Topic: Managing Office Files and Other Documents (Read 11714 times)

IanG · « **on:** June 03, 2004, 06:57:52 am »

Quote from: JimH on June 01, 2004, 07:15:19 pm

3. We'll add document handling so that you can manage and tag files like .doc or .html. This will probably be a different product. You won't have to take it if you don't want it.

I'm already using MC to manage MS office files etc - do you need any early beta testers?

Ian G.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** June 03, 2004, 08:51:42 am »

Ian,
I split this post from the sod and shtum thread. Can you describe what you're doing? And what you'd like? It would be helpful for us.

Thanks,

Jim

IanG · « **Reply #2 on:** June 03, 2004, 10:01:46 am »

Jim - thanks for your interest!

Typically I'm working on a number of projects / tasks at a time. Each of those projects will have a number of documents (MS Office, drawings etc) associated with it - some of them unique, some of them shared.

For each project I create a playlist, populate it with the associated files and define the fields I want displayed e.g. document name, ID, comments (it was the ability to put comments against a file that started me on this). I also use MC to select pictures which I paste into ppt presentations.

What would I like for Christmas? In no particular order:-

Define arbitrary file types for import
Display thumbnails of those file types (via OLE?)
Create playlists from templates - predefine the fields to be displayed
Allow scoping of db fields e.g. a comment might be applicable to a document in all playlists, another might only apply in one
Have double left click start document in default editor (please!!)
Have mouse over display comment (or defined) fields in a box (like the current behaviour, but more document oriented)
Allow placeholders for documents that haven't been created yet
Treat URLs as documents

I can probably come up with more - but these are all things I've wished for at some point.

Ian G.

IanG · « **Reply #3 on:** June 03, 2004, 10:34:18 am »

A couple more wishes:-

Add mouse over comments to playlists
Some sort of reminder / to do facility

Ian G.

Jaguu · « **Reply #4 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:00:07 am »

Adding a few more things I would like to have:

1) Basic asset: being able to replace Windows Explorer
2) Function "New Document" for Office files, which opens an empty Word, Excel etc. document. It should include default tags such as "author", "title" etc. that can be defined in a tag template, so that I do not need to tag every new document by hand
3) Of course: Doubleclicking or even singleclicking to openi an existing document in Word, Excel etc.
4) Import of documents should also import any existing tags that already exist in Office files (Author etc.).
5) Default Office tags should be predefined in MC, if no tags exists in the document
6) Autoimport of new documents. If I save an Outlook attachement to a folder, MC should detect any new documents at startup and auto-import them. This has also been asked many times for audio and image files.
7) A Play button to directly start a Power-Point slideshow.
8 ) Also I do not want to tag all my existing Office files by hand, but would like that tags would be imported reflecting the current directory structure such as: if file X is in folder projects/xp-rollout/planning I would like to have automatically tags such as category=projects, topic=xp-rollout, subtopic=planning, name=X
9) Support for zipped files, tagging inside zip files

It would make browsing documents much more agreeable. I think there is more to come, anyway I do not think we need a whole document management system

Probably doubleclick to open a document and new document would be good features to start with.

bjsolem · « **Reply #5 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:18:47 am »

Treating URLs as docs would be sweet. I suppose it could be done with urls shortcuts right now though.

Auto populating based on document attributes seems like a no brainer if you are going to claim doc organization as a feature.

Couldn't a lot of what has been described in this thread be done currently with view schemes etc.?

Something like this:

Create a new field called Project. Put it in the first column of the panes of a view scheme. Start assigning documents to projects like: taxes, school paper, etc.

Then you would be able to view all the docs in a project and don't have to mess around with a playlist.

I'm not trying to sound critical, I just don't do this, yet, and want to understand how people are using it.

Tolga · « **Reply #6 on:** June 03, 2004, 02:39:54 pm »

Quote from: Jaguu on June 03, 2004, 11:00:07 am

Adding a few more things I would like to have:

1) Basic asset: being able to replace Windows Explorer
4) Import of documents should also import any existing tags that already exist in Office files (Author etc.).
5) Default Office tags should be predefined in MC, if no tags exists in the document

I also use MC to organize papers in PDF. The ones above are the most important ones for me. I also would like to have a way to preview the tags. (just like in playing now ) This is probably a good idea for MC in general. No, tooltips are not sufficient, neither the tags view in action window. It would be a readonly, customizeable free format pane (ie.html).

