Bento® 3 User’s Guide
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Contents Preface 7 7 16 17 17 Welcome to Bento Bringing It All Together Summary About This Document Resources for Learning More Chapter 1 19 19 20 Overview of Bento Home Dialog Bento Window Chapter 2 31 31 32 34 34 34 34 37 37 37 Using Libraries About Libraries Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates Creating a New Blank Library Creating a Library by Importing Changing the Icon for a Library Sharing Your Bento Database Grouping Libraries Deleting Records from a Library Deleting a Library Chap
54 54 54 Creating Smart Collections Working with Smart Collections Changing a Smart Collection Chapter 5 55 55 56 56 56 57 57 58 58 58 59 59 59 59 60 60 61 Using Form View About Forms Viewing a Form and a Table at the Same Time Creating Records in Form View Editing Records in Form View Duplicating Records in Form View Deleting Records in Form View Creating Forms Deleting Forms Duplicating Forms Renaming Forms Adding Fields to a Form Tabbing Between Fields Moving Fields and Objects on Forms Resizing F
Chapter 8 79 79 82 88 89 90 93 94 97 Using Fields About Fields Creating Fields Navigating to Related Records Using the Fields Pane Working with List Fields Working with Related Data Fields Working with Media Fields Working with Encrypted Fields Chapter 9 101 101 104 110 113 Importing, Exporting, and Printing About Comma-Separated and Tab-Separated Files Importing Information into Bento Exporting Information from Bento Printing Information Chapter 10 117 118 119 119 120 120 121 Backing Up and Restori
Contents
Welcome to Bento Bento® helps you organize your information, providing the power of a database without complexity. Bento is an easy-to-use database that manages contacts, tasks, and other information that is important to you. Because Bento is a database, you can create data relationships and view your data in more ways than you can in a spreadsheet. Bento was designed for Mac OS X. The Bento window has features that will seem familiar to you if you use Address Book, iCal, Keynote, iTunes, or iPhoto.
Using Address Book Data When you open Bento, you see the Home dialog that helps you get started. After you start using Bento, you see that the Bento Address Book library displays contact records from the Address Book application. A contact in the Address Book application. View all the records in table view. View all the records in grid view. View data in several form views. Bento provides the “Overview.” The same contact in the Bento Address Book library.
Using iCal Data The Bento iCal Events library displays the events that are in the iCal application. An event in the iCal application. The same event in the Bento iCal Events library.
Using iPhoto Data The iPhoto library displays photos and video clips that are in the iPhoto application. An abum in the iPhoto application. The same album in the Bento iPhoto library.
Managing Data in Libraries Bento comes with more than 30 library templates to help you create libraries easily. You can create an Expenses library to track information about expenses, and an Event Planning library to track information about your travel club events.
Bento provides a Projects library, so you’re ready to start managing projects for your travel club. Libraries Fields You can add fields to any library, even the Bento Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto libraries. Importing Data from Other Applications How do you add your spreadsheet of expenses to Bento? Create a library by importing data from another application, or import data into a library you’ve already created.
Importing spreadsheet data into a Bento library. Creating Collections You have a team of people who are working with you on your next travel club event. All of your team members are in the Bento Address Book library, but you’d like to create a smaller group that includes only your team members, not everyone in the Address Book library. You want to create a collection. Creating a collection is as easy as creating a group in Address Book or a playlist in iTunes.
Drag the selected records to the Libraries pane. Give the collection the name “Team Members” and Bento creates the Team Members collection.
Creating Relationships Bento makes it easy to connect your libraries of information using related data fields. For example, say you want to track expenses by team member. To create a related data field, drag “Team Members” to the “Expenses” form.
You can also create a related data field that shows expenses for each team member. Drag “Expenses” to the “Team Members” form. Summary With Bento, you’re able to display data from Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto, create new libraries to keep all your data together, import data from other applications, and create unique data relationships between libraries and collections.
About This Document The following table tells you where to find information in this documentation.
Tutorial For a demonstration of what you can do with Bento, view the tutorials. To access the tutorials: Choose Help > Video Tutorial, and then follow the instructions. Bento Forum Visit the Bento forum to get technical support, tips, report problems, and share with others how you use Bento. To access the Bento forum: Choose Help > Bento Forum. Bento Template Exchange Visit the Bento template exchange to submit your own templates and download templates created by other Bento users.
Overview of Bento 1 This chapter provides an overview of Bento features. This chapter is a description of what you see when you start using Bento. It introduces the Home dialog and describes the sections of the Bento window, including the Libraries pane, the Fields pane, and the records area where you can display your information in table view, form views, grid view, or split view. Home Dialog When you first open Bento, you use the Home dialog to learn about Bento and to create your first library.
Bento Window The Bento window contains two main sections: • The left side of the window contains the Libraries pane and the Fields pane. • The right side of the window displays the records in Bento. You can display record data in table view, form view, grid view, or split view. Libraries pane Records area Fields pane By default, both sections of the Bento window are displayed. To hide the Libraries pane and Fields pane, choose View > Hide Libraries & Fields Pane.
Libraries Pane The Libraries pane displays the libraries and collections that are in Bento. • A library categorizes data by content. Bento provides several libraries by default. The Address Book, iCal Tasks, iCal Events, and iPhoto libraries display data from the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications. The Projects library, which stores data about projects, is an example library with sample data. You can create libraries to store other categories of data.
Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries Bento displays the data you’ve already entered into the Mac OS X applications Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto using these libraries: Address Book, iCal Events, iCal Tasks, and iPhoto. Address Book Library The Address Book library displays contact information from the Mac OS X Address Book application, so there is no need to re-enter your contact information. Enter new contacts in Address Book or in Bento, and the information appears in both applications.
Collections Create a collection when you want a subset of the records from a library. There are two kinds of collections: • Collections are created by adding records from the library to a new collection. Creating a collection is as easy as creating a playlist in iTunes. Select the records in the library and use the New Collection from Selection menu item, or drag the selected records to the Libraries pane. • Smart Collections are created based on criteria you set up.
Records Area On the right side of the Bento window, you can display information stored in Bento in either table view, a form view, grid view, or split view. • Table view shows information in an entire library or collection in a spreadsheet-like table, where each row in the table is a record in the library. • Form view shows fields from one record at a time, in arrangements that you can customize, using beautiful themes.
Table View To view the information in an entire library or collection in a spreadsheet-like table, use table view. In table view, you can work with your records in many ways, including: • Selecting the columns (fields) that you want to show. • Arranging the columns in any order. • Sorting records by selecting a specific column. • Analyzing data using a summary row. See Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65. Form View To view your information one record at a time, use form view.
Form Themes Bento provides an assortment of beautiful themes that you can apply to your forms. Every theme includes coordinated colors, layout, fonts, and text attributes. You can easily change a form’s theme at any time. See ”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61.
Navigation Bar The navigation bar contains several controls that help you display information in Bento. • Click to see records in table view. • Click to see records in grid view. • Click one of the form view buttons to see records one at a time in a page-like view. In the example below, there are two form view buttons: “Overview” and “Details.” You can have as many form views as you want. • Click to switch to split view from table view or form view. • Click to switch to split view from grid view.
To use the Search field: 1 Select the library or collection. 2 Enter a text string into the Search field. Bento searches across all the applicable fields of the selected library or collection. Bento lets you know how many records match the search string, and updates the current view to display the matching records for those fields that are selected in table view or have been added to a form in form view. 28 1. Type “M”and the result is 30 records. 2. Type “Ma” and the result is 15 records. 3.
To use Advanced Find: 1 Select the library or collection. 2 In the search field, click 3 Specify what you want to find. Add or remove criteria as needed. 4 Click Find. and select Advanced Find, or press Command-F. Bento performs the search, and displays the matching records. • To save the matching records as a Smart Collection, click Save. See ”About Smart Collections” on page 53. • To close Advanced Find, click the X next to “Advanced Find” or press Command-F.
Fields Pane The Fields pane on the left side of the Bento window displays the fields that are defined for the selected library or collection. • In table view, use the Fields pane to select which columns are shown. • In a form view, use the Fields pane to add fields to the current form by dragging a field name with to the form. • In split view, the Fields pane indicates the fields that can be added to the current form or can be displayed in table view.
Using Libraries 2 In Bento, you use libraries to organize your information. You can use the libraries that Bento provides, and create your own libraries using templates. You can share your entire database or selected libraries with up to five users on a local network.
As another example, the default Projects library records are composed of fields that are useful for managing projects, such as fields for the project status, start and end dates, and team member information. Bento provides several ways for you to view the records of a library: • Form view shows fields from a single record. Each page shows one record at a time, for example, a single contact record in the Address Book library. You can have more than one form view for the library.
To create a library using the Bento templates: 1 Choose File > New Library from Template. 2 In the New Library dialog, select a template category in the left column, then select the template. Select “Blank” if none of the templates meet your needs. You can create all of the fields yourself with the Blank library. 3 Enter a name for your library, and click Choose. Bento creates the library and opens it in form view.
• If you want to change the layout of the fields on the form view, see ”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61. • If you want to change the appearance of the form view, you can select a different theme. See ”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61. Creating a New Blank Library You can get started quickly by creating a blank library, then add data to it as you would in a spreadsheet. To create a new blank library: 1 Choose File > New Blank Library.
You can export data from a shared library, but you can’t export a shared library into a template file. For more information, see ”Exporting Information from Bento” on page 110. When you first start Bento, your libraries are set up ready to be shared. You then decide whether to share your entire database or only selected libraries. Note When you share your iCal Events library it becomes read-only, and other users can’t modify events.
To turn off database sharing: 1 Choose Bento > Preferences. 2 Click Sharing at the top of the window. 3 Deselect “Share my Bento database.” Looking for Shared Databases If your computer is connected to other computers over a local network, you can look for databases that are being shared. To look for shared databases on your local network: 1 Choose Bento > Preferences. 2 Click Sharing at the top of the window. 3 Select “Look for shared Bento databases.
database. For more information about the Database Password, see ”Setting a Password for Your Bento Database” on page 97. Users can lock and unlock data in shared encrypted fields. For more information, see ”Locking and Unlocking Data in Encrypted Fields” on page 98. Grouping Libraries You can organize a group of libraries within a folder. To create a library folder: 1 Choose File > New Library Folder. An untitled folder is created in the Libraries pane above the currently selected library or folder.
Chapter 2 Using Libraries
Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 3 Bento provides libraries that display data from the Mac OS X Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications. With these libraries, you can manage contacts, events, tasks, and photos together, and display them as related records in other libraries in Bento.
