Diving Log 5.0 – Logbook Profile

March 5th, 2009

Today I want to talk about the dive profile improvements in version 5.0. Each profile can now be configured separately (each has its own right click context menu). There are several profile areas (by default 3 but you can drag more hidden areas to any place in the window) and each of them can display any profile. So you can display for example the depth, temperature and tank 1 profile. Or you can display tank 1, tank 2 and tank 3.

Dive Profile

Dive Profile

Tank 1 and 3 with context menu

Tank 1 and 3 with context menu

The gauges on the right side are now scalable so they look right on different DPI settings and window sizes. You can drag each profile and gauge on the form around like any other component. In this way you can display for example a small preview profile on the the first tab page additionally to the big profile on the profile tab.

Profile on first tab

Profile on first tab

The profile display is prepared for displaying bookmarks or annotations (like in Suunto Dive Manager) and tank switches. The ppO2 graph will use the real O2 value of the tank used in this profile range.

You can select a profile range with the mouse which offers a wide range of possibilities (e.g. set a compass course or tank number for the selected range).

Profile Selection

Profile Selection

On the profile data tab you can view, edit and export now all profile data. In version 4.0 only the depth profile can be viewed and exported.

Profile Data

Profile Data

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Diving Log 5.0 – Logbook Part 2

March 3rd, 2009

I already wrote about the new ribbon element in the logbook window and I want to show you a few other details in the case you’re not familiar with the ribbon in Office 2007. The ribbon can be minimized so only the ribbon tabs will require space. This is especially useful for small displays. When you click on a tab the ribbon will dropdown and you can use any command. When you’re done it will collapse itself automatically. The 2nd feature I want to show you is the ability to pin any command from the ribbon to the “Quick Access Toolbar”. This is the small toolbar below the ribbon. This toolbar can also be moved above the ribbon onto the title bar so even less space is required. You can add to this toolbar often needed commands so they are only one click away, no matter which ribbon tab is selected.

Minimized Ribbon

Minimized Ribbon

Dropped Down Ribbon

Dropped Down Ribbon

I’m not yet sure what to do with the “Office Button”, this is the round shaped button (without icon in the screenshot) in the upper left corner. In Office this button opens up the application menu with “File Open”, “File Save” and so on but these features are in Diving Log in the main application toolbar and menu, so it doesn’t make much sense to put them also into this menu. I can simply hide this button and maybe this is the best solution if there is no functionality which makes sense. If you have any idea, please let me know.

The 2nd feature I want to talk about in this post are the location and buddy dropdowns. You may know from Diving Log 4.0 that there are two ways to enter “Countries”, “Cities / Islands”, “Dive Sites” and “Buddies”. If you only want to store the name of the location or buddy into your logbook you can simply enter it directly in the field. This is useful for locations and buddies you have no further information, e.g. a buddy who dived only one time with you in your vacation. If you want to store additional information you can link the field to one of the detailed entries. Linked items are displayed in blue font color in Diving Log 4.0 and you have to click the chain icon above the field.

Now in Diving Log 5.0 linking an item is easier. Manual entered items now have a pencil icon, linked items have a chain icon in front of it. And you can link an item by simply selecting it from the dropdown list or by using the auto-complete function. Thus you don’t have to leave the logbook window to link an entry. To create a new detailed entry you can click the plus button which opens up the detail window.

Dive Site Dropdown

Dive Site Dropdown

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Diving Log 5.0 – Logbook Window

March 1st, 2009

In this post I want to give you a general overview of the logbook window changes in version 5.0. In later postings I’ll go more deeply into details like profile display and photo management. The following screenshots show an early state, so the GUI, the icons and the layout may change over time.

Logbook Window

Logbook Window

The first thing you will recognize is the ribbon at the top of the window. I know the ribbon, first introduced in Office 2007, is a very controversial GUI element. There are users who like it, and there are users who hate it. You can believe me, I was thinking a long time about using it or not. I have not added the ribbon because it is looking “modern” or “stylish”. I’ve added it because I think it’s the only control which makes sense in this place. And here is the reason:

Everything below the ribbon is now customizable. The whole layout can be rearranged by the user, even the dive list and the tabs. You can save any amount of layouts and restore them at any time. You can even share these layouts with other users. It’s the same as the print designer, just for the logbook window itself. You can have one layout on your big 22″ widescreen desktop monitor and another layout on your small netbook display.

