Jump to content

(Archived) Free Siri-like app to search Evernote, supports AND/OR logic at the same time

roschler

By roschler
in Windows Archive

Recommended Posts

roschler

roschler 158

Posted
Posted

bullet-red.jpg Unlock the power of Evernote’s rich set of search operators for finding notes with BitQwik. You can filter search results by the date created or modified, by file type such as PDF files and more, by the tags used or the source application that created the note, and many, many, other useful ways. BitQwik is the Siri-like natural language search tool for Evernote users that understands plain English! Check out just some of the sample searches now. Also, Getting Things Done practitioners or Evernote users that manage their todo lists frequently with Evernote should read this page now.

"Evernote power users rejoice: the folks at BitQwik have made a search program that’ll bring your abilities to seek out the notes you want more powerful than ever. The great thing about this application is its ability to work with natural language – that meaning you can type in basically anything and it’ll know what you’re saying." - SlashGear Review of BitQwik.

UPDATE: BitQwik is officially in the Evernote Trunk, Productivity section.

MAJOR FEATURES LIST:

- Access to nearly all of Evernote's powerful reach search grammar via a natural language Siri-like interface. No need to learn Evernote's complex search grammar syntax or keyword set

- Support for mixed logic queries that combine AND & OR queries in the same query

- The ability to search for strings inside the source URL of notes during a search (E.g. - notes I clipped from the nytimes.com)

- Support for nested tags in a search so that the parent tag and all its children are automatically included in your query

- The ability to do searches that involve multiple notebooks, and the equal ability to exclude notes that are in one or more notebooks

- TagHunter: The built-in tag exploration and management tool that has a powerful fuzzy matching technology

finger-right.jpg Download BitQwik now

Note: BitQwik is a Windows program but you can run BitQwik on a Mac PC by following these instructions. Also, TagHunter is now part of BitQwik so its powerful advanced tag exploration features are in BitQwik too!

finger-right.jpg Don't forget to follow this topic if you want to be notified when new versions are posted!

bullet-red.jpg Why don’t more people use Evernote’s powerful search operators?

Because you have to memorize the names and the syntax of the special search operators and that is hard. For example, suppose you want to search for all your notes that do not have the words “school” or “breakfast” in the title, that you created in March of 2012, and were made with Evernote Hello. You would have to enter the following into the Evernote search box to find them:

-intitle:school -intitle:breakfast

created:20120301T000000 created:20120331T000000

sourceApplication:hello


With BitQwik you simply type:

Show me notes that do not have school or breakfast in the title that I created in March and were made with Evernote Hello


Or any almost other sentence that means the exact same thing! There’s no special commands or syntax, just plain English sentences that state what you want.

If you have any comments or questions, please post a reply to this thread and I'll answer them. Remember, BitQwik is brand new software so expect plenty of bugs and for it to misinterpret what you are trying to say fairly often. But in a few weeks that will all change and it will be the smooth, fun experience it is destined to be.

Here is a screen shot of the main screen and below it the resulting search shown in the Evernote client:

bitqwik-full-screen.png

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

You are up to your usual top-notch standards. It looks impressive!

Some initial comments:

1.) Results can be sorted by the Title column or the Tags column.

Sorting by the Created column would be very helpful.

2.) I was going to suggest a visible count in the Search Results Preview. But I can get the count by clicking on the "Show Notes in Evernote".

3.) I was not able to get the "Show Me Some Examples" button to bring up examples.

edit - I figured it out. I have two monitors and the results were appearing as a new tab in my browser on the other monitor.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

Version 1.0.0.5 is available now.

What's new:

  • The problem with dates for international users has been fixed
  • The problems with users that had hyphenated tags have been fixed
  • Greatly enhanced ability to handle a wider range of TODO list phrases
  • New Treat Created Date as Due Date configuration option

If you are an Evernote user that practices the popular time management technique known as Getting Things Done (GTD) or make frequent use of TODO lists you will really want to read the following web page on using BitQwik with GTD.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

The combination of BitQwik and TagHunter are powerful diagnostic / investigative tools.

For example: I have a total of 1,083 tags.

With TagHunter, I can easily see the number of notes for each of my Tags (Calculate Note Counts).

I paste the Tag names and Note Counts into a spreadsheet to find tags that only have one or two notes.

Then I can then decide whether to keep the tag, rename it, or use a different tag.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yep, that is a very clever programme, thanks for your effort.

Will it ever be possible to use in an iPad or android phone?

Regards

Chris

Hello C6REW,

Thanks! I don't know at this time. It depends completely on how successful the program is and it will be a while before I can assess that since it's brand new.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

I absolutely loved your suggestion to:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

...contact Evernote technical support and ask them to do the following:

  1. Allow you to edit the hidden SubjectDate field manually
  2. Fix the search facility since it is currently broken for the SubjectDate field

If Evernote made those two changes, I could switch to the SubjectDate field and you would no longer have to mangle the Created field.

http://bitqwik.com/g...things-done.php

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here is one additional tip for the users who edit the Created Date to reflect the actual Due Date.

If you sort your notes by the default sort using the Created Date field, you will end up with all your future stuff at the top.

It will be difficult to find the stuff for today, unless you manually scroll down through all the future stuff to today's stuff.

So I created a Future Stuff note to act as a separator between the future and the past.

The title of my note is ** Future Stuff **

I dragged the note title to the Evernote Favorite Bar at the top.

One click and I am automatically positioned between my Future Stuff and Past Stuff.

Caveat: What makes it work is a drawback to some users. Each morning I change the Created Date of this note to 23:00 hours with today's date. It is painless for me. Just click on the created field and change the date from yesterday to today. The reason for 23:00 hours is arbitrary. I wanted to be sure any note below this ** Future Stuff ** note is for something in the past or today.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello Mhiggi02,

That video is coming next week. In the meantime please send me bug reports for each search you tried that failed. Follow these steps:

  • Enter one of the searches into BitQwik that did not work for you and try it again
  • After that click the Report A Bug button. Enter a simple sentence in the comments section explaining to me what you wanted to find and didn't
  • Follow the prompts to send that bug report to me (it's very easy)

Do this for each of the searches you tried that did not work for you. In other words, one bug report per failed search.

