Starting the first day of my new work schedule.
There have been two big changes around here. Grey Burkart is now helping me out with all non coding aspects of Hog Bay Software, so I have more time to code. And Jeanne, my mother in law, just moved to a new house within walking distance. She will be helping to watch the kids Wednesday through Friday along with my parents who watch on Tuesdays. The end result:
I’m back to four real work days!
My focus is on PlainText. Expected it out months ago… but still not out. Here’s what still needs to be done, and my plan for this week:
- Tuesday - Finish writing unit tests for new faster sync system.
- Wednesday - Incorporate new sync system code into PlainText code.
- Thursday - Complete another round of UI touchups.
- Friday - Polish, and submit to iTunes at 5:00 PM.
Will I hit those goals? I don’t know, but many people have been asking when it will be done. I’m not sure, but to give everyone a better idea I’ll keep you updated on my progress to this list. If it’s not done this Friday, at least you’ll know how I’m progressing.
Update Friday, Auguest 27
Still working on Wednesday’s step, incorportating the new sync engine into the existing PlainText codebase. I got a few abstractions wrong, created a mess, but now I’m back on track and things are looking good. The integration is now mostly done now, it compiles an works for simple cases. But I need at least a day more to clean things up. So here’s the plan for next week:
- Tuesday - Finish incorporating new sync system into PlainText code.
- Wednesday - Complete another round of UI touchups.
- Thursday - Polish, and submit to iTunes at 5:00 PM.
That’s the plan anyway.
Hello world.
An introduction would probably be in order before you start seeing my replies on the support forums and elsewhere for Hog Bay Software.
I’m Grey Burkart, the new guy working with Jesse. We’ve known each other for (my) entire life, and Jesse extended the (awesome!) chance to work with him and Hog Bay Software following my recent move back to the area from all the way over in Seattle.
On the day-to-day, I’ll be helping Jesse with the support forums, bug testing, and other necessary good tasks that have had the effect of letting the code-monkey out of his cage. Remember, folks, the longer the blocks of time that Jesse has to focus on coding programs and coming up with even more cool ideas, the sooner we can get them out to you. And that’s the real fun!
The longer-term for Hog Bay Software is where my professional background comes into play. My specialization is in Emergency Management and Business Continuity, which is fancy-speak for contingency planning and applied paranoia for the greater good.
What this means for you: Jesse has added a helping hand for community and SQA, and we’re working to make sure Hog Bay Software is on solid ground, now and in the future.
While I can wrangle some code here and there, programming isn’t really my vocation — but I can certainly break software and I look forward to reproducing bug reports. I run Linux for my personal computers, and it’s tons of fun to be ‘back on the Apple.’
It’s been an eye-opener cruising through the blog and forums to see such a great — and vocal — community using Hog Bay Software’s products. I’m looking forward to working with all of you!
Rock on,
Grey Burkart
Here’s a draft of the PlainText description that I’ll post to the iTunes app store. Thoughts and improvements welcome, though I’d like to keep it as short and straight forward as possible.
PlainText - Simple text editing
For editing text on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. PlainText is a simple text editor with an uncomplicated, paper-like user interface. Unlike the default Notes app, PlainText allows you to create and organize your documents in folders and sync everything with Dropbox.com.
- FOLDERS keep your documents organized.
- PAPER-LIKE INTERFACE keeps the focus on your text.
- DROPBOX SYNC means your documents are always synced and availible.
PlainText works exclusively with plaintext (.txt) files.
Update 2 Incorporates most suggestions, thanks for all the help!
Update Fixed paper-like hyphen. Fixed “interface focuses you” to “interface lets you focus”.
- New icon.
- Hide iAd when in landscape on iPhone.
- Fixed toolbar sizing on rotate on iphone.
- Graphics updated for iPhone 4 retina display.
- Added short welcome document for new installs
- Better select title behavior for new folders and files.
- Natural sort ordering for files that contain numbers.
- Fixed crash on startup that was effecting some users.
- Dissallow entering ‘;’ in filename, because causes problems on Dropbox.
- Fixed sync while editing bug, should no longer get caught in tight sync loop if you keep editing a document as it is being synced.
Known issues include:
- Needs a FAQ, or some form of basic documentation.
- Linking Dropbox sync to the root of your Dropbox folder “/” will cause many sync problems.
- Deleting a Folder on the iOS device doesn’t first check for more recent changes on the server. So even if someone else has made more recent edits, the folder will be deleted. Luckly Dropbox can undo delete if this ever becomes a problem.
Here’s the download link for beta 5.
I don’t have any open beta slots, but if you have an iPhone developers certificate you can self sign the beta and then run it that way. Here are some self signing instructions.
This release is more polished, and I hope should be useable for real world work. Sync has been improved so that it’s faster gives you a better indication of what is happening durring the sync process.
There are thre known issues:
On iPad if you create a new folder the current files title begins editing instead of the new folders. To finish creating the folder tap in it’s title field and type the folder’s name. If you leave it as “Untitled Folder” it will get deleted on next sync.
Deleting a Folder on the iOS device doesn’t first check for more recent changes on the server. So even if someone else has made more recent edits, the folder will be deleted. Luckly Dropbox can undo delete if this ever becomes a problem.
You can get into a sync loop if you type in a file at the same time that it is being synced. I don’t think this should cause any errors, but it isn’t very efficient and will probably slow down your typing. Sync is automatically started after 5 seconds of inactivity while typing. So if you just keep typing you shouldn’t run into the problem. If you do run into the problem just stop typing for a few seconds until the sync finishes, then you can start typing again.
Note, I don’t have any open beta slots, but if you have an iPhone developers certificate you can self sign the beta and then run it that way. Here are some self signing instructions.
Typing fast, Kai’s been asleep for about 20 minutes and 40 seems to be the limit.
Well it’s not done yet. My old estimations were always off by a factor of three. But that was with a full five day work week. Now I’m watching kids for about half the week, and it seems that my time estimations are even worse then normal.
I Posted the beta a while back. Generally it was well received, excluding a few scrolling bugs that were easy to fix. Then I thought I was nearly done, but it then ran into some scalibilty issues if you have a folder with many (hundreds) of notes. I thought about just ignoring it, but have since decided to work on a fix. That’s what I’m working on now… or at least tommorrow and Friday which are my big work days.
I’ll try remember to post another update late Friday describing how that work went.
…but maybe gives an insite into the mental state of Hog Bay’s programmer. Here is an excerpt of an email that Laurel (my wife) just sent:
They went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant in our absence, and Jesse related the following story to me…
Jaeda had apple juice, and when she ran out, wanted some more. Jesse said, “OK, when the waitress comes back, I’ll ask for some more for you.” The waitress came and checked on them, Jesse forgot about asking. Jaeda said, “Dad, you didn’t ask her!” Jesse said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. When she comes back again, I’ll ask her.” Jaeda paused and then sincerely said, in her I’m-quoting-rules-I’ve-learned-from-my-parents voice, “We don’t say, ‘stupid old Dad,’ right, Dad?”
In work related news next PlainText beta comming soon.
I’ll be away for the next week and a bit.
This vacation we are staying close to home (rented cabin on pond about an hour away) so I might check in from time to time, but basically I’ll be out. I’d been pushing to get PlainText sent to app store before this, but the TaskPaper for iOS crash on launch issues put an end to that idea. I did just get a beta out though, so at least a few people will no that it’s a real app.
I’ve also just submitted a (really hope it works) fix for TaskPaper for iOS crash on launch issuse.
I know I’m going to be burried in email when I get back, and most is going to overflow onto the floor. So if you need a response from me best bet is to wait until I’m back or send a follow up.
