November 2010 Archives

Sente for iPad Preview: Sync

By Michael on November 29, 2010 2:41 PM | 2 Comments
This article is about one of the most important features in both Sente for iPad and desktop Sente: synchronization.

Strictly speaking, synchronization is nothing new in Sente for iPad.  It works the same way on the iPad as it does on desktop.  But that is also the big news: it works exactly the same way.  For example, this means:

  • You can have any number of copies of a synchronized library, located anywhere in the world (as long as they are on the Internet).  They do not need to be on the same local network.
  • All open, on-line copies of a library are automatically brought up to date within a few seconds of each edit; other copies are brought up to date the next time they are opened when the device is on-line.
  • Everything about references is synced, including notes, PDF highlighting, status changes, tags, etc.
  • Any copy can be edited even if the device on which it is stored is temporarily off-line.
  • There is no master copy that needs to be on-line for sync to work (the "master" is actually the data stored on our servers).
  • Each copy of a library can have different permissions (full edit, read-only, no access to PDFs, etc.).
  • Each copy can be set to download attachments only when called for by the user to minimize the space required by the library on devices with limited storage.  An Internet connection is required to obtain the attachment, but once downloaded it can be read off-line as normal.
In short, sync in Sente for iPad works the way synchronization should work.

In Sente, any library can be made into a synchronized library on desktop Sente using the File > Synchronization > Create Synchronized Copy command.  This first sends the current sync data for the library up to our servers, and then lets you create a synchronized copy that can be installed on your iPad or another computer.  This copy includes the information needed to access the sync data on our servers.  (It is not currently possible to create a synchronized library directly on the iPad.)

The most common use of synchronized libraries is when a single user owns multiple computers and/or iPads and wants their reference library (including PDFs) always to be up-to-date on each device.  When working with a synchronized library on your iPad, everything you do, like acquiring new references or annotating a PDF, is almost immediately reflected in all other copies of the library.  Read a PDF on the train ride to the office in the morning and your desktop library will be completely up-to-date before you get to the office.

There are a number of other common uses for synchronized libraries, including:

  • sharing a library across a lab, group or department, where some users have full edit permission while others might have restricted access;
  • using a shared library to distribute references and PDFs to a group of people; each user would drag a copy of new references from the shared, synchronized library into their private library for personal use;
  • maintain a public bibliography on a research topic; for example, you could post a read-only copy of your library for download on the web, where anyone interested in the subject could access it.

You can test sync now using desktop Sente and Sente Viewer for iPad.  Simply install a synchronized library on your iPad and watch edits flow from your desktop to your iPad within seconds.  Of course, when the full version is released, it will be possible to make changes on the iPad and you will see them flow from the iPad to the desktop or other iPads.

Sente for iPad Preview: Adding References

By Michael on November 28, 2010 11:39 AM | 1 Comment

I have already written about support for targeted browsing in Sente for iPad, which will be the way many people add references to their libraries, but there are some other methods that I would like to describe, including the ability to add books by providing only their ISBN value, or journal articles by providing only their DOI or PubMed ID.

If you click on the + icon at the top of the reference list, you will see the other options for adding references to the current library:

Add Ref, options
The New Blank Reference simply brings up a reference editor in which you can enter the citation data manually.

Add Ref by ID

The Lookup by DOI, ISBN, etc. option brings up the following screen, in which you can enter one of the common identifiers for a reference.  Depending on the type of the identifier, Sente will look in an appropriate on-line data source for the citation details and bring up the reference editor with the data filled our for you.  Just like in targeted browsing, you have the option of reviewing the data, making changes, and then adding it to your library, or canceling the process.

Here is what it looks like after searching for the ISBN value above:

Add Ref CMoS

I will discuss the Import option in a later post.



Sente for iPad Preview: Multiple Libraries

By Michael on November 26, 2010 2:59 PM | No Comments
In this installment of the series of articles previewing Sente for iPad, I would like to discuss the support for installing multiple libraries on any iPad.

As most will already know, Sente on the desktop lets you create any number of libraries and access any of them at any time.  This can be any combination of synchronized or non-synchronized libraries.  There are a number of reasons why you might want to maintain more than one library:

  • You might have several, non-overlapping areas of interest.  If it is rare that individual references are common to two areas of interest, and rare that references from more than one area would be cited in a single manuscript, then they may be best managed in separate libraries.
  • You have a very large reference collection, but rarely consult many of the papers.  In this case you might create a subset library to hold just your most consulted references.  All of your papers are close at hand, but by limiting the size of your main library, Sente will perform better on a day-to-day basis.
  • You want to share a subset of your papers with others.  Professors and others often want to make a reading list or other small collection of papers available for others to consult.  You can do this by creating a new, synchronized library that includes only the papers you want to share.  Your larger, complete library would remain your main collection, and when you want to add something to your shared library, you can just drag them from one to the other.
  • You are collaborating with others and sharing a single library for a specific project.  You still want to maintain your own personal library, but you want to be able to add to and modify the shared collection.
These are just a few reasons why you might want to work with more than one library.