I would really appreciate this since the bug report carries additional information that will help me help you. Also, take a close look at the sample searches page and see if anything is similar to what you are searching for. That may give you some ideas. You might also want to sign up for the mailing list. That way you'll be notified when the video is ready or if a new version fixes the problem you are having.

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
Mhiggi02

Mhiggi02 2

Posted
Posted

Hello Mhiggi02,

That video is coming next week. In the meantime please send me bug reports for each search you tried that failed. Follow these steps:

  • Enter one of the searches into BitQwik that did not work for you and try it again
  • After that click the Report A Bug button. Enter a simple sentence in the comments section explaining to me what you wanted to find and didn't
  • Follow the prompts to send that bug report to me (it's very easy)

Do this for each of the searches you tried that did not work for you. In other words, one bug report per failed search.

I would really appreciate this since the bug report carries additional information that will help me help you. Also, take a close look at the sample searches page and see if anything is similar to what you are searching for. That may give you some ideas. You might also want to sign up for the mailing list. That way you'll be notified when the video is ready or if a new version fixes the problem you are having.

Sincerely,

Robert

Success! I closed the app and reopened it and it is working perfectly. Thanks!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello Mhiggi02,

That video is coming next week. In the meantime please send me bug reports for each search you tried that failed. Follow these steps:

  • Enter one of the searches into BitQwik that did not work for you and try it again
  • After that click the Report A Bug button. Enter a simple sentence in the comments section explaining to me what you wanted to find and didn't
  • Follow the prompts to send that bug report to me (it's very easy)

Do this for each of the searches you tried that did not work for you. In other words, one bug report per failed search.

I would really appreciate this since the bug report carries additional information that will help me help you. Also, take a close look at the sample searches page and see if anything is similar to what you are searching for. That may give you some ideas. You might also want to sign up for the mailing list. That way you'll be notified when the video is ready or if a new version fixes the problem you are having.

Sincerely,

Robert

Success! I closed the app and reopened it and it is working perfectly. Thanks!

@Mhiggi02,

I am very glad to hear that. Please (times 10) tell me what was not working for you. For every stalwart user like you that presses on till they succeed, there are several more who will just give up thinking BitQwik does not work. If we can figure out what went wrong together, it would be a big help!

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
crane

crane 40

Posted
Posted

Interesting concept, so I gave this a shot.

A few problems so far:

1. http://www.bitqwik.com/first-time-users.php suggests that there is a 'Report a Bug' button in the program; I can't find it.

2. Theoretically, it looks like I can search in a particular notebook, but is there any way to search in a particular stack? e.g., stack:Tips

3. I've tried two different searches that include a notebook name, and neither one returns with results, although I can clearly see the results in Evernote when I do the old-fashioned search.

For example, search in BitQwik for

are NOT tagged with SAMETIME

have HTML in the title

are in my TIPS notebook(s)

produces zero results.

But in Evernote, "notebook:tips intitle:html -tag:sametime" produces results. Note, I do have a stack called "tips" too.

I tried other combinations, in case having a notebook with the same name as a stack was the problem. Still failed. I also tried combinations where the notebook name did not start with any special characters, e.g., $, #, etc. If the query is just "in my X notebook", it works fine, but as soon as I combine it with something else, it finds no results.

4. Speaking of in the title, I have to write "in the title" instead of "in title". The latter just results in a popup of 'analyzing query' but nothing gets added to the Your Query field.

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

1. http://www.bitqwik.c...-time-users.php suggests that there is a 'Report a Bug' button in the program; I can't find it.

On opening the version-check screen, click on the upper left vertical tab for BITQWIK

"Report a BUG!" is in lower right corner as a large blue button

The arrow on this link below points to the Report a BUG! option

http://www.evernote....d813e80100006b5

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

3. I've tried two different searches that include a notebook name, and neither one returns with results, although I can clearly see the results in Evernote when I do the old-fashioned search.

For example, search in BitQwik for

are NOT tagged with SAMETIME

have HTML in the title

are in my TIPS notebook(s)

produces zero results.

I tried the 3 queries mentioned above and they all worked correctly. I substituted my tag and my notebook to check them out.

I'm not a tech guy, so I was surprised to find four notes contained the letters HTML in the title.

Use the Report a BUG option. It will copy all the relevant information and your most recent query to your notepad.

Send the information by pasting it into an email.

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

4. Speaking of in the title, I have to write "in the title" instead of "in title". The latter just results in a popup of 'analyzing query' but nothing gets added to the Your Query field.

The most recent version is 1.0.0.5

When I shorten the query to include "in title" instead of "in the title" I get a helpful pop-up notice that says:

Please Rephrase Your Query

I did not understand your query. Please report this problem using the Report a Bug button and then try saying it [explaining] in another way.

This is how I run the same query and get the correct results:

Notes that have jbenson2 in the title

Other examples that work:

Notes that have geese in the title

Notes that are not titled with the words happy days

Notes that have polo, rocket, or famous folk in the title and are encrypted and have the tag marzipan
Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@jbenson2,

A big thank you for helping crane out! :)

Ok, a few things.

re: "in title"

I'll take a look at adding support for that non-grammatical phrasing. If it doesn't hurt anything, you'll see it in the next version.

Please follow jbenson2's advice on the Report A Bug button and the parsing problems you are having. I am wondering if your screen resolution is small? One possibility is that the main screen is getting truncated at the bottom and/or at the right where the Report A Bug button is located (lower right hand corner).

Here's the ultimate diagnostic steps for problems like these:

1. Show the "raw search" window pane. You can find it by switching on the "Show Actual Search Query" option found here:

show-actual-search-query.png

The Actual Search Query display box will appear just above the button bar:

show-actual-search-query-2.png

However, if you are having problems fitting the main window on your screen (can you see the button bar at all?) this may be a problem. You can try maximizing the main window and see if that helps if you are having a sizing problem.

