Fountain Pen Database Available for Download

[Robert Alan]

Thousands of people have downloaded the database, and I've only received a small handful of people who said they had trouble running it. I may release a new version soon, but I haven't decided how to handle the issue of upgrading people to the newer version.

 

Hello! I want to personally thank you for sharing your program. It is so helpful! The only question I have is how do I make a back-up copy. I have Norton software on my PC (Vista), and it's set to automatically back-up my hard-drive to an outboard drive, but I would like to have the inventory on a CD/DVD disk to put in a safe place. I cannot figure out how to do it. Must I have the actual software on the disk, too?

 

Thanks for any suggestions you could offer.

 

Best of luck and good health in the New Year. i hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

 

Cheers, Robert

 

If you intend on backing it up onto a CD/DVD, you should just drag the entire folder (with the software) onto the disk. This is because once you burn a disk, you can't add anything else onto it. Therefore, no harm in having a little extra. You can also copy the entire thing from the disk onto another computer without having to get the software all over again; it's convenient.

 

However, keep in mind that files on a disk are not modifiable. Don't run the software off the disk and modify things because it won't save.

 

Hope that was of some use.

 

Regards,

Wonton

 

 

Thanks Wonton! Once I complete the inventory, that would be a good idea. Of course, it seems that I'm always adding new acquisitions. In the meantime, I guess I will rely on the automatic back-up capability of the Norton software to my outboard drive.

Happy Holidays!

/Robert

[riff raff]

It would appear that the file that always has the most recent timestamp (most recently modified) is "Fountain Pen Inventory Clone.FPN", so in theory, you should be able to have Norton include that file in the incremental back-ups.

[djed]

Thanks Jonro for this excellent and well designed database, much appreciated.

Makes me want to buy more pens! just to fill the database.

Oh dear, what have I done?

Cheers Djed

[dlfarage]

Judging from the post dates, I'm a little slow getting to this one. Wow!!! Very cool app. This beats the little stickies and cards stuffed in the bags for my collection and repairs. Excellent!

 

Thanks,

Don Farage

[fountain.pens]

My fountain pen inventory database is ready to download. There is a version for both Mac and PC users. The database maintains a lot of useful information about your fountain pen collection, including basic descriptive info, prices paid, repairs made and unlimited photographs. It also makes it very easy to post reviews to FPN. This database isn't associated with FPN, but I did add a couple of features that plays nicely with FPN.

 

As I mentioned, there's a Mac and a PC version. I ran into some font issues on the PC and had to make a a couple of small changes to the PC version in order to get it posted without delay. There isn't a large difference, but the Mac version looks a little nicer.

 

When you download it and unzip it, you will see a file and a folder named Fountain Pen Inventory. The file is an alias to the main program file in the folder. I don't usually distribute my solutions as standalone runtime databases. I've tested it as carefully as I could, but let me know if you have any issues. Even better, let me know if you like it, too. There is no charge for Fountain Pen Inventory. It's my gift to the FPN fountain pen community. You can redistribute it to someone else, but are not allowed to charge for it, modify it or present it as your own work.

 

Enough of the intro, you can download it at: <a href='http://www.jonro.com/downloads/' target='_blank'>http://www.jonro.com/downloads/</a>

 

Regards,

 

Jon

[fountain.pens]

Thanks dear....

 

happy new year...

 

you have nice collection of writing instruments.....i lyk it..

 

thanx...

[ncesar]

Thank you very much. is a great aplication.

Is this possible to modify this program for watches?

Edited January 5, 2011 by ncesar

[s5blitzer]

Hi all.

 

Just joined this forum and this is one of the first threads I read. Thanks for the great app.

[newlife]

A very useful database! Now that I've started using it - how can I change the shipping costs to Euro? If I write EUR 6,90 or otherwise 6,90 EUR, there's always a $ sign after entering. Same with other currencies. Second question - I'm on a Mac and would like to translate to german. Is that possible? Which software would I need? Third question - how can I change the font size? The program starts with Tahoma 12, and that's far too less for my ripening eyes. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I did not find any way to change to bigger size.

 

Many thanks anyway, even if my questions can't be answered to my satisfaction . . .

 

Suggestion: Shortcuts for Record/List/Table view, if that's possible.

Edited January 13, 2011 by newlife

[FLJeepGuy]

I just downloaded the database last night and have been inputting my pen and ink records. I have a request for the next version though. It would be nice to have a dedicated field for pen quality. For example, New Old Stock, Mint In Box, Excellent, Poor, etc. This is something I already track for my collection and would rather have it in a field by itself rather than just in the note or description field. Having this info in a dedicated field would allow my to sort by it and easily pick out pens I might want to have repaired or restored, etc.

 

Other than that, I really like what you've done here.

Edited January 18, 2011 by FLJeepGuy

[jonro]

I just downloaded the database last night and have been inputting my pen and ink records. I have a request for the next version though. It would be nice to have a dedicated field for pen quality. For example, New Old Stock, Mint In Box, Excellent, Poor, etc. This is something I already track for my collection and would rather have it in a field by itself rather than just in the note or description field. Having this info in a dedicated field would allow my to sort by it and easily pick out pens I might want to have repaired or restored, etc.

