BigOven

 Hi, I'm trying BigOven with a view to purchasing it and like what I've seen so far. The one snag for me is in transferring data to my PDA. I'm running WM6 on an iPAQ 111, my desktop is running Win XP. Recipes transfer fine but the shopping list, although it shows up on the iPAQ, is not accessible to BigOven on the device, for some reason. When I select Shopping List, I get a blank screen. Can you suggest a solution ?

Thanks, Paul 

Thanks for taking a look at BigOven.

As you know, the free Windows Mobile companion uses ActiveSync to transfer files.  Unfortunately it's impossible to test all mobile devices, and some have reported file locking issues that do not seem to crop up on our test devices here. 

When this happens, some users have found that it's because the shopping list file stays locked sometimes (e.g., if an instance of BigOven Companion is already running); most users report that exiting out of the free BigOven Mobile Companion via File/Exit ensures that the shopping list file is released and can be written-to.  Another user suggested that a soft-reset solved their issue.

 Is the shopping list file in BigOven identical to the one which is transferred to the PDA or does some kind of file modification take place during the transfer ?  If I manually transfer the file (copy from the desktop and paste to the PDA), with BigOven on the desktop closed should I see the shopping list whenopened from within BigOven on my PDA ? And where should the shopping list file be on the PDA ?  It is showing up in 'MyDocuments\BigOven\Shopping Lists' on the PDA - is that correct ?  I've noted with some other WM6 programs that if the file is in a subfolder too many levels deep the program does not 'see it' ?

Paul 

The shopping list (.bgs) file format should be the same for both the PC and free mobile companion, but that isn't the recommended way to transfer shopping lists to your PDA.

It must be called "My Shopping List.bgs" and live in the shopping list subfolder on your mobile device.  The free mobile companion looks for it very specifically in the \My Documents\BigOven\Shopping Lists folder on the mobile device.  When you "Publish to Mobile", and chose the Windows Mobile app, it saves it to the location you specify on your PC, and ActiveSync should take care of transferring it from there to your PDA.  First, make sure it's writing properly to your staging area on your PC, then check to see if ActiveSync successfully gets it to your PDA when you choose "Publish to Mobile". 

 Well, there is a problem at the outset with the software doing that because what it's currently doing is naming it 'My Current List'.

I also tried changing the name within the PDA  to 'My Shopping List', adding the '.bgs' to both 'My Current...' and 'My Shopping...' and none of the above worked; I am unable to see the list from within BigOven on the PDA.  Paul

Sorry, we simply made an error there in the post above -- when published to the PDA, it is indeed called "My Current List".  You shouldn't have to change the file extensions or transfer any files manually -- once you tell BigOven on the PC where your synchronization folder is, it should publish it there, then ActiveSync should wake up and transfer these files over to your PC. 

Again, some users have reported that sometimes, if you have the free Mobile Companion loaded at the time, then ActiveSync cannot write to the file.  So make sure that you are fully closed out of BigOven on the Mobile device so that the file can be written -- one other user reported that a soft reset is sometimes necessary to ensure the Windows Mobile OS releases a lock on the file.

 Thanks for the response but the issue is not one of BigOven on my iPAQ being open. I make sure to close it every time and I still cannot see the shopping list - something else is causing the problem. The transfer of the file is taking place - I can see it in the file folder on my PDA; that is not the problem either, it is certainly there. The problem is getting BigOven to 'read' it so that I can see a list; my shopping list screen on the PDA is blank no matter what I do.

Also, the software must need some development work - this is the first time I have ever heard of a program needing a soft rest every time it communicates with it's own desktop software !     I will try the soft reset but is not an acceptable method for ensuring transfer. Can you indicate when this issue will be addressed ? Thanks, Paul

Just to be clear, here in the labs on our four different Windows Mobile devices, it does not require a soft reset.  The shopping list transfers successfully and can be read by the program.  At the present time, we cannot replicate this behavior you're reporting, but we certainly believe it's happening, and are suggesting one thing to try.  (Unfortunately, the large number of Windows Mobile devices seem to have slight variations between them in how their firmware implements file handling -- one would think if it works well in the emulator and on four devices it'd work on all machines.)  One user who reported the same behavior found that a one-time soft reset cleared up the issue. 