2. Compare what's in the Actual Search Query window to what shows up in the Search Explanation bar in the Evernote client when you show the notes in Evernote. They should match exactly. The first time user's page tells you how to turn on the Search Explanation bar in the Evernote client if you have not done so already:

http://bitqwik.com/f...-time-users.php

In either case, send me both screenshots to the E-mail address shown to you when you click the Report A Bug button. Attach them to your bug report. (please don't post/show that address in this thread to deter the spam bots).

- roschler

Link to comment
crane

crane 40

Posted
Posted

1. http://www.bitqwik.c...-time-users.php suggests that there is a 'Report a Bug' button in the program; I can't find it.

On opening the version-check screen, click on the upper left vertical tab for BITQWIK

"Report a BUG!" is in lower right corner as a large blue button

The arrow on this link below points to the Report a BUG! option

http://www.evernote....d813e80100006b5

Wow. I was letting BitQwik take up only half my screen - it ended after Show Me Some Examples ;)

Thanks.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@crane,

Wow. I was letting BitQwik take up only half my screen - it ended after Show Me Some Examples ;)

Do you know how it ended up that way? That information could be useful to other users if they end up having the same problem.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

Is there a way to save a query so it can be easily rerun? I cannot find a way to do this. This would be a helpful feature for people who need to run the same query repeatedly.

I save my queries into an Evernote note. Actually, I have 4 of them. One each for date/time, people, places and things.

Link to comment
C6REW

C6REW 416

Posted
Posted

Is there a way to save a query so it can be easily rerun? I cannot find a way to do this. This would be a helpful feature for people who need to run the same query repeatedly.

I save my queries into an Evernote note. Actually, I have 4 of them. One each for date/time, people, places and things.

Evernoted!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Is there a way to save a query so it can be easily rerun? I cannot find a way to do this. This would be a helpful feature for people who need to run the same query repeatedly.

Amie

Hello Amie,

Some time in the future there will be Save/Load query feature in BitQwik, but not right now. Can't you save the Evernote query as a saved search when BitQwik loads the search into the Evernote client? (Right click on the Search Explanation bar in Evernote and then select Save Search).

-- roschler

Link to comment
Amie Harpe Longstreet

Amie Harpe Longstreet 12

Posted
Posted

Is there a way to save a query so it can be easily rerun? I cannot find a way to do this. This would be a helpful feature for people who need to run the same query repeatedly.

Amie

Hello Amie,

Some time in the future there will be Save/Load query feature in BitQwik, but not right now. Can't you save the Evernote query as a saved search when BitQwik loads the search into the Evernote client? (Right click on the Search Explanation bar in Evernote and then select Save Search).

-- roschler

Yes, thank you roschler. This definitely does work. For a future enhancement, as you described, it would be beneficial to have one search interface for Evernote. I am very impressed with BitQwik so far and I am looking forward to seeing the future developments.

Amie

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

A preview release of BitQwik 2.0 is now available for download. Please consider this code experimental at this time. Originally I was going to wait a lot longer before releasing it, but many people have been wanting badly a way to do searches with Evernote that combine AND/OR logic so I decided to get a solution out to you now rather than later.

New Features

I'll talk about bug fixes in a minute but here are the powerful new features in BitQwik 2.0:

  • The ability to use both AND & OR logic in the same search query.
  • The ability to specify a global filter easily in a search query
  • The ability to specify a list of notebooks instead of just one in a search query
  • The ability to filter out notes that are in one or more notebooks in a search query

As most of you already know, you can not do any of those kinds of searches in Evernote alone. However, you can with BitQwik 2.0. Even better, since BitQwik uses plain English language for searches instead of complex hard to remember special search operators, it's really easy to do.

Here is a sample query:

Show me notes that I created last year in my robotics or marketing notebook and have Skype in the title. Leave out notes that contain completed tasks.

That's it. That query combines AND & OR logic and contains a global filter (leave out) too. Please remember, that no part of the query had to be entered that way. The following sentence performs the exact same query, just said differently, since there is no special syntax or commands with BitQwik. You just tell it what you want using common every day English sentences:

Give me a list of notes that I wrote last year in my robotics or marketing notebook that contain the word Skype in the title. Discard any notes that contain todo items that I have already done.

Bug Fixes

There have been far too many bug fixes to list, but I will talk about the most important one. The date handling code has been completely rewritten. It became obvious that the old module had too many problems and had to be scrapped. Note, I did try several locales other than English/USA and I also tried a few different date formats including YYYY-mm-dd, but please retest everything yourself.

Important: While there have been many bug fixes there is also a ton of new complex code to handle the mixed logic search support and other new features. Expect some bumps on the road and again, please consider this a preview release.

You can download BitQwik 2.0 from the home page. Please take some time to read about the mixed logic features and learn some important tips on how to craft and troubleshoot a mixed logic search.

Note, I'll be somewhat slow in responding to bug reports and support questions the next few weeks since I am really busy with an important programming contract. Once that contract is completed I'll be more responsive again.

Most importantly, have fun!

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

Hyphenated tags work correctly:

tagged with fam-jlb

result: 2,440 notes

not tagged with fam-jlb

result: 16,916 notes (and the results came up very fast!)

The date ranges also work correctly:

Created 3 days ago

Updated last week

Created between May 1 and October 15

I tried both date formats in Windows - my preferred method (YYYY-MM-DD) and the default date method.

Both worked correctly.

Thank you

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Here's a tip for those of you that use Evernote for your TODO lists that I found in the LinkedIn Evernote group, from gazumped:

Since Evernote have a useful little app to clip emails and other entries from Outlook I can also copy the appointment into Evernote and add directions, travel information and other information and reminders about the meet.