To replace explorer, I think the most important property is the ability to have multiple instances of MC (or at least MC Explorer windows), so that we can drag and drop between them, cause I hate explorer trees.

phreaktweak · « **Reply #7 on:** June 03, 2004, 04:45:42 pm »

IanG,
How have you managed to get MC to be associated with these file types so that when you double-click a file in MC, it opens the file instead of prompting [me] to select files to play?

Thanks!

Valissystem · « **Reply #8 on:** June 03, 2004, 05:15:15 pm »

Wow!!
Where did this come from.

I've been looking for something more generically these lines for quite a long time too (in fact I have mentioned it once or twice in the past on this forum).

For me, tagging or some sort of Databased file management system is essential and long overdue for someone to work on. Media Center's current features are already the most advanced I have seen in this direction (well of easily available products) - even although it is only aimed currently at managing media. File management is the number one problem on the desktop today. The huge expansion of available disk space, as meant that the techniques of file management (which basically haven't changed significantly for a long time) are now basically incapable of handling the large store of information that it is possible to collect.

The most important thing is that flexibility of what other tool to run on a file type. Ideally for me (based on the Media Center framework), would in the Action Window area, a set of clickable buttons with icons (that contexturally change depending on what file(s) are highlited in the main window) that give the choice of what tool to run. In this context a "tool" could be whatever external program is the default for opening the file type, but hopefully also allow scripts to be run written in some usefully flexible scripting language (by this I mean something explicitly more flexible than a batch file, or VBScript - preferably a choice of Perl or Python or some other industrial grade scripting language (Unix shell perhaps)).

Just some thoughts.

IanG · « **Reply #9 on:** June 03, 2004, 05:24:05 pm »

Quote from: phreaktweak on June 03, 2004, 04:45:42 pm

IanG,
How have you managed to get MC to be associated with these file types so that when you double-click a file in MC, it opens the file instead of prompting [me] to select files to play?

Thanks!

I haven't - that's on my wish list! In fairness to MC, the right click / default editor route isn't too bad, but I'm used to double clicking!

Ian G.

urlwolf · « **Reply #10 on:** June 03, 2004, 07:53:59 pm »

managing pdf papers in a database similar to MC would be a godsend. I use endNote, which is nice. However, one has to link manually the pdf to the endNote entry. If endNote evolves so it does that mapping automatically, that would be great. If MC enters the territory of endNote, that would be great too.

JimH · « **Reply #11 on:** June 03, 2004, 08:11:51 pm »

Quote from: IanG on June 03, 2004, 05:24:05 pm

Quote from: phreaktweak on June 03, 2004, 04:45:42 pm
IanG,
How have you managed to get MC to be associated with these file types so that when you double-click a file in MC, it opens the file instead of prompting [me] to select files to play?

Thanks!

I haven't - that's on my wish list! In fairness to MC, the right click / default editor route isn't too bad, but I'm used to double clicking!

Ian G.

Double click is on the way. Soon.

Thanks for your great list (and for other great suggestions).

This is Job 1 now.

Jim

JimH · « **Reply #12 on:** June 03, 2004, 08:27:40 pm »

I'm going to break a couple of rules about software development and share a draft description for what we have in mind.

It will be based on MC. It may or may not include media file management.
The price will be significantly higher than MC.

Comments are welcome. Feel free to add or subtract.

Thanks,

Jim

-----------------

Breakthrough products
Every once in a while, a product comes along that changes the way we work. Word processors made the typewriter obsolete. Spreadsheets did away with adding machines. E-mail replaced letters.

File organization
Most Windows users have become familiar with Explorer. It's used to find files, copy them, delete them, rearrange them, etc.

The problem it doesn't solve is management of thousands of files, so many files that it's impossible to remember what's there or where it is. It's also tedious to "drill down" into directory after directory in hopes of finding the right directory and the right file.

File Cruiser
A new application called File Cruiser, promises to deliver files faster, with some of the fun normally found in games. Searches return instant results, as you type. Find all the files that contain the word, "breakthrough", for example, and open them with a double click. Group files together or play in a list -- without moving them. View files by any imaginable or customizable criteria (author, subject, day of the month, etc.)

File Cruiser makes file management fun, but it also packs the functional punch to change the way we work.

bjsolem · « **Reply #13 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:00:05 pm »

WOW!

Not only does J River Rock, you guys Rock AND Roll!

