Ocean Log Helper Software

[Cleavitt]

I'm looking for people interested in doing some quick software testing.

I have been working on writing a free software program called "Ocean Log Helper." The software includes functionality to compliment Oceanic's OceanLog dive log software. At the moment, it simply provides a way to read certain dive information from a selected dive and copy that information to one or more other dives. This was my first priority because I was tired of having to enter the same info (gear, air temp, dive buddies, etc.) multiple times every time I downloaded a set of related dives. In the future I plan to add a direct table/grid style editor to allow bulk changes to be made more easily. I'm open to other suggestions as well, but I can't promise I'll have enough free time to implement everything.

The program is currently built to work with OceanLog 2.2.4 dive log files, but more than likely it will work with other versions as well. I don't know for sure though which is one of the reasons I need testers.

Although I have done some testing on the current version, I consider this BETA quality software. I would suggest that you create a backup copy of your dive log (or create a test copy of your dive log) before using my program against it.

If you are interested in trying the program please PM me and include an email address so that I can forward the zip file to you. All I ask in return is that you give me some feedback about how it worked for you. Thanks!

 

[TheGoast]

Cleavitt,
How's the progrm progressing?
I sent a PM but got no reply.

 

[krawlings]

I will give it a try PM sent

 

[UndrWatrDan]

I'll be a tester. Will send a PM.

 

[Cleavitt]

Sorry for the delay in replying guys. I've been out of town a lot this past month. I forwarded the program to those that PM'd me. Let me know how it works for you.

 

[TheGoast]

My First impresion Cleavitt

Unless you have just entered your data into dive log and can remember what you have just done, at the moment you need both Oceanlog and Oceanlog helper open at the same time. (not a good thing if both are using the same database)

I would think and improvement would be if:

Above or below the three dropdown list options, you had boxes showing the data of the selected source dive.

That way you can confirm what is to be copied or amended to the selected target dives.

Hope this make sense

Tim

 

[Cleavitt]

Good suggestion. I had intended to add some of that detail, but ended up getting focused on other things and leaving it out. I agree that it would make the program more useful though. Currently I'm only using the program to reduce data entry when adding a set of recent and related dives. In that situation, I have just input the data for one of the dives so it's still fresh in my mind. If you are trying to use it to update past dives I can see how it would be complicated.

BTW: in theory, the MS Jet database engine will support both programs (OceanLog and my program) accessing the database at the same time. I have used it that way without any issues so far. The worst that should happen is an error stating that a record can't be updated because it's locked by the other program. It shouldn't cause corruption of the data though. Of course MS Access/Jet isn't know for being the most reliable DB.

I'll try to implement your suggestion some time next week. I'm also planning to add a spreadsheet/grid view that will allow editing of the raw data. That should be useful for those that want to edit past dives to make their log more consistent.