I change the 'created date' field in Evernote to the actual date and time of the appointment, so sorting notes by that field gives me a timeline for future activities.

As you see he, and others I've seen that use this technique, sacrifices the original meaning of the create date. Instead of it originally containing the date you created the note, it is used as an appointment/deadline date. If you are willing to accept this sacrifice, you can use BitQwik to answer queries such as:

  • Show me things I need to get done today
  • Show me outstanding todo items that I need to do next week
  • Show me tasks that I have completed between Mar 1 and Nov 30
  • Give me a list of tasks that I completed last week but not those I finished on Wednesday
  • And many more. It's too bad that the SubjectDate field in Evernote is broken from a search perspective or that could be used instead, but if you don't care when you created a note and instead are more concerned with using that field as a due date for your TODO items, you've got a powerful new way to interact with Evernote and your TODO lists.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello all,

BitQwik version 2.0.0.5 has just been posted. I found some subtle errors with the mixed logic search code, especially with search conditions that underwent a merge operation. Also, the handling for searching the source URL for notes has been upgraded to auto-detect URLs in queries. For example, before you had to enter:

"Show me notes I clipped from the nytimes.com web site"

or

"Show me notes with URLs that contain cnn in them"

Now, as long as there is a domain name in the URL, you can also enter something as simple as:

"I want notes that are from nytimes.com"

Enjoy and please tell me how BitQwik is working for you. To download version 2.0.0.5 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
gazumped

gazumped 11,652

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Hey roschler, just wanted to say Thankyou and that your incredible support is very much appreciated - you're reacting to issues before I've found them at the moment: no doubt helped by other feedback, but you clearly have a day job that pays the bills and this (so far at least) is a labour of love rather than any actual cash. You're going well above and beyond and it is great. If there's a Green Elephant award for exemplary services to Evernote I hereby nominate you!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you for the kind words gazumped!

I hope the mixed logic and source URL searches were of value to you. I got the idea for the former from you. factman (who I haven't seen in a while) and some others. The advanced source URL search feature is an interesting story because I read about it on the forum here. I didn't even realize I needed it myself until I saw that and decided to implement it. I'm learning that people use Evernote in a huge variety of ways, but I'm a Chrome Clipper and Clearly devotee yet never thought to add support for advanced source URL searching. That's why I really enjoy this forum and users like you. Much to my surprise, I discover features to add to my apps that are a big benefit to myself along with other users. :)

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

BitQwik version 2.0.0.7 has just been posted. It fixes a bug that prevented uniform logic searches that involved resources from being passed to the Evernote client app properly. Searches like looking for notes with PDF file attachments, spreadsheets, or audio files, etc. would return the proper search results, but wouldn't show up right in the Evernote client when you clicked the Show Notes In Evernote button. That is now fixed.

To download version 2.0.0.7 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

What's up with this Title changing?

Adding "Gangnam Style!" to the title makes no sense.

Please leave the original title alone, unless there is a typo or a legitimate correction.

It is confusing to see new titles with the old content.

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
GrumpyMonkey

GrumpyMonkey 4,319

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

What's up with this Title changing?

Please leave the original title alone.

It is confusing to see new titles with the old content.

Agreed. Difficult to find when the titles change.

And, I think this was probably not good timing for this particular title change as Psy (the singer for Gungnam Style) has recently found himself quite unpopular in the US because of his comments about soldiers (let's not get into the details here, because it dredges up all sorts of strong feelings, and is very political). The point being -- the title change is probably is hurting more than helping.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello John and GrumpyMonkey,

What's up with this Title changing?

I'm was trying to solve the problem of letting people know about key BitQwik features that I've seen them ask for that they don't know there's a solution for, for example:

- mixed AND/OR logic support

- the ability to search for text within in the middle of a source URL

- etc.

I'll leave the title alone now since it's bothering people. My primary concern is keeping the Evernote user community happy.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted
And, I think this was probably not good timing for this particular title change as Psy (the singer for Gungnam Style) has recently found himself quite unpopular in the US because of his comments about soldiers (let's not get into the details here, because it dredges up all sorts of strong feelings, and is very political). The point being -- the title change is probably is hurting more than helping.

Hello GrumpyMonkey,

Good point and thanks. I have made my final edit to the title and removed that reference.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Just to let you know, I am still around! Haven't had much need to use Bitqwik recently because the Taghunter part answers most of my queries quickly. I probably need to spend some time refining my Bitqwik searching skills. One minor point - on the Taghunter tab, entering Tag 1 is fine. However, when I click tab the cursor automatically jumps to clear, which means I need to reach for my mouse - either have tab go to the next field, or give me another shortcut that will take me there.

On the Welcome tab I am getting a "this program cannot display the webpage" error. I believe you fixed that it an earlier version, so I need to go back and check what that was in case it was something I needed to do.

Love the search results preview screen that pops up - would it be possible to double-click on a result to give me the note in EN? I know I can click on show notes in EN, but I am rather lazy ...

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Just to let you know, I am still around! Haven't had much need to use Bitqwik recently because the Taghunter part answers most of my queries quickly. I probably need to spend some time refining my Bitqwik searching skills. One minor point - on the Taghunter tab, entering Tag 1 is fine. However, when I click tab the cursor automatically jumps to clear, which means I need to reach for my mouse - either have tab go to the next field, or give me another shortcut that will take me there.

On the Welcome tab I am getting a "this program cannot display the webpage" error. I believe you fixed that it an earlier version, so I need to go back and check what that was in case it was something I needed to do.

Love the search results preview screen that pops up - would it be possible to double-click on a result to give me the note in EN? I know I can click on show notes in EN, but I am rather lazy ...

