OneNote disappointment

As the CBS team member who looks after the office equipment and ensures that all our business data is accessible, moving from just using a local area network for work data to using Cloud storage has not exactly been a straightforward journey. Once upon a time we used Google Drive as a secondary back up to our network drive. Then SkyDrive turned up morphed into OneDrive and we had computers on Windows 7 and 8.1, and theere were glitches because they didn't work quite in the same way. Then the big upgrade of everything to Windows 10 took place, but this didn't solve all the problems, but rather masked earlier problems which we thought we'd dealt with, but not quite. 

Eventually, with a little extra concentration and graft, we sorted this out. Also, I migrated our client dataset across to Libre Office Base to future proof its handling with software that has a reliable tested upgrade path. This I felt was necessary, as we've used MS Works database, dating from prior to 2000 since I set about building the CBS database in 2010. Although Works database is perfectly reliable, I don't quite trust Microsoft not to depart one day from its software backwards compatibility policy with an operating system upgrade installed automatically. 

Microsoft, over the years has retained dominance with its various file formats, and imposed changes through various versions of its MS Office software, driving people to spend on upgrading and the inevitable extra learning required that obstructs the flow of business. I'm a fan of the well recognised Open Document file format of the Open Source Software community, and Microsoft's resistance to accepting universally recognised file formats not its own is far from good for a global communications network medium. One could say the same about the many competing audio and video formats as well, but thankfully there are many software engineers worldwide developing workarounds and alternative solutions.

I moan about these things yet again because Julie our CBS administrator discovered a problem which hadn't earlier been noticed with the migration of data to Libre Office. Almost everything works well, apart from the large data fields containing commentary and notes attached to each client record. Some seem to have exceeded limits of which we were unaware, and created a cascade of errors affecting only these large fields, which we'd decided in any case to store in separate records. While the main body of data is completely intact, the notes are a mess, and don't even display well in any form I've been able to desire. No wonder good database engineers are well paid to deliver their product! So, we've continued to update the MS Works file as a repository for notes until we find a solution.

This afternoon, we tried out the Windows 10 app OneNote, which is a respository for various kinds of note taking which can also store links to files and images. Potentially useful but immediately we found its imitations. You cannot import any data into it. If you try cutting and pasting from a spreadsheet or a database it crashes the app. You can search by keyword, but not sort. It only gives information inputted in date order. It looks pretty, but it's not that powerful, and feels a bit like a bright designer idea which is more a work in progress than a finished product, despite its appearance.

After half an hour's annoyance with the app, we gave up on it in the office, but I returned to it later when I got home, to see if I'd missed out on anything. That was when  found it will accept unformatted texts pasted from a text editor, and that you can then add to any time you want, so with a few hours manual labour it would be possible to use this for storage of client notes, though it wouldn't be in a proper database. So, keep looking, I guess. There'll be something better out there to discover.

After supper we went to Chapter for a concert given by folk singer and story teller Robin Williamson and his wife Bina. Both are still going strong in their mid seventies, performing on stage for two hours, very lively and engaging. We met them when I was at St John's. They did a winter concert for us there and I remember it was freezing because the central heating wasn't working properly. The audience was smaller than it was this evening, but they are brave and hardly people, undaunted by the experience, and we've kept in touch with them since then. They had a young teenage daughter performing shyly with them when we first met. Now she's a graduate and a lawyer, working in Bristol. Time passes.

   

Trials of re-installation

Overcast and 15C here in Cardiff today, such a contrast to Nerja at 30C. Instead of being bathed in sweat, torrential rain, and the need to wear a thick cardigan to keep warm. Summer has indeed got lost here, as one news presenter put it. Still, plenty to do indoors, with several computers to revive with huge numbers of updates, and a mound of mail to get through after three months of absence.  Still, no bills. One new bank card, and a special discount for prompt renewal of my coach card, and lots of financial statements to file. ready for tax return time.

Late afternoon I went into the CBS office and checked the computers for updates and caught up with Ashley. Last week, CBS and all its working systems moved yet again, our seventh relocation in six years, always following in the footsteps of City Centre management. In fact we're back where we were two years ago in a slightly enlarged space. Our monitoring systems have evolved somewhat in that time, as our RadioNet operations have grown in sophistication.

I was quite amazed, given the complexity and difficulty of packing and moving so much equipment, that the system was running without problems. Apart from a MS Surface proprietory charger, nothing had gone missing, and even that turned up later in the evening in a bag of unsorted items. MS Office had given up the ghost on the main admin machine while I was away, but Libre Office was also installed and had sufficed as a fall back remedy. 

Attempts to repair MS Office from the original 15 year old disks failed, not because they were damaged or incompatible, they worked fine.  Un-installation prior to a full re-install was needed. Attempting to do this gave another error message, demanding the presence of another MS product (in our case MS Works) to be installed as a precondition of installing Office. MS Word was installed however, but was being ignored - probably caused by a deleted registry entry. This means finding the original MS Works disk at home, and doing a repair or re-install with it before MS Office will re-install. 

I was not pleased with myself, when a search for the installation disk at home revealed an empty disc box. Now, where to start the long search? At home or in the office. If I can't find it, the hassles will multiply. The company can afford to purchase an all new Office suite, but none of us who'd be using it can afford the time to learn an annoying new user interface. Or, in the case of Publisher, have backward file compatibility issues. Libre Office works well for most things, but is just a bit slower, and not as flexible for Publisher type document creation. We simply need to continue admin functions along the lines they have developed, as using a learned system, even if quirky, is more efficient and less error prone than a load of new software that may not think about the user, the way the user needs to be thought of. So, I'd better be able to find that disk - soon !