One other issue could be the shopping list data itself -- does this happen for even a very small list?  E.g., one simple item on the list?

We will investigate this issue further for the free Windows Mobile Companion, but until we are able to fully replicate it here, we don't have any anticipated schedule for you on this... sorry!

With some experimentation, on one of our iPAQ's (the hx4700), we do see that the shopping list data isn't saved to the device if you first launch the mobile companion and then click the upper right corner "OK" button (which is really a minimize operation per the Windows Mobile Guidelines).  We can look into making that "OK" action the same as doing a Tools/Exit in the future.

But if you do a Tools/Exit in the Mobile Companion, the shopping list does successfully write to the device and should read properly.

 Tried the soft reset without success. When I get back to the desktop will try transfer again as you suggest above but I have been careful on previous attempts to check on the PDA under 'Memory > Running Programs' to ensure that BigOven is not open prior to transferring files. Will report back later.

 Success !!!!!!    Are your transfer tests with devices done using the unregistered or registered software ?  Having purchased the program earlier today I just re-installed both Desktop and PDA software and the publishing and subsequent sync work without a hitch !  I can even close the PDA software with 'OK' instead of 'Tools>Exit' - no problems. Great !!

You may wish to look into this because if it is a matter of the unregistered software being a problem you could either fix that so that we prospective purchasers can really test the software to our satisfaction or warn users that there are limitations to the unregistered software and that purchasing overcomes those shortcomings. Looking forward to using it; Cheers, Paul

Thanks Paul -- glad it's working for you.  We'll double check with the unregistered software.  (If it fails with the unregistered software, it's not by design; it's a bug that we'll check into.)

 You're welcome. It's a great product, by the way - regards to your development team on a great job.

If you don't mind, I'll make improvement suggestions as I get to know the program better but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far - definitely the best on the market !  I tested about eight programs before I decided on yours. I'm also a first-version user of MasterCook, when it was a step away from a DOS program, and I can say without hesitation that your team can be justifiably proud of their product, Paul

admin:

Thanks for taking a look at BigOven.

As you know, the free Windows Mobile companion uses ActiveSync to transfer files.  Unfortunately it's impossible to test all mobile devices, and some have reported file locking issues that do not seem to crop up on our test devices here. 

When this happens, some users have found that it's because the shopping list file stays locked sometimes (e.g., if an instance of BigOven Companion is already running); most users report that exiting out of the free BigOven Mobile Companion via File/Exit ensures that the shopping list file is released and can be written-to.  Another user suggested that a soft-reset solved their issue.

Hi. It seems that your description above of a file locking problem for the shopping list is what I'm experiencing exactly.

1. Palm Treo 700wx running Windows Mobile 5 (hopefully soon to be 6!)
2. Create shopping list on desktop, publish to mobile device, Active Sync runs as expected - the first time all works fine
3. Open Mobile Companion and view the shoping list on the Treo - first time this works fine too
4. ANY time after that....regardless of whether the mobile companion is still running or has already been shut down using "File > Exit"....when Active Sync goes to publish a new or altered shopping list to the Treo it can't. It shows up as an "unresolved item".
5. The only ways that I've found to publish a shopping list to the Treo once the Mobile Companion has been opened is to reboot the Treo (pop out the battery and put it back in), or to file browse to the shopping list on the Treo and physically delete it. Obviously neither solution is ideal.

Any idea on how to write the shopping list file to the Treo in a way that it won't be immediately and permanently locked when it's read?  Thanks!

Darin

This issue is tricky to diagnose, because it works on our three Windows mobile devices.  (We don't have a Treo, sorry).  We'll continue to look at this.

My suggestion would be to close out of BigOven (PC) as well as on the Mobile Companion, so that ActiveSync doesn't keep trying to transfer over the file in the background.  Also, you might double-check the "currently running programs" on the Windows Mobile device and make sure the BigOven Companion is completely shut down.