@LiborA thankyou for sending me these steps. I've tried on 3 emulators and one real device and I cannot reproduce this. It's likely I'll need to find another way to test for errors in the near future.
Hi! The app looks very promising, although I haven't been able to make it work with my own WebDav server because I don't have a signed certificate. Is there a way to ignore the certificate validation?
I use webdav. Can I open PDFs directl in Zotdroid? If I make changes in the PDFs in the Zotroid folder (downloaded from webdav) does it sync back to the webdav?
@ajacobo I've had a few people ask for self-signed. I'm tempted to add it but it's down on the list of priorities, because letsencrypt means no-one needs to use a self signed anymore.
@captcoma Sync back doesn't work. Making changes in the folder would be limited to filename changes (not very useful) or deletions, unless I came up with some kind of folder organisation. That might be something for a later date.
Hello all v0.81 is now out. I've added a few bug fixes and started to tighten things up a bit.
More importantly, you can now modify notes and sync these changes with the server.
I haven't added "add" or "delete" notes yet, mostly because I'm thinking about where to put all the various buttons and what not. The user-interface is getting a little full you see so I'm going to take a little time and see where things should go.
Finally, fingers crossed I've fixed the bug that @LiborA has.
Thanks for the advice! I installed a letsencrypt in my WebDav server and not it passes the test. Unfortunately I have the same problem that others report, after ZotDroid syncs the database for the first time it crashes, and it continues to do so when I restart it. I'm running ZotDroid 0.81 in a Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) with Android 5.1.1. I've tried saving the database both in the internal memory as well as in a SD card.
This version is working for me :) Unfortunately, it still does not find any author. I can find any word in title, but if I try my name the search result is empty.
And.... here is version 0.83! I have a few reports already and it appears there was some errors regarding conversion to integer types from bool with sqlite. Simple stuff really, but I should have put ACRA in a little earlier.
@LiborA I'll check again but the default search does look through author records. Is the authorname actually listed if you just scroll to the record in question?
Also, I'm getting close to what I feel would be a first release, but I think we need some better searching and the addition (as well as modification of notes). One other thing was selecting what order the entries should appear in. Aside from that, is there anything people would really like to see?
I tried to find name "Hoekstra". It is an author of document which I see on the first page in the list of items on the screen. But the output from the search is only document, which has "... response to Hoekstra..." in the title.
Ok so a new version is coming out very soon. I have a question for you all.
Say, you have opened a collection or done a search. You have a list of items that is quite long. If you were to order these items by author should:
a) the items with no authors should disappear from the list b) the items with no authors should appear at the start c) the items with no authors should do something else?
Hi Ben, I am not sure what is the best, but a) is wrong for me. A lot of records is without authors but they have title so it means that they are not items without parent items (metadata). Better for me looks disappear items without metadata. Cheers Libor
No problem! It's been an interesting and useful thing to do.
Now, the next version, 0.9 is out and I think, when it comes to initial functionality, I'm very close to finished. I'd like to make the next release the official, out of beta, 1.0 release.
So if there is anything ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL you want to see in the next release, do let me know. Ideally, I just want to do things like make a better logo, iron out all the bugs, tidy up the UX - all the small things basically.
I'll be selling future versions on the app store for probably $1 or $2 - some small fee. However, anyone here who has helped with the beta testing can get the basic version for free. I'll be putting up an apk you can get hold of.
It's funny - what seems a very simple application is actually quite hard. That's because sync is ALWAYS hard ;)
So yes, 0.9 beta is out now and I hope it fixes most of the problems.
Ah, I see. Looking into that, it's a feature I, personally, would never use so it never crossed my mind.
However, if it works the same way as other synced items, it may be possible to add, but it's perhaps out of scope for now. I'll need to look into it further.
:( In this case I see only about 60 % of my items. For a lot of people, the group libraries are the highest priority due to these libraries are the main tool for collaboration with other members of a team
I've tried using ZotDroid with a version downloaded last night (2017-12-27) from the Play Store (so I guess v. 0.9?). The initial sync took over 20 minutes (I understand this only happens once): my library contains about 5000 items (and I am not using WebDAV).
The most serious problem is that the app hangs whenever I try to use it "for real". These are the difficulties I experienced
1. Whenever I start ZotDroid it spends about 10 minutes "Initialising database". This is the case even if I close the app (i.e., if there was no crash immediately before).
