Pocket Informant 3.4 Released

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.pocketinformant.com">http://www.pocketinformant.com</a><br /><br />Pocket Informant 3.4 was released today. The "fish eye" month view is there and very cool. I've been using it for a few months. I would much rather check my long range schedule on my Pocket PC now than use Outlook even if I am sitting at my desk. Month View packs so much information without information overload.<br /><br />Other new features:<br />• Search toolbar now has a double column A-Z selector <br />• Options app is localized <br />• Hierarchical Tasks in the Tasks View <br />• Agenda View One Line mode <br />• Task Alarms now sync to the desktop and from the desktop back to the Pocket PC. However, due to how ActiveSync works - alarms synched from the desktop to the Pocket PC only get set to 8am. You would need to open the task for editing in PI and then save it to set the alarm at the correct time. This is only for alarms synched from the desktop to the Pocket PC and is due to a limitation in Pocket Outlook. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2002/20021126-pihierarchy.gif" /><br /><i><b>New Task Hierarchy</b></i><br /><br />Check out the <a href="http://www.pocketinformant.com/WhatsNew.php?_function=3.4">list of changes, enhancements and bug fixes</a> at their site.

[Janak Parekh]

Ed, the fisheye view was present in 3.3, although the "What's new" seems to say it's an improved view. The hierarchical tasks is huge though. I'm curious to see how they use the underlying POOM structures to store it, since Pocket Outlook Tasks aren't. But in any case, this solves my switching between Tasks & ListPro! :D

--bdj

[Ed Hansberry]

Was it? :oops: I can never remember. I think this 3.4 is the first time in a long time I've actually had a release version. :lol: Seems to drift between betas and RC's pretty quickly. :D

[Venturello]

The best... just got better!! People, your pocket pc DESERVES this software!!

(yeah, I love it. no, I have no affiliation to the company :roll: )

[Rirath]

I just can't wait to see the speed on the Axim compared to the old J525. Should be quite the difference.
Hierarchical Tasks sound wonderful!

[Janak Parekh]

So I tried the hierarchical tasks, and they worked exactly as advertised. However (and this is unsurprising) - they store the task info not in the POOM store, but rather in a file in the Pocket Informant directory. According to the manual:

The Hierarchical Tasks file (\My Documents\WebIS\TasksHierarchy.bin) was designed to be fully transportable to different PDAs and to survive a restore from a backup.

However, we had some complications in figuring out WHEN to run this code automatically without causing a major performance hit each time you ran Pocket Informant.

So we plan to release a standalone utility after 3.4 ships to be run after a restore or PDA move to rekey the HT file. This is necessary because for performance reasons we use the ID of the record of the parent and child tasks. But after a restore or resync, the ID is different. But since we save some other info about the task - we can usually reconstruct the HT anywhere from 99-100% (if you have a bunch of HT tasks with all the same subjects over 25 characters in length... - it will not work as well).


Additionally, the tasks appear as uniform non-hierarchical tasks in Pocket and Desktop Outlook. So while this is useful, and a nifty accomplishment on part of Alex & co., ideally one would have a desktop-version Pocket Informant that can actually display these hierarchically.

--bdj

[mattsmith0622]

The changes are nice, but the software still runs at a snail's pace.

[Ed Hansberry]

So I tried the hierarchical tasks, and they worked exactly as advertised. However (and this is unsurprising) - they store the task info not in the POOM store, but rather in a file in the Pocket Informant directory. According to the manual:
That is good though. Makes the data portable between devices.

[entropy1980]

I don't know sometimes Pocket Informant just looks like overkill to me, at a quick glance it's like yikes Too much info :shocked!: on the screen at one time, I know it's just me cause everybody else fawns over it but no thanks! (please don't flame just stating my opinion)

[Ed Hansberry]

I don't know sometimes Pocket Informant just looks like overkill to me, at a quick glance it's like yikes Too much info :shocked!: on the screen at one time, I know it's just me cause everybody else fawns over it but no thanks! (please don't flame just stating my opinion)

It is quite customizable. You can turn info off and on and even create custom views to quickly toggle between a quick glance at the calendar or something with icons, tasks and priorities all at once.

