iPhone App Review: Fabric Stash
Aug. 14th, 2010 10:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjI believe that I've previously mentioned my FileMaker database tracking my fabric stash. (Can't find the post to reference at the moment.) Well, when I was searching for something else in the app store, I stumbled across an app called Fabric Stash and the initial description seemed promising enough that I was willing to pony up the $4.99 for it even if just to review it. (Remember that I'm not one of those big babies who whines about paying anything more than $0.99 for an app.) The executive summary is:
* The app does essentially everything that my self-designed database did, does it well (with only the minor inconvenience of not being able to do regular keyboard entry).
* It has the advantage of being able to add photos directly from the iPhone camera (rather than having to take the pic, upload it, then move it to the right folder and add it to the file).
* It is customizable sufficiently to bridge the gap between the original intent any my desires and needs.
* Based on half an hour of test-transferring my existing data, I would highly recommend this app to anyone who has a need or desire to catalog their stash.
The main features that my own database had that this one doesn't are:
* An assumption that a particular piece of yardage may be used for more than one project, and therefore an automatically updating "remaining yardage" field that subtracts out the yardage consumed for each project. (To be fair, you can associate a piece of fabric with multiple projects -- there just isn't a way to assign amounts.) This is mitigated by fields that can be adapted to the purpose of "original length" and "remaining length".
* Similarly, an automatic calculation of the fractional value of the yardage consumed in a project. (This is most useful when I'm being reimbursed for something.)
But let's start from the top. The first-level structure of the program consists of four databases:
* Fabric Stash (intended for yardage)
* Wish List (same internal structure as Fabric Stash but intended for things you haven't bought yet -- but when you do, you can click a button and move it to Fabric Stash)
* Projects (a project name associated with multiple entries from the other databases)
* Non-fabric items (fewer descriptive fields than Fabric Stash but otherwise similar and intended for notions)
I'll stick to describing the Fabric Stash database, just for simplicity. There are three types of fields: image fields (2 available for each record, images can be taken directly by phone-camera or chosen from your image library), menu-driven selection fields (with editable menus -- to add new items, just type it directly in the field, otherwise click from the drop-down menu, unwanted pre-sets can be deleted), and free text fields. Each field has a name indicating the type of information intended to go there, but realistically you can use the field for anything you want (you just have to remember what type of information goes under that label). The menu-driven fields mostly can be used for sorting and filtering your contents while the free-text fields mostly can't. So here are the fields and what I'm using them for:
* Name (free text, can be sorted/filtered) - something short and sweet that will remind you what this thing is. I think this is the only free-text field that can be sorted/filtered on. This doesn't actually match any of my pre-existing database fields so it sometimes ends up with redundant information.
* Color (menu, can be sorted/filtered) - My previous database had both a menu-driven "basic color" field and a more detailed color description field. So the first corresponds to this field in Fabric Stash and the more detailed description goes under general notes (see below).
* Style (menu, can be sorted/filtered) - The pre-set options were an odd mix of fabric descriptions (e.g., "batik", "plaid", "flannel") but it seemed like the best mnemonic for my "weave" field (e.g., "tabby", "knit", "twill - herringbone", etc.).
* Manufacturer (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- I'm using this for "location of purchase" instead, since I rarely have any use for knowing who manufactured the fabric, but it's very useful to know where I bought it.
* Line (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- Again, this seems to assume you're very oriented towards particular product lines, which doesn't apply to me. But it serves as a good mnemonic for my "primary fiber type" field, which Fabric Stash doesn't seem to have considered to be basic information(!)
* As a group: Quantity (free text), Units (menu), Height (free text), Width (free text) -- The quantity field is clearly aimed at "how much yardage did you buy?" in combination with the Units field (which comes pre-set with fractional yards). Taken together, I'm using Quantity for the remaining (available) amount, Width for the fabric width, and Height for the original length purchased. I don't get my automatic calculation of the remaining amount, but I can update it manually as I use things.
* Location (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- I'm not entirely certain what the intended purpose was for this field, but it matches perfectly with my "bin location" field, indicating which of my numbered storage bins it lives in.