Displaying Data from the Address Book Application To display the Address Book data in Bento: 1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup. 2 Select “Display Address Book data in Bento.” To turn off the display of Address Book data in Bento: 1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup. 2 Clear “Display Address Book data in Bento.” When you click OK, the Address Book library no longer appears in Bento.
To turn off the display of iPhoto data in Bento: 1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup. 2 Clear “Display iPhoto data in Bento.” When you click OK, the iPhoto library no longer appears in Bento. If you have related data fields based on the iPhoto library, those related data fields are no longer displayed when you turn off the display of the iPhoto library. Address Book Library By default, Bento displays contact information and groups from the Mac OS X Address Book application.
The Address Book library displays contact information from the Address Book application. Address Book groups display as collections in Bento. You can use the records in the Bento Address Book library just like the records in any other library and collection in Bento. The only difference is that changes in the Address Book library update information in the Address Book application. Note Bento does not display Smart Groups from the Address Book application.
Bento Address Book Fields That Update the Address Book Application The following fields in the Address Book library update information in the Address Book application.
Other Address Book Considerations • When you create a Bento backup file, the data from the Address Book application is not included in the Bento backup file. To back up the data from Address Book, use the Address Book application. If you add fields to the Address Book library, information from those additional fields is included in the Bento backup file. See Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring Information” on page 117 for information on creating a Bento backup file.
The iCal Events library displays event records from the iCal application. You can use the records in the iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries just like the records in any other libraries and collections in Bento. The only difference is that changes in the iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries update the information in the iCal application. Note Bento does not display information from the subscribed calendars in the iCal application.
Bento Event Fields That Update the iCal Application The following fields in the Bento iCal Events library update the iCal application. • All Day • Calendar • End date • Location • Note • Start date • Title • URL Note In the iCal application, the “URL” field is a text field. In order to correctly display this value in Bento, the iCal Events library uses a text field as well, rather than using a Bento URL field.
Troubleshooting iCal Updates This section describes some common issues with displaying data from the iCal application. • Why don’t I see the collections from iCal Events or iCal Task libraries in the iCal application? The iCal application does not have a way to display a subset of the events or tasks from a specific calendar. • Why don’t I see events or tasks from my subscribed calendars? Subscribed calendars are stored on an external server; Bento displays information for local calendars only.
Albums in the iPhoto application. The iPhoto library displays photos and video clips from the iPhoto application. Albums display as collections in Bento. Bento iPhoto Fields You can’t modify the names or the contents of the default Bento iPhoto library fields. You can add other fields to your photo or video clip records in Bento but your additional fields do not update the iPhoto application. See Chapter 8, “Using Fields” on page 79 for information on adding fields.
Other iPhoto Considerations • When you create a Bento backup file, the data from the iPhoto application is not included in the Bento backup file. To back up the data from iPhoto, use the Time Machine application. • If you add fields to the iPhoto library, information from those additional fields is included in the Bento backup file. Those fields are not added to the iPhoto application. See Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring Information” on page 117 for information on creating a Bento backup file.
When you add records to a related data field, you can view them within the related data field in a grid layout (which displays media fields only) or a table (which displays media fields as thumbnails). Click to display records in grid format. Click to display records in table format.
Using Collections 4 This chapter describes how to use collections to further organize your records in Bento. In Bento, your records are kept in libraries, as described in Chapter 2, “Using Libraries” on page 31. If you want to organize records in different ways or if you want to work with a subset of the records in a library, you can create a collection. About Collections A collection is a set of records from a library. You can create a collection to: • Create a set of records for a special purpose.
However, a record from a library can be added to any of the collections within the same library. For example, if you have a “DVD” library with a “Favorites” collection and a “Classic Movies” collection, you can have the same record in both collections.
Removing Records from a Collection To remove records from a collection: 1 Select the collection. 2 Select the records and press Command-Delete. If you click Remove from Collection, the records are removed only from the collection, not from the associated library. If you click Delete, the records are permanently removed from both the library and the collection. Deleting a Collection To delete a collection: Select the collection and press the Delete key.
Creating Smart Collections You can create a Smart Collection that adds records to or removes records from a collection according to criteria that you define. To create a Smart Collection: 1 Choose File > New Smart Collection. 2 Type a name for the Smart Collection, then press Return. Use the pop-up menus and entry fields to specify the criteria for the Smart Collection. Click to add additional criteria.
Using Form View 5 In Bento, you use form view to display one record at a time from a library or collection. This chapter describes how to create and edit records in form view, create and modify forms, and customize form layouts. About Forms In form view, you can create and use forms to display one record at a time from a library or collection in a page-like format. For example, you can display a contact in the Address Book library or a task in the iCal Tasks library.
Forms can also display records from other libraries or collections in related data fields. For example, you can display a list of people who are attending an event on a form in the iCal Event library. See ”Creating Related Data Fields” on page 85. Viewing a Form and a Table at the Same Time You can view a selected record in form view and table view at the same time. Select the record, then choose View > Split View. Creating Records in Form View You can create records in either form view or table view.
Adding the Current Date and Time to a Field When editing a record, you can add the current date and time to a date, time, or text field. To add the current date and time to a field: 1 Click in the date, time, or text field. 2 Choose Insert > Current Date and Time. If the field type is You see the current Date Date. Set the “Display Time” option to also display the time.