[Kati Compton]

The hierarchical tasks is huge though. I'm curious to see how they use the underlying POOM structures to store it, since Pocket Outlook Tasks aren't. But in any case, this solves my switching between Tasks & ListPro! :D


There goes programming idea #3... ;)

[Rirath]

I don't know sometimes Pocket Informant just looks like overkill to me, at a quick glance it's like yikes Too much info on the screen at one time, I know it's just me cause everybody else fawns over it but no thanks! (please don't flame just stating my opinion)

Overkill? It's like saying MS Word is overkill next to Notepad. Same task, many features. As for flames, come on... why post if you don't want to people to respond? Especially about a popular software. It's not a poll, it's a discussion. :)

[Janak Parekh]

The changes are nice, but the software still runs at a snail's pace.
What Pocket PC are you running? It's not as fast as Pocket Outlook on my 3870, but it's more than tolerable. v3.2 thru 3.4 have been improving performance steadily.

--bdj

[Janak Parekh]

I don't know sometimes Pocket Informant just looks like overkill to me, at a quick glance it's like yikes Too much info :shocked!: on the screen at one time, I know it's just me cause everybody else fawns over it but no thanks! (please don't flame just stating my opinion)
Actually, I had the same problem as you when I first tried out PI. Too dense and confusing. I got rid of it and only went back with the continued raves of other "power users"... and this time, I tried it for a couple weeks. It now has a permanent home on my 3870. :)

There goes programming idea #3...
Ah, sorry for ruining your post-Ph.D. plans. ;)

--bdj

[Kati Compton]

There goes programming idea #3...
Ah, sorry for ruining your post-Ph.D. plans. ;)


Yep - was planning on making a living off of it, too... ;)

[mattsmith0622]

I'm running an iPAQ 3955. Everything from contacts to tasks to appointments is worlds slower than Agenda Fusion.

[jlp]

I'll take huge speed improvements over added functionality anytime.

I stopped using Pocket Informant since version 3.2 (though I bought it twice: standalone and with my Pocket LOOX).

Waaaaaaay to slow. And comments here discourage me from trying version 3.4.

Nine seconds to boot up is waaaay more than what most people are willing to handle.

And since it's a powerhouse, I need to close it when I don't use it, thus making the launch process that more painful.

I get less comfort from Pocket Outlook, but booting it up is bareable; and I can switch it off and relaunch it so easily and FAAAAAAAST!!!

[palmsolo]

I also used an older version, but then gave up after a couple days becuase it seemed like too much. After 3.3 was released I tried it again and have never looked back. I love the power and customization. It also runs quite fast onmy Jornada 568 even though I load and remove programs all the time for review purposes. One thing I didn't like with the last update was the way you set the time and duration of appointments. I liked the older method and can't wait to get home and see what this version has in store.

[Mr. Anonymous]

Maybe it's time for me to give PI one more try. Every time I load it on my Pocket PC, it just seems too slow and clunky compared to the native Pocket Outlook apps (which of course are way less functional).

Looking over the changes on the site, I didn't see anywhere if the promised Today screen plug-in ever came out. That was one thing I really loved about Agenda Today before they got caught up with their Fusion product.

[farnold]

I'd say we got two kind of discussions here. The one half comparing PI with standard PocketPC Outlook - and the other one going about performance.

For the first one I can say that PI has some feature I wouldn't want to miss anymore. I.e. the ability to create appointments and task directly from a contact while keeping the link to it brought me to use PI as my primary PIM - before I managed appointments and task mainly on my PC and it was always a drama to find the information on my PocketPC. Now I use my PocketPC to manage all that in PI and I get much more on the way. Hirarchical tasks in 3.4 is a great idea for a kind of a mini project management. PI has many features I never use, but would I get rid of Word just because it has more than I use? It's customizable enough to make it conveniant for everyone.

Performance? Hm, nine seconds is something I cannot imagine under normal conditions. On my LOOX PI opens in something like 3 to 4 seconds which I would consider being quite normal for such a complex application. Hm, the amount of data can influence that, but so long... I don't think so.

[Peseta]

I'll take huge speed improvements over added functionality anytime.

.....

Nine seconds to boot up is waaaay more than what most people are willing to handle.

With my modest Casio E-200 it's 4 seconds untill it's operational. Of course like it to be faster, but it's no 9 seconds.

And since it's a powerhouse, I need to close it when I don't use it, thus making the launch process that more painful.

