Date Fields

[Mark Kristan]

I love this program, it is great for my needs, just trying to get the most out of it. My question is two fold, can I change the information TF places in a column, and can I change the type of field without losing all the information in that field in records I already created.

I had a few Bento (3) documents, would have been a nightmare to try to get everything transferred to Tap Forms (would have had to revert to an older version of osx for starters), I just exported individual Bento documents as a comma separated value file then imported that into TF, but I guess I lost some things in the translation. I have the raw data from those Bento docs on two Macs, one of the docs is a music collection, when I created it on B3 I created two date fields, date created and date modified – those two fields show up in the TF document but they are text fields. I tried changing that field to a date field in a new record I was creating and lost all the data in that field on every existing record (I had the document on another Mac, so just deleted the instance with the new date field). Is there no way to change that field, which contains the dates data from Bento, from a text field to a date field without losing the data in that field in all records?

My other question is about one of the columns in the default (single column) view, I’m talking about the second column from the left. The first column’s heading can be toggled between “All Forms” and “My Forms”, to the right of that is the column I am referring to which is the name of the document, to the right of that column is the main body of the db. That middle column contains the information from the date field in the document (the filed labeled “date”, even thought it is a text field), dates in that column would be great for a lot of databases but in this case the artist name would be more useful. Is there no way to change what TF populates that column with?

Thanks in advance.

[Brendan]

Hi Mark,

If you’d like to email me your bentodb backup file then I can do a proper conversion for you to export all your libraries as .bentoTemplate files which you can then easily import into Tap Forms. Bento 3 is unable to export the records along with the template. Bento 4 can do that which is what I have to help my customers convert if they can’t do it themselves or don’t have the latest Bento version.

You can rearrange the fields by clicking on the Form button, then the Fields tab. Drag the fields up and down and that will change which fields display first on the single column list view.

You can send the file to support@tapforms.com

Thanks!

Brendan

[Mark Kristan]

Thank for that reply, Brendan, but you misunderstand my questions, maybe I should ask them in separate posts. As for doing what you say about the proper conversion from B4 to TF, I am aware that there is supposed to be a way to do this but I decided it is not worth the hassle for these few db docs, I would have to try to find an older copy of my operating system (maybe use the install disc I have and end up with Mountain Lion, I think, then upgrade one by one to Mavericks, or whatever, on order to run Bento). I have the raw data for those databases, I will just use that without all the proper formatting, but my question really relates to even a brand new TF document I create.

About the column to the L of the main body of the database in the default view (single column view), I attached a screenshot of that document with a freehand line drawn through the column I am talking about. This column contains dates, the information taken from the “Date Created” field in the document; this would be fine for a document where the date is an important field (such as a db doc I created for trips I do for work, if I wanted to know what I did on, say, some date in August of 2014, it would be easy to scroll down to those dates in that column); in this case, it would be a lot more useful if I could configure this document such that Tap Forms would take the data in a different field and put it in that column (I would choose the “Artist” field – would make it much easier to navigate to media I own by that artist); I can choose multi column view, make it bigger so that I don’t only see like five records, click on “Artist” and click on the arrow to sort ascending or descending, but it would be a lot quicker to just scroll down that column on the left to that artist (there is a letter at the top of each grouping of artists that start with that letter, but I still have to click on a date, then look at what comes up for a record on the righ, then if it isn’t what I’m looking for scroll to find the record I am looking for). Is there a way to program Tap Forms to put the data from another field in the document, other than “Date Created”, in that column to the left of the main body/record in the document? I do know how to change the order of records by dragging a field up or down in the form editing section.

Thanks

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[Brendan]

Hi Mark,

No worries about the Bento migration. If you ever change your mind, just email me the backup Bento file and I’ll do the conversion for you and send you back the .bentoTemplate files. That way you wouldn’t have to install old macOS versions and go through the upgrade process to get to Mavericks. I already have a Mavericks installation in Parallels Desktop that I use for this purpose.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, to change the fields that display on the Single Column List View, click on the Form button in the toolbar, then the Fields tab. Then just drag the fields up and down to put them in the order you want them to be in. Your screenshot shows the Layout button selected and not the Form button. If you click the Form button, then the Fields tab, you’ll see what I mean.

