Support some base image formats (even just png) for notes intermixed with text. Idea is for some sites that present qscan’s etc. we can screen capture these and put them in codebook.
Feature Request: Support images in notes
Hi @darwould, thanks for the feedback and sorry for the delayed reply, we appreciate it!
Images within notes is something we hadn’t considered until we got a feature request for it recently in our support box. Usually folks want to attach an image (or some other binary) to an entry record, but within a note’s text is interesting. It would require us to store such notes in another format, e.g. RTF.
We would really love to add image storage to Codebook, but we’ve been holding off for the time being, as we don’t think the current sync system will support it well. Once we’ve got a better sync system in place we will revisit image storage.
What you say makes perfect sense. Based on your comments I would modify the feature request. Maybe a special category (or folder concept) that could store files (not embedded in notes). Then the sync system could be modified for this file category only, no merges on sync, just take the most recent file on a sync based on file name and date added. This could store any file (pictures included) and the name would be visible as a reference. Double click would decrypt and open In standard viewers on the system. If the clipboard has content then When this category is selected and a paste is done, a new file is added with clipboard content and prompting for a file name.
Here’s some example use cases. If I setup 2 factor for an account, sometime the master unlock key is presented as and image (can’t cut and paste). It would be easy to do a screen grab and store to file in codebook. Another use case - if I buy a software bundle and get an email with all keys, it would be super handy to screen grab all keys and store to codebook as a file with the name of the bundle.
Just some ideas.
I know this is an old question, but I have a number items, mostly loyalty cards, library cards with bar codes or QR codes that it would be really handy to be able to put the code into Codebook. Potentially what could be stored would be the numerical/text equivalent and the bar code/QR could be generated from the ASCI string and not require a high res image that bogs down the sync and explodes the file size.
A thought and I would be happy to beta.
Hello @jh0lland - The ability to add images and other binary forms to the database is definitely still something on our roadmap. We’re currently working on the sync enhancements that Billy mentioned earlier on this thread, which should give Codebook the flexibility that’s required to add image storage support.
Stephen,
As an intermediate step, a lot of what is needed are bar codes and QR codes. If Codebook only stored the numerical/text equivalent and then generated a Bar Code or QR from that to display you might not have deal with a huge chunk of binary image data. Given modern processing speeds you should take a real performance hit and could keep the database skinny.
A Thought.
Joe Holland
Hello @jh0lland that is a good idea. Actually, codebook for iOS does have the ability to scan QR codes for data storage already, but it might be possible to do the same for bar codes. We’ll look into this a bit further. Thanks!
Guys,
How goes it adding barcode generation? Note an example of doing this can be found in the San Bernardino County Library iPhone App.
Take care and keep doing good stuff.
Joe Holland
Guys,
How goes the barcode generation or has that been dropped from possible development?
Note for things lacking barcodes that people would want secure access and storage off such as drivers licenses, passports, birth certificates etc. a possible approach that wouldn’t overload Codebook with crap would be to take a photo of the item through Codebook which would at time of taking the photo generate a secure hash of the image, and it’s metadata such as time, date an location. Then Codebook carries no image date in it’s database just the hash data and the heavy lifting on the image info is the standard smartphone with camera. This capability could make Codebook very attractive for journalists, cops, insurance adjusters, auditors of all types, etc.
If you wish to discuss, please contact me.
Joe Holland
Hello @jh0lland
Thanks for following up, and my apologizes for missing your previous inquiry above. We love the idea of extending the capture mechanism for other data types for Codebook, including barcodes and files. In order to provide file capture within Codebook, our synchronization engine requires several changes. Luckily, this is currently underway. However, the synchronization changes are a prerequisite for some of these features. We do not have an exact timeline for the rollout, but I wanted you to know that we are certainly tracking these type of features for the future. Thank you for your patience.
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Guys,
Now that you have the faster Sync in place and you have a barcode engine in your toolkit as part of Sync Key maybe now is the time to look at capture and regeneration of barcodes as a new type of data entry.
And another idea, you might want to consider is for users like me that have multiple devices each with Codebook and Sync’ing to a common Cloud database so that all devices have the same data. In my case so my wife and I have a single common set of codebook entries. With this many devices, making sure they have the current version is at time a hassle. Having a journal entry that give the time stamp of the last Sync and the most recent change would be quite handy.
Shout if you wish to discuss either
On the muni device sync item the slick solution is a quick check of the time stamp in the cloud file during Codebook startup and companies to local time stamp. If different pop up a message window that you need to sync
Hope this helps
Joe