I get less comfort from Pocket Outlook, but booting it up is bareable; and I can switch it off and relaunch it so easily and FAAAAAAAST!!!

I think the necessity of closing PI is depenant of what you use your PocketPC for.
For me it's still mainly PIM fuctionality, so I've PI always running [even when running heavy duty stuff like Alturion, navigation software].
If PIM is the main functionality, Pocket Outlook isn't a serious option. Then you need a "powerhouse".

[WindWalker]

Performance? Hm, nine seconds is something I cannot imagine under normal conditions. On my LOOX PI opens in something like 3 to 4 seconds which I would consider being quite normal for such a complex application. Hm, the amount of data can influence that, but so long... I don't think so.

I have to agree here.....I have been running PI on an Audiovox Maestro for about 6 months, and I don't think I have ever seen the slow performance so many complain about. That doesn't mean I don't believe it happens, just I have never seen it.

I also thought at first that Pocket Outlook would provide all I needed. I tried PI, and saw I had been fooling myself. I'd suggest that anyone who has tried it before give it a shot.

[John C]

I use it occasionaly, but Pocket Outlook is generally adequate for me. I'll become a heavy user if and when they get the contact link info to synch with desktop Outlook.

[TMAN]

Everyone has to remember that performance may vary depending on the size of the database. Everyone who thinks PI is fast probably has a relatively small database.

I have 3000+ appointments, 1000+ contacts, and 500+ tasks in my database. All of this data goes back 4-5 years (Don't ask why). PI is very slow for me.

I would like to know the size of the databases on the Pocket PC's that run PI "fast".

[Jason Dunn]

I don't know sometimes Pocket Informant just looks like overkill to me, at a quick glance it's like yikes Too much info :shocked!: on the screen at one time, I know it's just me cause everybody else fawns over it but no thanks! (please don't flame just stating my opinion)

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I use the standard Pocket PC PIM - I haven't felt the need for a super-PIM yet. 8)

[Jason Dunn]

I have 3000+ appointments, 1000+ contacts, and 500+ tasks in my database. All of this data goes back 4-5 years (Don't ask why). PI is very slow for me.

I think it's probably safe to say that your data set is much bigger than anything they would have tested for. :lol:

[farnold]

I have 3000+ appointments, 1000+ contacts, and 500+ tasks in my database. All of this data goes back 4-5 years (Don't ask why). PI is very slow for me.
I have around 1000 contacts as well, but I just need future appointments and tasks on my PocketPC. May I ask why you have the need to carry 4 or 5 year old stuff with you every day on a technology that wasn't even invented back then? Maybe using ActiveSync to cut down on that would make it way easier, with whatever program you use...

[lasnubes]

I too went through the install, remove, install phase but with the last 2-3 revisions it has been permanantly on my 3975. I do not experience the slow downs but have a rather small data set.

The only two suggestions I have would be making it a TODAY replacement liske Dashboard does- NOT A Plug-In but replacement.

Repeating Alarms like AF.

As the header says, "I love it and use it hourly!" :!:

[Unreal32]

I have over 4800 contacts, 2000 appointments, and about 200 tasks... PI "boots up" in about 5-6 seconds on my iPaq 3955. More than adequate. I also use DoubleLaunch and set it to run the native calendar and contacts apps with double-clicks of the respective buttons, for those times when I need a contact or today's calendar *now* and don't want to wait (gasp) those 5-6 seconds.

Luckily, you can turn off the Hierarchical Task "feature". I don't like it, it won't synch with Outlook properly, and it is clunky IMHO. Also, why are priorities now on the right by default? Anyone know how to move them back to the left side (where they belong? :wink: )?

[mhowie]

Also, why are priorities now on the right by default? Anyone know how to move them back to the left side (where they belong? :wink: )?


I believe it may be a registry edit. You might email Alex directly or post the question within the PI support forum for details.

[Ainvar]

I have been using PI since ver 3.1 and love it. I do not know about the slow downs since I am considered a new user but I have over 1500+ contacts based over 20 categories with some sub categories based on either vendor names or the related technolgy they would fall under. I also love the way I can link them up with appointments. I have a mininum of 200+ appts in a given 7 day rolling period and I have activesync clear out my ppc ever 2 weeks. I do not get the slow downs I hear about. I use both a iPAQ 3835 and a Toshiba e550G. PI runs in the background all the time no matter what I am doing, working playing, listening to music, or watching a movie. I do not use the tasks much yet but I am trying to get into that to be more productive, more of a learning thing for me. When I do have to do a soft reset and I load PI for the first time I will say it takes PI to load 3-4 seconds on my Toshiba and 4-5 seconds on my iPAQ.

