I have been trying to get Infoqube to run in Linux (using the latest version of Crossover) without any success. Has anyone succeeded in this or have any tips to offer?
Just in case my posts help someone, using Crossover 17 I installed:
IE7
Jet 4.0 Service Pack 8
Visual Basic 6 common controls
Visual Basic Runtime 6
Infoqube installable version 0.9.108Pre6
When I run it, it throws up the splash screen and goes into a loop requiring me to kill the process.
The part of the log that appears to initiate the errors is as follows.
Probably I will have to give up. All I really want is an outliner, and I don't need all the other bells and whistles. I don't suppose the program is modular and I can use switches to start it with nothing but outline capabilities (?)
Thanks ----
-> rc=768 (took 0.0187780857086182 seconds)
output=[]
Command:
/opt/cxoffice/bin/wineloader winewrapper.exe --new-console --workdir /home/.cxoffice/Infoqube/dosdevices/c:/Program Files/InfoQube Information Manager --start -- /home/.cxoffice/Infoqube/dosdevices/../drive_c/Program Files/InfoQube Information Manager/InfoQube.exe
The error is related to Internet Explorer. I'll fix it so that it is not used on the splash screen. In the meantime, you can turn off showing the splash screen at startup:
- In your user folder, there is a file named options.ini.
- near the end, there is an entry: ShowSplashScreen. Set it to 0
- Close the file
- Restart IQ
Also, this is a great video on running Windows app on Linux:
Your post was the kick in the butt I needed to install Linux onto a virtual machine. I'll be able to do tests to get something working, hopefully, in the coming weeks.
Thank you Pierre. So far I haven't been able to get any further than before - I will report back if I can figure out anything else.
I should say that I am running Linux under MX16 and that I have run Crossover well with Ecco and with other windows programs for many years. I do run a few windows programs in Virtualbox, and I can run Infoqube there, but I am doing my best to convert fully to Linux. If you choose to use WINE rather than crossover to get it running in Linux that will be no problem for me.
As I think I mentioned my main desire for Infoqube is to use it as a rich-text single pane outliner with columns and viewer pane, where (as you know from the Outliner forum) there is STILL after all these years not a viable replacement for Ecco in terms of pure single-pane outlining (at least in the Windows world, which I can use via emulation in Linux).
I saw your post on Outlinerforums.com that you had been considering issuing a "light" version of InfoQube focused mostly on outlining. I hope you'll be able to go through with that and I will certainly try to help test. I've used Ecco in my personal life and law practice for some 25 years and although the extension allows me to get by, I'd love to have an up-to-date and supported product with which to replace it. In the past I thought I needed the "folder view" on the left side (like Ecco) to navigate, but now I see all I really need is a rich-text easy to use single pane outliner combined with columns and the rich-text / html panel that allows much longer text/graphics on the right-hand side. There's nothing like that available on Linux, which is why I've been trying to use Crossover.
The only additional thing I've noticed recently, is that I after setting up the outline-focused layout I described, I don't find it as easy as Ecco to add new columns. Seems to me that the standard use of IQ as an outliner would be like Ecco, where one does the outline on the left, and then left-clicks in the heading to "add" new columns of date, text, dollars, etc. I gather that the way to do this in IQ is to hunt for a fields dialog box and set up a new field there, then go back and add that as a column. For a new user looking to do that as an obvious first step in learning the program, it would be nice if there were a way to click in the column header and find a dialog that would make adding a new column from scratch (and not just from an existing list of fields) more direct.
[...] would be nice if there were a way to click in the column header and find a dialog that would make adding a new column from scratch (and not just from an existing list of fields) more direct.
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Adding fields more or less on the fly would definitely be great for casual use, or simply to be able to quickly add columns while working on a project -- I've asked for that feature too, a while ago. I've changed my way of working since then, but it's still something that would make IQ easier to use. E.g. - Click on a header, - select "new field/column" - and then a simple popup allows you to 1- name the column, 2- chose the type, 3- and maybe open the field properties after those basic operations if needed.
(That said, constantly creating ad hoc fields could eventually slow down the DB and create a mess in the field properties dialog... Reusing fields in a judicious way is also what a DB is all about. And... IQ light? This would disperse the limited time and energy available to develop IQ, I'm afraid. The italic isn't there for nothing.)
Armando I know you are one of the core long-time users. I am curious what major areas of development you think are still missing from IQ that hold it back from becoming more widely successful.
I realize that "widely successful" might not be the criteria that is driving development, but the cliche about "jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind when it seems that fundamental ease of use issues are left behind in favor of feature growth.
(I ask my question sincerely - maybe I don't understand the "ultimate goal" of IQ and I would not be asking for outlining ease-of-use if I fully understood that the goal is to replace Outlook, or some high-level project manager software.)