On desktop Sente, new libraries can be created using the File > New Library command, or by simply placing a library you received from someone else on your computer and opening it.

Sente for iPad also supports multiple libraries.  These can be created directly on the iPad or installed using iTunes.  

Only one library can be open at a time on the iPad, but switching between libraries is quick: just tap on the Libraries entry in the source list and select the desired library from the list that will appear.  When you quit and restart Sente, the last opened library will be reopened automatically.

The screen shot below shows the contents of the Libraries list, with three libraries.  This is also where new libraries can be created.


Multiple Libraries.png

Sente for iPad Preview: Targeted Browsing

By Michael on November 24, 2010 1:10 PM | 2 Comments

As we approach the release of the full version of Sente for iPad, I am going to post a series of short articles describing some of the most important features of the new software.  I hope these brief introductions help everyone get a sense of the features of the new software before it makes its official appearance in the app store. (Before you ask... we are not sure exactly when it will appear in the store. We hope to see it there in the next two or three weeks.)


Like desktop Sente, Sente for iPad includes support for targeted browsing, the feature that lets you import references and PDFs into your library from many web sites with just a couple of taps.

The display in the embedded web browser looks just like the display on desktop; small target icons are added next to each reference that the software detects on a web page. References that Sente believes are already in your library will be shown with a Sente icon rather than a target icon.


Tapping on a target icon will cause Sente to download as many of the reference details as it can locate and then to display them for you in a popover window. Tapping on Add to Library will add the reference to your current library.



If you next click on a link to the full text PDF for the reference, Sente will give you the option of downloading the PDF and attaching it to your reference (or any other recently added reference).



And that's it. The new reference and PDF are in your library on your iPad, and on their way to any synchronized copies of the library anywhere else in the world.

If you subscribe to the RSS feed on this blog, you will see each of the preview posts as soon as they are available.

Do Not Put Sente Libraries on Dropbox!

By Michael on November 20, 2010 2:50 PM | 1 Comment
I have posted before recommending against the use of Dropbox with Sente, but I would like to strengthen our position on the use of Dropbox with Sente:

PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR SENTE LIBRARIES ON DROPBOX!

I have already described how Dropbox is great for file synchronization, but not for database synchronization.  Dropbox has no idea whether a database file is in a consistent state when it makes a copy.  This means that the copy it makes will often be corrupt.  This is a big problem and reason enough to keep your Sente libraries off Dropbox.

But it turns out that Dropbox creates other problems.  After quite a bit of time tracking down a problem for a customer (they were getting the "filename too long" error when trying to put their library on their iPad), we discovered that the user had been using Dropbox, and Dropbox had been quietly creating many copies of their searches (one every time there was a "conflict").  This library had over 1,000 extra search databases in the library file.  This caused a lot of trouble:

  • these searches took up a lot of disk space
  • these searches each had to be opened when the library was opened, which stretched a 10-second start-up time to well over three minutes
  • each time a conflict was found, the resulting filename got a lot longer, eventually becoming too long to be loaded onto the iPad.
In this case, deleting the Dropbox-created "conflict" files cleared up all these problems and the (now much quicker-to-open) library could be placed on the iPad.

So, please, please, do not use Dropbox to maintain copies of your Sente library on multiple machines.  Sente includes the best synchronization engine around -- use it!

Michael

Support for Microsoft Office 2011

By Michael on November 5, 2010 1:27 PM | 2 Comments
We are getting inquiries about when Sente 6 will be supporting Microsoft Office 2011, which was released last week.  We are working on this now and expect to release an update with support for Word 2011 before the end of November.

Michael

Sente for iPad: The Final Stretch

By Michael on November 1, 2010 4:42 PM | 11 Comments
Today we distributed to our testers the first preview version of Sente for iPad that includes PDF annotation.  This is the last big feature to be added prior to release.  We are currently making some changes to the desktop version of Sente that are needed before we can release the full version of the iPad app.

So, we are finally in the last stages of creating the full version of Sente for iPad!

It will take us a few more weeks to wrap up the desktop version and complete some final details on the iPad app, but our list of tasks is starting to look short.  We had certainly hoped to release the app much earlier than this, but we are very pleased with the results and we think many people will like it.

And we hope you find it worth the wait!

Michael

p.s. A small tease prior to the official release... In Sente for iPad, highlighting in PDFs is synchronized just as immediately and transparently as is other editing.  In the current desktop version, highlighting is not synced until the single-reference tab in which the PDF is being edited is closed.  In the new version, the highlighting on each passage is synchronized immediately in all other copies of the library as soon as it is created.  This means that other users who happen to be looking at the same PDF anywhere else on the Internet (or even across the table in the same meeting!) will see the highlighting within seconds. We think it is pretty cool.




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