* Weight (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- My original database had two fields that correspond roughly to this: weight (i.e., very heavy, heavy, medium, light, very light) and texture (covering things like glossy, coarse, napped). But what I found in use was that the texture field was mostly redundant -- or needed to be explained in comments anyway. So I'm using the Weight field in the app for my original weight data and moving the other to the general notes.
* Cost (free text) -- Matches my original field, but without the automatic cost-calculation of amounts assigned to projects.
* Notes (free text) -- A bin for any other descriptive details not covered elsewhere. In addition to the color details and fabric type details, I'm using for a note about pre-wash status (which I'd had a separate field for).
* Associated Project (menu) -- This field creates/relates the record to an entry in the Projects database. Each fabric record (and non-fabric item record in that database) can be associated with multiple projects and each project can have multiple associated fabrics and notions. The Project database consists only of the project title and this relational links.
The non-fabric (notions) database consists of the following fields: photo (only one), name, type (no pre-sets, but presumably general categories like "button", "ribbon", "hook & eye" etc.), amount, units, general notes, and the ability to link to multiple projects. So it's lacking indexable fields for useful information like location of purchase, storage location, color, etc., but still useful for answering that question, "Do I need to buy more 1/4" black twill tape?" if one chooses to use it.
During my play-test period, I'm spending a certain amount of time entering the menu items that I use, but once they're available then data entry is fast and easy. And, as noted above, adding photos is much simpler than in my previous database.
This is a great example of the sort of practical iPhone app that turns the concept into better than a phone+Game Boy. It's both purpose-designed and yet flexible enough for some customization. Those of us with large pre-existing stashes would need to invest a fair amount of effort to enter our existing data (or, in my case, re-enter from my existing database -- although that's less work than starting from scratch), but the benefit of having the information as close as my phone (rather than living on the laptop) is enormous. One feature that might be nice (that I have for other database apps) would be an ability to import/export data in some form. (There are various somewhat kludgy solutions for this, but the create at least a hypothetical ability to do more powerful editing outside the program. And it would make it a little easier to convert an existing database into this format.) But even on only half an hour's play testing, I have no reservations about recommending this program highly to anyone who is interested in the concept enough to have read this far.
* The app does essentially everything that my self-designed database did, does it well (with only the minor inconvenience of not being able to do regular keyboard entry).
* It has the advantage of being able to add photos directly from the iPhone camera (rather than having to take the pic, upload it, then move it to the right folder and add it to the file).
* It is customizable sufficiently to bridge the gap between the original intent any my desires and needs.
* Based on half an hour of test-transferring my existing data, I would highly recommend this app to anyone who has a need or desire to catalog their stash.
The main features that my own database had that this one doesn't are:
* An assumption that a particular piece of yardage may be used for more than one project, and therefore an automatically updating "remaining yardage" field that subtracts out the yardage consumed for each project. (To be fair, you can associate a piece of fabric with multiple projects -- there just isn't a way to assign amounts.) This is mitigated by fields that can be adapted to the purpose of "original length" and "remaining length".
* Similarly, an automatic calculation of the fractional value of the yardage consumed in a project. (This is most useful when I'm being reimbursed for something.)
But let's start from the top. The first-level structure of the program consists of four databases:
* Fabric Stash (intended for yardage)
* Wish List (same internal structure as Fabric Stash but intended for things you haven't bought yet -- but when you do, you can click a button and move it to Fabric Stash)
* Projects (a project name associated with multiple entries from the other databases)
* Non-fabric items (fewer descriptive fields than Fabric Stash but otherwise similar and intended for notions)
I'll stick to describing the Fabric Stash database, just for simplicity. There are three types of fields: image fields (2 available for each record, images can be taken directly by phone-camera or chosen from your image library), menu-driven selection fields (with editable menus -- to add new items, just type it directly in the field, otherwise click from the drop-down menu, unwanted pre-sets can be deleted), and free text fields. Each field has a name indicating the type of information intended to go there, but realistically you can use the field for anything you want (you just have to remember what type of information goes under that label). The menu-driven fields mostly can be used for sorting and filtering your contents while the free-text fields mostly can't. So here are the fields and what I'm using them for:
* Name (free text, can be sorted/filtered) - something short and sweet that will remind you what this thing is. I think this is the only free-text field that can be sorted/filtered on. This doesn't actually match any of my pre-existing database fields so it sometimes ends up with redundant information.
