proNotes Blog

June, 2010

proNotes 2.0 Update

I'm making great progress with the new Cocoa version of proNotes. So far I have all the basic functionality done and I'm confident of getting it out before the end of the year (hopefully sooner).

Remember, anyone registered between now and 2.0's release will get a free upgrade. I don't know what the 2.0 price will be but it will be greater than $19.99. If you like proNotes I suggest you register now, start using 1.9 and set yourself up for a free upgrade.

March, 2010

New version: proNotes 1.9

What!!? Version 1.9?!? What about version 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8?

There's a reason. First off, check out all the new features in this release. This is a BIG update. You can edit in the main window, you can change the color of your windows to make them look cool like this...

...the to-dos have been upgraded, and much more (the full list is below). This picture also shows how you can flag attachments to give them a yellow highlight (you can change the color in the newly redesigned preferences window). This is great when you have a lot of files attached. See the buttons at the bottom left of the main window? I moved them down there to give you even more room in the preview pane plus there's a "Save" button. People have been asking me about editing in the main window for a while now. The early versions of proNotes had that ability but it was removed. It's back now and using it is so natural I don't even realize I'm doing it. Anyway, you get the point. There are lots and lots of new features in 1.9. Download the new version here. It's free to registered users.

New Architecture for 2.0

The other reason this is version 1.9 is because I've already begun working on version 2.0. What's special about 2.0 is it's a complete rewrite to a full-fledge 100% Mac Cocoa app. Up to now I've been programming in REALbasic. It's a great tool that allows you to compile versions for Mac, Windows and Linux. Back when I started proNotes I thought having a Mac and Windows version would be a hugh asset. It ended up that most of my users are Mac. In fact, all but three of my registered users are Mac (I'm 100% Mac, always have been). I also want to keep expanding proNotes' functionality and add the kind of features you've all been asking for: better text capabilities, imbedded pictures in notes, better Mac OS integration, syncing, an iPhone version and more. I can't do that with REALbasic and I can't do that when I'm also trying to keep cross-platform compatibility. So now, 2.0 and future proNotes versions will be Mac-only, require 10.6 or greater, and will be developed in Apple's XCode.

Rewriting proNotes in XCode is a lot of fun and the transition from REALbasic has been a lot easier than I thought. Once you get the hang of it it's actually easier! Stuff I spend days, weeks and months on already work in Cocoa. It's opened up a lot of new options and interface elements. This is still way early but check out the Note Window.

• You have a real file browser for the attachments window. You can add folders and rename things right in place.
• You can imbed pictures in the note window.
• You have full text-editing and spell checking ability. Basically, anything you can do in TextEdit you'll be able to do in proNotes.
• The to-dos are really cool. They give you much more room to type, they sort with animation, the priority is easier to see and the text spell checks.

There's much much more. This is just one version of how the note window may look in 2.0. Who knows what the final version will look like. The Main Window with be very different too. Can you imagine proNotes running on an iPad? I can! Yum!

Free Upgrade for 1.9 Registered Users

The REALbasic versions will stay available but no new features will be added to them. Updates, if any, will be bug fixes. The Windows version will not progress past what's posted today. Anyone registered between now and 2.0's release will get a free upgrade. I don't know what the 2.0 price will be but it will be greater than $19.99. If you like proNotes I suggest you register now, start using 1.9 and set yourself up for a free upgrade.

Version 1.9 is the #1 app on my Mac. I've really gotten it to a level that works great. I currently have 2,150 notes.

I plan on building a way to import your current notes into 2.0.

Version 1.9 represents a major upgrade from 1.5. There's a lot of great features to enjoy right now. 2.0 won't be out until the end of the year so download 1.9 now, use it and you'll be more productive. Here's what version 1.9 can do:

Category: proNotes
Title: V 1.9
Status: Open

New Version 1.9 (build 78)

Bug Fixes
• if you are in to-do mode when the user reloads the index it exits out of to-do mode
• fixed a bug that showed "invalid date" for non-US date formats in the Details table
• corrected a bug that prevented dragging an attachment from one attachment list box to another one a different note
• the todo list box in the MainWindow didn't highlight the row if the todo text included the search text
• the attachment names and paths are now encrypted in the .pronote file
• the preview pane was redone to address some bugs with clicking on the disclosure triangles and dragging the dividers
• the lock timer didn't work, that's been fixed

