PackRat 0.94: Now with reminders

I just released PackRat 0.94. The big thing for this release is
editing reminders. Now you can add, delete, and edit your reminders.
A lot of people have been waiting for this and I hope you like it.

At this point in PackRat existence, you can now view and edit all
your Backpack data, with the exception of your Backpack calendars. We
are very near a 1.0 release. All that remains is to polish up some
things.

Going forward I want PackRat to take full advantage of the the Mac
platform. This means things like Spotlight support, Applescript
support, Address Book and iCal integration, iPod syncing, and
whatever else makes sense. I love the Mac and want to take full
advantage of the platform. That is why PackRat is Mac only.

I also want to add things that Backpack doesn't do right now. Things
like searching and deleting all completed list items and anything
else you and I can think of to make it more fun and easier to use.

I've also decided that releases past 1.0 will continue to be free
updates. The price of PackRat is meant to reflect its potential to
take advantage of the Mac platform and it hasn't done that yet. Until
I think it has, updates will continue to be free. If you haven't
purchased a license yet, I encourage you do so and support me in this
endeavor. You will get your money's worth and if enough of you do, I
will have more time to make PackRat better and in less time.
Eventually, I will be able to write other applications that you and
others will enjoy.

Enjoy editing your reminders offline.

PackRat Screencast

I just found a great little screencast that somebody did for PackRat. It's a little out of date but still good. It's great to see people doing things like this and finding PackRat useful. Check it out here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

PackRat 0.93 - Automatic Uploading

I've just released PackRat 0.93. The big new thing is automatic uploads. Whenever you make a change, PackRat will automatically upload the change to Backpack, as long as you are connected to the internet. If you are not connected, it will wait till you are connected and then upload them.

I really like how it works and I don't need to manually sync anymore. Of course, I always use PackRat. If you sometimes enter your data directly on Backpack, then you will have to sync to download the data to PackRat. I'll address this in a later release.

I also put back some shortcuts for viewing reminders and synchronizing and fixed a few bugs. For a detailed list, see the release notes in the help.

Enjoy!

PackRat 0.92

I've just released version 0.92. This one fixes some annoying bugs
that have been found and I felt it was important to get some fixes
out to them as soon as possible. So, no, automatic syncing isn't in
this one. However, I have made some work on it and it should be in
the next one. I have added one feature though, and that is automatic
update checking. PackRat will now check for a new version at startup
and tell you about it if there is one.

As for bug fixes, if you've had problem with PackRat crashing when
you try to copy or paste then you should get this version. I also
fixed a few bugs with syncing after reordering a list. A bug fix that
I'm happy to release and that has been bothering some of you for
quite some time is now here. If you've had problems with typing in
your username and API key in the preferences window and it not saving
and not syncing then you need this fix.

Download it and give it a try.

PackRat and Modems

I'd like to know if any PackRat users are using plain old dial up with a modem to sync their data. If so, drop me a line. One user has said that PackRat hangs when he does this but works fine on a high speed connection. I don't have access to a modem at this point but did try it with a bluetooth modem and it worked fine. So, if you're having success the "old fashioned way", please let me know. Or if you're having problems with that, let me know too. Thanks.

PackRat: Now with List Reordering

I just released PackRat v0.91. It adds a feature that a lot of you have been asking for: List reording.

When you want to reorder your lists just press cmd-R or select Reorder Lists from the Action button or the Edit menu.

PackRat 0.901 and On

I made a small release last night that fixed a few bugs. The main change is that now SSL is tried first when syncing. This was to provide extra security because Backpack would let some requests go through without SSL even when SSL was turned on.

The next release will feature something many users have been waiting for: List reordering. I'm currently testing it and putting on the finishing touches. If you'd like to beta test it, then just let me know.

Next on the list is automatic syncing. Manual syncing is bugging me and I'm sure it's bugging you. If you have any ideas about auto syncing or things you'd like to see, then please send me an email.

PackRat 0.9

I've just released PackRat v0.9. This one is just some bug fixes that have been bugging you. The big one is a bug that caused PackRat to have connection problems when you changed your Backpack password. So, if you've been having problems with this, download the new version. Other fixes are: resizing the tags browser no longer causes a crash, you can create notes without titles, and the Edit Page sheet is now resizable and its initial size is larger so you can see more of your page body.

Why You Need PackRat

Even the big guy's web apps go down. Nobody can guarantee 100% availability of your data.

PackRat 0.88: Create and Delete Pages

I just released a new version of PackRat. This one adds the ability to create and delete pages. Create pages with the New Page command under the Backpack menu or the Action toolbar button, or the + button at the bottom of the page list. Delete pages with the delete this page link on a page or by pressing the delete or backspace key, or by pressing the - button at the bottom of the page list.

