What do you want to see in an inventory feature?

Suggestions and discussion about upcoming features in future BeerTools Pro releases.
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billvelek
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A thought re interaction of inventory with ingredients list

Post by billvelek »

I would find it helpful if there were a column in the ingredients list to indicate whether the ingredient was added from the inventory, i.e., a 'Y' for 'yes' and an 'N' for 'no'. That way I could create recipes without restriction to just my inventory, and know at a glace what I would need to purchase.

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Post by just-cj »

Brant wrote:I'd rather have the original values to reference later.
Well then, how about a new entry for "average alpha" so that when you change it for your personal hop stash, you still have reference to the original average in the DB.

And then for those times when you buy new hops, you can create/duplicate the hop entry for the "new" hop.

Personally, I'd like to keep the database as streamlined as possible -- I don't want to have to choose which of three Amarillo I'll be brewing with.
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Post by Brant »

What I've been trying to say is that I think the inventory db and the default delivery db should be totally separate, regarding both the user interface, and possibly (depending on the db's architecture), the internal storage. So, there would be only one Amarillo entry in the delivery database at any given time. If you happen to have 3 different bags of Amarillo (with different aa%) in your freezer right now, though, then yes, you'd need to pick which of the 3 you want to brew with. But that would be a good thing.

So, for example, I am creating a new recipe. I click the new "Inventory" button to browse my inventory db to pick my grains, hops, etc. If I don't have some ingredient that I want to use, then I would close my Inventory browser and click the Browse button to access the default delivery db.

By the way, I've been talking in terms of hops for simplicity, but I've actually been thinking in terms of editing grains, too.
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Post by slothrob »

Brant, that's the way I've pictured this as well.
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Post by just-cj »

Okay, fair enough -- I wasn't thinking that way. Makes sense.
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Me too.

Post by billvelek »

slothrob wrote:Brant, that's the way I've pictured this as well.
That's exactly how I envisioned it to work -- selecting first from Inventory (a separate database), and if something is not there then selecting if from Browse (the original BTP ingredient database). Since they are separate, they could have separate values, and it would not be complicated at all to enter a variety of the same hops. The way a person could have several different %AA for the same hops in inventory would be to simply rename them when each is entered, e.g., Amarillo-1, Amarillo-2, etc., and they would each have their individual %AA values, and it would also be nice to see a date for each one so that the oldest could be used first, although I suppose the name could be Amarillo-070117 for something added today, etc. I'd still like to see the recipe ingredient list indicate in some manner whether the item is in inventory or needs to be purchased (my last post).

EDIT: P.S.: The one field that the Inventory db would obviously need that is not in the regular browse db is a field for quantity on hand, which there is no need for the browse db to show, and I'd also like the inventory db to be able to indicate when something is "On Order", e.g, from an online supplier.

Cheers.

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inventory db

Post by warthog »

how about dragging (inserting in some way) from the ingredients db to the inventory db? this would allow the user to edit personal inventory for the parameters that are known, but leave the default, if its not known.

for example:
i know the alpha of my hops, but i don't know beta, cohumulone, myrcene etc. and i don't want to type all of that stuff in, for every bag of hops i have. so if i can add from the ingredients db to inventory db, then edit, i for one will be more likely to use the feature.

i feel that software should be easy to use, and have helpful features that are easy to use. if they are a pain to use, no one will use it, and its just a waste of time for the programers.
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I agree that there should be interaction between dbs

Post by billvelek »

I posted something similar to warthogs suggestion, although I didn't mention "dragging"; it is pretty much immaterial to me how the mechanics of it work. But I did essentially suggest --and this could work in a number of ways -- an "Add To Inventory" button that would open the Browse db and allow a user to select something to be copied into the inventory db, where it could then be edited. For items that are not already included in the Browse db, you would need to add them to it first and then make a copy of it over to the inventory db using the 'Add to Inventory' button; that might seem like extra work, but you're not always going to have the item in inventory and may want to include it while planning a new recipe and a future purchase.

Cheers.

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Post by slothrob »

That idea, of "add to inventory" button in the ingredients database seems like it's consistent with the way the program acts now for recipe creation.

The way I keep inventory now is to make up a fake recipe called "Inventory" that has all my stock listed. When I design a new recipe, I open both windows and see what I have on hand. When I actually make the recipe, I open both windows and subtract the quantities from the Inventory. I edit the AA's in the Inventory list to reflect the hops I have in the freezer.

If I could drag or highlight and cut-and-paste an ingredient from my Inventory "recipe" to a new recipe, I'd actually be reasonably content with my system. But there's a lot of good ideas for other features being discussed, as well.
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Re: I agree that there should be interaction between dbs

Post by warthog »

billvelek wrote:I posted something similar to warthogs suggestion, ...
so sorry, i didn't see it. obviously, i think its a great idea 8)
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Post by mpaniagua »

a "you need x lbs from x grains for this recipe" based on you current stock would be nice. That way I know what to order for my brewing schedule for this month. This could be some kind of report.
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Hops Stored Correctly??

Post by stevie.o »

I don't know if this has been brought up yet, but I wanted to throw it out there.

In EDITING the Hops - Right Click - to change the AA%
I noticed that the STRORAGE Option is always - POOR.

I was wondering if that could be a Preference?
I always Buy my ingredients JUST before I brew.
I haven't got a fridge filled with odds and ends of hops or grains.
I know some people do..... I do my best to buy fresh & use fresh.

I would just like that option to be GOOD instead of POOR....
I really don't know how long my LHBS has been keeping those hops
if they have been in that fride for 3 years or 3 months,

But I would like give my LHBS the benifit of the doubt.

Could that be put into the inventory Options or the the Pref Options?

Thanks

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Re: Hops Stored Correctly??

Post by billvelek »

stevie.o wrote:snip ... I really don't know how long my LHBS has been keeping those hops ... if they have been in that fridge for 3 years or 3 months. ... snip
And if the package of hops is not dated by the packager, there is no way to know how long it might have been stored before even arriving at your LHBS, so it isn't necessarily a matter of trusting your LHBS. I was very disappointed to learn that nitrogen flushed mylar packets still experience hops degradation yet none of my packets are dated ('Crosby & Baker' brand). Sooooo ... the only time I can actually count on is how long I've had them, and they could be FAR from fresh. Let me ask here, and I'm going to bring this up in other brewing forums, too: are there any particular hops packagers/suppliers/distributors who DO date their packets? Thanks.

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Post by slothrob »

Freshops.com and hopsdirect.com sell hops that are almost guarateed, by the end of October until the beginning of October of the next year, to be from the most recent harvest, with a short period of vagueness during the transition. They are also open about telling you when the hops are from if you ask them when you order.

My LHBS sells the same packs you get, without the date, and large bags of hops from Freshops that I think might have a date stamped on them, but I'm not sure.

Odds are any hops you get now are either 5 or 17 months old... unless you buy the Kiwi hops.
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Re: Hops Stored Correctly??

Post by bzwrxbz »

stevie.o wrote: I noticed that the STRORAGE Option is always - POOR.

I was wondering if that could be a Preference?
I always Buy my ingredients JUST before I brew.
This is not something you would change. I think it means "Storage Stability", which is a function of the hop variety. When i clicked on Centennial, it says "good", when i clicked on EKG, it said "poor". This is correct.

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