This sounds very cool and very, very powerful.

As if you didn't have enough going on these days.

Everything you said about explorer is too true.

If this could work on a large corporate network with the kind of stability and robustness that a large enterprise demands, you would have the corporate market beating down your door. Not sure if you are including searching of network drives or not.

At my corporation, it takes a ton of time to track down documentation for projects.

Imagine if projects at corporations could have playlists of standard documentation. The panes view would be a hugely powerful way to organize documents.

I am in software development and trying to track down all the documentation for a system that needs modification/updating/replacement is a real pain. If everything had a master attribute (system name) and required sub attributes (job flow, program spec, design document, etc.) it would be much easier.

We have something that is supposed to be doing this now but there is no attempt to make everything on the network part of it and it is not being used by many people.

Other corporate level ideas that might be useful to individual users:
-Protected fields that could only have new entries added by certain users
-Sharable view schemes, create a playlist/smartlist/view scheme and make it sharable to others on the network. These would be able to be locked or user changeable on their local box
-Network level probably implies some sort of centralized server(s) that would have the libraries
-Document protection, editable/non-editable document
-Ability to add new document types to the double click to open configuration.
-Have a field that automatically reads the file extension and displays the creator application
-Field that would provide for large text block for executive summary of large document
-Views that allowed a field to display multi lines of text for executive summary and other types of large text blocks (example: excel text wrap)
-Some type of reporting to show who, when, how many times doc has been accessed
-Version Tracking/Retention (probably beyond scope)
-Quick view of most common doc types, perhaps user configurable to add new apps, so doc doesn't have to be Opened to be viewed, much like image files in the action window.
-Configurable Action Window, tool set, so tools can be turned off/on based on user access level
-Check in/Check out of documents to prevent duplicate simultaneous changes
-Document ownership - contact john doe or group x for modifications to this document
-Robust tie to email
-Document status - Complete/Pending Approval/In Edit/Draft etc. with triggers based on status - when complete make read only for example.

I have no idea if you are thinking of a corp level application, but some of the other posts and JimH's draft doc got my mind racing along those lines.

IanG · « **Reply #14 on:** June 04, 2004, 02:52:27 am »

Quote from: JimH on June 03, 2004, 08:27:40 pm

It will be based on MC. It may or may not include media file management.
The price will be significantly higher than MC.

I think some basic media file management would be a good thing (e.g. for creating presentations) but not the full functionality of MC.

On the marketing side, you might want to mention "knowledge management", and "paradigm shift" is a must if you're going to appear cool, hip and trendy

Ian G.

Jaguu · « **Reply #15 on:** June 04, 2004, 04:20:03 am »

I like the term "File Cruiser" and I would stress on the fun and innovation of using the tool rather than such dry terms as "knowledge management". By the way, just by storing a couple of files on disk does not necessarily mean that we manage knowledge!

JimH · « **Reply #16 on:** June 04, 2004, 07:33:56 am »

Quote from: bjsolem on June 03, 2004, 11:00:05 pm

I have no idea if you are thinking of a corp level application, but some of the other posts and JimH's draft doc got my mind racing along those lines.

You're correct that we're thinking business as well as consumer.

bebop · « **Reply #17 on:** June 04, 2004, 11:24:37 am »

This just keeps getting better and better! I love this idea, even though I don't use my doc program on a daily basis. would you be able to sync docs to your handheld - here's I'm thinking PDA/cel ? this would be an assett. Currently I use Doc's to Go to sync my Works stuff to my kyicera (uses a palm os) so that I have a current med file on board as well as any pertinent travel docs. Not having to switch between programs is a real plus for me!!

Bet

Jaguu · « **Reply #18 on:** June 04, 2004, 11:30:10 am »

Well I support synching of files and tags between pc and notebook, not only for this yet to be born file cruiser but also in a next MC10.1 release!

Tolga · « **Reply #19 on:** June 04, 2004, 04:47:07 pm »

Quote from: JimH on June 03, 2004, 08:27:40 pm

I'm going to break a couple of rules about software development and share a draft description for what we have in mind.

It will be based on MC. It may or may not include media file management.
The price will be significantly higher than MC.

Comments are welcome. Feel free to add or subtract.

Thanks,

Jim

-----------------

Breakthrough products
Every once in a while, a product comes along that changes the way we work. Word processors made the typewriter obsolete. Spreadsheets did away with adding machines. E-mail replaced letters.

