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The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:08 pm
by Bill
Alex, I'm cheerfully assuming that you're still working (even if only part-time) on the next version of CintaNotes.

At the risk of repeating what I've already said earlier on this forum, may I summarize again the few very small defects of CintaNotes that continue to trouble me the most?

(1) That tiresome little sequence of random characters --   -- still pops up occasionally in text that has been copied and pasted from another app. It seems to replace an ordinary space.

(2) The italic command operates strangely. If I want to italicize a word or phrase, typing control-i a second time at the end of a word removes the italic formatting from that final word.

(3) My greatest frustration in using CintaNotes is that the fonts used, for example, in the Tags and Remarks boxes are simply too small for my aging eyes. Since I use tags pretty extensively, I find myself hunched over the screen of my laptop for long periods of time, desperately trying to read those little words down below my text.

Aside from that, CintaNotes is one of the most clever and useful apps on my computer, and I turn to it with great pleasure every day. I hope you'll continue to give us occasional reassurances that the new version is still a work in progress.

Bill

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 11:56 am
by CintaNotes Developer
Hello Bill,

First of all, terribly sorry for being so horrendously late to reply.
I was sure that the forum would notify me about any new messages, but it didn't for some reason (so if I'm slow to appear here - please kick me with an email to support@cintanotes.com or alex.jenter@ gmail.com)

Bill wrote:Alex, I'm cheerfully assuming that you're still working (even if only part-time) on the next version of CintaNotes.

Yes, in fact I do. The progress is slow but steady.

(1) That tiresome little sequence of random characters --   -- still pops up occasionally in text that has been copied and pasted from another app. It seems to replace an ordinary space.

Thanks for letting me know about this. Also, a repeatable example would really help here.

(2) The italic command operates strangely. If I want to italicize a word or phrase, typing control-i a second time at the end of a word removes the italic formatting from that final word.

Did quite get it.. is the phrase selected?

(3) My greatest frustration in using CintaNotes is that the fonts used, for example, in the Tags and Remarks boxes are simply too small for my aging eyes. Since I use tags pretty extensively, I find myself hunched over the screen of my laptop for long periods of time, desperately trying to read those little words down below my text.

This definitely will be fixed (=adjustable) in the new version. In version 3.x there two things you might want to try:
1) Adjust system menu font size like described e.g. here (this settings was still customizable in Windows 7 but not in Windows 10 I think).
2) Set global Windows font scaling to 125% or 150%.

Aside from that, CintaNotes is one of the most clever and useful apps on my computer, and I turn to it with great pleasure every day. I hope you'll continue to give us occasional reassurances that the new version is still a work in progress.

Thanks, I'm truly happy that CN is still being useful. The problem with reassurances is that the most difficult, time-consuming, and important work is not very impressing visually. Things like fast scrolling, fast and hiccup-free rendering, high DPI support, etc - all the things I've been doing lately. But as soon as I have something more or less functional to show, I definitely will!

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 6:24 pm
by Bill
Alex, thanks for your note.

My response to two of your questions/comments:

(1) Here is an example of how the   crops up in the text. The first passage is from a Word file:

Muir, Willa. Living with Ballads. London: Hogarth Press, 1965.
[OL/S] Orkney Room 398.

Murray, Isobel. Ten Modern Scottish Novels. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1984.
[OL/S] Orkney Room FIC Y.



The second passage shows how it looks after I have pasted it into MyInfo:

Muir, Willa. Living with Ballads. London: Hogarth Press, 1965.
[OL/S] Orkney Room 398.
 
Murray, Isobel. Ten Modern Scottish Novels. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1984.
[OL/S] Orkney Room FIC Y.
 


It also appears sometimes between words.

(2) Here is the problem with italics. I type this phrase: Now <ctl-i>the time<ctl-i> for all good men. If I do that, the word time is converted back to roman. I've found ways of working around it, but this is not standard behavior.

Bill

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 4:44 am
by CintaNotes Developer
Hi Bill,

Bill wrote:(1) Here is an example of how the crops up in the text. The first passage is from a Word file:


Would you maybe be able to send the Word file? Invisible whitespace can be very different and I'd like to be sure I have the same formatting as you do.

(2) Here is the problem with italics. I type this phrase: Now <ctl-i>the time<ctl-i> for all good men. If I do that, the word time is converted back to roman. I've found ways of working around it, but this is not standard behavior.


Yes, this is a known issue. Currently CN only supports formatting of already existing text, but not setting the format for newly typed text.
Will definitely be fixed in CN4!

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 10:49 pm
by sardaukar_siet
Is CN4 still being worked on? Renewing licenses with not even screenshots of progress being made is getting harder to justify...

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 3:15 am
by CintaNotes Developer
sardaukar_siet wrote:Is CN4 still being worked on? Renewing licenses with not even screenshots of progress being made is getting harder to justify...

It is, albeit the progress is slow, I'm working alone and part-time. Also, even laying down the groundwork with the Qt framework turned out to be full of surprises. For example, text rendering in Qt is slow, and I have to work around this: implementing a simple thing like a list of 1000+ notes scrolling with hiccup-free 60fps becomes quite a challenge (involving even dealing with Qt bugs registered back in 2011).

So, screenshots will come later. I understand your concern very well, but unfortunately I can make no promises about dates. So if the only reason you renew the license is the V4 release, please feel free to stop doing it. After all you can always renew the license once V4 is released, if you happen to like it.

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 2:33 am
by Bill
Alex, occasional progress reports from you would be helpful. I'm very fond of MyInfo and use it for all sorts of miscellaneous purposes, but I am holding back on adopting it for a larger project because its future feels rather doubtful at times. I suspect that there may be other users who feel the same way.

Bill

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:36 am
by CintaNotes Developer
Hi Bill!
Yes I understand that. I don't post progress updates because progress is very non-linear: the most diffucult and time-consuming things (fast text rendering, high DPI support, theme support, making code cross-platform) are not visual and impressive all by themselves. However, once this groundwork is fully laid out, the progress will come much faster and I will be able to post regular updates.

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 6:17 pm
by danielson
Whenever it comes out, if there's a lifetime license option, i'm in! ;)

Re: The next version of CintaNotes

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2021 9:38 am
by CintaNotes Developer
Thanks Daniel, will keep you all posted :)