Hello FactMan,

I thought you were one of the people that wanted mixed logic searches badly so I was expecting to hear from you sooner.

re: Tab order

I'll take a look at the Tab key order in TagHunter. I thought I had those straight but it sounds like I don't.

re: web page problem

It sounds like your firewall again. Remember, BitQwik is a different program than the original TagHunter as far as a firewall is concerned so you may need to "whitelist" BitQwik's access to the Internet like you did for TagHunter (if I'm remembering your particular issue properly). I haven't had anyone else report that problem so I'm guessing it's a repeat of the same problem. Let me know if that tips solves it.

re: double-click

Sure. That's a good idea. I'll put that in the next version.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

I thought you were one of the people that wanted mixed logic searches badly so I was expecting to hear from you sooner.

re: Tab order

I'll take a look at the Tab key order in TagHunter. I thought I had those straight but it sounds like I don't.

re: web page problem

It sounds like your firewall again. Remember, BitQwik is a different program than the original TagHunter as far as a firewall is concerned so you may need to "whitelist" BitQwik's access to the Internet like you did for TagHunter (if I'm remembering your particular issue properly). I haven't had anyone else report that problem so I'm guessing it's a repeat of the same problem. Let me know if that tips solves it.

re: double-click

Sure. That's a good idea. I'll put that in the next version.

-- roschler

Nice to know that I am appreciated - as I am sure you are! I was buried under a pile of urgent deadlines in my day job that was taking me away from Evernote or any program that had anything to do with much else but Microsoft Excel ...

Believe me, Taghunter does answer most of my queries, and I use it in preference to the native Evernote search terms.

Looks like the firewall was the "gremlin" again ... I fixed that, stopped and restarted Bitqwik, and I now see the correct page.

Thanks, as always!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

I have fixed the Tab Order in the TagHunter section of BitQwik. If you start at the first Tag entry box you can now tab sequentially through the Tag entry boxes conveniently. Also, in response to FactMan's suggestion you can now Double-Click on a single search result in either BitQwik or TagHunter to load the item double-clicked on into Evernote without having to click the Show Notes In Evernote button.

You can download these changes in the BitQwik 2.0.0.9 available here:

http://bitqwik.com/

Thanks Factman!

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello JMichael,

I really wish I could but that's a rewrite of the whole app to support the Mac OSX/Cocoa framework and BitQwik as you might imagine is a lot of code due to its natural language support. Perhaps I'll get lucky and get a backer in the future and then a ton of amazing stuff would be created that I have plans for, far beyond the obvious goals of multi-platform and multi-language support, but short of that I simply don't have the resources (understatement).

Sorry!

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

In an earlier version I fixed the internal processing of international dates but did not fix the display of them. Now they work correctly in both regards. Also, a bug introduced in an earlier version affected the Go Back and Edit Query button on the Uniform Logic search results screen has been fixed too.

To download version 2.0.0.11 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Hi Robert,

Just so you don't get lonely I thought I'd post! Tough to keep up with you on all these updates! I installed 2.0.0.11 in place of 2.0.0.8 ... is there any way the program can be modified so that I don't have to keep going into my firewall (Comodo) to make it understand that Bitqwik is a friend?!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello FactMan,

That's up to your firewall, there's nothing I can do about that. Most firewalls take the checksum of every program as fingerprint. If the EXE changes, so does the checksum so the firewall asks again. You can try asking the Firewall manufacturer if you can whitelist a certain EXE by name instead of by checksum, but I don't know of any that work that way.

Note, things will be slowing down for a while. There was a furious amount of activity the last few weeks due to a rapid deployment of requested features and simultaneously, due to a surge in bug reporting because BitQwik is finally getting some real use from multiple people at the same time. The combination of those two forces led to a blizzard of updates. Usually I batch updates to prevent that kind of headache for my users, but the features were too good and the bugs too disruptive to do that. Either category of update affected users too significantly for me to batch them like I will from this point forward. A simple strategy from this point on is, when you get an update notice, check the changes list on the Welcome/Check for updates Tab. If nothing seems that important to you, just wait for a future update.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Just a heads up someone. I have some good folk testing a new version of BitQwik that now has intelligent support for nested tags and Notebook Stacks. If you specify either of these items in a query, either to find notes belonging to them or to filter them from your search results, BitQwik knows to automatically include all the child items in the query along with the parent item, without you having to do anything else. I'll post again when it's ready for public consumption.

For example:

Show me notes that are tagged with TopCategory. Leave out notes in my Ontology notebook stack.

Naturally both nested tags and Notebook Stacks can be combined freely with each other or any other search field and all in natural language sentences of course.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

I'm really happy to announce another major new feature. BitQwik 2.0.0.17 now supports nested Tags and Notebook Stacks directly in a search. The nested Tag feature fixes the problem people have with Evernote's search not automatically including the child Tags of a nested Tag in a search. This version also has full support for the Author field now and has numerous fixes related to searches that involved Tags or Notebook names that contain non-alphabetical characters such as "!" or ".", etc:

To download version 2.0.0.17 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

If you're interested, here is a detailed explanation of the the nested Tags and Notebook Stack support:

http://bitqwik.com/n...ebook-stack.php

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Hello,

I typed "Show me notes that contain the word insulin and are not tagged with insulin." BitQwik came back with "Notes have MS WORD file attachments AND are not tagged with INSULIN." Using version 2.0.0.20. I tried a couple of other searches with "show me notes that contain the word insulin" and got the same results in my query. Is this expected behavior? If it is a natural language search engine, the language does not seem all that natural to me. Are other people struggling with the right phrases to use, or am I just a slow learner?

By the way, thank you for showing the number of notes identified in the search results - I now know how much work I have to do on refining the terms!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello,

I typed "Show me notes that contain the word insulin and are not tagged with insulin." BitQwik came back with "Notes have MS WORD file attachments AND are not tagged with INSULIN." Using version 2.0.0.20. I tried a couple of other searches with "show me notes that contain the word insulin" and got the same results in my query. Is this expected behavior? If it is a natural language search engine, the language does not seem all that natural to me. Are other people struggling with the right phrases to use, or am I just a slow learner?

By the way, thank you for showing the number of notes identified in the search results - I now know how much work I have to do on refining the terms!