I've also added an Activity Viewer for help in tracking down those Backpack commnication problems and there are a few bug fixes. For more details check out the release notes in PackRat Help.

We're getting close to full editing. All I need to do is add the ability to reorder your lists and add support for editing reminders.

PackRat 0.87: Links

I finally got a new release out. I've been having too much fun on the weekends playing tennis and baseball and hanging out with friends.

Anyway, the main event of this release is the addition of link editing. Now there is a New Link command on the action menu and the Backpack menu for creating a link on a new page. There's an Add link link on a page with existing links. And of course, you can delete links and links are included in synchronization. A nice touch is that you can drag a page in the page list to another page to create a link. There's a few bug fixes as well. Check the release notes for the details.

PackRat 0.86: Tags

I just released PackRat 0.86. This version adds tag editing. You can now add tags to your pages and edit them offline, and they will be sent up to Backpack when you sync. The full release notes are now accessed via the Help command.

PackRat 0.851

Well, I released the new images feature a little too soon. Turns out I was displaying the full image rather than a thumbnail image from the Backpack site. This was really slowing things down for pages with lots of images. So here's another release to fix this issue and a few others. Here's the info:

Bug Fixes

- Wasn't using thumbnails to display images. This really slowed things down.
- image descriptions now support markup
- Pages wouldn't display if the note titles were empty

Known Bugs

- Tags browser causes crash when dragging sizer (awaiting fix in RBSplitView)
- Help needs finishing
- Backpack API Bug: Problems syncing pages with unicode characters, HTML/XML tags, or quotes in titles
- Images are not loaded if not in cache
- image thumbnails are not cached in images section

PackRat 0.85

PackRat 0.85 has been released. Some good bug fixes in this one. If you've had problems uploading your changes to Backpack, there's a good chance this release will fix that. Another hilight is that you can now see your files and attachments on a page. You have to be online to access, but you can see what's there. Here's the info:

New Features

- Now displays a page's files. You must be online to access them
- Now displays a page's images. You must be online to access them.

Bug Fixes

- List and note titles were not converting markup to HTML
- Tables now have borders in the page body
- Wasn't escaping XML characters on page before uploading to Backpack. This was causing sync errors, often reported as a can't login error.
- Now will handle uploading changes to a page that has been deleted in Backpack
- No longer hangs when you sync and the selected page no longer exists
- Backpack API Bug: Setting page body or note body to empty results in body being
set to --- !ruby/hash:HashWithIndifferentAccess {}. Implemented workaround

Known Bugs

- Tags browser causes crash when draging sizer (awaiting fix in RBSplitView)
- Help needs finishing
- Backpack API Bug: Problems syncing pages with "bad" characters, HTML tags, or quotes in titles
- Images are not loaded if not in cache

PackRat mention in the Grantonian

A high school news web site has a review of software for students who want to get organized. They mention PackRat along with Yojimbo and VoodooPad. Both are excellent applications and its great to be mentioned with them. Check out the review here.

PackRat 0.84 Build 220

I've just released PackRat 0.84. Mostly bug fixes, but now you can create notes and lists on a new page. You couldn't do that before. You were stuck doing it in Backpack. Here's the info:

New Features

_ New menu commands to add lists and notes. This also allows adding the first list and note to a page.
_ New Action toolbar button. Pulls up menu of common actions. So far there is new list and new note.

Bug Fixes

- UTF-8 characters such as British pound, etc. would cause Edit links to not appear
- The title field on the note and page sheet wasn't always selected when the sheet is first displayed.
- If you entered two new notes the first note would take on the text of the second note

Known Bugs

- Tags browser causes crash when draging sizer (awaiting fix in RBSplitView)
- Help needs finishing
- Problems syncing pages with "bad" characters, HTML tags, or quotes in titles
- Images are not loaded if not in cache
- Backpack API Bug: Setting page body or note body to empty results in body being set to --- !ruby/hash:HashWithIndifferentAccess {}. Workaround is to blank out the body using Backpack.

PackRat 0.83: Edit Pages

I've released a new version of PackRat. Version 0.83, build 206. Here's the info:

New Features

_ Delete emails
_ Better reporting of uploading errors
_ Edit the page title and body
_ Rename a page by double clicking on it the list of pages

Bug Fixes

_ Now removes reminders that no longer exist when syncing
_ Pressing return in the title field of the note sheet didn't close the dialog
_ Sync error if you created a new list then added a new item to the list

Known Bugs

_ Tags browser causes crash when draging sizer (awaiting fix in RBSplitView)
_ Help needs finishing
_ Problems syncing pages with "bad" characters, HTML tags, or quotes in titles
_ Images are not loaded if not in cache

Edit your Notes! PackRat 0.82

PackRat 0.82 (build 195) has been released. Here's the info:

New Features

• You can now add, edit, and delete notes

Bug Fixes

• Wasn't properly displaying alert when you need to update the PackRat database.


