Auto categorization does not work for some files

[prconnor]

Hello,

I am migrating from Palm OS to Android using Archos 7 Home Tablet. I have been a happy iSilo user on Palm OS since 2002 and am experiencing some growing pains migrating to a new platform.

Some iSilo files that I purchased had a default category assigned. iSilo 5.2 for android correctly identifies these categories when the document is placed in the favorites folder. I would be appreciative of any assistance in addressing the following issues.

1.
Other files I have created using iSiloXC for linux and have assigned a default category. iSilo 5.2 for android does not place these documents into the correct category, but instead lists them as uncategorized until they are opened, as which time they will be placed in the correct category. As I have nearly two thousand of these documents opening each one, one at a time, will be time intensive indeed. Also, since I have so many, trying to find the reference book that I want without categorization is also extremely time intensive. When I look at the 'cat' tab and select 'uncategorized' it takes a long time to populate the list (~7 min). iSilo for palm had no difficulty autocategorizing all of the documents, and never took so long to populate any list.

2.
With Palm I have frequently used a multi-document search to find a phrase among all the documents in a category. I don't see how to perform that with iSilo for Android.

3.
I have had some issues with scrolling. I have found scrolling by dragging my finger to unpredictable and tedious as I spend much effort looking for my place. I have no hardware buttons that can be assigned scrolling actions and so have enabled tap actions and this works pretty well. On occasion when the tool bar is showing at the bottom of the screen I tap where there are no actions assigned to remove the bar, and the screen scolls wildly in some direction (sometimes up sometimes down). I would like avoid this happening, so if someone can tell me what I am doing wrong ...

Also I would like to have the option to always show the toolbar as this would obviate the need to tap elsewhere on the screen. Another good solution is to have a button on the toolbar itself to hide the toolbar. Is it possible to do either of these?

Thank you for your assistance.

[prconnor]

After additional experimentation it seems that some files that I created with iSiloXC for linux are also detected. Perhaps the issue with autocategorization has something to do with reaching a max number of files that can be accurately probed. Does that seem right to anyone?

[prconnor]

After conducting some additional testing it seems that all of the files can be detected and auto-categorized if enough time is allowed to complete the process. I don't know how long it takes to complete, but if there are many files it seems to take a really, really long time. It seems that if at any time during that process I click on 'uncategorized' then any files not yet probed are labeled as 'uncategorized' and probing is discontinued. Does anyone else see similar behavior?

If this is what is going on I would really like to know what indication I have to know if the autocategorization process has been completed.

[iSilo]

The auto-categorization process never stops and so there is no indication of it completing. The document list view continuously scans for new files on a periodic basis.

[prconnor]

Now, several weeks later iSilo still has not put the documents in the correct categories. It seems that all of the files can be correctly auto categorized; I have erased the iSilo database and placed a dozen or so in the favorites directory, and iSilo always puts them in the correct category. However when I attempt to add my whole library only a small fraction (on the order of a couple dozen) of the titles are autocategorized; the remainder are placed in 'uncategorized' and remain there until I have opened the file to read.

I have confirmed this behavior on another android device (htc).

[iSilo]

The check for changes restarts from the beginning when you exit and then re-enter the document list view. So if you have a large number of files that you want to be auto-categorized, you may need to have the document list view open for at least several minutes. So give that a try to see whether you get more documents auto-categorized.

[prconnor]

It has been a while since I responded, but I have been fiddling with this issue off and on still since I first got this android device.

iSilo does not correctly autocategorize, no matter the length of time allowed to read the files.

I separated all of the documents into folders and that made browsing to the documents faster, but links between folders no longer work. All the documents were designed for iSilo on palm platform where the documents were all in the same folder.

I am testing now iSilo on a blackberry curve and find that it has all the limitations that I find on android plus a few of it's own: if there are many files in a folder or view it takes minutes before the list is shown; during which the phone is unusable, autocategorization does not work with many files, no method exists to highlight, bookmarks added with other platforms are now seen as global and can't be edited. I have also find some pleasant surprises with blackberry, the scroll and hyperlink methods were well implemented.

Since 2002, when I first discovered it, I have used iSilo more than any other application except perhaps a web browser. iSilo is the primary reason I continued carrying a palm pilot in my pocket for so many years. Attempting to achieve the feature set and experience of iSilo on palm pilot has been most disappointing on iSilo for Windows (I did write a script that would iteratively open each iSilo document with wine under linux and this force an autocategorization. This has been my best iSilo experience outside of palm-but I can't carry my laptop in my pocket), Android, and Blackberry.

The hardware specs of all the newer devices so thoroughly outclasses my palm devices (m125, lifedrive, tungsten E, T|X, and treo -- eventually I break the screen and buy a new device) that I don't understand why the performance of iSilo should be so inferior. On palm iSilo would take a reasonable amount of time to read a folder with thousands of documents (~3 min) the first time that it opened that folder. Thereafter it would immediately parse the list. If a single document were added to that folder with already thousands of documents iSilo would quickly recognized (after about 3 sec) and autocategorized it (taking about 2 sec).

For palm iSilo would allow a multidocument search of all documents in a category. And it was astonishingly fast, even on that old archecture. Haven't seen that on any other platform.

I adopted iSilo almost a decade ago because it executed searches extremly well (I remember on my m125 I performed a test for an obscure string in a large document using a competing reader, and the battery would die before that reader would find it whereas iSilo found it in 20 sec. It was a proud moment for me) and it would dexterous handling of very large collections of books due to it's categorization features. Any reader can navigate easily through a set of five books, iSilo could do it with thousands. Now hardware improvements have allowed other readers to bridge the gap in search speeds, and iSilo stumbles and falls on its face in handling large collections.

This is not so much a threat to take my business elsewhere as a plea to raise the standard of iSilo on other platforms. I have rather enjoyed carrying years worth of reading in my pocket, with quick and easy access to ideas I processed long ago. I would like to do so again, but with all other devices I spend more time frustrated and searching for documents than I do reading.

I have now purchased two devices specivically looking for performance like what I have seen for palm OS. Tell me for which device iSilo performs to this standard and I will buy that device, and another iSilo license.

Regards.

[iSilo]

In iSilo's document list view on your Android device, go to Menu/Edit/Options/Settings and increase the "Space to Use Limit (KB)" setting to the maximum, which is 999. After doing so, return back to the document list view and wait a while to see whether all documents become auto-categorized or not.

[iSilo]

As a faster way for us to try to determine what we can do to improve on the performance with regard to your specific categorization setup, would you be able to provide us with a zip file containing your entire .pdb file set? A download URL would be preferable. If you can provide a URL, you can email the URL to us at .

[prconnor]

OK, here are some links:

http://ubuntuone.com/p/gmp/
http://ubuntuone.com/p/gmq/
http://ubuntuone.com/p/gmr/
http://ubuntuone.com/p/gmt/

Thank you for looking more at this behavior. I look forward to good results.