Manage project schedules with built-in Gantt charts
Be trendy and write rich text documents using Markdown
Dashboard-like view with flexible multiple pane views
Organizeyour information in hierarchy (i.e. an outline) with or without a data grid
I realize that if this list of features is the priority, then my own preferred use is way down at number 7, and I don't have much hope for development in my direction. But just to be honest, the first four are not uses I will ever employ AT ALL, and I don't see how IQ can ever hope to compete with the dedicated products in those directions. It has always seemed to me that IQ stands or falls, if at all, on its strength in outline/database management (outliner with columns and rich text long-form panel). It seems to me that that's where the market is, if at all, which is why Pierre devotes time to the Outlinersoftware forum, and why there is so much interest in it there.
Thanks for your comments. Always instructive to get opinions from other users / use cases
Completing a fully functional Calendar, linked to your mobile (phone, tablet) through an online service (currently Google Calendar) is the main current goal. Once that is done, feature stabilisation (and minor optimizations) will lead to v1.0
For many users, that will be a game changer as time management is a big part of our life.
You are correct though that an efficient outliner with columns is IQ's core feature.
[quote]
Manage your schedule using the full-featured Calendar
Manage project schedules with built-in Gantt charts
Be trendy and write rich text documents using Markdown
Dashboard-like view with flexible multiple pane views
Organizeyour information in hierarchy (i.e. an outline) with or without a data grid
I realize that if this list of features is the priority, then my own preferred use is way down at number 7, and I don't have much hope for development in my direction. But just to be honest, the first four are not uses I will ever employ AT ALL, and I don't see how IQ can ever hope to compete with the dedicated products in those directions. It has always seemed to me that IQ stands or falls, if at all, on its strength in outline/database management (outliner with columns and rich text long-form panel). It seems to me that that's where the market is, if at all, which is why Pierre devotes time to the Outlinersoftware forum, and why there is so much interest in it there.
[/quote]
I know this is quite the list, but most of that is already fully functional, so I'm at the fine tuning stage:
Calendar. Central to Ecco Pro. Same here
Inking is being pushed by MS and more and more devices will support it. Onenote would not be Onenote without ink, really. I really like how Ink documents can be combined with other HTML pane context and shared. Very little work was required to integrate this with IQ as this is a separate app, from a different developer. Main feature upgrade is integrating an audio recorder to link handwriting with audio. Great for meeting / classrooms
2-D Surface cannot compete with dedicated tools, I know. It is mostly feature complete for v1.0.
Gantt chars are great project management tools, but I realize not all users will use it. The idea here is to offer many views to your data. Each view is fine tuned to a particular task. Tasks are items and can be viewed in grids, in the Calendar, etc. It can't compete with Primavera / MS Project, but then again, not everyone needs these dedicated and expensive tools.
Markdown: I'm not a big fan of it (many people are however), and so I don't expect to do much changes before v1.0
Dashboards: Ecco had multiple notepads per tab and since implementing it, I use it all the time. My main dashboard has my Inbox, Budget / spending grid, Release notes and an "Agenda" view of my Calendar, all in a single tab. It is great to have multiple views in the same tab
Outliner: Please voice what aspects of the outliner with column you wish improved / simplified / enhanced. At least half of the many changes over the years were user suggestions !
Armando I know you are one of the core long-time users. I am curious what major areas of development you think are still missing from IQ that hold it back from becoming more widely successful.
I realize that "widely successful" might not be the criteria that is driving development, but the cliche about "jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind when it seems that fundamental ease of use issues are left behind in favor of feature growth.
(I ask my question sincerely - maybe I don't understand the "ultimate goal" of IQ and I would not be asking for outlining ease-of-use if I fully understood that the goal is to replace Outlook, or some high-level project manager software.)
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This is not easy to answer.
I had a list... woud need to find it. But IQ improved a lot in the last few years. I honestly don't think anything really comes close to it now. I wouldn't/couldn't use anything else -- except during those times where new developments create stability issues, but Pierre is usually quick to fix those!!!
Quickly, first things that comes to my mind (I'll obviously forget some):
- Calendar : sync and polish (and maybe sync to tasks, contacts, etc.)
- A simple mode that hides all the "advanced" features.
- Easier field creation, like you said.
- More grid/field templates, with autoassign/equations examples (e.g. I use icons a lot, and it's not obvious that you can do that in the sample file)
- UI polish (maybe with tips that popup for new users), change the feel of the sample file -- make it more "actual"/trendy
Then there are other things, when you know more about the software:
- Better export to Word or other word processor/templates, with minimal reformatting.
- Better form management/form automation (so that forms can be used like in many other PIMs : they popup when you need to create a contact, a task, etc.)
- Item recurrence, usable in the grid, not just in the calendar (I have my own system, but most users wouldn't have the patience to script that)
- Make some other view modes more complete so that they can be used daily (thinking of map view, surface)
- Get rid of the bugs that get in the way when using certain features (thinking of column equations, group by sort columns, column sets when columns are grouped, etc.)
Comments
The part of the log that appears to initiate the errors is as follows.
- Click on a header,
- select "new field/column"
- and then a simple popup allows you to 1- name the column, 2- chose the type, 3- and maybe open the field properties after those basic operations if needed.