Hello Factman,

General keywords go in the entry box labeled for those (see graphic below). You put a general keywords phrase into the Enter Search Filters entry box (This part: "that contain the word insulin"). BitQwik is confusing that phrase for a Word document request. If you simply putt he word "insulin" in the General Keywords box and leave "not tagged with insulin" in the Enter Search Filters box, your query will perform as you expect it to. Your query should look like this:

factman.png

For some more tips see this web page for first time users:

http://bitqwik.com/f...-time-users.php

I made the decision a while back to adopt this style since most people are so used to punching a few keywords into an entry box and hitting go. So I created an entry box to do just that while providing the natural language interface for queries related to the search grammar fields. The natural language interface frees people from ever having to know the search grammar keywords. Before I made this split people were just punching in keywords into the Enter Search Filters box without typing actual sentences or even fragments of a sentence. That made them think BitQwik didn't work.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

There's been some more improvements and fixes to BitQwik. See the list below:

  • BitQwik now handles dashes as well as slashes in queries. For example: "show me notes created on or after 12-1-2012".
  • There were some problems in BitQwik's handling of "update" queries and they have been fixed.
  • A bug prevented BitQwik from handling date queries like "last 3 weeks" or "next 3 weeks" that has been fixed.

To download version 2.0.0.21 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Apologies for not rebooting my computer before writing this post, but I upgraded to 2.0.0.21 this morning, now it crashes out as soon as the initializing program dialog appears. Doesn't seem to be any more information than that. I'll check again in the morning to see if I can a) solve the problem by rebooting or B) give you any additional information. This is the first time this has ever happened to me!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello FactMan,

Sorry to hear you are having problems. 2.0.0.21 has been out for a little while now and I haven't had any other reports like that, so far. I wonder if this is related to the problems you have had in the past with your firewall and BitQwik trying to load the New Tips and Version Check (Welcome) pages?

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

OK. Have gone through my system, and discovered several old installations (or remnants thereof) of BitQwik, so I removed those. I searched for and found the location of BitQwik executables and added them to my firewall. I don't see any log files that might be helpful - when there are errors do you dump the information to a log file?

The only other thing I can think of is that I upgraded to EN 4.6.1.7752 (268260) so I am wondering if they broke something with this latest beta "fix," since that wouldn't be the first time. When I first opened up BQ version 21 I was able to run it, so to me it does seem suspicious - but then I may just be a suspicious guy!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello FactMan,

I just downloaded that Evernote beta and I am seeing the same thing. Can you go back to BitQwik version 2.0.0.20 and confirm that version works? It did for me with EN 4.6.1.7752 (268260). I did not see the error when I tried 2.0.0.20, but I am seeing it with 2.0.0.21.

UPDATE: I have created BitQwik version 2.0.0.22. It works with EN 4.6.1.7752 (268260), at least it does for me. Please download it here and tell me if it fixes your problem:

http://www.bitqwik.com/setup-bitqwik-2-0-0-22-a.exe

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Hello Roschler,

Sorry it took a while to respond - I had a slight problem with a file in EN, but I have resolved that now. Version 2.0.0.22 installed fine, and after I beat up my firewall, the version check page shows up. However, there is just one minor problem - the latest version is 2.0.0.21. You are running version 2.0.0.22. Please upgrade now. I suspect that needs fixing in the next release/before you let everyone know?

I did not try going back to version 2.0.0.20 so let me know if I still need to do that. Given the success of 22, I am not sure that I need to revert.

Thanks again for your attention to this.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello FactMan,

Glad you're working! Just ignore the version update alert for now. You are running a version newer than what is released. Once I formally release 2.0.0.22 it will go away.

Don't worry about going back to 2.0.0.20. I'll test that myself.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Two big positive changes to BitQwik, please read!

1) BitQwik now adapts to the version of BitQwik you are running and works with the current Public and Beta versions. You no longer have to worry about what version of Evernote you are running before upgrading to the latest BitQwik release. Just use the latest BitQwik version and it will detect the version of Evernote you are running and adapt. Please upgrade to this new version now. You can download it here:

http://bitqwik.com/

2) BitQwik can now understand queries that include searches for general keywords. For example "Show me notes that contain the word Evernote and were created with Word. Leave out notes that have the phrase developer contest in them that I created in the last 2 weeks." Therefore, there is no need to split your query between the Include/Exclude entry boxes and the plain English query entry box. This makes crafting queries easier with the added benefit of simplifying the user interface.

Several of you when you first used BitQwik were rightfully confused that BitQwik did not understand queries for general keywords. The Include/Exclude keyword entry boxes were an artificial and awkward design choice that has now been corrected. There is only one entry box to contend with and this completes the promise of BitQwik as a pure, simple, natural language search interface.

However, you can still use the Include/Exclude entry boxes if you want to!

To avoid confusing new users the Include/Exclude entry boxes are not initially visible when you run BitQwik. But here is how to bring them back if you want them. Click on the Other option on the menu bar at the top of the screen. From the drop-down menu click on Show Keyword Entry Boxes. They will now appear and will stay visible from that point on until you dismiss them by clicking on that menu choice again. See the graphic below:

bitqwik-show-keyword-entry-boxes.png

That's it for now. Please tell me what you think of the new version and if you have any questions, just ask.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5
jbenson2

jbenson2 2,147

Posted
  • Level 5
Posted

Wow! Just the keyword feature alone is a great addition!

I tried to stump the program using these different combinations.

But each search came up with the same correct 48 results.

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
last 3 weeks

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
past 3 weeks

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
previous 3 weeks
Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Wow! Just the keyword feature alone is a great addition!

I tried to stump the program using these different combinations.

But each search came up with the same correct 48 results.

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
last 3 weeks

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
past 3 weeks

Show me notes that contain the word Evernote that were created in the
previous 3 weeks

That is an excellent way of starting to understand search techniques - perhaps @roschler can include those in the "how to search" box? I would add Show me notes that are in my Evernote notebook. However, one that I have not figured out how to do is to search for notes with no tags - Show me notes that have no tags results in a checkbox for logic, the filter is include, but the condition is blank.

