Any simple database app which can import Bento data?

[Giuanniello]

Friend got very old iMac, maybe 2009, he uses Bento as a very very simple database for his photo film archive (he stores dates, names, location etc on the database), the computer is about to die and in case he gets a new one I need to suggest him an app which can import Bento's archives and which is simple enough to use, what would you suggest?

Grazie

 

[sracer]

Friend got very old iMac, maybe 2009, he uses Bento as a very very simple database for his photo film archive (he stores dates, names, location etc on the database), the computer is about to die and in case he gets a new one I need to suggest him an app which can import Bento's archives and which is simple enough to use, what would you suggest?

Grazie

...in before the "just use FileMaker" brigade arrives. IMO, anyone who suggests FileMaker as an option clearly has not used Bento.

Unfortunately, there is no proper replacement for Bento. I still have Bento on one of my systems and I make sure that I regularly export the data to spreadsheets as a backup. Eventually, I'll end up using a spreadsheet for that data or something like AirTable or Google Tables (neither of which I'm happy about).

Unfortunately, simple flat-file databases are no longer a thing.

 

[Giuanniello]

I see, a person working for my friend said they would eventually end up using Numbers (...), I guess she has no clue what a database is but so far it seems she might be right, will figure how the export from Bento - import to Numbers works just in case.

What's the issue with Bento by the way? Can it be used on recent OS or isn't it supported?

Grazie

 

[Jzap van der Veen]

This might be worth trying:

Migrating from Bento to Tap Forms Mac | Tap Forms

Tap Forms the easiest and most complete Bento replacement app available on the Mac.

www.tapforms.com

Migrating from Bento to Tap Forms Mac​

After FileMaker stopped developing and supporting Bento, Tap Forms 5 offers Bento users the only place they can easily call home. Tap Forms 5 is the only database application for Mac with a built-in native Bento template importer. This makes Tap Forms 5 the easiest and most complete Bento replacement app available on the Mac.​

 

[Fishrrman]

The first thing I would do is:
PROTECT THE DATA.

Does Bento have an "export" choice in the file menu?
Your friend should export the data to a text file.
I believe the choice you want is:
- tabs (or commas) to "delimit" fields (in each record)
- carriage return to separate records.

Keep this safe.
The reason you want it in "a text file" is that if your friend no longer has access to Bento, he can still access THE DATA itself.
If it's in text format... you can open it in a spreadsheet (such as Excel or Numbers).
That's not really "a database", but it works.

Something I use:
There is (was) an app called "iData" that was a simple, "flat-file" database.
The company that published this discontinued it, BUT IT STILL WORKS FINE.

Download iData Pro for Mac | MacUpdate

Download the latest version of iData Pro for Mac for free. Read 37 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

www.macupdate.com

The developer retired, and made the app free.
However, he seems to be on the verge of releasing an updated version.
See this page:

iData Pro 5 Index

 

[Jzap van der Veen]

The first thing I would do is:
PROTEST THE DATA.

Does Bento have an "export" choice in the file menu?

Bento knowledge base article:

Exporting data from Bento

support.claris.com

 

[planteater]

Just a thought on protecting the data given that it’s future home may be unknown. It never hurts to export it into multiple formats for safekeeping. My choice would be a delimited text file along with CSV and Numbers format. Options are good for important data.

 

[blesscheese]

Friend got very old iMac, maybe 2009, he uses Bento as a very very simple database for his photo film archive (he stores dates, names, location etc on the database), the computer is about to die and in case he gets a new one I need to suggest him an app which can import Bento's archives and which is simple enough to use, what would you suggest?

Grazie

If that is indeed all the info he stores, there is a really nice freeware simple database program called "EagleData"

EagleData

Freeware database for Mac

eaglesoft.de

If he is including the photo in the database, then, this won't work. But if he is just storing the basic data, this could work for him.