So if you don’t like the dive list on the left, simply drag it to the right – or to the top. You want the profile on the main tab? You can do so. And because of this flexibility I cannot add the 2nd level toolbars (above comments, photos and the profile) to the tab pages anymore. Because you can even entirely remove the tabs. I have to merge all toolbars into a single place above the customizable area. And this can be done best in a ribbon control. It offers all the needed space and flexibility. The ribbon layout in the screenshots is not final, I’m still searching for the best number of ribbon tabs, icon size and layout so you need as little clicks as possible.

You can also see a splitter control which makes it possible to resize the dive list. The columns displayed in the dive list are also customizable. Here are some screenshots how you can customize the layout using drag and drop and the customize toolbox window:

Customize Toolbox

Customize Toolbox

Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop

Item Options

Item Options

Alternate Layout

Alternate Layout

You can see from the above screenshots that you have a lot of options – you can create tab pages, expandable areas, group or hide items you don’t use. I’ll dive deeper into the other improvements soon. In the meantime please post your comments and write what you think (especially about the ribbon).

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Diving Log 5.0 – Overview

February 28th, 2009

This post should give you a quick overview of Diving Log 5.0, the challenges and why this is not a normal update.

Diving Log 4.0, the current version, is developed in Visual Basic 6. It runs great on current Windows versions, even on the upcoming Windows 7, but it is an outdated development language. Diving Log 5.0 will be based on .NET Framework 2.0 which is now installed on almost every computer. This is a modern programming language and IDE and offers really great tools and makes fast development possible. But there is no simple conversion from VB6 to .NET, so I have to code everything I’ve done in the past 10 years again in .NET. This sounds in the beginning worst than it is because it won’t take 10 more years to do this, but it’s also not an easy task which is done in a few weeks.

A simple manual 1:1 conversion would be possible relative quickly, but then all the old stuff would be dragged into the new language. Often you see only after you’ve developed a feature and worked on it over the time that there were made some design errors in the beginning which makes it hard to further improve or change this feature. But now I have the chance to do the things better from beginning, because I know already how the final result will look like. So I not only convert everything 1:1, I’ll make use of the new possibilities of the .NET framework and improve every single existing feature. I’ll have an eye on performance, so a feature should not only work, it should work as fast as possible. All this stuff takes more time than a simple 1:1 conversion, but it’s worth the time and we will have a very solid platform for a long time.

This is the reason I still can’t provide a release date other than “later this year”, I’m sorry! I want to make it right, not fast. But you can be sure I’m focusing now primary on version 5.0 and to get a beta version out. This is the reason I started this blog. And you’re already using a lot of 5.0 code in version 4.0 (the items  which require already the .NET framework):

  • All dive computer downloaders
  • Some import functions (everything below the “BFT Tiger” import in the vertical menu)
  • Some export functions (UDCF, UDDF, DAN)
  • Photo manager
  • Dilogs manager
  • iPhone synchronization

These features are 5.0 features, but already released for version 4.0 so you can make use of them. The last 4 weeks I was working hard on the new logbook window, the heart of Diving Log and the window with most features and code. And this is the window with most planned improvements. I want to point out some of them in next blog posts and provide already some early screenshots.

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New Diving Log Blog

February 28th, 2009

Hello Everybody

Welcome to the new Diving Log Blog! I’m thinking about starting a blog about the Diving Log development for quite some time and I think now it’s a good time to start.

What can you expect from this blog? I’m not sure how frequent I’ll post and how everything develops, this is my first blog so we’ll see. I also think it’s better to spend most time in developing Diving Log instead of writing a lot of things and don’t actually do it. But I feel also the need to give you some insights what’s going on between official releases and minor updates. And I don’t want that you have to search for these things in the forum which was in the past the only source of “unofficial news”. I’ll make the blog layout a little nicer in the future, but for the beginning it should be fine.

I’ll write this blog in English only, so everyone can read it (I’m sorry for my German users, but I can’t write everything twice in this case). And as English is not my native language I want to ask all native English readers to be patient with me. When you see some odd spelling or grammar or don’t understand at all what I try to say, please write me. 😉

As some of you may know, I’m currently working hard on Diving Log 5.0, the next major version. New users, don’t be afraid: the update will be for free for most users and for everyone buying Diving Log 4.0 at this time. I’ll blog more about the 5.0 development in the next posts, so stay tuned!

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