 

Other than that, I really like what you've done here.

That's what the "Condition" field is for. Enjoy!

[jonro]

A very useful database! Now that I've started using it - how can I change the shipping costs to Euro? If I write EUR 6,90 or otherwise 6,90 EUR, there's always a $ sign after entering. Same with other currencies. Second question - I'm on a Mac and would like to translate to german. Is that possible? Which software would I need? Third question - how can I change the font size? The program starts with Tahoma 12, and that's far too less for my ripening eyes. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I did not find any way to change to bigger size.

 

Many thanks anyway, even if my questions can't be answered to my satisfaction . . .

 

Suggestion: Shortcuts for Record/List/Table view, if that's possible.

I'll take a look at the shipping charge. I assume you've changed the default currency with "Enter Default Currency" under the Fountain Pens menu. At the bottom left corner of the window there are two little "mountain" icons. Pressing the larger one will zoom the window to 150%, which will make it easy to read.

 

Regards,

 

Jon

[IronSoul]

very good program thank you very much

 

how can I change the shipping costs to Euro? If I write EUR 6,90 or otherwise 6,90 EUR, there's always a $ sign after entering. Same with other currencies.

I'll take a look at the shipping charge. I assume you've changed the default currency with "Enter Default Currency" under the Fountain Pens menu.

 

Regards,

 

Jon

 

changing the default currency with "Enter Default Currency" didnt help Retail price has same problem.

 

I just downloaded the database last night and have been inputting my pen and ink records. I have a request for the next version though. It would be nice to have a dedicated field for pen quality. For example, New Old Stock, Mint In Box, Excellent, Poor, etc. This is something I already track for my collection and would rather have it in a field by itself rather than just in the note or description field. Having this info in a dedicated field would allow my to sort by it and easily pick out pens I might want to have repaired or restored, etc.

 

Other than that, I really like what you've done here.

That's what the "Condition" field is for. Enjoy!

 

i don't see "Condition" field

 

for what is that big window between the pictures? and line under it ? hmm when i changed colors ir preferences now i see picture in there

 

hmm can I get it at all times remain in full screen? it jumps in windowed mode all time

Edited January 19, 2011 by IronSoul

[BikerBabeDK]

Hi all.

 

Just joined this forum and this is one of the first threads I read. Thanks for the great app.

 

I second that.

Thank you very much for the neat database. :notworthy1:

Dayum, now I can hardly wait with buying more pens!

 

Cheers,

 

Maria.

[jonro]

Click on any of the little photos to make it the default photo that displays in the bigger central box.

 

Jon

 

very good program thank you very much

 

how can I change the shipping costs to Euro? If I write EUR 6,90 or otherwise 6,90 EUR, there's always a $ sign after entering. Same with other currencies.

I'll take a look at the shipping charge. I assume you've changed the default currency with "Enter Default Currency" under the Fountain Pens menu.

 

Regards,

 

Jon

 

changing the default currency with "Enter Default Currency" didnt help Retail price has same problem.

 

I just downloaded the database last night and have been inputting my pen and ink records. I have a request for the next version though. It would be nice to have a dedicated field for pen quality. For example, New Old Stock, Mint In Box, Excellent, Poor, etc. This is something I already track for my collection and would rather have it in a field by itself rather than just in the note or description field. Having this info in a dedicated field would allow my to sort by it and easily pick out pens I might want to have repaired or restored, etc.

 

Other than that, I really like what you've done here.

That's what the "Condition" field is for. Enjoy!

 

i don't see "Condition" field

 

for what is that big window between the pictures? and line under it ? hmm when i changed colors ir preferences now i see picture in there

 

hmm can I get it at all times remain in full screen? it jumps in windowed mode all time

[amyx231]

maybe someone can take many databases, and compile something stating which pen rocks, and which ones are duds?

for example, everyone loves easterbrooks it looks like. But to start using it, it needs to be repaired....which increases cost quite a bit.

[deelcee]

brilliant database!

now all i need is some pens to put in it :embarrassed_smile:

[Keye Skware]

This is a great database. When I started entering all my pens into it, I felt a bit like one of those morons who videotapes their own crime spree leaving the police with a perfect record. I have always tried to maintain an aspect of plausible deniability with my wife, and possibly with myself too. When she would ask me: "how many pens do you have now?" I could always respond with "Um..I really don't know" as if to say it's such a trivial amount I don't bother keeping track.

 

But, this is great for insurance purposes and it satisfies my own desire to track things.

[magicryan]

I may be a noob here, but when I try and open it the program just shuts down... :S

[scribere]

I may be a noob here, but when I try and open it the program just shuts down... :S

 

Same here. I just downloaded the Mac version and it shuts down immediately every time I try to open it. Is there a patch or a fix for this problem?