• Scroll bars no longer scroll to top of page after making an edit.

Released! PackRat 0.8. Editing has begun

I just released PackRat v0.8 (build 187). The much awaited editing functionality has started to arrive. Here's the info:

New Features

• View->Home command and Home toolbar item


• Now downloads information about images and files (but doesn't display them yet)


• Lists are now editable. Add new items and new lists. edit them, delete them. Then sync with Backpack and your changes are uploaded


• Inline images (not attached images) are now displayed, but only if they are in your cache.
  

Bug Fixes

• Backpack doesn't properly escape list titles and PackRat now does a better job at reporting these sync errors due to quotes and html tags in titles


• The Close Window command is back.


• I found another sync problem when SSL is turned on. If you've been having problems syncing that I haven't been able to help you with, I think this fixed might have done the trick.

Known Bugs

• Tags browser can crash PackRat when dragging sizer


• Help needs finishing


• Still problems when syncing pages with "bad" characters, and HTML tags or quotes in titles


• Inline images are not displayed properly if not in cache

PackRat Update

I'm really close to a release. I was hoping to get one out last weekend, but the weather was nice and I was having too much fun. I just need to do a little more testing and then I'll release it. You can't edit everything yet, but you can edit your lists. I've decided to release editing features as I go. I'm not excited about the UI, but I can tweak that later. The important thing is to get the editing functionality into your hands, because you need it.

PackRat Update

More progress on editing. Now you can edit items and delete them. Don't quite like the UI for this though. So, I still need to improve that. I made some improvements to the code that should make writing the rest of the editing code a lot better.

I still want to make sure the database format is complete going forward as well. This isn't necessarily critical as you can easily just delete your local database and then sync to do a database conversion. However, you could lose local edits that you've made if you don't first upload them to Backpack before deleting your local database.

I'd really like to get some feedback here. Would you rather see me release PackRat with editing features as I go along or would you rather see me get everything done first before you see a new release?

PackRat Progress

No release this week, but I'm making progress on editing. So far you can check/uncheck list items and create new ones. I'm currently working on a good interface for editing and deleting list items. Uploading these changes works as well, but I want to work with it myself to make sure I get the bugs, minimize database changes going forward, etc. It's going fairly slowly, but remember I only have the weekends to work on this and it's fairly involved. If you'd like to see it done faster, just buy a license. The more income I get from PackRat licenses, then the less time I need to spend making money from other sources. I'd much rather spend my time on PackRat.

PackRat 0.7 (build 164)

I just released a new version of PackRat today. It adds the following new features:

- A new application icon
- Your home page and the reminders page are now at the top of the page list
- There is now a Reminders toolbar item
- There is now a Backpack toolbar item
- Added View->Reminders command
- The content of the emails on a page can now be viewed in a window
- A page's email address is now displayed

and fixes these bugs:

- Better handling and reporting of errors during sync.
- Completed list items are now displayed in the correct order
- URLs on a page are now turned into links, just like Backpack does

Overall, mostly some more polish. My next step is to start work on editing. This could be tricky, so you may not get a release next week, or even the week after that. But, I'm excited about starting it, and looking forward to using it, as I know you are too.

New release of PackRat (v0.60, build 153)

I've posted a new release of PackRat (0.60, build 153). The one new feature I added is that PackRat is now a Universal application! The other changes are bug fixes to syncing. Notes, emails, links, and tags that have been deleted in Backpack are not deleted locally when you sync.

I had to update the data file format so you'll have to delete it and resync with Backpack, but PackRat tells you what you need to do.

PackRat 0.53

I've posted a new release of PackRat (0.53, build 139). This one is a
bug fix release. Some of you were having problems with syncing. Those
problem should be gone now. Here's a list of fixes:

- Sync was failing when the page body had illegal UTF-8 characters

- Sync was failing with the message 'emailAddress is a required
value' or 'multiple validation errors'. This was caused by the
Backpack API returning links to pages that no longer exist.

- Sync was failing when the XML response from the Backpack API
contained HTML that was unescaped causing an XML parse
error. Now we tidy up the XML before we try to parse it.

- List and list items are now all displayed and in order. Completed
list items are displayed but out of order

There are some more bug fixes coming, but these were the big ones
that were getting in people's ways. If you've been having problems,
download the new version. it should solve your problems.

