Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

A place to discuss Bookends for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Post Reply
dialectician
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 2:24 pm

Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

Post by dialectician »

Would it be possible to add a smart group of recently opened/read/modified PDF attachments? Often, I find myself reading multiple papers or books in parallel on my ipad, using Bookends’ built-in PDF Reader. It would be great if it were easy to switch between them, which right now is cumbersome (I have to close an attachment, flip back to Library, search for the other item I want to read, and then open that attachment.)

One way to implement an easier switch would be with a “Recently read/modified attachments” group. The current smart group “Last modified” doesn’t take into account PDF modifications, so that doesn’t solve the problem. I tried to add a smart group myself, but that I can’t seem to filter according to recently modified PDFs.

Any thoughts?
Jon
Site Admin
Posts: 10048
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

Post by Jon »

You're asking for this for iOS (that's the forum you're in)?

Bookends doesn't keep track of anything to do with attachments because they're not in the internal database, they're files on disk. The Finder has that information, and querying each attachment for modification date is not practical. One solution I can think of is for you (on the Mac) is to use the Recently Viewed group -- the most recently viewed references will be listed with the most recent at the top. Another approach might be to write an AppleScript that worked with the Finder and Bookends -- finding the most recently modified PDFs in the attachment folder and looking them up in Bookends.

Jon
Sonny Software
dialectician
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 2:24 pm

Re: Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

Post by dialectician »

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, it’s an iOS issue. On the Mac I just open my PDFs from Bookends directly into my regular PDF reader which allows me to keep multiple PDFs open at a time. On the iPad, it’s more practical to use Bookends’ internal PDF reader because of syncing issues.

Is there any way to implement a “Recently viewed” group on iOS?
Jon
Site Admin
Posts: 10048
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

Post by Jon »

It's a feature request and we can add it to that list. Whether it would be added I can't say.

Jon
Sonny Software
dialectician
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 2:24 pm

Re: Feature request: Smart group “Recently modified/read PDFs”

Post by dialectician »

Thanks!
Post Reply