Feedback needed

[enjetek]

Hi,

I created a program to help track various parameters required for successful tanks. The program is free but could you please post feedback (e-mail/this post/pms) about anything related to it so that it can be improved? It can be found at my username with .com added to the end of it and it is under the downloads section.

Thanks

 

[returnofsid]

I've downloaded the software, to try it out, and it does look pretty useful. I do have a couple of comments...

1. The Alk seems to be measured in dkH only, with no meq/l option. Also, the Alk reading cannot be entered, with a decimal point, so you can enter 9, but cannot enter 9.3. From what I've experienced, Alk is much more commonly reported, in meq/l than in dkH, so an option to enter it both ways would be very useful, along with allowing a decimal point.

2. Magnesium definitely needs to be added, as a element to report.

3. I unchecked parameters that I don't want to report, such as Iodine, Ammonia, etc. However, they still show up.

4. It'd be nice to be able to record parameters and graphs for multiple tanks. I currently have 3 tanks going, so at this point, I'd have to chose which one I want to record.

That's all I've got, for now...lol.

 

[enjetek]

Thanks! That's the type of feedback I need since I have only kept fowlr tanks. I will add those suggestions ASAP. Also the info about the buggy graphing is important too.

Mike

 

[returnofsid]

Ahhh the Calcium only wants to accept numbers, in 20 ppm increments. If possible, allowing the user to enter exact numbers, instead of choosing from the offered numbers, would be great, for all of the parameters. As it's set now, you have to choose numbers by using the up/down arrow and accepting the numbers given, instead of being able to actually type in the numbers.

 

[returnofsid]

LOL So once you've implemented changes, will a new download be needed or will there be a download update option?

 

[enjetek]

Thanks for the extra feedback. I restricted user input since I didn't want to have to validate input but I suppose I will add that in since I had an idea that that is what users would want and your request just affirms that. I was also, coincidentally, looking into adding an auto update feature a couple days ago instead of requiring a user to download the whole compressed file. I guess it's time to actually implement that feature. Thanks again!


Mike

 

[returnofsid]

Shoot, so I'll have to download the newest version, to get the Auto Update feature...lol. Oh well! Let me know when I should do that, please.

 

[returnofsid]

Quick question, that I feel needs to be asked in public, instead of PMs. While this does appear to be great software, and your offering it for free is also wonderful, the members of R2R must be protected from people using them to improve a product and then charging for that product. I hope you understand the need to ask this question, in public.

I completely understand you looking for feedback, of this software, on reef related forums and personally, I'm more than happy to provide that feedback. However, I must ask, once you've listened to and learned from the feedback, tweeking your software, to make it better, do you plan to continue to offer it, completely free of charge? Do you also plan to continue allowing users to redistribute it and allowing developers to modify it, according to GNU?

So far, I've been messing with the software a bit, and I definitely see potential for a useful tool!

 

[enjetek]

Thanks for posing some of those questions since I had overlooked some of those details related to the software too. I do plan, even in the future, on updating the software that you have been giving me feedback on that contains the core functionality of what the software was created for: logging parameters and then providing a graphical display to more easily interpret those results. In the future I did want to add in some non essential functionality (not related to tank parameters) such as 1) suggested tank sizes for fish, 2) more specific details on the types of fish that we keep (diet, suitable tank mates, etc), 3) more information on disease/parasite identification, 4) information about invertebrates, etc etc that would drive the software further than being similar to the excel spreadsheets we discussed via pms that were only concerned with monitoring tank parameters. I honestly don't know how I would proceed with that version yet because that is so far away and I wasn't even thinking about it yet since there are so many other kinks to work out. I do know that the information that that version would contain would have to collected, pruned, etc so it would require some work in creating that version. But to again answer your question, yes, I plan on keeping what you have been testing free since it is something so basic that every person in the hobby should be doing. As stated before, it does the job that those free excel sheets do so I was planning on charging the same amount that those go for: free.

As far as the license agreement you did bring up a very good point. I was doing some researching/reading and I will be updating it so that the software will be switching over to a freeware type of license. I have been using open source projects as of late so I included that type of license with the program, but it was never my intention of releasing the source code. That was an error on my part and I apologize for that.

Let me know if this is still acceptable and if it is not I can pursue other ways to improve this software.

 

[returnofsid]

As long as it's freeware, I don't see any problem with it. As I said, so far, I see it as becoming an incredibly useful tool!

Thank you for understand and answering the questions!

 

[enjetek]

No problem. Thanks for your input and helping me improve the software.

