Soon To Be Released - Fish Diary V1.0

[kribensis12]

HOw do you try tyhis demo thing? And how do you get the full version. Im waaayyyyy to confuzzeld by this computer talk!

 

[trojannemo]

You could abbreviate it USG and UKG??
I can't wait for its release!

ehh i'm gonna have to sleep on that. in terms of programming it in, it's a piece of cake. but it sounds so ugly

Hi,

This sounds a great idea, good luck with it.

How will you be handling upgrades as the software evolves.

Regards

Dave.

good thing you asked. i have many many many ideas for future features to implement. however, once this version comes out I will stop programming and see what type of response i get. if people like it and i see it's selling, then i'll go back into development.
on the user end, nothing to worry about. i'll make sure that all your existing files work with the newer versions

HOw do you try tyhis demo thing? And how do you get the full version. Im waaayyyyy to confuzzeld by this computer talk!

sorry!
you can download the demo from www.keepitfishy.com/diary.htm or just click here
the DEMO looks 98% like the full version (just made some more changes!) and works the same. however, you can't save ANY changes made in any section of the program.

for that, you need the full version. how do you get it? www.keepitfishy.com/order.htm. HOWEVER, it's not available for purchase yet!

for those first five, i apologize for not having sent you the program yet. I will send it to you within the HOUR!!!

 

[trojannemo]

well i have received feedback from one of the five peeps.

suggestions made so far:
1 - to add # of fish field so you dont have to enter them individually if let's say, you get 10 neon tetras
2 - get rid of the animations as they were annoying
3 - differentiate between US and UK gallons
4 - make program exit instead of minimize

1 - done! now you can enter "Quantity" for each entry in your log. this will be read by the Tank Editor when telling you amount of fish, so now it actually is more accurate than before
2 - i like the animations. since some people will like them and some wont, i didnt eliminate them. instead, i created a "Preferences" page where you can choose to enable or disable animations
3 - also handled this through the Preferences page. since most people wont change back and forth between US and UK gallons, you can select which unit of volume you want to use in the Preferences page. what's even better, if you create a tank using UK gallons (let's say a 32G in UK gallons) and then change your preferences over to US gallons, the program will automatically convert your tank to US measurements and it'll be 38G instead...and back and forth
Lastly, this inspired me to also add a convertor from G to L (both UK and US) so if you're editing a tank that's 38 US G and then change it to Liters, it'll automatically calculate the amount of Liters i make things sound so easy huh
4 - this option was also added to the preferences page. you can change whether the program will "Hide" or "Exit" (the button will change on the splash screen in real-time). if you have it set to Exit, you can still minimize it by pressing the Escape key

anything else?

 

[kj23502]

Now that my kids are napping, I'll open it up and give it a try

 

[jourdy288]

Wow, just downloaded the demo, have to install it. If you need more info, feel free to turn here:

http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Main_Page

 

[kj23502]

I got a runtime error and then it closed on me??? I was editing in a new fish tank and tried to save it. Maybe it was just me. I have to figure out how to use it

Right off, the colors are kinda dull sad and boring. Not that it needs to look like the rainbow, just give it some color.

I'll go back in now.

 

[kj23502]

i suppose it's ok. I saw there wasn't really a list for saltwater and that was the main reason I wanted the log. Will you be adding more sw to it in the future? I was planning on logging fish, corals, inverts, how much I paid, date I aquired them/split them when they grew big enough, favorite food (if they seem to have a favorite) as well as tank stats.

I don't have my sw tank setup yet, but was planning on using this log for it.

 

[kj23502]

I had to hand type 2 of my 3 cichlids in there. How about listing them by scientific name as I only saw common and mine don't even have a common name.

To me, it would be easier if we could switch between doing fish, tanks, plants notes and such on the bar at the top...say put the icons under the big title. Then we wouldn't have to wait for that icon come down the left side of the screen and over to the middle before it gives me the options.

 

[PsiPro]

Wow, just downloaded the demo, have to install it. If you need more info, feel free to turn here:

[URL="http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Main_Page"]http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Main_Page[/URL]

I'd like to add to that we have a public MySQL server and also provide an XML export of all of the basic data for a particular fish species. If you are interested in using this data get ahold of me here: http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/User_talksiPro or let jourdy know and it will get back to me... I likely won't be checking back here for a while.

 

[trojannemo]

I got a runtime error and then it closed on me??? I was editing in a new fish tank and tried to save it. Maybe it was just me. I have to figure out how to use it

Right off, the colors are kinda dull sad and boring. Not that it needs to look like the rainbow, just give it some color.