File organization
Most Windows users have become familiar with Explorer. It's used to find files, copy them, delete them, rearrange them, etc.

The problem it doesn't solve is management of thousands of files, so many files that it's impossible to remember what's there or where it is. It's also tedious to "drill down" into directory after directory in hopes of finding the right directory and the right file.

File Cruiser
A new application called File Cruiser, promises to deliver files faster, with some of the fun normally found in games. Searches return instant results, as you type. Find all the files that contain the word, "breakthrough", for example, and open them with a double click. Group files together or play in a list -- without moving them. View files by any imaginable or customizable criteria (author, subject, day of the month, etc.)

File Cruiser makes file management fun, but it also packs the functional punch to change the way we work.

Wow, that is exactly what I have been imagining since you have first introduced the new browser in 9.1. I just wasn't sure that MC algorithms could deal with so many-many files. (but right, CPUs are getting better too). I hope you will replace outlook one day too. So long Outlook Search folders, long live JR Email Cruiser!

JimH · « **Reply #20 on:** June 04, 2004, 08:20:19 pm »

Children,
Don't try this at home.

It's broken in several ways (dates aren't right yet), but it will give you a good idea of what will come next.

[from Matt's e-mail to me late this afternoon]

I've uploaded a test version of Media Center 11 here:
ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/music/tmp/Temp1103.dat

Rename it to exe and install it. The library format hasn't changed, so don't worry about that.

Right-click Media Library -> Reset All View Schemes to get data views.

Import will list data file types. Double-click will view them. Some tagging is imported.

It's your call if you want to publish this on Interact.

Matt

Cmagic · « **Reply #21 on:** June 05, 2004, 02:21:23 am »

Hi folks,

Just came across this thread and this is interesting.
In fact I already tried my luck at managing various files with MC. The kind of files I tried to manage were office files, pfd, rtf, and some source codes (.c, .cpp, .vhd, etc..).
What I wanted was several views : one by projects, one by doc type, one by dates and in this field MC is great. Well, althougth the date display would certainly need more flexibility.
What would be nice to have apart from others have already stated:
- some abiliry to manage different versions of files (kindof light CVS ?)
- ability to add images to any file type (could be nice to have all file from the same project bearing the project's logo)

I also tried to use MC to manage a collection of scientific articles (as pdf files) to setup a bibliographic database. I added the following fields (author, title, journal, issue number, pages, type (article, book, thesis..), affiliation (Caltech, MIT...), etc..).
- What would be nice for this usage would be the ability to create a character string (like [Author] - [Affiliation] - [Title] - [journal] - [pages] - [year]) that could be copied to the clipboard and thus inserted as a reference in a text being edited. See what I mean ?

I guess many more suggestions and comments will flow as the development progresses.

Hey, BTW, I tried temp1103 and, wow, I have been promoted as an artist for the doc files I authored !! I might get the next literature nobel prize, who knows ?
Thanks Matt

!

In the meantime have a great week-end,

Christian

Jaguu · « **Reply #22 on:** June 05, 2004, 04:37:25 am »

Hi JimH and Matt,

great work! Had a quick look at 11003! It looks very promising! This will be a real Quick Win for you as with probably moderate effort you can open up a totally new market for MC11 by challenging the wide area of explorer like products.

So let me report the first feature request for 11003:

If the title tag in a office document is empty, Name should probably be filled with the filename as default!

He! He! I think I was the first one on this forum to make the suggestion of adding the handling of documents! So you did definitely listen to me

Jaguu · « **Reply #23 on:** June 05, 2004, 05:58:40 am »

One of the big challenges I see with document handling is the "last modification date".

Let us assume that MC will autoimport and autotag documents. Then the "last modification date" will change to the time of the current change and I will loose all the real last modification dates.

So far I noticed that the documents opened adjusted the last modification date to today's date although nothing was changed or saved in the document itself.

This might be really tricky! For media files this was not a big problem as we usually do not care so much about the last modification date, but with documents it is another story.

JimH · « **Reply #24 on:** June 05, 2004, 07:41:48 am »

Quote from: Jaguu on June 05, 2004, 04:37:25 am

I think I was the first one on this forum to make the suggestion of adding the handling of documents! So you did definitely listen to me

Yes, it's true, and we owe you a big "Thank you!". You mentioned it several times and it must have crept into my subconscious.