New Features
• you can now edit the note text in the main window
• added menu items in View to switch statuses
• added menu items in View to select Category, Title and Details fields
• adjusted sort order to tab between the tables and the search field
• added code to allow you to select rows in the category and title fields by typing
• changed code so that the table in focus highlights in blue while the others highlight in gray
• added code so command-down arrow in the title field will take you to the details field
• added code so command-up arrow in the details field takes you to the title field
• ability to change colors for the entire interface
• you now have the option to sort the history menu reverse chronologically or alphabetically
• the "New", "Edit", and "Print" buttons from the main window were moved to the bottom bar to give more space to view notes.
• a "Save" button was added and will turn active when the note in the main window needs to be saved
• preferences window has been completely redone
• you now can set a preference to attach a copy rather than the default behavior which is to move the file into your proNotes folder
• you can now set a preference to search in the selected Category and Title only. If nothing is found proNotes will automatically search all the other notes.
• you can now export selected notes to either a TAB or CSV file and select which fields to include.
• added a preference to automatically open and close the Main Window attachment field depending if the note has attachments. This also adjusts the size of the listbox to just show the attachments.
• you can rearrange attachments by dragging them in the listbox
• you can flag attachments in the Attachment Listbox. This helps when you have a note with a lot of attachments but usually need to open a few.

New To-Do Features
• added the ability to change the due date of to-dos (one or many) by dragging in the main window
• you can right-click on a to-do in the main window to change it's priority
• you can right-click on a to-do in the main window to change it's due date
• you and right-click on a to-do in the main window to edit all the to-do parameters
• the contextual menu for the to-dos displayed in the Details table of the Main Window shows the to-do string as the last menu item

January 2010

Happy New Year - A look forward!

Happy New Year to all my current and future proNotes users! 2010 will be a year of good and exciting changes for proNotes. I have a new version just about ready to go. It has 25+ new features and a bunch of bug fixes. I'm excited to get it out to you as soon as I can. Of course, this will be a free upgrade for all registered proNotes users. One of the coolest new features is you can modify the interface with a bunch of new colors and schemes.

This new year will also feature the release proNotes 2.0. proNotes has been out for two years now and its time for a jump. This new version will have a completely redesigned back-end and be fully written in Apple's native programming language: Cocoa. Not only will this give me access to more Mac-like tools and tighter OS integration, it will give me the ability to integrate the iPhone. It's not lost on me how powerful the proNotes ecosystem would be with the iPhone linked in. I have some great ideas on how that would work. The first step, however is to get 2.0 written.

Like I said, this year will feature a lot of cool new changes for proNotes. As always, no matter what redesigns take place, proNotes will always be about getting you your information quickly and accurately and then getting out of your way!

Simple and powerful.

October 2009

Thanks for the New Registrations!

I had a slew of new registrations over the last few weeks. Big "thank you" to all of my new and exiting users! You know, I don't do much marketing, it's not my strong-suit (I should spend more time on that and less on development - but I like programming!). Anyway, if anyone has any ideas on how to get more people using proNotes I'm open to suggestions.

October 2009

Working Hard on the New Version of proNotes

So far I've added over 20 new features, interface changes, editing features, to-do stuff, and much more. I guess my biggest issue is when to stop and release something. The big change in the next version will probably be Cocoa on the Mac. Among other things, Cocoa will add in-line spell-checking to your notes. Yippee!