Otherwise, this is an awesome program. I think the more notes you have, the more valuable it becomes - I currently have 8200+.

Support is awesome, too.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted
That is an excellent way of starting to understand search techniques - perhaps @roschler can include those in the "how to search" box? I would add Show me notes that are in my Evernote notebook.

Hello FactMan,

When a new user runs BitQwik for the first time they are shown this web page with a huge number of categorized sample searches:

http://www.bitqwik.com/search-examples.php

This page is also available from the main screen using the Show Me Some Samples button.

However, one that I have not figured out how to do is to search for notes with no tags - Show me notes that have no tags results in a checkbox for logic, the filter is include, but the condition is blank.

You found a bug. The parser is indeed picking up your request for untagged notes, but the code that translates that to an actual raw search term is getting confused. I'll have a fix for you tomorrow.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

First, there was a bug with the handling of queries that include a search for notes that don't have any tags. (E.g. - "notes without tags", "notes that are untagged", etc.). It has been fixed so queries like that work now.

Second, the big news is you can now save your searches in BitQwik and load the later to re-use them . To save/load searches, use the Search menu options found here:

bitqwik-searches-menu.png

To download BitQwik version 2.2.0.32 just go to:

http://bitqwik.com/

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Awesome update! Just one question, and one comment.

1. Will the searches be saved if I uninstall the program and install the next version, or do I need to do something else to ensure that I don't have to recreate all my saved searches each upgrade?

2. The comment is regarding access to the search information - in your "show me some examples" text there is no example that would have suggested the no tag search option ...

Thank you for your contribution to the wonderful world of Evernote!

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello FactMan,

1) Searches should persist between version upgrades as long as you don't delete the directory tree that BitQwik is installed into.

2) I understand now. I just added a couple:

http://www.bitqwik.c...amples.php#tags

As you can see your earlier attempts to find notes that have no tags were correct. It was a bug that kept the searches from working (now fixed).

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Hello Roschler,

A question for you - is there a timeout on the time that you can display the results from BitQwik in EN? I do a simple search in BitQwik for "Goals." I select one note from the list of results and "show notes in Evernote." After working on that note in a separate window for a little while the search seems to disappear and Evernote is now showing all notes from the database. Not a major problem, because I can just go back to BitQwik and show that note again, but I am curious as to whether this is an Evernote feature or a BitQwik feature? :)

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello Roschler,

A question for you - is there a timeout on the time that you can display the results from BitQwik in EN? I do a simple search in BitQwik for "Goals." I select one note from the list of results and "show notes in Evernote." After working on that note in a separate window for a little while the search seems to disappear and Evernote is now showing all notes from the database. Not a major problem, because I can just go back to BitQwik and show that note again, but I am curious as to whether this is an Evernote feature or a BitQwik feature? :)

Hello FactMan,

Please post the version of Evernote are using.

I've never seen that and you say this only happens with BitQwik? That is really strange since BitQwik does not do anything with the Evernote Windows client unless you specifically do something in BitQwik to make it happen. I'll poll the mailing list in my next update to see if anybody else is seeing this.

-- roschler

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Version: 4.6.1.7772 (268280) Prerelease (as reported in BitQwik). I have not been able to replicate this issue in Evernote alone. However, here are the last 4 lines of my Evernote log:

Log opened on 2012/12/29 13:49:03 (UTC-5:00)

13:49:03 [8608] Command line: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote\Evernote.exe"

Log closed on 2012/12/29 13:49:03 (UTC-5:00)

13:49:03 [8172] Command line: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote\Evernote.exe"

Looks like the program is closing then reopening - or at least the log file is closing. The curious thing is that even when this happens, the note I was editing didn't close, and the focus in the note list was retained.

Curiouser, and curiouser - at least to me, who lijkes to know the facts, man!

Edited to add - I found a very large file in one of my import folders, so I deleted that and restarted Evernote - the problem still occurs.

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
FactMan

FactMan 196

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Sorry, can't help with anything else - I ran the Sony Vaio checks, including cleaning the registry and defragmenting the hard drive, and rebooted. I was able to do the search, and keep the focus on the note for 10 minutes without this "crash" occurring. I then tried just editing the note in the right-hand window - still got the list of all notes after a few seconds (not timed exactly, but about 20-30). It looks like the search string from BitQwik is not persisting in Evernote for some reason?

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I have no idea FactMan. There are a few times that the phrase "that's really weird" applies and things are squarely in the Ouija board category. I've sent a message to the Evernote statff about this too in case they have any ideas.

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

New version BitQwik 2.3.0.37 has several important changes:

  • A few important fixes to the actual queries submitted Evernote have been fixed. Some of the logic involved with negated OR search conditions was wrong and has now been fixed. An example of a negated OR search condition is: "not tagged with red or blue".
  • A few enhancements were made to the range of phrases BitQwik understands.
  • Drastic improvement to BitQwik's handling of search conditions that involve file attachments (resources/Mime types)!

I want to expand on the last upgrade. It is especially important to those of you that work with Excel files/spreadsheets. Here's how messy life gets and how BitQwik cleans it for you. If you want to do a thorough search for spreadsheets in Evernote you have to deal with 8 different Mime types:

  • application/msexcel
  • application/x-msexcel
  • application/x-ms-excel
  • application/vnd.ms-excel
  • application/x-excel
  • application/x-dos_ms_excel
  • application/xls
  • application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

In other words, if you want to do a thorough search for Excel files in Evernote you would have to execute the following query:

any:

tag:application/msexcel

tag:application/x-msexcel

tag:application/x-ms-excel

tag:application/vnd.ms-excel

tag:application/x-excel

tag:application/x-dos_ms_excel

tag:application/xls,

tag:application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

In BitQwik you simply enter anything like the following "Show me my Excel Files". That's it. Behind the scenes BitQwik will expand your search properly to include all the necessary Mime types to search for Excel files (or other file attachment types). As usual, resource search conditions can be combined freely with any other search condition such as Date Created, Tags used, Notebook, etc.

