The Elements-like data sheet

[jimba]

Hi guys, I'm planning on buying an iPad and I have a question you might answer. I need to create a sort of "database" wich I intend to be very similar to the "Elements" app I saw on http://www.apple.com/ipad/apps-for-ipad/#elements.

What I would like to do is "editing" that app: briefly I want to insert photos and data and access them in the way this awesome app does. Shall I start developing a new app or can I use an already available one?
Maybe keynote is able to do such things (I dunno, I've just switched to  buying an awesome i5 mbp and I'm quite a noob regarding apple), but I need it done on the iPad.
Thank you for your help and sorry for my english

 

[WytRaven]

Maybe you should be looking into Bento?

 

[jimba]

Thanks mate, bento is what I needed. cheers

 

[pkdoyle]

This may not matter to you but right now, Bento for iPad has a serious issue in my opinion. I have it both on my Mac Mini as well as my iPhone where it is great. I was so excited when the iPad was announced thinking about how great Bento would be on that new device. Now that I have both my iPad and the new Bento for iPad I cannot recommend it.

The issue is their text fields. They cannot display more than 5 lines of text in a single field no matter how much text is in the field! So even if you have a form with only 1 field on it, and you hold the iPad vertically, you will have about an inch and a half of text at the top of the screen and a blank screen below that. There is squat you can do about that.

I was excited by Bento for iPad for recipes. Just carry the iPad in the kitchen and you have everything right there. But when you can only display 5 lines of text with a scroll bar and allllll of this screen with nothing on it.... YUCK!

Hopefully Bento will be updated with a fix for this but Filemaker has not said anything about this though many have complained. Maybe this does not matter to you but for me, caveat emptor.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I see that HanDbase released the iPad version of their app.

http://www.ddhsoftware.com/iPad/

I just bought it myself, i didn't think it was what i needed for my Touch, but for the space of the iPad, i went for it.

 

[thatisme]

I see that HanDbase released the iPad version of their app.

http://www.ddhsoftware.com/iPad/

I just bought it myself, i didn't think it was what i needed for my Touch, but for the space of the iPad, i went for it.

When you get comfortable with the App, would you please let us know how it is to use... is it closer to a relational database than bento? Can you do calculations, and link multiple databases together? can you publish to the web?

 

[jimba]

Thank you all for the useful infos..the issue pkdoyle is pointing out could be very annoying in my case, I hope it will be solved by the time I buy my iPad. Taking a look at DDHsoftware too seems nice at first glance.

Feel free to post any other solution the more I get the best!

 

[TraceyS/FL]

When you get comfortable with the App, would you please let us know how it is to use... is it closer to a relational database than bento? Can you do calculations, and link multiple databases together? can you publish to the web?

I will.... I know that it can do a lot - if you spend some time on their website you will see how much they have in "history". There are like 2000 templates to download.

I never bought it for my Palm (had similar debates with myself over using it on the small screen), but know that it has had a good following.

It is heads and shoulders above what BENTO can do for sure, heck, you can buy the desktop ($14.99) and use it as a front end for a lot of databases - SQL, Access, Filemaker, ODBC ones....

I either will end up using the heck out of it - or it will go down as a $10 lesson. LOL!

Anyway, poke around their site some!

 

[sracer]

I will.... I know that it can do a lot - if you spend some time on their website you will see how much they have in "history". There are like 2000 templates to download.

I never bought it for my Palm (had similar debates with myself over using it on the small screen), but know that it has had a good following.

It is heads and shoulders above what BENTO can do for sure, heck, you can buy the desktop ($14.99) and use it as a front end for a lot of databases - SQL, Access, Filemaker, ODBC ones....

I either will end up using the heck out of it - or it will go down as a $10 lesson. LOL!

Anyway, poke around their site some!

HanDBase has a great track record for mobile database products. While it is very strong on the portable device, it is weak on the desktop... it is as weak (relatively speaking) as Bento is on the iPad. And while it offers relational database functionality, it appears to be missing some of the basic things that Bento offers, like image fields. Bento (Mac/iPad) combo allows you to design and create the database either on your desktop/notebook or iPad. With

Bento and HanDBase may be similar in that they are both called database programs, their target audiences are quite different. Bento is designed to be a light-weight (flat-file) database program focusing on attractive and easy-to-use.

HanDBase is more of a mobile powerhouse for creating high-function databases.

Both are solid products. Both have limitations. Everyone should examine what their needs are and pick the appropriate product.

The OP was looking for a way to create an "Elements-like" reference database.... Bento can do that, HanDBase cannot.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

HanDBase has a great track record for mobile database products. While it is very strong on the portable device, it is weak on the desktop... it is as weak (relatively speaking) as Bento is on the iPad. And while it offers relational database functionality, it appears to be missing some of the basic things that Bento offers, like image fields. Bento (Mac/iPad) combo allows you to design and create the database either on your desktop/notebook or iPad. With

Bento and HanDBase may be similar in that they are both called database programs, their target audiences are quite different. Bento is designed to be a light-weight (flat-file) database program focusing on attractive and easy-to-use.

HanDBase is more of a mobile powerhouse for creating high-function databases.

Both are solid products. Both have limitations. Everyone should examine what their needs are and pick the appropriate product.

The OP was looking for a way to create an "Elements-like" reference database.... Bento can do that, HanDBase cannot.

Actually, i saw images - and photos is in the description of the iPad app, otherwise I wouldn't have listed it. (http://appshopper.com/productivity/handbase-for-ipad-database-manager )

I know that I have tried to make Bento work for me since last July. I still can't - but appreciated when I was told of alternatives too. Actually, i think i did a ton of searches in the App forum to find feedback on the options.

Hopefully the OP finds what works the best for him!

 

[sracer]

Actually, i saw images - and photos is in the description of the iPad app, otherwise I wouldn't have listed it. (http://appshopper.com/productivity/handbase-for-ipad-database-manager )

Ah, thanks for the info. The screenshots on their website didn't show any.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Ah, thanks for the info. The screenshots on their website didn't show any.

LOL, they do if you use a magnifying glass!

What really irked me was despite being able to view the movie demo in HD, i couldn't get it to be BIGGER so i could actually see it. I bought on blind faith really, using their track record over the years.

I didn't get to play much like i thought earlier - so that is on the schedule for later when i drop the kids off to see my SIL. This exercise will have some linking to other DB's going on, so i should be able to see pretty quick what i can do.

I hope.

 

[julieknits]

When you get comfortable with the App, would you please let us know how it is to use... is it closer to a relational database than bento? Can you do calculations, and link multiple databases together? can you publish to the web?

I've used HanDBase since I had a Palm years ago. I'm not sure about the publishing to the web, but you can certainly create relationships between multiple databases and have calculated fields.

Pictures haven't been necessary for my HanDBase uses, but it does use them in a limited way. You can define a field as an External field type and select PhotoPicker. PhotoPicker lets you select a photo from the albums on your iPad. In list view, you see a very small thumbnail of the picture. In the record view, it's a larger pic but nowhere near taking advantage of the additional screen real estate on an iPad. I'm hoping they're working on greatly enhancing inclusion of pictures, because right now it's fairly minimal.