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Using Bento for Mac

 
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Forum post

    Kari Koonin
    iCal alert in project in Bento?
    Forum post posted February 22, 2012 by Kari Koonin, last edited February 27, 2012
    180 Views, 7 Comments
    Title:
    iCal alert in project in Bento?
    Post:

    I've just switched to Mac and am trying out Bento to keep track of my freelance jobs (I'm a translator). I have created a project in Bento which is a list of all my incoming jobs, one in each row, with different columns for the customer name, reference, etc. 

    One of my columns is the job due date. What I want to do is to have this date automatically transferred to iCal as a deadline or a task when I enter it in the due date box in the project form, so that it will send me an alert a certain number of days/hours before the due date.

    This funcitonality is there in iCal within Bento but I can't find a way of linking the Bento project data with the iCal part to make it do this. Displaying a data range from one bit of Bento in another doesn't help. 

    Any ideas gratefully received!

     

    Kari

    Answer

     

    • TSGal
      posted February 22, 2012 by TSGal  Permalink

      Karl Koonin:

      Thank you for your post.

      Bento will not "automatically transfer" information to iCal.  However, Bento does integrate with iCal calendar events through the iCal Events Library.  Therefore, in your Projects Library, add a Related Data field into the iCal Events Library so you can enter the date directly into iCal.  If you are using the built-in Projects Library, then switch to the Details Form View, and the Events field is a Related Data field into iCal Events Library.  Click the "+" icon to add a record to iCal Events, enter the Title, Start Date, and End Date, and if you switch to iCal, you will see the calendar event appear.

      Let me know if you need additional clarification.

      TSGal
      FileMaker, Inc.

    • Kari Koonin
      posted February 22, 2012 by Kari Koonin  Permalink

      Thanks for your prompt reply, TSGal.

      I have done what you suggest and I can see the table with the columns you mentioned in my project library (it's called Job Book).  I have also entered a dummy line of job data in the Job Book library, but that doesn't show up in the corresponding related data field in iCal at all.

      How can I see that data in iCal, and where do I enter the date I want the reminder for?

      Thanks again!

      Kari

    • TSGal
      posted February 22, 2012 by TSGal  Permalink

      Kari Koonin:

      At the bottom of the Related Data field, there are a number of icons.  If you click the far left icon (horizontal lines with a plus sign), a listing of all existing iCal Events records are displayed.  Here, you can assign any existing calendar event to this project.  If you want to create a new calendar event, then click the "+" icon next to it, and a new record will be created in the iCal Events Library AND automatically link this record to the current project record.

      Although the fields in the Related Data field default to the Table View fields in the iCal Events Library, you can control which fields you want displayed by clicking the second from the right icon to change the Fields pane to display the fields from the iCal Events Library.  Enter a checkmark next to the fields you want displayd in the Related Data field, and uncheck those fields you don't want displayed.  When finished, click the same icon again to have the Fields pane return to the current Library.  You can then enter data here, or you can double-click the row number, and Bento will switch to the Form View in the iCal Events Library where you can enter the data.  When finished, click the large back arrow at the top of the window to return you to the original project record.

      Let me know if you need further explanation.

      TSGal
      FileMaker, Inc.

    • Kari Koonin
      posted February 25, 2012 by Kari Koonin  Permalink

      Thanks again for your clear instructions, TSGal - I can now enter the deadline as an iCal date in my Job Book project.

      Now I have one final question: How do I set an alert for these dates? I can't see a way of accessing the iCal Alert function from within Bento. 

      Many thanks

      Kari

    • pvonk - just another user
      posted February 25, 2012 by pvonk - just another user  Permalink

      Bento doesn't support iCal alarms.  You'll have to do that in iCal.

    • TSGal
      posted February 27, 2012 by TSGal  Permalink

      Karl Koonin:

      "pvonk" is correct (Thank you!).  The interface into iCal does not allow Bento to set an alarm.  This would have to be done in iCal.

      I have forwarded your post to our Development and Product Management departments so they can consider a way to display alerts within Bento.

      TSGal
      FileMaker, Inc.

    • Kari Koonin
      posted February 27, 2012 by Kari Koonin  Permalink

      Thank you, pvonk and TSGal. Oh well, back to the drawing board... an integrated alarm function is a crucial part of what I am looking for, so I'm afraid Bento is not for me (just yet anyway!).

       

      Kari