2. When I scroll down (i.e., past the first 100 items) it hangs. I need to kill ZotDroid and I need to wait again for the initialization of the database.
3. When I try to move to a collection, it hangs. Again, I need to kill ZotDroid, restart, and wait for the initialization of the database.
4. Searching hangs ZotDroid. I enter a term, press OK, and ZotDroid hangs.
Greetings all! So I've been away for the xmas holidays and haven't been working on any projects for a little while. I'm back now so I'll start working hard to get this out and working fully.
@rdiaz02 thanks for all the feedback. I am surprised at the errors but it's good to catch them all now before we go live. I've got enough remote bug reports to take a look at so hopefully I can it fixed this coming week.
New version is out today, as a little new years present. @rdiaz02 this should fix some of the problems you have with a bit of luck.
0.91 should now be on the store.
I'm getting the clear message that Group Libraries is a thing people want. I've looked at it briefly and it doesn't seem too hard but where to put these libraries is a different thing! I might need another sliding drawer of some-kind. Really not too sure about how to go about it yet but I'll definitely add it.
So I spent all day working on Group Libraries. I think I have it but it's a big change so I suspect there will be bugs.
Shared collections appear as normal collections on the left hand drawer. My next step is to tidy this up and add some proper headings and group names. It's next on the list.
However I think the basics are there. 0.92 is the newest version.
Please let me know if there are any bugs. I'll keep improving it as best as I can. Do remember to uninstall the version you have installed already as there has been a database update.
Hi Ben, unfortunately Zoffile still crashes on me too often for it to be usable. I've sent through a couple of crash reports, hope that they're useful. Also on the usability front: not being able to duplicate my folder structure is a big problem. As I mentioned, I've been using Zotero for years now, so there are a lot of old projects that I keep in nested folders - current projects are in top level folders. Zotfile can't currently distinguish between top level and nested folders, and well, for me at least it's a mess. Haven't been able to check out the Group Folders functionality - except that I expect it will make the latter problem even more of one. Oh and happy new year!
Thanks @"Jon Rubin" I'll take a look at the crash logs. They've all been really helpful.
So I think I need your help really. Duplicating the folder structure is tricky. The reason? Logically, ZotDroid *does* respect the structure. The problem is the UX.
I'm totally open to suggestions. I have not seen a single Android App that allows for multiple level expandable lists. If you know of one then do let me know.
I am looking at this area next because I need to get titles for the group libraries in there as well so now is the time.
It *might* be possible to write a custom UX component for Android and use that. I'm totally with you - it needs improvement, but I'm tied by the API. The only other option I can think of is to come up with something totally different but I'm not sure what that would be.
I think we are close though :) If I can iron out the bugs I'll be happy.
Hi Ben, alas I'm no programmer, and I strongly suspect my ignorance is fueling my belief that collapsible lists must surely be easy! [but seriously, it's not a thing? - see, I just don't have enough knowledge to know how little I know :)]
Upgrade Storage
@captcoma Sync back doesn't work. Making changes in the folder would be limited to filename changes (not very useful) or deletions, unless I came up with some kind of folder organisation. That might be something for a later date.
v0.81 is now out. I've added a few bug fixes and started to tighten things up a bit.
More importantly, you can now modify notes and sync these changes with the server.
I haven't added "add" or "delete" notes yet, mostly because I'm thinking about where to put all the various buttons and what not. The user-interface is getting a little full you see so I'm going to take a little time and see where things should go.
Finally, fingers crossed I've fixed the bug that @LiborA has.
I'm running ZotDroid 0.81 in a Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) with Android 5.1.1. I've tried saving the database both in the internal memory as well as in a SD card.
So I've released version 0.82. The only difference here is that it will send error reports to my webserver.
For these interested in the data it sends, I am using the ACRA reporting library:
https://github.com/ACRA
This should get us a little closer to solving all these annoying bugs that I really need to squash!
Thankyou all for your patience! Android Dev is a tricky business! So many devices and versions!
Unfortunately, it still does not find any author. I can find any word in title, but if I try my name the search result is empty.
@LiborA I'll check again but the default search does look through author records. Is the authorname actually listed if you just scroll to the record in question?
Also, I'm getting close to what I feel would be a first release, but I think we need some better searching and the addition (as well as modification of notes). One other thing was selecting what order the entries should appear in. Aside from that, is there anything people would really like to see?