I think it's worth noting that Christian was also ahead of me in exploring this territory. Not surprising at all.

urlwolf · « **Reply #25 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:30:57 am »

Quote from: Cmagic on June 05, 2004, 02:21:23 am

I also tried to use MC to manage a collection of scientific articles (as pdf files) to setup a bibliographic database. I added the following fields (author, title, journal, issue number, pages, type (article, book, thesis..), affiliation (Caltech, MIT...), etc..).
- What would be nice for this usage would be the ability to create a character string (like [Author] - [Affiliation] - [Title] - [journal] - [pages] - [year]) that could be copied to the clipboard and thus inserted as a reference in a text being edited. See what I mean ?

This is exactly what endNote does! So it seems that it is not that difficult to duplicate that functionality. Add some templates for output (example, some journals like the year at the end, other like the year as the second field, etc), and you have a powerful competitor.

It would be ideal to 'attach' those tags to the pdf itself, but I don't know if that's possible. That way, it would be easier to share the effort of tagging the whole lot of articles that are floating around. Is that technically possible? Does someone know the pdf format well enough to tell?

hit_ny · « **Reply #26 on:** June 05, 2004, 01:58:26 pm »

Quote

It would be ideal to 'attach' those tags to the pdf itself, but I don't know if that's possible. That way, it would be easier to share the effort of tagging the whole lot of articles that are floating around. Is that technically possible? Does someone know the pdf format well enough to tell?

I'm guessing it would initially store the tags in the library only.

Given the vast number of diff media out there and a certain company being notorious *cough* M$ , for not revealing the proprietary format in which their documents are structured.

I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of MC being used to organise documents. I guess with panes, smartlists etc one can manage enormous amounts of audio, the same should apply for other documents as well.

Dbl-clicking would make it easier for sure.

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** June 05, 2004, 02:27:20 pm »

Quote from: hit_ny on June 05, 2004, 01:58:26 pm

Dbl-clicking would make it easier for sure.

Double click works in the stealth version above.

IanG · « **Reply #28 on:** June 05, 2004, 05:31:30 pm »

Quote from: hit_ny on June 05, 2004, 01:58:26 pm

I'm guessing it would initially store the tags in the library only.

Given the vast number of diff media out there and a certain company being notorious *cough* M$ , for not revealing the proprietary format in which their documents are structured.

I think storing tag data externaly is the only practical way to go - there needs to be support for arbitrary file types. Support for distributed work groups will probably be needed too, which could use something like the Media Server / library approach.

Ian G.

IlPadrino · « **Reply #29 on:** June 05, 2004, 08:08:20 pm »

Quote from: JimH on June 05, 2004, 02:27:20 pm

Quote from: hit_ny on June 05, 2004, 01:58:26 pm
Dbl-clicking would make it easier for sure.
Double click works in the stealth version above.

I thought I'd give this a try as I'm interested in the "document management system" aspect. But double-click doesn't work for me - I get the "Please select file(s) to play" error dialog.

Am I missing something simple?

JimH · « **Reply #30 on:** June 05, 2004, 09:43:28 pm »

Is there a Windows file association for the file type you double clicked on?

IlPadrino · « **Reply #31 on:** June 06, 2004, 12:59:56 am »

Quote from: JimH on June 05, 2004, 09:43:28 pm

Is there a Windows file association for the file type you double clicked on?

Yeah... in Windows Explorer, double-click works just as expected. And "Send To -> Default Editor" properly opens the file.

Matt · « **Reply #32 on:** June 06, 2004, 01:02:59 am »

Quote

I thought I'd give this a try as I'm interested in the "document management system" aspect. But double-click doesn't work for me - I get the "Please select file(s) to play" error dialog.

Am I missing something simple?

Make sure it says "11.0.3" in the About box. If it doesn't, the test build didn't install properly.

Also, try a few other file types, and maybe try switching your double-click mode in "Options".

If nothing works, post your system info. Thanks.

IlPadrino · « **Reply #33 on:** June 06, 2004, 01:12:00 am »

Quote from: Matt on June 06, 2004, 01:02:59 am

Quote
I thought I'd give this a try as I'm interested in the "document management system" aspect. But double-click doesn't work for me - I get the "Please select file(s) to play" error dialog.

Am I missing something simple?

Make sure it says "11.0.3" in the About box. If it doesn't, the test build didn't install properly.