July/August 2009

Latest Updates

I've made some great updates to Cal2Cal and have an updated beta out to my testers. For those of us who have to use Lotus Notes as their primary calendar, getting that calendar onto your iPhone is huge. I'm looking for some new beta testers so if you're interested click here. What's Cal2Cal you say? Do you need to get your Lotus Notes calendar into iCal and your iPhone? Click here to find out.

proNotes definitely hasn't been ignored. I've added eight new features so far. What the next update will be? I'm not sure yet. Of course, your suggestions are always welcome. E-mail me here. The ideas don't have to be huge, version 1.5 was a big update but they all don't have to be. New features can be small but make a big difference. Here's a perfect example: in the next version you'll be able to select a Category, Title and Note (a row in the Details table), and open that note without having to use your mouse. It's pretty cool especially since you can type more than just one letter. For example:

• Typing "C" in the Category table will highlight the first category that starts with "C." Let's say that's "Clients". Now proNotes is showing you all your Clients in the Title table.
• press Tab to switch to the Title table.
• Type "Blu" and the first client that starts with "Blu" will highlight. Let's say that's "Blue Wave Productions". Now proNotes is showing you all the notes you have for "Blue Wave Productions" in the Details table.
• press Tab to switch to the Details table.
• Type "Top" and not only will you get the first note that starts with "Top" ("Topic" for example) you can read the note in the preview pane.
• If you want to open it, just press Return.

You can get to your notes really fast this way and you don't need to take your hands off your keyboard! As always, proNotes is about helping you do what you need to do quickly and then getting out of your way. No bloatware with proNotes!

June 2009

1,765 Notes

I was rebuilding my index file the other day and I realized how many notes I have! proNotes is as fast as it was when I had 10 notes. Really cool. I worked hard to optimize how the searching works and so far so good...or should I say so fast!

June 2009

New Version 1.5!

Wow, I wanted to get this version out in January. It's probably one of the longest beta periods ever but I had some things going on and I couldn't give proNotes the time it deserved. There is a ton of new features in version 1.5 and it's free for all my currently registered users.

Version 1.5 focused on really upgrading the to-do features (among other stuff). At first I tried to connect the to-do functionality to iCal but I realized that would be too limiting. I could create so much more capability within proNotes.

proNotes is unique by connecting to-dos to a particular category, title and note. Now with the expanded to-do functionality this capability is now on a new and more powerful level.

Here's the list:

To-Dos

• Redesigned Preview Pane that now shows to-do detail.
• In addition to a to-do status (open or completed) each to-do can have a priority and a due date.
• Upgraded to-do display in the Main Window that sorts to-dos by due date
• Completely redesigned to-do printout.
• To-Dos are sortable by "Status/Priority/Due Date, Status/Due Date/Priority, Status Only, Date Only, To-Do Text Only, and Priority Only
• In either the Main or Note Window you can view all your to-dos or just the open ones.
• In the Note Window, to-dos are now part of the window, not a sliding pane which allows you to see your to-dos in much more detail.

Other

• When pasting text into the Note Window you can now use the menu commands "Set Last Paste to Default Style" instead of leaving it in the original size and font.
• In the Note Window you can change any text by selecting "Set Selection to Default Style."
• Bookmarks have been added and edited. You can bookmark any condition in the Main Window, selected category, title, note or search text.
• The drop-down in the search field in the Main Window now gives you a list of search prefixes: if you want to find all the attachments that contain the name "diagram" just type diagram in the search field and select "kind:att" or "kind:attachment".
• The drop-down in the search field also shows you your last ten searches.
• The drop-down in the search field now gives you access to all your bookmarks and keywords.
• You can use your arrow keys to navigate the category and title fields.
• You can how press a letter key when in the category or title field to jump right to the entry with that letter.
• In the Preview Pane,
• automatically highlight allowing you to right-click and open the url in a web browser.
• Right-clicking almost everywhere gives you access to a lot of the most comment menu commands.
• When saving notes, urls are identified and formatted for easy identification.
• A bunch of bug fixed and background improvements. They don't look like new features but they make proNotes work better than ever.

October 2008

New App: Cal2Cal

For the last few months I've been running a beta of a new app called Cal2Cal. Very simply, Cal2Cal lets you get a copy of your Lotus Notes calendar into iCal (obviously, it's a Mac-only app).

If you're like a lot of people who use their Lotus Notes calendar for work but would like to also use iCal, Cal2Cal can help. Using iCal, I can mix my work calendar with my home calendar and see it on my iPhone and iPod. Pretty cool.

Note: Cal2Cal is a one-way copy from Lotus Notes to iCal. See the support page for it's limitations and how it works.

Here's the link to the Cal2Cal home page.

