Base 1.4 is now available for download.
The major changes in this release are CSV importing and overhauled SQL importing.
The CSV importer can either create a new table from your data or you can import directly into an existing table. For an example of CSV importing, see the following screenshot:
There’s also a whole load of minor changes to Base. Highlights include:
- A toolbar button to vacuum the current file
- You can now drag and drop entities from the source list into the SQL tab
- Improvements to how numeric data is handled when edited, particularly when no column affinity is set (see the SQLite docs)
Base also now collects anonymous system data when checking for updates. If you’d rather not participate in this, you can opt-out in the app preferences.
You can download Base 1.4 from it’s product page or view a full list of changes.
Yep, it’s that time again. I could do with a handful of people to try out the latest version of Base. The main changes in this version are large updates to SQL and CSV importing, so I’m looking for people who can put these areas though their paces.
Anyone who wants to try it should mail me (info@menial.co.uk) and I’ll be in touch with directions for downloading the app.
Base 1.3.4 has been released today. It only has one change over 1.3.3 which fixes a bug causing the app to crash on quit (very annoying!).
As usual you can download the update from it’s product page or by checking for updates within the app.
A year ago today, Base was introduced to the world as a shiny new 1.0.
Well, perhaps not that shiny.
A bit of a rookie error meant that anyone buying the app couldn’t actually use the license file they’d just bought until 1.0.1 a few hours later. Version 1.0.2 followed the next day after someone found noticed another bug. Both of these were things that should have been found during testing, and served to show how thoroughly you should test an app before releasing it. That mad scramble had a chastening effect and all releases since have been much more comprehensively tested!
Since then there have been 3 feature releases, each introducing quite large changes – from syntax highlighting to a custom table editor – and the user base has continued to grow at a steady pace each month. The emails of suggestions, encouragement and complaint sent by both existing and potential users have helped shape the apps development and show it’s future direction.
There is still a lot of work to be done on Base, and a long list of features to add. The trick will be adding them without adding clutter. I use Base in my other development projects and want it to be an app that you can use without thinking too much. Something that you can dive in and out of without distracting you from the greater task at hand.
So, after this minor reminiscence I’d like to say thank you to all the users of Base. It’s been fun making it, and you enable me to keep at it. Please continue to get in touch with your comments, requests and complaints. They all help to make Base a better app.
Base 1.3.3 has been released today. Among it’s changes are two highly requested features: Inclusion of full-text searching (the FTS3 module) and improved handling of SQLite internal tables (those with a name starting “sqlite_“). You can now enable/disable visibility of internal tables in the app preferences.
FTS3 does come with a minor caveat. It seems that there is not a reliable way to identify tables that are part of an FTS3 index. Because of this, I have disabled the modification of virtual tables from the user interface. You (the user) will be responsible for not modifying or dropping the *_content, *_segdir and *_segments tables generated by the FTS module. I do hope to improve this in the future.
You can download Base 1.3.3 from it’s product page or view a full list of changes.
Edit 2009-10-08: There was a bug causing a crash which slipped through my testing. This crash would occur when you tried to alter any table. I have updated the download of Base, but not changed the version number as it was a very minor fix. If you are affected by this problem, you can download the fixed version by checking for updates within the app. I apologise for the annoyance this has caused.
As I don’t have one of those (expensive) subscriptions to Apple’s Dev Centre, today has been the first chance to test Base on Snow Leopard (10.6). So far everything seems to work ok, but if anyone comes across any new oddities since upgrading, please let me know. You can either add a comment below or send an email.
Just a quick note regarding Base and using non-English characters in SQL queries. Base defaults to using the font Courier in the custom SQL and log views. This font doesn’t seem to support a very wide range of international glyphs, so text like ‘Αθήνα’ 1 simply doesn’t appear in the text fields!
To fix this problem, open Base preferences to the Logging tab, and pick a different font. In the next release the default font will be Courier New, which has better support for international text.
1. Google Translate
Base 1.3.2 has just been released. This is only a small bugfix update, so no new features. The changes are as follows:
- Fixed escaping of identifiers in the ALTER TABLE sheet
- Fixed display of edited data in the data browser
- Better notification of broken triggers after altering tables & views
- Slightly better handling of SQLite internal tables. There will be more improvements to come on this.
Base 1.3 has just been released. You can download it from it’s product page or view the release notes.
The main focus of this release is table schema editing. As SQLite does not natively have the ability to alter table schemas, it is a multi-step process (create new table, copy old data across, delete the old table) and I’m very pleased to finally have such an important feature in the app.
Looking to the future, most feature requests centre around improving the import/export abilities of the app and improving BLOB viewing and editing. I’d be very interested to hear what current and potential users think are the most needed improvements. If you’ve got something to add, please leave a comment or email.
Update 2009-05-31
PayPal have now restored access to payment processing. All should hopefully be normal now.
As anyone who has tried to buy Base since Friday (28 May 2009) has noticed, I’m currently unable to accept payments and hence process any sales. This is because PayPal has noticed that I had not fully verified my details with their system to prove I’m not some sort of international fraudster. Which I’m not.
It’s good that they do check people out. Their system as a whole would collapse without a decent level of scrutiny. However in my case, I don’t feel they’ve applied much common sense to the matter. Example:
1. I need to prove I own the bank account linked to my PayPal account. To do this they send two small amounts of money to you. You verify the amounts from your statement, they are happy.
2. Something in their system hates my account number and refuses to send the mini-transactions. I cannot verify because they cannot send. Impasse.
3. I navigate the treacherous pathways of the godawful telephone tree helpline. A very helpful guy says “no problem, just upload a scan of some photo ID and a recent account statement. It’ll take 24-48 hours to process”. I do this.
4. Their system accepts the scans after 24 hours and sends out an automated email saying I still have to verify my bank account. Grrrrr. Back to the telephone system. The helpline person tells me that the scans were not an alternative to verifying my account, but an addition. She promises to escalate this to the account verification people but refuses to put me through to them on the grounds that “they have no phones”. Whisky Tango Foxtrot?
Anyway. That leaves us here. It’s the weekend, and I’m waiting for the paperwork for a new bank account and for the people at PayPal to get in touch and am still unable to process payments. I am sorry to anyone who wants to buy Base, but if you fill in the form on the product page I’ll email you (one message, no more ever) when this saga is over with a link to buy it at 80% normal price.