Also, try a few other file types, and maybe try switching your double-click mode in "Options".

If nothing works, post your system info. Thanks.

11.0.3 seems to be installed just fine. I thought about the double-click options, but there doesn't seem to be anything appropriate - it's all play-centric.

Here's my system info:

Media Center Registered 11.0.3 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2392 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 522 MB, Free - 99 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1400 / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping / Drive F: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive G: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive H: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive I: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive V: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive W: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive X: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive Y: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive Z: Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: No / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / Drive F: ATAPI CD-RW 52X24 Addr: 0:1:0 Speed:24 MaxSpeed:52 BurnProof:Yes
Drive G: DVDRW IDE1008 Addr: 3:1:0 Speed:40 MaxSpeed:40 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: No / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

Thanks for the help...

matshif · « **Reply #34 on:** June 06, 2004, 02:08:17 am »

Is it possible to test 11.0.3 and after that going back to 10.0.145 without problems?

IanG · « **Reply #35 on:** June 06, 2004, 02:26:25 am »

Quote from: matshif on June 06, 2004, 02:08:17 am

Is it possible to test 11.0.3 and after that going back to 10.0.145 without problems?

11.0.3 adds library entries for additional file types - they're still visible when you go back to v10. If that's a problem you could backup the library before installing 11, but I take the view that any beta release can go horribly wrong - Jim did warn us!

Ian G.

ethomp · « **Reply #36 on:** June 06, 2004, 02:41:01 am »

I haven't played with it yet, so I might be talking about stuff already there. There are a couple of features required before I shelled out the bucks.

Full text indexing of DOC, WPD, RTF, XLS, PPT, PDF, TXT, HTML and I'm sure some others that elude my memory at the moment.
The ability to determine the file type independent of the extension.

MC has tamed my media collection, especially my audio collection. One of the ways it's done that is by reading tags already in the files and allowing me to search those tags as well as the file name, etc. The same type of functionality would be required for documents. It doesn't help me if I have to tag every file myself.

I love MC and would certainly be interested in something equally as fantastic for other types of documents. However, my work pattern is search based of pre-indexed information instead of browsing for it. I search all my E-mail rather than organizing it into folders (using Bloomba, not Outlook). I search my contacts. I search my media library. I'd love a similar product for other file types (I know they exist, but I haven't found a decent one yet).

I look forward to monitoring this product's evolution.

IanG · « **Reply #37 on:** June 07, 2004, 05:47:12 am »

Quote from: Jaguu on June 04, 2004, 04:20:03 am

I like the term "File Cruiser" and I would stress on the fun and innovation of using the tool rather than such dry terms as "knowledge management".

I'm a big fan of "fun" too, but I doubt if it features in many corporate buyers' requirement specs

Quote from: Jaguu on June 04, 2004, 04:20:03 am

By the way, just by storing a couple of files on disk does not necessarily mean that we manage knowledge!

Too true!!

Ian G.

lee269 · « **Reply #38 on:** June 07, 2004, 12:45:00 pm »

I thought of FileCruiser today when I read this. Not exactly the same concept, but it seems Google et al are looking at the search/index market too.

Cmagic · « **Reply #39 on:** June 08, 2004, 01:24:39 pm »

Hi Jim and Matt,

One thing crossed my mind today at the lab while I was working on some documents for an ongoing project.
I find myself organizing all my work stuff not by document types but rather by projects or activities.
I think I read somewhere that a possible "FileCruiser" release would not include the current MC media features. That would be a big mistake IMHO since most of the projects/activities I'm working with include pdf, doc, ppt, xls but also jpeg images, avi, mp2 videos and mp3 voice transcripts of important meetings ! There are more & more multimedia contents in todays businesses.
So in my view, documents management is just a logical extension to MC abilities for multimedia files so that it can be useful in nowadays business / scientific activities.

Anyway just a thought after a rather hot day in Paris.
Having a cold Leffe beer right now and relaxing..

Ciao all,

C.

IlPadrino · « **Reply #40 on:** June 08, 2004, 03:31:36 pm »

Quote from: IlPadrino on June 05, 2004, 08:08:20 pm

Quote from: JimH on June 05, 2004, 02:27:20 pm
Quote from: hit_ny on June 05, 2004, 01:58:26 pm
Dbl-clicking would make it easier for sure.
Double click works in the stealth version above.