You can download BitQwik 2.3.0.37 here:

http://bitqwik.com/

-- roschler

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

I've just released BitQwik version 2.4.0.46. This version corrects a few significant bugs in the search engine logic module. Most of you probably did not run into these except for the power users out there. The main bug had to do with search conditions with term lists that were negated and used AND as a conjunction (E.g. - "notes not tagged with A and B"). These and a few other bugs have been fixed. Also, the code that translates a search into a human readable sentence has had several corrections made too.

However, the major change has to do with the new REQUIRED search condition type. It became painfully obvious that some of you out there needed a way to tell BitQwik to explicitly apply a search condition to the whole query and not just a part of it. For example:

"Show me notes that are tagged with A and were clipped from the web OR have the word metal in the title"

The restriction "clipped from the web" would only apply to the "tagged" condition since they are connected by the word "and". Notes that have the word "metal" in their title could still be from any note source.

With the latest version of BitQwik you can now say:

"Show me notes that are tagged with A or have the word metal in the title. All notes must be clipped from the web"

The search condition "All notes must be clipped from the web" is a REQUIRED condition. All notes found during a search must satisfy the constraints of REQUIRED conditions. Like FILTERs, they are "global" to your search query. In this example, the note source constraint now applies to the entire query, not just the first condition.

You can read more about this new enhancement at the web page below, and you will also find helpful scrreenshots to look at too:

http://www.bitqwik.com/condition-types.php

You can download the latest version here:

http://bitqwik.com/

Sincerely,

Robert

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello everyone,

The Elephant Channel is a terrific web site that posts interesting Evernote related stories and news including entertaining interviews with staff members like the illustrious Phil Libin, Evernote's CEO. Pierre Journel, the podcast author, recently made a post about BitQwik:

http://elephantchannel.net/2013/01/tec-035-bitqwik-presented-by-robert-its-developer/

Please share the link via your social media channels too.

-- roschler

Link to comment
ClutterBGone

ClutterBGone 152

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone,

BitQwik is now officially in the Evernote Trunk, in the Productivity section:

http://trunk.evernot...bitqwik/windows

I am very happy about this and wish to offer a personal thanks to Gervis, the Evermpte Trunk Manager, for the helpful suggestions he gave me that led to critical improvements to the product. :)

-- roschler

Congratulations! This program has been developed on a very fast track. I am sure "we" will see much more improvements in the future on this excellent and useful addition to the Evernote world.

Regards,

David in Wichita

Link to comment
Wux

Wux 22

Posted
Posted

I downloaded BitQwik, but Norton Antivirus deleted the Download with an WS.Reputation.1 Error:

Type:Other

Risk Impact:High

Systems Affected:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000

Symantec’s reputation technology system tracks the attributes of software files (applications, drivers and DLLs) from multiple sources, including:

The reputation-based system uses "the wisdom of crowds" (Symantec’s tens of millions of end users) connected to cloud-based intelligence to compute a reputation score for an application, and in the process identify malicious software in an entirely new way beyond traditional signatures and behavior-based detection techniques.

The system considers many aspects of a file, including file age, file download source, digital signature, and file prevalence. These attributes are combined using a proprietary algorithm to determine a file’s safety reputation. The system maintains a rating for all files rather than just malicious files. Each software file is given a GOOD, BAD or SUSPICIOUS rating.

Symantec’s reputation-based security engine continuously monitors all files and over time a file’s reputation may change.

Seems to me, that there was no threat found (ironically my System is Windows 7, which is not listed under "affected system").

I will have to temporary disable my AV program, to install BitQwik - I think a lot of people won't do this. Maybe its worth asking Symantec how a program can be deleted from the threat list.

I will give it a try in the next days, although my mother language is German, but I really have been longing for better search in Evernote.

Link to comment
roschler

roschler 158

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello Wux,

You are correct. There is nothing wrong with BitQwik. Norton A/V is simply saying that BitQwik has not been downloaded yet by a lot of other Norton A/V users. For a small developer (and even medium size developers releasing patch updates), this is a guaranteed occurrence. It's strictly a case of "guilty until proven innocent". Norton is taking a heavy handed approach that protects its users the same way you can protect yourself by living in a large crash resistant bubble-ball or by not ever going outside at all. They do have a cumbersome process with a 2 to 3 month delay to have an app certified as "safe", but it has to be redone for every new update. For a company that releases updates for features and bug fixes rapidly, the kind of company that a user wants, this makes that certification system useless. Worse, it means that any user held hostage to the certification system would have to wait 2 to 3 months before utilizing a critical bug fix, unquestionably an untenable situation.

-- roschler

Link to comment
ever111

ever111 24

Posted
Posted

Actually, some of us surely prefer to err on the side of safety rather than damage. That's what we are paying for.

Nice of you to certify that the software does not contain any malware or viruses.

Download.com is even compromised, as far as many comments say. I go to the source, and then run scans on it, and after.

Many people don't have backups (I do), and they are destroyed by one little mistake of unfounded trust.

Anyway " including file age, file download source, digital signature, and file prevalence"...

So, where is the file being downloaded from, how new is it, and is it signed somehow, or at least have the company id, etc., though I can't certify that it matters. Just suggesting what might could get it passed. I really don't know, but it surely would be good if it was able to get passed.

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
jefito

jefito 5,589

Posted
  • Level 5*
Posted

Norton Utilities was a trusted set of tools back in the days of DOS, and Peter Norton's book taught me a lot of good stuff, but Norton Anti-virus has not resided on any of my home Windows machines for years. It was a huge pain at my previous job; tended to interfere with our build process, which was fairly large -- very annoying. I tend to stick to the provided Windows tool these days -- they're part of Windows, seem to work well, and are reasonably unobtrusive.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...