It's kind of embarassingly that I haven't released this a long time ago (I've had working code to do this for a very long time) but I've been so busy with my day time work that I haven't had time to finish the application. It's still not finished but it should be usable (but not polished).
My program JFile Companion, http://www.mootjelitt.com/jfc/, is a program that is able to convert JFile,http://www.land-j.com/, databases to Mac readable files. You can also convert some file files to JFile database. The new feature is JFile Companions ability to read Bookends XML files and convert them to JFile databases, these can be installed on your Palm and viewed there.
This version is only a preliminary version (I expect to change the user interface quite a bit) but as I wrote above it should be usable, at least I'm able to read my references on my Palm.
You can download the OS X version at http://www.mootjelitt.com/download/jfc-beta.sitx and the Classic version at http://www.mootjelitt.com/download/jfc- ... -beta.sitx
Let me know what you think at info@mootjelitt.com
Preliminary support for Bookends to Palm conversion
looking at this beta... tried (erroneously, my fault) to select bookends database file (not xml). beta crashed.
edit: i then exported Bookends 8 file (the only xml options being for endnote), and tried opening that in JFC. also crashed. now i'm not sure what i'm supposed to export/import.
edit2: tried endnote 8/9 xml. that also crashed (different error). tried bookends 7 file. (also crashed, same error as above):
an exception of class XMLException was not handled. the application must shut down.
exception message: msg:XML parser error 4: not well-formed (invalid tolken) exception error: 2
giving up. still far too beta.
edit: i then exported Bookends 8 file (the only xml options being for endnote), and tried opening that in JFC. also crashed. now i'm not sure what i'm supposed to export/import.
edit2: tried endnote 8/9 xml. that also crashed (different error). tried bookends 7 file. (also crashed, same error as above):
an exception of class XMLException was not handled. the application must shut down.
exception message: msg:XML parser error 4: not well-formed (invalid tolken) exception error: 2
giving up. still far too beta.
Strange, could you send me the XML file so I can try and see what is happening? Use the address info@mootjelitt.com (and please send bug reports directly to me since I don't always check this forum)Lobster wrote:edit2: tried endnote 8/9 xml. that also crashed (different error). tried bookends 7 file. (also crashed, same error as above):
an exception of class XMLException was not handled. the application must shut down.
exception message: msg:XML parser error 4: not well-formed (invalid tolken) exception error: 2
giving up. still far too beta.
Sent.jem wrote:Strange, could you send me the XML file so I can try and see what is happening? Use the address info@mootjelitt.com (and please send bug reports directly to me since I don't always check this forum)
tried it too
i've tried it too, and it worked well for me. let me ask though, is there a way for Bookends and JFile to keep some sort of dialogue so that what is inputted into the palm can update the Bookends database?
~I swore to myself that if I ever got to walk around the room as manager people would laugh as they saw me coming and applaud as I walked away~
Thanks Jon, and I'll await Jem's answer. I am no tech expert, but obviously the ideal would be as simple as hotsyncing with your palm in the same way that my addressbook, etc., stays synced. However, I realize this may be more complicated a situation. the problem (I think) is that if I export from JFile a few hits, then I import them to Bookends, I would have to manually delete them (or use the delete duplicates). Will Bookends recognize that the imported item is a duplicate and just update it?
~I swore to myself that if I ever got to walk around the room as manager people would laugh as they saw me coming and applaud as I walked away~
No, it won't. You'll have to delete dups yourself (or use the built-in remove duplicates after import, assuming that the info you added doesn't foil the duplicate detector). That's what I meant by making the interaction "more clever".danzac wrote:Will Bookends recognize that the imported item is a duplicate and just update it?
Jon
Sonny Software
Re: tried it too
Currently there is no way to export the changes back to a XML file, don't worry though, it has been my intent to implement this all the time (but as usual my lack of non-work time is the main reason why it's not there already).danzac wrote:i've tried it too, and it worked well for me. let me ask though, is there a way for Bookends and JFile to keep some sort of dialogue so that what is inputted into the palm can update the Bookends database?
Anyway, there are two problems:
The first is for JFile Companion to detect that changes have been made to certain records in the database. The second is to update the Bookends database.
The second is something that only Jon can do, and I can imagine that this can be both difficult and dangerous. The first can probably be "hacked" by me by designing the JFile database in a certain way. I haven't tried it yet so I can't be sure that it works ... but this has also been my intention to implement (if possible) in the released version.
Synching to a PDA is a feature I miss from my Windows/Endnote former life. I can live with(out) it, but this is a feature I would love to see implemented in Bookends.Jon wrote:jem can answer this (I don't have a PDA), but I think you can export from his app as XML, and then import that into Bookends. We could probably arrange something more clever if there was demand for it.
Jon
Sonny Software
Francisco