I'll go back in now.

ok i would need to see what the run time error was. which version are you using? the most up-to-date version online (get it using the link i sent ya) has a lot of new features, including an Error Handler that will catch most errors, tell you what you can do if there is anything you can do, and it wont let the program close/crash after reporting the error.
with regards to the color, that's kind of a personal matter. i guess i might add later "skins" but i'm happy with the color scheme, which comes from a long-time scheme i used for my photography website. you're the first person to ever not like it (or at least tell me so!).

i suppose it's ok. I saw there wasn't really a list for saltwater and that was the main reason I wanted the log. Will you be adding more sw to it in the future? I was planning on logging fish, corals, inverts, how much I paid, date I aquired them/split them when they grew big enough, favorite food (if they seem to have a favorite) as well as tank stats.

I don't have my sw tank setup yet, but was planning on using this log for it.

yes the reason why I sent you guys the program in the first place was to get some feedback as I "finished collecting data". i'm sure i mentioned here and/or on the emails that the "data" missing is saltwater. the only reason why you even got those 2 fish and 2 corals in there were for programming testing purposes, otherwise they wouldn't even be there as I haven't started collecting salty information. of course, it will be there for final release

I had to hand type 2 of my 3 cichlids in there. How about listing them by scientific name as I only saw common and mine don't even have a common name.

well the species included are the most common using online sources. later on while the program is in release I'll be updating the file to include as many species as possible, but I dont believe the program's success is contingent on that. with regards to using scientific names, I guess I can add an option to show you either one. the issue is this program is intended to be as user-friendly as i can possibly make it, and from experience and feedback common names are the way most people identify their fish.
let me know if you think it's that big of a deal, adding the option to switch between scientific and common names is NOT DIFFICULT - takes me 15 minutes of coding.

To me, it would be easier if we could switch between doing fish, tanks, plants notes and such on the bar at the top...say put the icons under the big title. Then we wouldn't have to wait for that icon come down the left side of the screen and over to the middle before it gives me the options.

i guess that's your way of saying the animations take too long and/or annoying you. well, as i said before, download the latest version (same link, updated file) which has a "Preferences" section where you can enable or disable animations, so there's no wait time. in there you can also switch between US and UK gallons, as well as choosing whether you want the program to close or minimize when you're done.
the reason why i've chosen this far to not have a navigation bar at the top of the screens is because (believe it or not) i'm trying to NOT take up the whole screen. the way it looks, as i keep adding more and more things, i'm running out of place to put things!

i'll wait for your response prepared to start programming. i
n the meantime, time to start gathering the darned salty information ( i admit i've put it off as i'm more of a freshwater guy )

 

[trojannemo]

well i think i answered myself when i said it'd be so easy to implement. so i went ahead and implemented the option for the program to show you common names or scientific names. to keep it organized, it's one universal setting available through the Preference section. It will make the entire program (add fish/add plant/plant catalog/fish catalog) show you the names in either common or scientific names.

the only issue with this, is that a lot of fish have different common names but the same scientific name. for example, if you select bettas while being under scientific names, you're going to get a list of over 10 betta splendens! but the system works anyways, so it stays like that.

to give it a little bit of color, i'm adding a highlight that will show you which field you're currently in. i thought the cursor was easy to lose track of in the catalog forms so now it looks nicer i think. just a little bit of yellow to make my colors not as dull as you said

 

[trojannemo]

bump no more feedback guys?

i'm finishing up with the highlight I decided to add. unless i get more feedback, that's my last idea to go into the program. i will dedicate all my time from there on to collect the remaining fish profiles so the program can be released by next friday

 

[trojannemo]

UPDATE!!!

I uploaded a new version of the DEMO - this reflects the latest changes to the program...
also uploaded the latest version of the README pdf file for those of you wont dont wanna download the DEMO...

also finished packaging the full/trial version and re-uploaded it for those of you who are testing it. please download it again (using the link i emailed you) and install over old files. run it and let me know.

unless i get any more feedback/comments, I intend to keep this version as final for this Friday's release. i've already begun collecting salty data and should be on schedule for release on friday


guys, even if you're not one of the 5 testers, you can try the demo and shoot ideas by me. i'm burned out! after over 300 hours and nearly 5 months of programming straight, it's difficult to spot even the blatantly obvious problems. so anything you see, send me a suggestion!