

For more info:
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-preview-6-unset-caplock-space-to-dash-external-graphics-statusbar-time-file-new-1646bec48621

I have no clue what the last few Polywick posts about telling us.

Is there ever going to be real software for someone to trial? Not API references; not screen shots or self-congratulatory Medium postings. Software?

I think Polywick is a troll...

Orchid wrote:

I think Polywick is a troll...

I don't think so. A troll would participate in other threads and change topics.

I assume they are just some very young programmers total overexcited about the fact that they are able to patch the shit out of an almost archaeological artefact of software. Seeing someone in 2018 really using UTF7 and DDE is so strange and well worth a full blog posting (on a programmer blog). But they really should post some more context about what they are doing and why.

Orchid wrote:

I think Polywick is a troll...

I think this is real. Great software programmers most likely, but PR is definitely not their strength, ... they wrote this on the Ecco_Pro Yahoo group:

Quote:

You can also send an attorney to examine source-codes of StoryServer, and every line of it -- to find the supposed nonsense that you talk about.
If you fail to find any of the above that you seek for, our lawyers will ask for damages for what is considered as nonsense and libel statements from you.

Lawyers... damages... wow, please calm down guys. We're a friendly crowd, really !

Pierre

I suspect PPS is a one-man project. And he's not making any friends with his behavior. Polywick was founded in Singapore and recently relocated to the Philippines. https://www.polywickstudio.com/company . Remember Sally who was working on her own Ecco successor called Vizacc Guides? She was also from Singapore.

I don't think he's a troll. He may in fact be a talented programmer, but in other aspects of software development, such as how to announce a product, promote a product, etc., he seems clueless. The blather of his last several posts read as if they came straight from a programmer's source guide. User don't care about that. And threatening legal action over some ridiculous thing or other, well, yeah...

But most important: is there even a market for a clone or near-clone of Ecco Pro in 2018?

StoryServer — Preview 7 — the Hardest Menus, Triple Windows, Named Filters, Outline Labels, Finder, Importer, Color Chooser, Printer, Text Touch-ups, Notepad System and more!
https://medium.com/@polywickstudio/storyserver-preview-7-the-hardest-menus-triple-windows-named-filters-outline-labels-finder-ef5c2799d21b


The World’s Hardest Launch System
The developers here, spent ages trying to figure out how the one-pane Organizer’s launch menu system worked.
The One-pane Organizer’s Launch System is totally unique. There’s nothing like it, in the market, or any off-the-shelf library available. It had to be custom-made.
The menu-system duplicates itself across menu-bars, unlike traditional menu-systems, and allows users to duplicate the same menu across multiple menus.