To remove a selected record from a collection: 1 Select the collection. 2 Navigate to the record you want to remove. 3 Choose Records > Remove Record. If you click Remove from Collection, the record is removed only from the collection, not the library. If you click Delete, the record is permanently removed from both the library and the collection. Note if you delete a record from the Address Book library, the record is also deleted in the Address Book application.
Renaming Forms To rename a form: 1 Double-click the form name at the top of the window. 2 In the Form name dialog, type a new name, then click OK. Adding Fields to a Form To add a field to a form: 1 Select a library or collection. 2 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 3 Drag a field from the Fields pane to the desired location on the form. To move a field, see ”Moving Fields and Objects on Forms” on page 59.
To move multiple fields or objects: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Command-click or Shift-click to select multiple fields or objects. Tip To quickly select many fields and objects, click in an empty part of the form, and while holding down the mouse button, drag to select multiple items. Resizing Fields and Objects Any field and any object can be resized.
Customizing Form Layouts You can quickly change the appearance of a form. Changing the Theme You can change a form’s theme (the coordinated colors, layout, and text attributes) at any time. For example, you can use a light-colored theme for printing records. To change a form’s theme: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Choose Forms > Theme Chooser. 3 In the Theme Chooser, select a theme, then click OK. You see a ripple effect as the theme changes.
Changing the Size of Text You can change the size of text that is displayed in fields. To change the size of text in fields: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Select the fields. 3 Choose Forms > Text Size. 4 Select a size from the list: Smallest, Small, Medium, Large, Largest. Changing the Shading of Fields You can change the level of shading that is displayed behind fields.
Adding Text Boxes Add a text box if you want text such as a heading on your form. To add a text box: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Choose Insert > Text Box. An untitled box appears at the bottom of the form. 3 Drag the text box to the desired location, double-click in the text box, and start typing. Adding Image Boxes Add an image box if you want an image such as a logo or letterhead to appear on every record in your form.
Adding Column Dividers You can divide up space on a form with column dividers. To add a column divider: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Choose Insert > Column Divider. 3 Drag the column divider to the desired location on the form. Adding Spacers Use a spacer to create a blank space between items on a form. For example, add a spacer to separate groups of fields. When editing the form, you can change the spacer's width, height, and shading.
Using Table View 6 In Bento, you use table view to display text and media in a spreadsheet-like format where rows represent records and columns represent fields. This chapter describes how to create and modify records in table view, sort records, and rearrange, summarize, and display data in columns. About Table View In table view, you can see your records in rows with the fields in columns (in a format similar to a spreadsheet). One record One field To go to table view, choose View > Table View.
• summarize data • select and drag multiple records to create new collections within one library • create, view, and edit media fields In table view, you cannot see related data fields or any of the list field types, such as address, email address, file list, message list, and simple list. See ”Working with Related Data Fields” on page 93 and ”Working with List Fields” on page 90. Viewing a Table and Form at the Same Time You can view a selected record in table view and form view at the same time.
3 Type data in the columns. If you type data in the last column, Bento creates a new field with the default name Field. 4 Press Tab to move to the next field in the same record. Press Shift-Tab to move to the previous field in the same record. To add existing records to another collection within the same library: Select the records, choose Edit > Add To, then choose a collection from the list. The selected records are added to the collection that you chose in the list.
To paste data: 1 Click a cell. 2 Choose Edit > Paste. Bento creates additional records and columns as necessary. Note When pasting into existing fields, Bento pastes as many values as possible. If the data being pasted doesn’t match the field type, Bento gives you the choice of rejecting the data or changing the field type to Text. To paste data into new columns: 1 Click a cell in the empty column after the last column of data. 2 Choose Edit > Paste.
Sorting Records To sort records: Click the pop-up menu in a column header, then choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. If you want to sort two or more fields, sort by the least significant field first, followed by the more important field or fields. For example, to sort records by last name and first name, first sort by the First Name field, then by the Last Name field.
Working with Media Fields in Table View You can create, view, and edit media fields in table view in the same way as you do other field types. Press the Space bar to view the selected media field. Changing Options for a Field To change field options: 1 Click near the right edge of a column header. 2 Choose Edit Field. 3 Change the field name or set options. Duplicating Fields To duplicate a field: 1 Click near the right edge of a column header. 2 Choose Duplicate Field.
To show or hide columns using the Fields pane: In the Fields pane, select a field’s checkbox to display the field in table view. Clear the checkbox to hide the field in table view. To select multiple fields at once, select one field, then Shift-click another field to select all fields in between. To quickly clear them, press the Space bar. When you hide a field in table view, the field and its data are not deleted from the library or collection. Select checkboxes to display fields.
Reordering Columns To reorder a column: Drag the column header left or right to a new location. Drag header to reorder column. Resizing Columns To resize a column: 1 Drag the edge of a column header to the width you want. Drag header edge to resize column. Filling Fields Automatically Bento lets you use the content in one or more rows to automatically add or replace records below the selected fields. To fill fields automatically: 1 Select one or more fields in one or more records.
Depending on the field type, the following summary functions are available. Name Purpose Sum Calculates the total of the values in the selected field Count Reports the number of items that have an entry in the selected field Average Reports the average of the values in the selected field Minimum Reports the lowest value of the values in the selected field Maximum Reports the highest value of the values in the selected field You can use the Count function on any type of field.