I thought I'd give this a try as I'm interested in the "document management system" aspect. But double-click doesn't work for me - I get the "Please select file(s) to play" error dialog.

Am I missing something simple?

Bump.

bjsolem · « **Reply #41 on:** June 08, 2004, 03:34:29 pm »

Quote from: Cmagic on June 08, 2004, 01:24:39 pm

I find myself organizing all my work stuff not by document types but rather by projects or activities.
I think I read somewhere that a possible "FileCruiser" release would not include the current MC media features. That would be a big mistake IMHO since most of the projects/activities I'm working with include pdf, doc, ppt, xls but also jpeg images, avi, mp2 videos and mp3 voice transcripts of important meetings ! There are more & more multimedia contents in todays businesses.
So in my view, documents management is just a logical extension to MC abilities for multimedia files so that it can be useful in nowadays business / scientific activities.

Yes. This seperation between 'work' type docs and media files is fading away.

An MC without doc management might make some sense, but a doc manager without MC features (playback etc.) does not make sense.

Not sure where your thoughts are of course, just trying to clarify.

Cmagic · « **Reply #42 on:** June 08, 2004, 03:47:13 pm »

Hi,

Quote from: bjsolem on June 08, 2004, 03:34:29 pm

An MC without doc management might make some sense, but a doc manager without MC features (playback etc.) does not make sense.

Not sure where your thoughts are of course, just trying to clarify.

Absolutely right bjsolem. A media exclusive version of MC - well MC as it is - does make sense. When, IMHO, a doc-able version of MC without multimedia abilities would'nt make sense with the kind of documents we tend to manage in modern projects.

--
Listening to: 'Sit This One Out' from 'Don't Give Up On Me' by 'Solomon Burke' on Media Center 10

cascius · « **Reply #43 on:** June 08, 2004, 04:30:55 pm »

Here are some suggestions to the tree view and pane:

- Preview pane would be great.
- Some more user friendly/customizable List views would be great.

Check out this screenshot for suggestions: (Red text = comments)
http://members.aol.com/safew/mc11.gif [changed to link by JimH because of image size]

Thanks,

-Cascius

PS: Sorry for the large screenshot but it was necessary to better illustrate my suggestions.

Valissystem · « **Reply #44 on:** June 08, 2004, 11:57:41 pm »

Hi there,

I've been trying the stealth 1103. Very good start (well not surprising as MC has such a good basic framework anyway).

So some more of the features already mentioned here would be great as well as perhaps some more control over which fields get used for what. It's a little wierd to have document authors imported into "Artist" field for example, however I do appreciate that semantically that is the best fit.

Perhaps the mode extension that MC has could be extended so that fields have a different displayed name in different modes. That could be a reasonable way - or else, importation of meta information should be controllable as to where and how they get imported.

Some more control over "removable" sources also would be handy for managing information about backed-up files.

What are really cool start. How are you going to progress this?

Cheers,
John

JimH · « **Reply #45 on:** June 09, 2004, 09:20:43 am »

Christian, bjsolem, and others,
We haven't made a decision on what mix of doc and media file support each product should have. It helpsa lot to have your feedback. Thanks.

Ideally, we'd like to put out more specific sub-versions of what we're doing (image only or music only, for example), but it gets messy to do.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we're still thinking...

Wishing it were time for a cool soizante-cent soizante-quatre.

Jim

bjsolem · « **Reply #46 on:** June 09, 2004, 10:38:54 am »

Quote from: JimH on June 09, 2004, 09:20:43 am

Wishing it were time for a cool soizante-cent soizante-quatre.

Google can't translate this....... and my french (??) is all but forgotten....

Thanks for letting us in on your process, it's always fun to conribute to something great.

Have I mentioned that J River rocks?

lee269 · « **Reply #47 on:** June 09, 2004, 11:10:00 am »

Ill try, although my French is useless. I think it should be seize-cent soixante-quatre, ie 1664.

A nice cold bottle of Kronenbourg 1664 would slip down nicely right now.

JimH · « **Reply #48 on:** June 09, 2004, 11:12:55 am »

Thanks for the vocabulary check. My French is bad, as Christian can verify, but that doesn't stop me if I have a beer or two.

Valissystem · « **Reply #49 on:** June 09, 2004, 05:00:29 pm »

Ohh, yes. Probably my favourite international beer. :-)

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Author Topic: Managing Office Files and Other Documents (Read 11714 times)