Getting Bento - database software for the rest of us

Bento 3 is database software that non-power users can come to grips with easily.

FileMaker, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple famous for its flexible database application called, strangely, FileMaker, surprised everyone a couple of years ago with a new, Mac-only application called Bento.

This is named after the lacquered or decorated wooden Japanese lunchbox and the compartmentalised packed lunch it contains.

Bento the application - which also now has an iPhone counterpart - is designed as a user friendly, non-professional database. And that word 'database' appears to have a lot to do with the name 'Bento'.

The word 'database' can turn warm people cold, or at least luke-warm, whereas 'bento' connotes fun and tasty, and promises fun in the unpacking. Most importantly, it's an attractive place in which to gather your stuff.

Digital stuff, in this case - Bento is a personal database for storing and using any kind of information that's important to Mac users - iCal Tasks and Events, Address Book entries, iPhoto images, music files, links to Apple Mail messages, spreadsheet info, project data, vehicle and home maintenance information, contacts and - oh, crikey, a lot more.

Once upon a time, Apple has this great suite of applications called AppleWorks.

The software suite contained a word processor, a spreadsheet, drawing and paint, plus (and this is the salient point, here) a database module. It was so popular, for a while Microsoft seemed worried it would impact on sales of Microsoft Office: Mac.

However, after OS X, AppleWorks was quietly allowed to die. Then Apple released iWork, which contained just two applications: Pages for words and print layouts, and Keynote, a presenter like PowerPoint. No database, although Numbers, Apple's consumer spreadsheet app, joined the suite a couple of years ago.

Then came FileMaker's Bento. It was popular, cost effective and, perhaps best of all, it looked funky. Plus it was drag 'n' drop easy to use and didn't require the steep learning curve of a 'real' database application like FileMaker.

Everyone was surprised when Bento 1 was superseded by Bento 2 after only nine months on the market, and here's another surprise: Bento 3, which is released today (30th September).

In Bento 3 you can now share your Bento data with up to five people on the same wired or wireless network. If you want to go larger than that, and separate groups of people working in nodes of five won't cut it, you'll need to move up to a professional database application.

Whereas consumer-wise, adding Bento to the iWork apps pretty thoroughly replicates a classy OS X version of the wonderful old AppleWorks, albeit without the drawing and painting parts.

Bento is designed for Mac, whereas FileMaker is for PC, Mac and in Server versions. Bento much more closely resembles other applications Mac users are already familiar with, like the 'iApps' iTunes and iWeb.

Now Bento connects directly to Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto and can display Apple Mail messages. It utilises the OS X Spotlight find feature and even lets you add special effects to pictures you take with your Mac's iSight camera.

Templates

Like lots of Apple applications lately, Bento has templates to get you started, all designed with Apple's look and feel for a smart, slightly funky edge.

The first time you launch Bento 3 (I don't have it yet, I have some prerelease notes), any Address Book and iCal data you already have on your Mac will appear in Bento.

Any changes you make to this data in Bento also appear in the Address Book and iCal apps, which you can further synchronise with external devices such as the iPod and iPhone, MobileMe, and anything else that syncs with Address Book and iCal.

You can create collections of records in any library. These work like playlists in iTunes, like smart albums in iPhoto, and like groups in Address Book. If you have a library of tasks, for example, you can create collections for your work, personal and volunteer tasks.

Bento 3 also imports and exports Excel and Numbers spreadsheet files. You can even import and export those old aforementioned AppleWorks database files (in tab-separated format).

Looks-wise, the top three changes are iPhoto integration, which gives you a Media Browser style access into your iPhoto library, making it easier than ever to personalise your collections. The new Grid View Bento's is a new way to see multiple images and forms at once.

The ability to share your Bento libraries over the local area network means you can share meeting notes with colleagues, recipes from one Mac in your house to another and more.

You choose whether others need passwords for access, and whether they can also add, delete, or update your own Bento information. (Bento does not let other people edit your iCal events.)

The people you share with need their own copies of Bento and need to be connected to the same wired or wireless local area network as you. Bento uses Apple Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous) to automatically find shared Bento libraries on the same network.

Older Macs

One thing I find really cool about Bento 3 is it will still work on older G4-G5 Macs. Bento 3 is for any Mac with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 processor that's 867Mhz or faster. And it only needs a very meagre (these days) 512MB of RAM.

I asked FileMaker America's and APAC VP of Sales Keith Robinson what kind of input Apple has as far as FileMaker's developers go, thinking that, to release new versions this fast, they must have considerable resources.

His answer surprised me. Keith said that, while FileMaker US is only about ten miles from Apple's Cupertino HQ and despite being a fully Apple-owned company, the Santa Clara based FileMaker (and Bento) developers have the same access to Apple resources as any other developers.

I guess that means the hooks into the Leopard and Snow Leopard databases behind AddressBook, iCal and even the iPhoto library are available to any developers. FileMaker did, however, use Apple graphics designers to create the templates so they'd look slick, and be visually in tune with other Apple programs.

APAC GM Steve McManus, FileMaker's top guy in Australia and New Zealand is excited by Bento 3 because it's so easy to use. He reckons gathering data together to manage tasks has never been easier, or more fun. Steve also told me that the way Australians and New Zealanders use Bento in real life never ceases to amaze him.

I'm looking forward to trying v3. The ties to iCal and Address Book make it much more compelling for me.

- Mark Webster mac.nz