Chapter 6 Using Table View
7 Using Grid View In Bento, you can work with your media fields (pictures, music, and movies) and forms in an easy-to-use grid layout. This chapter describes how to work with a library’s media fields and form thumbnails in grid view, look at a record in grid view and a form view at the same time, filter grid view items, set and change labels of grid view items, change the display size of grid view items, and work with library folders in grid view.
Viewing the Grid and a Form at the Same Time You can view a selected record in a form view and grid view at the same time. If you are in grid view, select the record, then choose View > Split View or click If you are in form view, select the record, then choose View > Split View or click . . Displaying Grid View Items To display grid view items: Click to display photos, music, movies, and documents. Click to display form thumbnails.
Working with Library Folders in Grid View When you select a library folder, you see a grid view of all the libraries contained in the folder along with information about the number of records and forms in each library. Move the cursor back and forth over a library to flash in succession all the forms it contains. Library folder To go to a specific form: 1 Move the cursor over a grid view item until you see the form you want. 2 Control-click and choose Go to Form from the pop-up menu.
Chapter 7 Using Grid View
Using Fields 8 Bento provides a wide variety of field types to store the kinds of information you use in your daily life. In Bento, you can choose from many different field types to track things such as names, addresses, dates, times, prices, images, movies, songs, and lists of files. This chapter describes the purpose of the field types, how to create and modify fields, how to use the Fields pane, and work with the various types of fields that Bento provides.
Form view Table view Fields Text field Date field Choice field Currency field Related data field Display phone number in large type Field Types These are the types of fields you can create in Bento: 80 Field Type Purpose Text Store anything you type* Number Store numeric data, with formatting options** Choice Create a pop-up menu in order to select an item from a list Checkbox Provide an on-off type of choice Media Store and use image, movie, and sound files Simple list Store text data
Field Type Purpose Currency Store an amount of money and display it in the selected currency format Automatic counter Assign a higher number to each new record Rating Set the rating value of an item by clicking stars in the field Encrypted Protect sensitive or confidential data and hide it from view (data is displayed as bullets). Encrypted data is stored in your Bento database.
Form 1 Single phone number fields Form 2 Phone number list field created by Bento On Form 1, you enter data in single phone number fields. On Form 2, Bento displays the data in the phone number list field that you entered in the single phone number fields. You can import and export values stored in regular fields (for example, “Home Phone Number” in the form shown above) but you can’t import or export values stored in list fields.
8 Use the Fields pane to add or display fields. To Do this in the Fields pane Add a field to a form in form view or split view Display a field as a column in table view or split view Drag to the form. Select a field’s checkbox. Note In table view, you cannot see related data fields or any of the list field types, such as address, email address, file list, message list, and simple list. After you have created a field, you can enter data into it.
7 Click Create. The new field is added to the Fields pane. Tip If you are unfamiliar with creating calculations, click Show Examples to see and experiment with examples of calculations. Creating File List Fields Use a file list field to store a list of aliases to files or folders on your computer. Each alias contains a path to a specific file or folder in a specific location on your hard drive. You can quickly open files or applications that are stored in file list fields.
Creating Message List Fields Use a message list field to store aliases to Mac OS X Mail messages, notes, and RSS articles that are relevant to a specific record. For example, you can keep a log of correspondence linked to a project or event. Note Because the message list field stores aliases to messages, when you delete a message from Mac OS X Mail, it is also deleted from the message list field. To create a message list field: 1 Choose Insert > New Field. 2 Choose Message List. 3 Name the field.
1. Drag the Vendors collection onto the Projects form. 2. Bento creates a related data field on the form. 3. Add the selected vendors to the related data field. You can create a related data field by dragging a library or collection to a form, as illustrated above, or you can use menu commands, as outlined below. You can see related data fields in form view but not in table view. You see the contents of media fields as thumbnails in related data fields when you display the fields in a grid.
7 Drag the field to the form you want. Drag here to show or hide the Notes section. Related data field Show or hide the summary row. View related records in a grid. Go to the selected record in its source library or collection. 8 Click Switch between fields listed in the Fields pane (data source or library). to display records from the data source you specified in step 5. Click to add a record. If the data source is a Smart Collection, since you can’t add records to a Smart Collection.
• If you delete a library or collection that a related data field is based on, the related data field is also deleted. • If a record that appears in a related data field is deleted in its data source, the record is also deleted from any other related data field it appears in. Using the Address Book, iCal, or iPhoto Library as a Data Source You can create related data fields that display records from the Address Book library or an Address Book collection.
Using the Fields Pane The Fields pane displays an alphabetical list of the fields that are available for the selected library or collection. Use the Fields pane to select the fields that you want to add to the current form (in form view) or to display as columns (in table view). In split view, the Fields pane indicates the fields that can be added to the current form or can be displayed in table view. In form view In table view Address subfields can’t be added to the form individually.
• delete a field and its data by clicking . When you delete a field, it is deleted from the library and from collections and related data fields that use it. You can’t delete fields that are used for displaying data from Address Book, iCal, or iPhoto, locked fields, address subfields (for example, street, city, and country fields), and the Date Created and Date Modified fields.
To send an email in form view: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Click next to the email address field. If you see , the email address is not valid. 3 The default email application opens and displays a blank email message addressed to the name in the email address field. 4 Compose the message and send it. To send an email in table view: 1 Select one or more email address fields.
