Still looking for a Bento replacement - ideas?

[rickhess]

Putting 25,000 track CD collection into Bento - about half done. Afraid Sierra won't support Bento - at some point some new OS won't and I'll have to jump off a (low) cliff.
Does anyone have a glowing recommendation for a Bento replacement? Or can anyone categorically say that Sierra will still support Bento?
Thanks - very grateful for any help.
Rick

 

[chscag]

The only thing I can suggest for now is to take a look at what Roaring Apps says about macOS Sierra and which apps are "thought" to be compatible. Also, maybe a quick email to the Bento support folks and ask?

 

[rickhess]

Thanks - Just checked Roaring Apps - just a question mark on Sierra at this point. As Bento's no longer an item, I doubt if they have support folks. Could try their parent, File Maker, but I'm guessing they'll just suggesting to move on up to FM! Don't need all that horsepower - or $$.
I'll keep digging - thanks for the suggestions.

The only thing I can suggest for now is to take a look at what says about macOS Sierra and which apps are "thought" to be compatible. Also, maybe a quick email to the Bento support folks and ask?

 

[chscag]

How about downloading the free LibreOffice suite and see if their data base program that comes with the suite will suffice for your needs?

 

[rickhess]

That's new to me - I'll download it and give it a whirl - just need something first of all that can download all the stuff I've already entered - in a usable format.
Thanks again!

How about downloading the free LibreOffice suite and see if their data base program that comes with the suite will suffice for your needs?

 

[RadDave]

That's new to me - I'll download it and give it a whirl - just need something first of all that can download all the stuff I've already entered - in a usable format.

Hi Rick - three years ago in the spring, I switched from using Windows to the Apple world; the transition was fine except for two large databases that I had in Access (one for my classical music CDs - 48 page printout, and the other for my non-classical CDs, 26 pages) - for my non-musical databases, I used Apple's Numbers, part of their iWork Suite (along w/ Pages & Keynote) - importing the classical database into Numbers gave me the spreadsheet shown below - but the printing format features for this app come no where near those of Access, so I am just editing on the printout at the moment.

So, relative to Bento, if the program is not compatible w/ Apple's new macOS, i.e. Sierra, then you'll have to do some exporting - your choices from this LINK include Numbers, Excel, or Text (such as .CSV). You are unlikely to recreate the format being used in Bento, but should be able to recover your data entries - Dave
.

 

[rickhess]

Thanks RadDave! I occasionally use Numbers; I've always been off-put due to the inability to add just a single cell in a row (unless that's changed). But, I don't want to lose all the work I've done, so I'll have a go at exporting to Numbers, even if Bento will still be supported in Sierra. Good counsel - much obliged!

Hi Rick - three years ago in the spring, I switched from using Windows to the Apple world; the transition was fine except for two large databases that I had in Access (one for my classical music CDs - 48 page printout, and the other for my non-classical CDs, 26 pages) - for my non-musical databases, I used Apple's Numbers, part of their iWork Suite (along w/ Pages & Keynote) - importing the classical database into Numbers gave me the spreadsheet shown below - but the printing format features for this app come no where near those of Access, so I am just editing on the printout at the moment.

So, relative to Bento, if the program is not compatible w/ Apple's new macOS, i.e. Sierra, then you'll have to do some exporting - your choices from this LINK include Numbers, Excel, or Text (such as .CSV). You are unlikely to recreate the format being used in Bento, but should be able to recover your data entries - Dave
.
View attachment 24973

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Putting 25,000 track CD collection into Bento - about half done. Afraid Sierra won't support Bento - at some point some new OS won't and I'll have to jump off a (low) cliff.
Does anyone have a glowing recommendation for a Bento replacement?

We have had long conversations about this on other discussion lists. I can help you with a really good replacement for Bento. Note that Filemaker Pro is in an entirely different league (that's why Apple created Bento in the first place).

The program that most Bento users seem to like the most is:

TapForms ($25)
http://www.tapforms.com/
Does much of what Bento did. iCloud sync, imports Bento data. Versions for Mac, iPad, iPhone.