I love this program and have turned on a few of my co-workers onto this along with a few other programs that I use.

[Zensbikeshop]

I'll take huge speed improvements over added functionality anytime.

I stopped using Pocket Informant since version 3.2 (though I bought it twice: standalone and with my Pocket LOOX).

Waaaaaaay to slow. And comments here discourage me from trying version 3.4.

Nine seconds to boot up is waaaay more than what most people are willing to handle.

And since it's a powerhouse, I need to close it when I don't use it, thus making the launch process that more painful.

I get less comfort from Pocket Outlook, but booting it up is bareable; and I can switch it off and relaunch it so easily and FAAAAAAAST!!!

9 seconds really?

3.4 takes 4 on my 3970 (glad I chose it over a Loox now :wink: )

I think four seconds is acceptable, how long does Pocket Outlook take?

Also I leave it running all the time with no detrimental performance side effects.

Thanks

Zen

[fgarcia10]

I have tried AF before, but I always have some problems with it(tried in Jornada 565 and Toshiba 2032sp). Maybe those problems could have been fixed if I apllied to; but with PI I have not seen any of this problems.
PI perfomce very well for me, plus I like its features better, and is $10.00 cheaper than AF.

[jizmo]

Here's a hint:

Make it visually attractive. It's nice to have building blocks offered by operating system, but this looks just terrible.

If you don't have the money to hire someone, contact your local arts school. I bet some student would be deligted to have this on their resumé.

Bet it's a nice program, thought.

/jizmo

[cpoole]

I have used Pocket Informant for about 1.5 years. Some versions have been slower than others, other versions have offered a performance boost. The latest version is a little bit slower but the added functionality may be worth it.

I like the program because I can configure it to do what I want and the developers listen to the users.

It only take 3-4 seconds to start on my IPaq 3670... I have about 3-4 months of appointments and about 500 contacts. I never exit from the application. There are always 3 applications running on my IPaq... Pocket Informant, Pocket Diet Tracker and Palm Doc Reader. I find that I can easily run a additional game or media player without having to shut down any of the other applications.

[TMAN]

I have 3000+ appointments, 1000+ contacts, and 500+ tasks in my database. All of this data goes back 4-5 years (Don't ask why). PI is very slow for me.
I have around 1000 contacts as well, but I just need future appointments and tasks on my PocketPC. May I ask why you have the need to carry 4 or 5 year old stuff with you every day on a technology that wasn't even invented back then? Maybe using ActiveSync to cut down on that would make it way easier, with whatever program you use...

I am not real sure what you mean by a technology that wasn't invented back then. I have been using PDA's for more than 10 years since the good old Newton days and the king of the hill the HP LX Palmtop series. The data that I have is important to me. We all have to remember that the P in PDA and Pocket PC means Personal and the way the devices are used is going to be different from person to person.

I should not have to trim down my database to make an application run faster. Fast enough for someone else might be unbearably slow for another. I remember when AF was slow as molasses and had to trim down my database to get it to run fast enough so I switched back to PI for a time. D1 fixed the problem with huge data sets and now I am back with AF. When PI has a huge performance boost maybe I will load it again and give it a try. For the record I had 3.3 installed about a month ago.

As an aside, there was a discussion thread in the PI Forums discussing this issue at length. I believe that Alex had acknowledged the performance issue.

[rskoss]

I can't for the life of me figure out how to use this feature. Can somebody describe how to arrange tasks in a hierarchy or point me to a section of the manual that talks about this?

[Ed Hansberry]

I can't for the life of me figure out how to use this feature. Can somebody describe how to arrange tasks in a hierarchy or point me to a section of the manual that talks about this?

Drag-and-drop a subtask over the main task. It will then put it under and slightly to the right.

[Video11]

Pocket Informant Version 3.4.1 is Released.

Wow, the updates just keep on coming.

http://www.pocketinformant.com/WhatsNew.php?_function=3.4.1

Version 3.4 was just released on November 26 and already Alex has an update! I have never seen another software company provide updates the way that PI does. It's fantastic.