To open files stored in a file list field or message list field: 1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name. 2 Select one or more items in the file list field or message list field. Commandclick to select nonadjacent items. 3 Click and choose Open (file list) or items you want to open. 4 The application associated with each item starts and displays the contents of the items.
You show or hide columns in simple list fields using the Fields pane. See ”Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 70. Fields pane displaying columns in the simple list field Click to switch between the displays in the Fields pane. Fields pane displaying fields in the library Working with Related Data Fields In a related data field, you can store information about records that is relevant to the data source but isn’t linked to the data source.
To display the notes section: Position your cursor on the right edge of a related data field. When the cursor changes to , drag it to the left. You see the notes section with the first notes field created for you. To create additional fields in the notes section: Double-click the New Column column header and type a new name for the field, then press Return. To delete a field in the notes section: Click the pop-up menu in a column header, then choose Delete Column.
Taking Photos If your computer has an iSight camera, you can take pictures with it to use in your forms. To take a photo: 1 Click an empty media field. For information about how to create a media field, see ”Creating Fields” on page 82. 2 Click . 3 In the window, click 4 Optional: Click 5 Click Set to save and load the image into the media field. , then wait for the image to appear. , then select a special effect to apply to the photo. Tip To back up a photo, export it.
To play a movie or sound file: 1 Click in the media field. 2 Click in the playbar to start the movie or sound file. Drag the slider up or down to adjust the volume. 3 To pause the movie or sound file, click sound file, click . . To restart playing the movie or Positioning Images You can move an image in any direction within a media field. To position an image: 1 Click in the media field. 2 Drag the image within the field.
Deleting Media Files When you delete a media file from a record, it is permanently deleted from its library and from any collections within the same library. To delete content in a media field: 1 Click in the media field. 2 Press the Delete key or choose Edit > Clear. Working with Encrypted Fields You can store sensitive data in encrypted fields. When you enter data in encrypted fields, it is securely stored in your Bento database and can only be read within Bento.
To clear the Database Password: 1 Choose Bento > Preferences. 2 Click Security at the top of the window. 3 Click the lock to make changes. 4 Deselect Use Database Password. Locking Bento You can lock Bento to hide the Bento window and protect your data. To lock Bento: 1 Choose Bento > Preferences. 2 Click Security at the top of the window. 3 Click the lock to make changes. 4 Select “Require Database Password when Bento starts.” 5 Choose Bento > Lock Bento. The Bento window is hidden.
To unlock data in all encrypted fields: 1 In form view, select an encrypted field and click . Then select Unlock Encrypted Fields. In table view, select an encrypted field and and click the pop-up menu in the column header, then choose Unlock Encrypted Fields. 2 Enter your Database Password, then click Submit. A appears next to all encrypted fields. Showing or Hiding Data in Encrypted Fields To show data in an encrypted field: In form view, select the encrypted field and click .
Chapter 8 Using Fields
Importing, Exporting, and Printing 9 This chapter describes the various ways you can import and export information so others can view or use it. You can also print information to share it with others. A good way to start using Bento is by importing information. Bento supports importing information in a variety of file formats: comma-separated values (CSV) file, tab-separated values (TAB) file, Numbers, Excel, Excel 2008, and library template.
Exporting CSV and TAB Files from Other Applications For the best results when importing information into Bento, follow these guidelines: • Export your data from the other application as a CSV or TAB file. • If your Excel worksheet contains multiple tables, put each table in its own worksheet, and make sure the column names are in the first row. • Note whether your CSV or TAB file contains a row with the column names.
Correcting CSV Files If you are having difficulty importing a CSV file, open it in a text editor and do the following: • Put double quotation marks around field values that have embedded commas. For example: “10,000 Donors“ • Put double quotation marks around field values with leading or trailing spaces. • Put double quotation marks around field values that contain embedded linebreaks. • Put double quotation marks around field values that contain double quotation marks.
Importing Information into Bento When you import information into Bento, you can either create a library or import the information into an existing library or collection. Creating a Library by Importing You can create a library when you import a file. Choose a file. The options you see here vary according to the file format of the selected file. Enter the name for the new library. Click the pop-up to set the field type. If you don’t want to create the field, choose “Do not create.
To create a library by importing: 1 Choose File > Import > File. 2 Click Choose, then select the file you want to import in one of the following file formats: .csv, .tab, .tsv, .numbers, .xls, .xlsx. • For .csv, .tab, or .tsv files, in the section “Choose the format,” choose Comma separated, Semicolon separated, or Tab separated. • For Numbers files, use the pop-up menus to select a sheet, then a table. • For Excel files, use the pop-up menu to select a worksheet.
Choose a file. The options you see here vary according to the file format of the selected file. Click the pop-up and select a field name to manually map the fields set to “Do not import.” Use the arrows to go to the row that contains column names, then select “Use this record’s values as column names.” To import information into an existing library or collection: 1 Choose File > Import > File. 2 Click Choose and choose the file you want to import in one of the following file formats: .csv, .tab, .
4 Indicate whether the file contains a row with values that you want to use as column names. • If the file contains a row with column names, click the arrow buttons to go to that row and select “Use this record’s values as column names.” Bento reads the column names in the file, and attempts to match them to the field names already defined in the library or collection you have selected. Bento maps the column names to field names when their names match exactly.
