How Do You Use Bookends

[Jon]

A popup for hundreds or thousands of items doesn't make sense. But the Term Lists do (double-click on a keyword to insert it, for example). You can "compact" the Term Lists so they are very narrow and can be left open in a corner of the screen. At least that's one option.

Jon
Sonny Software

P.S. If your single db gets to be large (>= 5000 references), increase the database cache in preferences to maintain optimal responsiveness).

[danzac]

I have been using different databases in BE for each research/writing project. For those of you who are using only one database: any speed issues with large databases? How many items in your database?

I use the Keywords field to keep the subcategories titles for each project. Then I make a Smart Group to view all resources in a subcategory. Is there a better way than this (it doesn't work if I miss-spell a keyword or forget to add it--a customizable pop-up menu would be nice).

I've never noticed any major sluggishness and when I do it usually means I need to do some database maintenance.
I use keywords and smartgroups as you do, but for different projects I use a static group in the way you use a different database.
One thing that I requested of the developer is to make static groups part of the criteria for smart groups, which would increase my ability to organize my database. That way, you can have a folder with a top-level static group and several smart groups underneath the static group.

[danzac]

P.S. If your single db gets to be large (>= 5000 references), increase the database cache in preferences to maintain optimal responsiveness).

A question Jon. Is there any reason to retain this preference choice anymore, hard drive sizes being what they are? I would love it if BE just determined what the best size was for optimal performance and took it. BE can take 1GB of cache if it means optimal performance in one of my most used programs

[Jon]

This really has nothing to do with my Bookends code per se. It's how the Valentina db engine (which Bookends uses, of course) works. It's a very high performance engine and the cache is a big part of its power. I've discussed this issue with the Valentina developer and it's possible they will come up with a technique that allows for dynamic cache sizing. But for now it's done programatically.

BTW, more != better. The penalty for a too-large cache is slower launch times, and more than sufficient cache size adds nothing to performance. My own testing suggests that 10-12 MB works well with ~5000 references (with abstracts), and I'd add another 1 MB for every 2000 references above that. YMMV.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Doktor Markus]

Jon and Danzac,
Thanks for these tips and info. I think I'll spend tomorrow consolidating my separate databases into 1!
Thanks for such a great and helpful product, Jon.