PackRat in TUAW

PackRat is mentioned in The Unoffical Apple Weblog

PackRat in Backpack Weblog

The latest entry in the Backpack weblog is about PackRat! Thanks Jason.

New release of PackRat (v0.50, build 128M)

I just uploaded a new version of PackRat. With this version (0.50), you can now see and navigate your tags. I also fixed a bug that sometimes show the reminders out of order.

You can now see all your data and navigate your pages via links and tags. Now comes a little more polish and some bug fixes and then I'll start adding the ability to edit some of your data while your offline.

If you find a new bug and are helpfull in providing me with information that helps me fix it, I just might very well give you a free license.

New Release of PackRat (v0.40, build 116)

I just uploaded a new version of PackRat. With this version (0.40), you can now see your reminders. I also fixed a bug that broke syncing with accounts that have SSL enabled. So now all of you with SSL can start using PackRat.

The only thing left before you can view everything is to add support for tags. You can already see the tags for a page, but I will be adding support for seeing all the pages with a certain tag and navigating your tags.

New Release of PackRat (v0.3, build 110)

I just uploaded a new version of PackRat. This version (0.3) adds the following new features:

- Each page now has a Notes section
- Each page now has an Emails section
- You must now have a license to view all your pages. Without a license you can
   see your home page, the reminders page, and the first 4 pages.

Also the following bugs were fixed:

- PackRat wouldn't accept your license key
- Dates from Backpack were interpreted in local time zone instead of GMT.
   You'll need to delete your data file (~/Library/Application
    Support/PackRat/PackRatData) before syncing to see the correct dates.
- No longer displays Lists section if no items
- Fix bug in checking to see if you have the latest version
- Fixed bug where clicking on links open web page in PackRat rather than
   the default browser

At this point you can see all your data except your Reminders. So we're nearing a 1.0 release, hence the requirement now for a license. Download it and let me know what you think.

PackRat is Staring to Sell

PackRat is starting to sell! I'm only a one person shop so I can't afford to work on it full time. By purchasing a license you help fund it's development and motivate me to keep improving it. I really want to make this a product that everybody will find very useful. Then, hopefully, enough of you will find it worth purchasing and I will be able to work on PackRat full time to bring it to its fullest potential. Thanks to all of you who have bought PackRat and showed their support.

New release of PackRat (build 90)

I just uploaded a new version of PackRat. This version adds the following:

• The Links section and the links can be used to navigate your pages.


• Pages look very similar to how they look on Backpack


• The Reminders Page no longer looks like a normal page

Overall, I've made some architectural changes that will make it easier for me to go forward and add some features I'm planning.

Download and check it out. Your lists and links are fully operational (remember though, that everything is view only. No editing will be supported till a much later version).

PackRat and the Deafening Silence

Well, I thought I would hear from somebody after my PackRat announcement. I see that the announcement has been seen in the Backpack forums but no one has replied to it, or sent me an email or, joined the discussion group. I guess everybody is underwhelmed. I realize it is not finished but it does show promise and I believe many of you have been asking for an offline backpack. What's the deal? Are you all using something besides Mac OS X? Would you like to see a Windows or Linux version? I'd love to hear what you think and what you'd like to see. And if you'd like to see something sooner than later, that would be interesting and useful too.

My work continues...

PackRat and Knapsack

I wanted to talk about PackRat and Knapsack, which is Ben Stiglitz's project that is similar to PackRat. In the past, if I saw someone release a project that I was working on, I might have dropped it, but I now have a different opinion. Having two products in the backpack market simply reinforces that there is a market for an offline Backpack and having more than one choice is good for that market and good for the customers. It's not may the best product win, but that both Ben and I win, and ultimately, you, the customer win. So Ben, I hope you're not too miffed or disappointed in my announcement and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Introducing PackRat

I've released my second app and it's called PackRat. You can find out more about it here.

For those of you tuning in to this blog from the Backpack forums, I wanted to say a few things. Normally, I would completely finish an app before releasing it. Ben Stiglitz provided one stimulus to release it earlier and I'll say more about that in another post. But mostly I've been reading a lot and thinking about how companies relate to their customers. I've worked for large companies and I've been a customer of large companies. Generally I don't like either one. I've read the Cluetrain Manifesto and opinions of other independent developers and I've come to agree with them. So, I've decided that with PackRat it would be better to have a "conversation" with my customers and to release PackRat now, so you can actually use it (because you need it now) and together we can create an application that you will want. At the same time we're open with each other and build trust with each other.

I hope you find PackRat beneficial and I look forward to our "conversations".