Importing a Library Template A library template file contains all of the forms, collections, Smart Collections, table view settings, and related libraries (if any) of an exported library, but no records. Choose a library template file. To import a library template: 1 Choose File > Import > Template. 2 Choose a library template file. 3 Click Open. 4 Bento adds the library, collections, and Smart Collections contained in the library template file to the Libraries pane.
Field Types Supported for Import You can import into these field types: text, choice, checkbox, number, rating, encrypted (when unlocked), currency, time, date, duration, address, phone number, email address, URL, and IM account. For this field type This data can be imported text Any text choice address phone number IM account encrypted (when unlocked) email address Any text, but a valid email address must include the @ character.
For this field type This data can be imported duration Text representing a duration in weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
To export from a library, collection, or Smart Collection: 1 Select the library, collection, or Smart Collection that contains the information you want to export. 2 Choose File > Export. 3 Click Numbers, Excel, Text, or Template. To export a file compatible with versions of Excel earlier than Excel 2008, export a Text file. • For Numbers, Excel, or Text, choose “All records” or “Only current records.” • For Template, choose the related libraries you want to include (if any).
To export from a subset of records: 1 Use the search field or Advanced Find to create a subset of records. See ”Search Field and Advanced Find” on page 27. • For search, the set of records that matches the criteria is displayed as you type the search string. • For Advanced Find, click Find to display the set of records that matches the criteria. 2 Follow steps 2-5 in ”Exporting from a Library, Collection, or Smart Collection” on page 110.
Export Considerations for Specific Field Types You cannot export: • Contents of address list fields, phone number list fields, email list fields, URL list fields, IM account list fields, or message list fields. However, you can export data from individual address, phone number, email, URL and IM account fields that are displayed in table view. • Contents of locked encrypted fields. • Information displayed in a related data field. • File aliases in file list fields.
• When printing form view data, select “Print one record per page” to print one record per page. • When printing form view data, select “Form only (no data)” to print a blank form. • Select additional options to include the title banner, page numbers, date, and time. Printing from Search or Advanced Find If you want to print a subset of records, you can use search or Advanced Find to narrow the set of records in a library or collection, and then print the records.
Printing Mailing Labels When you use the Bento Address Book library, your contact records update the data in the Address Book application. To print address labels: 1 Open the Address Book application. 2 In the Address Book application, select All or a group in the Group column, or select specific contacts that you want to print. Command-click or Shift-click to select multiple contacts. 3 Choose File > Print. 4 Choose Mailing Labels from the Style pop-up menu, then set the print options.
Chapter 9 Importing, Exporting, and Printing
Backing Up and Restoring Information 10 This chapter describes how to create a backup copy of your Bento data. Use the backup copy to recover your original information if you make an inadvertent change, or to restore your data in case of a problem such as a hard drive failure. A Bento backup file contains the data in Bento at the time you run the back up command. The back up command is easy to use; you simply specify a name and location for the backup file.
About Bento Backup Files When you create a Bento backup file, you create a copy of the data that is in Bento. The backup file contains the data in your libraries and collections at the time you run the back up command. Important The Bento backup file does not contain the data from the Address Book iCal, and iPhoto applications. You should back up your Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto data whenever you back up your Bento data.
Using the Back Up Reminder By default, Bento reminds you to create a backup file once a week. To create a Bento backup file from the back up reminder dialog: 1 Click Back Up. 2 In the dialog that appears, use the default name and location or type a name and location for the backup file. Changing the Back Up Reminder You can change the default back up reminder frequency or turn off the back up reminder. To turn on the back up reminder or to change the reminder frequency: 1 Choose Bento > Preferences.
Creating a Backup File When you create a Bento backup file, you create a copy of the data that is in Bento. It’s a good idea to back up your Bento data before you make extensive changes, such as importing data, deleting libraries, or significantly changing forms. To create a backup file: 1 Choose File > Back Up Bento Data. 2 Use the default name and location or type a name and location for the backup file. 3 Click Save.
Using Time Machine with Bento Time Machine is the Mac OS X application that backs up your computer (including Bento data) on a regular basis. You can use Time Machine to restore the Bento data from a specific backup date and time. When you restore data from a Time Machine backup, you replace all of the data that is in Bento with the contents of the backup file. To set up the Time Machine options: 1 Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, and then click Time Machine.
Chapter 10 Backing Up and Restoring Information
Using Bento with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch 11 This chapter describes how to sync Bento with Bento for iPhone. Bento for iPhone is a personal database application that allows you to create libraries, collections, records, fields, and on iPhone or iPod touch. What you need: • Bento 3 • Bento for iPhone Syncing Information Between Bento and Bento for iPhone Syncing allows you to share information between your computer and your device.
5 Click Turn Airport On. 6 Click Apply, then close the Network pane. Syncing for the First Time After you have connected Bento for iPhone and Bento to the same Wi-Fi network, you can sync the applications. Before syncing, back up your Bento data. For more information, see Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring Information” on page 117. To sync for the first time: 1 Start Bento for iPhone, then tap . 2 In the Sync screen, tap “Set up sync with computer.” 3 A four-digit passcode appears.
To sync the applications: 1 In Bento for iPhone, tap . 2 (Optional) In Bento, in the Devices section of the Libraries pane, select your device, then select the libraries you want to sync with. Note By default, all libraries are synced. The iCal Events, iCal Tasks, and iPhoto libraries are not supported in Bento for iPhone. 3 In Bento for iPhone, tap Sync Now.