 

[Murfman]

I cross posted your link on to our local club forum, for you. I am playing with it and would like to see;

temp in x.1* increments
pH in x.1 increments instead of x.2
Ca in increments of 10 vs 20 or even 5
alk in increments of x.1
nitrate goes 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 set it to increments of 5.
nitrite and ammonia go .25, .5, 1, 2, 4 need them in smaller, more exact increments
graphing is hard to read because the values are so high on the left axis. pH drops off the graph because the lowest value is 10. Can you code it for individual graphs based on checked boxes?
I unchecked iodine but it still showed the default value. I had to manually record 0.

Please let us know when the next version comes out. I like this and it is nicer than the excel spread sheet I currently use.

 

[enjetek]

Thanks so much! I am actually working on including an auto update feature. I have already made the modifications necessary to type in the values so that is coming very soon. I also will be adding magnesium as another parameter once I finish the auto update feature. I will jot down your other suggestions and add them to the list.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[enjetek]

I have released a new version that should solve a couple of the problems that were first brought up. Here are the fixes in this release:
- Added auto updater
- Added magnesium as a parameter to track
- Graphs for each parameter now available
- 'Checked' parameters are now persistent
- Modified alkalinity to be tracked from dKH to meq/L
- Changed license type from open source to freeware
- Users can now type in values for parameters instead of using domain up/down controls

Here are some things I still need feedback on:
1 - Are the ranges for the different tank types good (by that I mean are the warning messages good when weird values are used)? For now the differences are between fowlr and softie/sps/lps (I grouped the coral types together). If you have more experience with ranges for each type please let me know since I have no experience with them. I also changed the alkalinity measurements since I got multiple requests to use meq/L vs dKH. I also added magnesium as a parameter to track.
2 - I tested the auto updater and it seemed to work fine but I want to see how the next release goes and if it works seamlessly. A problem that I discovered was because I work on Windows 7 and when my updater kills the Aquarium Info process it gets that dialog where you need to confirm that the program has ended. To solve this problem I put in a 5 second delay so that I/you would have time to click that button and it worked no problem. I also tested it by letting the program continue to run and it took 2 auto restarts but the program eventually updated itself. This is because of how windows 7, and vista I am suspecting, behave. I tested the auto updater on a windows xp machine and it worked with no problems.
3 - I still have not been able to duplicate the problem in which some parameter was unchecked and it still was graphed? Can you please send me exact steps to duplicate the problem. This might not be an issue anymore since there are now individual graphs for each one.
4 - Are there any typos (spelling, grammar, etc)? There was a lot of code and text being done at the same time so there may be mistakes.

I also know that in most cases people have multiple tanks. I am still figuring out how to include that functionality.

Thanks for all your help and support.

Mike

 

[Murfman]

Getting better each time, Mike! As for the parameters I dont use, I open the application and then under the chemistry tab I deselect iodine and phosphate under the parameters to graph, at the bottom. they still show up with values, unless I null the out manually. Can you set it to default to the last value that was entered? Another thing is how do you save your data when upgrading versions? PIA to go back and re enter data that has already been entered multiple times. Can it be set up to import an excel spreadsheet?

When I tried to use the space bar to clear a value, it gave an error message. Can you default it to no value = 0? Another value that I use is time. Different times of the day impact pH and alk values, as those increase during the photo period. I also have a notes column so I can annotate changes that I make, for tracking adjustments.

 

[enjetek]

Ok I think I know what you are saying. The check boxes were designed for displaying the lines in the 'All Chemistry Parameters' tab and not nulling out the values when add/editing them. If you un-check them it just won't graph on that one tab. Meaning, if you un-check iodine it won't show up in that tab but if you visit the iodine tab it will display a line for that parameter only regardless of it being checked or not. I might have to change things around to make it less confusing. If you extract the zip/jar contents to the same folder it should show the same data. If you are extracting it to a new location, just move over the the 'data.log' file from the previous version. That is a very good idea to allow the excel data to be imported. Once the fields/parameters are agreed upon I will add that functionality in. I was thinking that a 'notes' section for each day would be helpful in case information would need to be recorded. What do you think?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Murfman]

I posted my edit 6 minutes after your reply. Yes on the notes!

 

[enjetek]

Going to add them (notes) very soon. Adding in the time was very easy since I was actually masking it so that multiple entries could NOT be done on one day. Your explanation makes sense since values can shift during the day. I am also researching how to handle 0/blank/null values so it should be doable. I will also research how to properly handle last value entered since it might be a little complicated given the nature of what would be considered the latest entry.

Mike

 

[Rockhead]

I add potassium to my tank, the bio pellets I use depletes my tank of it, is that something that you also add

 

[enjetek]

Thanks rockhead. That's going on my list of things to add.