Say, you have opened a collection or done a search. You have a list of items that is quite long. If you were to order these items by author should:
a) the items with no authors should disappear from the list
b) the items with no authors should appear at the start
c) the items with no authors should do something else?
Cheers
Ben
Cheers Libor
Same, for me option a) seems strange. As far as i'm concerned, solution b) is totally good.
It may be not possible, but an option for the c) could be to sort the items with no authors using the first letter of the title.
Thank you so much for your work btw!
Now, the next version, 0.9 is out and I think, when it comes to initial functionality, I'm very close to finished. I'd like to make the next release the official, out of beta, 1.0 release.
So if there is anything ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL you want to see in the next release, do let me know. Ideally, I just want to do things like make a better logo, iron out all the bugs, tidy up the UX - all the small things basically.
I'll be selling future versions on the app store for probably $1 or $2 - some small fee. However, anyone here who has helped with the beta testing can get the basic version for free. I'll be putting up an apk you can get hold of.
It's funny - what seems a very simple application is actually quite hard. That's because sync is ALWAYS hard ;)
So yes, 0.9 beta is out now and I hope it fixes most of the problems.
However, if it works the same way as other synced items, it may be possible to add, but it's perhaps out of scope for now. I'll need to look into it further.
In this case I see only about 60 % of my items. For a lot of people, the group libraries are the highest priority due to these libraries are the main tool for collaboration with other members of a team
My main concern at the moment is that I'm running out of places to put things on the screen! I certainly don't want to clutter things too much.
I think these group collections might end up being just the same as normal collections, at least as far as this application is concerned.
The most serious problem is that the app hangs whenever I try to use it "for real". These are the difficulties I experienced
1. Whenever I start ZotDroid it spends about 10 minutes "Initialising database". This is the case even if I close the app (i.e., if there was no crash immediately before).
2. When I scroll down (i.e., past the first 100 items) it hangs. I need to kill ZotDroid and I need to wait again for the initialization of the database.
3. When I try to move to a collection, it hangs. Again, I need to kill ZotDroid, restart, and wait for the initialization of the database.
4. Searching hangs ZotDroid. I enter a term, press OK, and ZotDroid hangs.
Android version: 5.0.2
Hardware: BQ Edison 3 3G
Processor: Quadcore Cortex A7, 1.30 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Internal storage: 32 GB.
@rdiaz02 thanks for all the feedback. I am surprised at the errors but it's good to catch them all now before we go live. I've got enough remote bug reports to take a look at so hopefully I can it fixed this coming week.
Thanks, Tom
New version is out today, as a little new years present. @rdiaz02 this should fix some of the problems you have with a bit of luck.
0.91 should now be on the store.
I'm getting the clear message that Group Libraries is a thing people want. I've looked at it briefly and it doesn't seem too hard but where to put these libraries is a different thing! I might need another sliding drawer of some-kind. Really not too sure about how to go about it yet but I'll definitely add it.
So I spent all day working on Group Libraries. I think I have it but it's a big change so I suspect there will be bugs.
Shared collections appear as normal collections on the left hand drawer. My next step is to tidy this up and add some proper headings and group names. It's next on the list.
However I think the basics are there. 0.92 is the newest version.
Please let me know if there are any bugs. I'll keep improving it as best as I can. Do remember to uninstall the version you have installed already as there has been a database update.
Cheers
Ben
Also on the usability front: not being able to duplicate my folder structure is a big problem. As I mentioned, I've been using Zotero for years now, so there are a lot of old projects that I keep in nested folders - current projects are in top level folders. Zotfile can't currently distinguish between top level and nested folders, and well, for me at least it's a mess.
Haven't been able to check out the Group Folders functionality - except that I expect it will make the latter problem even more of one.
Oh and happy new year!
I'll take a look at the crash logs. They've all been really helpful.
So I think I need your help really. Duplicating the folder structure is tricky. The reason? Logically, ZotDroid *does* respect the structure. The problem is the UX.
I'm totally open to suggestions. I have not seen a single Android App that allows for multiple level expandable lists. If you know of one then do let me know.
I am looking at this area next because I need to get titles for the group libraries in there as well so now is the time.
It *might* be possible to write a custom UX component for Android and use that. I'm totally with you - it needs improvement, but I'm tied by the API. The only other option I can think of is to come up with something totally different but I'm not sure what that would be.
I think we are close though :) If I can iron out the bugs I'll be happy.
how about this:
https://www.journaldev.com/9942/android-expandablelistview-example-tutorial
happy to keep on testing