Chapter 11 Using Bento with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch
Keyboard Shortcuts A This section provides a reference of the keyboard shortcuts. You can use your keyboard and mouse to quickly accomplish many tasks in Bento. To find the shortcuts for common menu commands, look in the menus (or see the menu shortcuts listed here). To complete an action, press the shortcut keys in the order shown. Note To tab and shift-tab to all fields in form and table view, you must set full keyboard access to “All controls.
Action Shortcut Working with Table View When One Cell is Selected Edit a value Option-Return Save and move to next cell Return Add a carriage return in a text field Command-Return Move to cell above Up arrow Move to cell below Down arrow Move to next field Tab Move to previous field Shift-Tab Working with Table View When One or More Cells are Selected Extend selection upward Shift-up arrow Extend selection downward Shift-down arrow Working with Table View When Records are Selected Select
Action Shortcut Deselect all text within a field being edited Shift-Command-A Cut Command-X Copy Command-C Paste Command-V Duplicate Command-D Delete Delete Check spelling Command-semicolon (;) Show spelling window Command-colon (:) Show special characters window Option-Command-T General Create library from template (opens New Library dialog) Command-L Create collection Shift-Command-N Create Smart Collection Option-Command-N Add field Control-N Show or hide Advanced Find Comman
Action Shortcut Close window Command-W Minimize window Command-M Show preferences Command-comma (,) Lock Bento Shift-Command-L Show Bento Help Command-question mark (?) Hide Bento Command-H Hide other windows Option-Command-H Quit Bento Command-Q Appendix A
Reverting to a Previous Version of Bento B This section provides instructions for Bento 1 and Bento 2 users who installed Bento 3 and then decide to go back to their previous version. Reverting to Bento 1 or Bento 2 from Bento 3 If you have Bento 1 installed, Bento 3 will create a new database file using your Bento 1 database file. Your old Bento 1 database is renamed to bentoUpgradeBackup.bentodb, and the Bento 3 database is named bento.bentodb.
To revert to Bento 1 or Bento 2 from Bento 3: 1 Choose Bento > Quit Bento. 2 In the Finder, choose Go > Home. 3 Open the Library folder, then the Application Support folder, then the Bento folder. You see the current Bento 3 database file (bento.bentodb) and the Bento database backup file (bentoUpgradeBackup.bentodb).
4 Drag the bento.bentodb (Bento 3) file to the Trash. 5 Rename the bentoUpgradeBackup.bentodb file to bento.bentodb.
6 Your folder should now look like this (bentoUpgradeBackup.bentodb has been replaced with bento.bentodb). 7 Locate and start the Bento 1 or Bento 2 application. If you overwrote your Bento 1 or Bento 2 application with the Bento 3 trial, you can download another copy from the Bento Support website. 8 Your data will appear in Bento 1 or Bento 2 as it did before you started Bento 3. 9 Drag the Bento 3 application to the Trash.
Index A Address Book application 8, 22 Address Book groups 41 displaying data from 39 Address Book library 8 described 22, 31, 41 fields updated in Address Book application 43 hiding 40 address fields 81 Advanced Find 29 aliases to files or folders 84, 85, 95 aligning fields on forms 62 AppleWorks, exporting from 102 autofilling fields 72 automatic counter fields 81 Average function 73 B backing up described 117 turning off reminder 119 backups, restoring from 120 bento.
D fields Database Password 97 See also Sharing Password databases disconnecting shared 35 importing from 102 looking for shared 36 sharing 34 turning off sharing 35 data sources, specifying for related records 86 date fields 80 dates current 57 displaying 44, 47 deleting collections 53 fields and data 90 fields from form 60 forms 58 libraries 37 media files 97 records 37, 57, 68 devices, syncing 123 duration fields 80 E email address fields 81 emails sending in form view 90 sending in table view 91 encry
field types and exporting 113 and importing 109 changing 90 choosing 82 described 80 file list fields 80 creating 84 opening files from 91 finding records 27 flexible spaces 64 folders, library 37, 77 font size changing in form view 62 changing in table view 66 forms adding column dividers to 64 adding fields to 59 adding media files to 95 adding objects to 63 changing column width 61 changing themes 61 creating 58 customizing 59 deleting 58 duplicating 58 renaming 59 thumbnails in grid view 75 formulas 83
Libraries pane changing size of icons and text 21 described 21 hiding 20 library folders 37, 77 list fields 81 locked fields, in Fields pane 89 locking Bento 98 fields 98 M Mac OS X Mail items 85 mailing labels 115 mapping fields 107 Maximum function 73 media fields 80, 94 media files adding 95 deleting 97 message list fields 80, 85 Minimum function 73 movies 96 MP3 files 94 music 96 N navigation bar 27 number fields 80 O objects image boxes 63 moving on form 59 resizing 60 selecting on form 59 text boxe
split view, described 25, 56 spreadsheets, importing from 102 subscribed calendars 45 Sum function 73 summary row 72 syncing Bento with Bento for iPhone 123, 125 T TAB files, described 101 table view copying and pasting data in 67 described 25, 32, 65 selecting records in 66 text size 66 tab-separated value files, described 101 tasks displaying 44, 47 iCal application 39 technical support 18 template exchange 18 templates 11 Blank template 32 creating libraries with 32 described 23 text, changing size of 6