Have a look at:
http://www.bentousers.com/20130510-meet-tap-forms-a-worthy-bento-competitor/

Other choices that you also may want to check out:

Panorama Sheets ($40)
http://provue.com/panoramasheets/index.html
See this regarding importing your Bento data:
http://provue.com/panoramasheets/faq/index.html#Can_Panorama_import_data_from_m

iList Data ($70)
http://www.lakewoodstudios.com/ilistdata/

iDatabase ($20)
http://www.apimac.com/mac/idatabase/
Syncs with iDatabase for iPhone:
http://www.apimac.com/iphone/idatabase/

 

[MacInWin]

Or you can look at the Mac App Store for inventory programs. There is a full page of options if you just search for "inventory," and more if you search for "catalog."

 

[rickhess]

Randy - thanks - just spent some decent time pouring over these apps. There seems to be some hullabaloo about TapForms forcing you into the IBM Cloud. Have to check that out further. I should now be able to make an intelligent choice in replacing Bento. Thanks much!

We have had long conversations about this on other discussion lists. I can help you with a really good replacement for Bento. Note that Filemaker Pro is in an entirely different league (that's why Apple created Bento in the first place).

The program that most Bento users seem to like the most is:

TapForms ($25)
http://www.tapforms.com/
Does much of what Bento did. iCloud sync, imports Bento data. Versions for Mac, iPad, iPhone.

Have a look at:
http://www.bentousers.com/20130510-meet-tap-forms-a-worthy-bento-competitor/

Other choices that you also may want to check out:

Panorama Sheets ($40)
http://provue.com/panoramasheets/index.html
See this regarding importing your Bento data:
http://provue.com/panoramasheets/faq/index.html#Can_Panorama_import_data_from_m

iList Data ($70)
http://www.lakewoodstudios.com/ilistdata/

iDatabase ($20)
http://www.apimac.com/mac/idatabase/
Syncs with iDatabase for iPhone:
http://www.apimac.com/iphone/idatabase/

 

[RadDave]

Randy - thanks - just spent some decent time pouring over these apps. There seems to be some hullabaloo about TapForms forcing you into the IBM Cloud. Have to check that out further. I should now be able to make an intelligent choice in replacing Bento. Thanks much!

Hi again Rick - well, you've received numerous responses and possible options - please keep us 'up to date' - still not sure about my best way to update my musical databases for a NEW printout (i.e. w/o taking the files to a PC w/ Access & attached printer) - the classical collection looks like a MESS after 3 years of pen additions - Dave

 

[chscag]

@Dave:

Have you taken a look at the Data Base app which is part of the LibreOffice suite? I've been led to understand that it works well, however, I do not know if it can import data from Access or Bento. Why not give it a try and let us know?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Randy - thanks - just spent some decent time pouring over these apps. There seems to be some hullabaloo about TapForms forcing you into the IBM Cloud. Have to check that out further.

I haven't heard that from anyone using TapForms. When I do a search through the TapForms forum for "IBM" I get no results. When I do a search for "cloud" I only get references to the fact that the program can sync with (Apple's) iCloud.

If you have a link to that information/discussion, or if you could tell me more about it, I'd very much appreciate it.

 

[bobtomay]

Tap Forms has upped their price to $49.99 both direct and on the App Store and another $17 for the iOS version. I've been looking for a movie database for years that will do what I want, so will check it out.

 

[RadDave]

@Dave:

Have you taken a look at the Data Base app which is part of the LibreOffice suite? I've been led to understand that it works well, however, I do not know if it can import data from Access or Bento. Why not give it a try and let us know?

Hi Chscag - thanks for the suggestion - I've used one of the 'open source' office suites on a Linux laptop a half dozen years ago, but never did much w/ the database app - there are a number of these FREE SUITES and I cannot remember which one was installed (believe many are just variations of the original one, 'OpenOffice'?).

BUT, I would be curious w/ these 'free' database offerings, if the features vary, especially for the printout options which is my main concern - I've just found Numbers limited in printing formatting and have been too lazy to address the transition from Access - Dave

 

[rickhess]

Bento substitute

Dave - sorry for the delay- been busy (at Disney World right now for the first time - wow).
I took a leap of faith and purchased Tap Forms. There's a Bento import button. Seemed to work slick, but I see one field out of about a dozen is missing; have to say I've not had time to really delve into the app yet. May have to do some tweaking to make it look as polished as Bento, but the developer gets rave reviews on his customer service. Still a little worried about having to use the IBM Cloud, but maybe I can update the MBPro stuff to the iPad using my local WiFi. I'm anxious to explore Tap Forms when I get some more time. Haven't checked lately to see if Sierra will run Bento. Still haven't upgraded - Sierra runs great on wife's newish iMac.
Really hope you can get your database to print without jumping through all those hoops - three years of pen additions would be a nightmare!
More specifics on Tap Forms before too long, hopefully!
Rick