Also set the First Sort Field to be the field you want your records sorted and sectioned by. Tap Forms will take the first letter of the values in the First Sort Field and display that as the Section Heading.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Mark Kristan]

I didn’t realize there was a way to do this without reverting to an earlier version then getting Bento 4 on my system, I though you were offering the same thing the folks at File Maker did a while back (and things haven’t worked out), their method would have required me to do all of that. About a year or two ago I sent them my Bento 3 backup file and they converted it to Bento 4, the problem is I cannot open it with High Sierra or Mojave. I will give that some thought, but for now I want to work on what I have.
Your replies seem to suggest that you think I am trying to change the order of fields or sort order, I do need to do those things sometimes of course but I have no problem with those, I am trying to change the data that automatically gets placed in that column immediately to the left of the database in the single-column list view (the same data that populates the photo grid view, in that view you get a box photo box with a date beneath it, the same dates that I am talking about in the default, single-column view). In this database dates aren’t that useful, I am trying to tell Tap Forms to use a different field to populate that column (or beneath the pics in photo grid view). If you go to the screenshot I attached, it shows a record for a CD by Lee Aaron, forget about that record, it is irrelevant to what I am trying to ask. To the left of that record is a column filled with two dates in each box, the boxes running from the top of the page to the bottom. If you look at the K’s, the fourth entry from the top looks like this:

Oct 27, 2010 at 1:46PM
Nov 28, 2010 at 7:08PM

It would be better if it looked like this:

KISS
Revenge

(the top entry in every case is bolded)

You see that entry? That data, those two dates, are the data from two fields in the document (“Date Created” and “Date Modified”), Tap Forms automatically takes the data from those two fields and puts in there, in that column of dates to the left of the records. My question is, can I reprogram Tap Forms, specific to a particular database, to use data from two different fields, so that when I open the database instead of looking at a bunch of dates, from top to bottom, I would see something else from the record? (I would use “Artist” and “Title”). If I click on that entry a record for the album Revenge by the band Kiss comes up to the right (with those two dates in the “Date Created” and “Date Modified” fields), at this moment I know that the 4th entry from the top is Kiss/Revenge, but it would be easier to find that CD if I could scroll down that column to the K’s and, instead of seeing dates, see something like: Kansas/Wayward Son (in the first box under the K’s), Kinks/Destroyer, *then a bunch of Kiss CD’s, with the title listed beneath “Kiss” in each box*. Right now I am in the process of burning LP’s to CD, it would just be very convenient if I could see at a glance what Kiss albums I already have on CD, for example. Do yo see what I mean?

If I can’t do this I am not gonna spend any more time on this but for a db like this, where dates aren’t very relevant, it would just be a lot more useful if I could populate that column with something else.

Thanks

[Brendan]

Mark,

Yes, I do understand what you’re trying to do. The order of the fields on the Fields tab after you press the Form button is what controls what fields get displayed there. That along with the “Single Column List Fields” property on the Form inspector panel. You can display from 1 to 5 fields. And if a Photo field is positioned into the first spot on the Fields tab, then that will display to the left as a thumbnail then the other fields will display to the right of it all within the records list column.

I definitely understand that having a date field there is kind of meaningless for your type of data. But if you just try what I suggested by clicking the Form button, then the Fields tab, then dragging your most important fields up to the top of the Fields list, you’ll see what I mean. It will change not only the position of the fields on the Default Layout, but also the position of the fields on the Single Column List View.

This is completely independent of the First Sort Field, which controls the ordering of the records.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Mark Kristan]

Oh okay, didn’t think changing the order there would change how it appears to the left (I guess of all the times I changed the fields order I never changed the first two on any document). What about what I was asking about changing field types, I guess there is not a way of changing that parameter without losing existing data? Not a big deal, I guess, it is not like I will be making many additions to that database, but if there was a painless way to change from a text field to a date field the former would be more appropriate for a field called “Date Created” (or modified, for that matter). Maybe I’ll just have to type that information manually as opposed to choosing a date (not sure if there is any other reason why a date field would work better than a text field, for those fields).

Thanks

[Brendan]

Tap Forms has a built-in Date Modified and Date Created field type. They’re at the very bottom of the list of Field Types in the popup button.

Normally when you import from Bento using the .bentoTemplate format, those fields are automatically transferred over to the Tap Forms equivalents.

As for switching the types, ya, Tap Forms won’t be able to convert those into proper date objects.

So if you add those fields using Tap Forms Date Created and Date Modified field types, then you won’t have to manage them yourself as Tap Forms will do it. You just won’t have all the values from your existing records properly set. They would be all set properly if you imported a .bentoTemplate file though.

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