* Color (menu, can be sorted/filtered) - My previous database had both a menu-driven "basic color" field and a more detailed color description field. So the first corresponds to this field in Fabric Stash and the more detailed description goes under general notes (see below).
* Style (menu, can be sorted/filtered) - The pre-set options were an odd mix of fabric descriptions (e.g., "batik", "plaid", "flannel") but it seemed like the best mnemonic for my "weave" field (e.g., "tabby", "knit", "twill - herringbone", etc.).
* Manufacturer (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- I'm using this for "location of purchase" instead, since I rarely have any use for knowing who manufactured the fabric, but it's very useful to know where I bought it.
* Line (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- Again, this seems to assume you're very oriented towards particular product lines, which doesn't apply to me. But it serves as a good mnemonic for my "primary fiber type" field, which Fabric Stash doesn't seem to have considered to be basic information(!)
* As a group: Quantity (free text), Units (menu), Height (free text), Width (free text) -- The quantity field is clearly aimed at "how much yardage did you buy?" in combination with the Units field (which comes pre-set with fractional yards). Taken together, I'm using Quantity for the remaining (available) amount, Width for the fabric width, and Height for the original length purchased. I don't get my automatic calculation of the remaining amount, but I can update it manually as I use things.
* Location (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- I'm not entirely certain what the intended purpose was for this field, but it matches perfectly with my "bin location" field, indicating which of my numbered storage bins it lives in.
* Weight (menu, can be sorted/filtered) -- My original database had two fields that correspond roughly to this: weight (i.e., very heavy, heavy, medium, light, very light) and texture (covering things like glossy, coarse, napped). But what I found in use was that the texture field was mostly redundant -- or needed to be explained in comments anyway. So I'm using the Weight field in the app for my original weight data and moving the other to the general notes.
* Cost (free text) -- Matches my original field, but without the automatic cost-calculation of amounts assigned to projects.
* Notes (free text) -- A bin for any other descriptive details not covered elsewhere. In addition to the color details and fabric type details, I'm using for a note about pre-wash status (which I'd had a separate field for).
* Associated Project (menu) -- This field creates/relates the record to an entry in the Projects database. Each fabric record (and non-fabric item record in that database) can be associated with multiple projects and each project can have multiple associated fabrics and notions. The Project database consists only of the project title and this relational links.
The non-fabric (notions) database consists of the following fields: photo (only one), name, type (no pre-sets, but presumably general categories like "button", "ribbon", "hook & eye" etc.), amount, units, general notes, and the ability to link to multiple projects. So it's lacking indexable fields for useful information like location of purchase, storage location, color, etc., but still useful for answering that question, "Do I need to buy more 1/4" black twill tape?" if one chooses to use it.
During my play-test period, I'm spending a certain amount of time entering the menu items that I use, but once they're available then data entry is fast and easy. And, as noted above, adding photos is much simpler than in my previous database.
This is a great example of the sort of practical iPhone app that turns the concept into better than a phone+Game Boy. It's both purpose-designed and yet flexible enough for some customization. Those of us with large pre-existing stashes would need to invest a fair amount of effort to enter our existing data (or, in my case, re-enter from my existing database -- although that's less work than starting from scratch), but the benefit of having the information as close as my phone (rather than living on the laptop) is enormous. One feature that might be nice (that I have for other database apps) would be an ability to import/export data in some form. (There are various somewhat kludgy solutions for this, but the create at least a hypothetical ability to do more powerful editing outside the program. And it would make it a little easier to convert an existing database into this format.) But even on only half an hour's play testing, I have no reservations about recommending this program highly to anyone who is interested in the concept enough to have read this far.