October 2008

New Version of proNotes coming with greatly expanded to-do functionality

You may be surprised but version 1.5 of proNotes will be coming soon. I spent a lot of time working on the iCal integration but as I got deeper and deeper into it I realized iCal fell way short when it came to managing to-dos. I never was a big to-do-list-guy so I never explored iCal's to-do functionality. What I discovered is iCal doesn't do to-dos very well. You can't print out a to-do report, you can't really see them organized very well and, of course, you can't write notes or attach files to your to-dos. So I took a different approach. The forthcoming version of proNotes will feature two types of to-do lists: one sorted by due date and another sorted by note. These can both be printed out (try doing THAT in iCal). On the screen, you can see your to-do lists by due date, by subject and by title. If it wasn't better than iCal I wouldn't have spent the time writing it!

Lots of other features, bug fixes and interface changes. It's a big upgrade and it's free to all current registered users.

I'm hoping to get it out before the end of the year.

May 26, 2008

Updated To-Dos Preview

Well, as I mentioned in my blog entry last month, I've been busy working on updating the to-do functionality for the next version of proNotes. Check out the movie below. You'll notice:

• Each to-do has a due date and priority along with the to-do text and the completed checkbox.
• You can view the to-do details which shows a bigger field for the to-do text and the ability to change other items including the iCal calendar and alarm.
• To-dos can be linked to iCal. Once linked, the changes go both ways!

February 24, 2008

Version 1.1 Released

I'm excited to get version 1.1 out. I've been using it for a while but it's finally ready for release. It incorporates user requested features and bug fixes. Here is what this update includes:

New Features

• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - You can now export one or many notes to rich text files.
• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - When typing in the note window hitting option-return (ctrl-return in Windows) will move the cursor to the next line and add a bullet and a tab
• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - When typing in the note window hitting option-shift-return (ctrl-shift-return in Windows) will move the cursor to the next line and add a time/date stamp and put your cursor right under it
• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - You can now hide (and then show) the header fields in the note window by choosing View-Toggle Header (command-H in Mac, Ctrl-H in Windows). Also added a menu item in the View menu to set the window style as default. The preferences window, general tab has settings too.
• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - Note window elements have been expanded (category, title, & note field)
• New Feature: (Mac & Windows) - Modified the app icon to appear better at small sizes.

Bug Fixes

• Bug Fix: (Mac & Windows) - The url in About box says www.SoftRaph.com but it goes to www.proNotes.com. It now goes to www.SoftRaph.com
• Bug Fix: (Mac & Windows) - When checking for an update, if you have the most current version, you get "Not Now" instead of "OK" which it does now.
• Bug Fix: (Mac & Windows) - The "Not Now" button on the "Check for Update" dialog box will be invisible until the dialog box is shown.
• Bug Fix: (Mac & Windows) - When saving a note, the insertion point now remains and the note window stays active
• Bug Fix: (Mac) - Trashing attachments on the Mac are now dragged into the trash and the trash should is heard. You can find them in there to get them back if you want them. There were times when the files weren't getting deleted in the old method
• Bug Fix: (Mac) - In Mac OS only, attaching bundles as a move (as opposed to copying) now moves the file instead of copying it. Bundles had their own logic.
• Bug Fix (Windows) - Sometimes, especially with notes transferred from he Mac, the font in the note window would revert to the system font. It will now revert to your default font set in the preferences.

December 18, 2007

News: 600 Downloads in it's First Month

proNotes has been downloaded over 600 times in only one month after release! I want to thank all of you who tried it out and especially those of you who registered. I've received some good suggestions on new features and improvements and expect to have version 1.0.1 out soon.

November 18, 2007

Well, here's version 1.0 of proNotes!

proNotes has gone through almost one hundred revisions over three years of nights and weekends so even though it's a 1.0 it's been around a while. That's not to say you won't find some bugs. Even though my beta testers (otherwise known as my coworkers, friends and family) have been using various versions over the years, I'm sure some bugs may have slipped through. If I find them I'll fix them.

Probably, the best thing I can say about proNotes is that most people who use it, rely on it, and can't remember what they did before. That's gratifying. I use it every day. I hope you find it as useful as I do.

Enjoy proNotes.