Hi again Rick - well, you've received numerous responses and possible options - please keep us 'up to date' - still not sure about my best way to update my musical databases for a NEW printout (i.e. w/o taking the files to a PC w/ Access & attached printer) - the classical collection looks like a MESS after 3 years of pen additions - Dave

 

[RadDave]

Dave - sorry for the delay- been busy (at Disney World right now for the first time - wow).
I took a leap of faith and purchased Tap Forms. There's a Bento import button. Seemed to work slick, but I see one field out of about a dozen is missing; have to say I've not had time to really delve into the app yet. May have to do some tweaking to make it look as polished as Bento, but the developer gets rave reviews on his customer service. Still a little worried about having to use the IBM Cloud, but maybe I can update the MBPro stuff to the iPad using my local WiFi. I'm anxious to explore Tap Forms when I get some more time. Haven't checked lately to see if Sierra will run Bento. Still haven't upgraded - Sierra runs great on wife's newish iMac.
Really hope you can get your database to print without jumping through all those hoops - three years of pen additions would be a nightmare!
More specifics on Tap Forms before too long, hopefully!
Rick

Hi Rick - thanks for your comments - I probably need to take my Access DB file (still have the one from 3 years ago) to a PC w/ the program? No plan to run Windows on my Macs or to purchase Access (believe not available as a stand-alone program w/o getting Office?) - I'm retired!

Glad that you're enjoying Disney World - my son is now 43 y/o, but probably took him there as a youngster 3-4 times, plus when I was working in academic radiology, there were MANY medical meetings held in Orlando, so I suspect that my trips there add up to at least a dozen or more - no need now to go back - Dave

 

[scotty321]

Putting 25,000 track CD collection into Bento - about half done. Afraid Sierra won't support Bento - at some point some new OS won't and I'll have to jump off a (low) cliff.
Does anyone have a glowing recommendation for a Bento replacement? Or can anyone categorically say that Sierra will still support Bento?
Thanks - very grateful for any help.
Rick

The official replacement for Bento is now (and has always been) FileMaker Pro. Bento was always considered to be a "very light version" of FileMaker (although Bento did have the ONE unique advantage of being able to communicate natively to Apple's Address Book & Calendar, which FileMaker can't do without additional complex plug-ins). But outside of that ONE minor advantage, FileMaker does everything that Bento does... but a million times more things. Both Bento and FileMaker Pro were created by FileMaker Inc... the discontinuation of Bento was done specifically to migrate people from Bento to FileMaker.

 

[rickhess]

Scotty - whoa - this is a late reply to my post from way back when - thanks for the FM Pro recommendation. I've always thought purchasing/using FM Pro for my CD collection would be like buying a Lamborghini to practice parallel parking! Fortunately, Sierra and Bento are still buddies, but I think I read that High Sierra will no longer support 32 bit applications - not sure if Bento is that. I did purchase TapForms months ago, but haven't used it yet. I'm actually thinking that Numbers might work well for this. Anyway, thanks much for your input. I did call FileMaker a month ago - needed the original registration code for Bento as I replaced my old MB Pro with a new 27" and Bento wouldn't open. After the customer service guy told me they haven't supported Bento in a long time, which I knew, he was kind enough to dig up my registration. I told him at their next meeting to please mention that there were a lot of folks who used/loved Bento and with the Mac-base ever growing, they should give a thought to a new, consumer-scaled product.
Take care - thanks.

 

[JohnNYC618]

Bento Replacement

Hi Rick,

I found this thread doing a Google search. I, too, am looking to replace Bento without having to go the FileMaker route. FM is way too much for what I need. I chose Tap Forms 5.x. While my databases are not as large as your CD collection, I was able to migrate my Bento stuff to Tap Forms pretty easily. Just export a template from Bento, making sure you have the "include records in template" box checked. Then import that Bento template into Tap Forms. It won't migrate everything exactly like you had it formatted in Bento. I noticed that the layout got shifted around a little and I though I was missing some data fields. But, after playing around with Tap Forms a little, I found that all my data was transferred over. You just have to reformat the layout a little in TF and you should be good to go. I still have a little more experimenting to do, but I think Tap Forms is the answer for my needs. It's definitely simple and useful enough for ordinary databases. I hope this helps.

Good luck,
John