App Database Update

[Edgar]

A new database update has been posted to the IAP Server. It's date is 7/14/22.

This update is only available to iOS users at this time. The Android update is taking a little longer than we hoped.

This new update features major updates to the Penn State data:
1. All current PSI kits are included
2. A number of old, discontinued kits have been added for historical reference
3. A number of project kits have been added (letter openers, magnifiers, kaleidoscopes, etc)
4. Photos & Bushing Dwgs are now included for all but a handful of the PSI kits

Similar updates will be made to other suppliers as time permits. Please let me know if you see any errors or if you have suggestions for additional kits.

Pull down on the kit listing to see the date of your database. If your app hasn't updated yet, close the app & restart it. If you have a good Internet connection, it should download this new update automatically.

Edgar

 

[gimpy]

Thank you Edgar

A new database update has been posted to the IAP Server. It's date is 7/14/22.

This update is only available to iOS users at this time. The Android update is taking a little longer than we hoped.

This new update features major updates to the Penn State data:
1. All current PSI kits are included
2. A number of old, discontinued kits have been added for historical reference
3. A number of project kits have been added (letter openers, magnifiers, kaleidoscopes, etc)
4. Photos & Bushing Dwgs are now included for all but a handful of the PSI kits

Similar updates will be made to other suppliers as time permits. Please let me know if you see any errors or if you have suggestions for additional kits.

Pull down on the kit listing to see the date of your database. If your app hasn't updated yet, close the app & restart it. If you have a good Internet connection, it should download this new update automatically.

Edgar

 

[Brandy]

Thank You!

 

[Jim15]

Thanks for all your hard work.

 

[jrista]

Hi Edgar,

I've become a big fan of the IAP Bushings app. I'm an Android user, so eagerly awaiting the update for that.

I have run into a few cases where I was unable to find the bushing and tube detail I needed for a few kits. I can't remember them all right now, but one recently was the Rockler (and I believe there are other names for it from other sellers) Antique Bronze Polished Retro Bronze rollerball pen kit. Yeah, a heck of a mouthful of a name, but I have a client that wanted to purchase several sets of these pens, and I couldn't find my bushings. I found one bushing set that I thought was right, but the central part of the bushings didn't fit the tube. I went to the IAP app to find the proper measurements so I could check my bushings, but this particular pen was not in there.

I eventually just drove over to the local Rockler, and managed to find the right bushings. They looked almost the same as the set I had...just some slight differences, mostly the diameter of the part that slips inside the tubes.

As of yet, I honestly don't know what the other set of bushings were for...I used them once, so there is certainly a pen that they are intended for...I just have no clue what!! Now, it would be really interesting to be able to plug in some actual bushing measurements for each bushing (this was a three-bushing set with a two-way third center bushing) and have the app return potentially viable results, maybe ranked by the closeness of the measurements or something like that. Any chance that feature could be added to the Android version of the app?

 

[Edgar]

Thanks, Jon.

I believe that's the Retro Screw Cap RB kit, and it is in the app database. However, it might be a recent addition in which case you wouldn't be able to see it until we finish the Android app update.

You can enter bushing diameters in the search field - one or more, just separate them with a space. It only does exact searches, but you can adjust one or more numbers a thousandth at a time to find kits that are close (at least as far as our data is concerned). Not all suppliers publish dimensions, so a lot of our data is based on caliper measurements, so slight variations are possible.

You can also tap on the Upper/Cap Bushings text or the Lower/Body Bushings Text of the kit detail page. The app will automatically put those bushing sizes in the search field and perform the search. I'm pretty sure the Android version has that feature.

There's a User Guide in the IAP Library that explains those & many other features of the app.

 

[jrista]

Edgar,

I am not sure what language your app is developed in. I've developed Ionic apps with Angular for years. If it is JavaScript or TypeScript, have you ever looked into the Fuse.js library? It is a "fuzzy" search library with some nice configurability, that allows the user to do "rough" searches, as well as use basic hinting to perform more exact searches if they prefer.

 

[Edgar]

IOS version is written in Objective-C. Android version is in JavaScript. Searches are made based on exact matches. If you enter more than one term into the search field, it looks for kits that contain all terms somewhere in the kit data & info.

It's not likely that we will ever make it more sophisticated than it is now.

 

[moke]

Thanks for all the work Edgar.....that has to be a ton of hours! We appreciate it!

 

[Edgar]

Thanks for all the work Edgar.....that has to be a ton of hours! We appreciate it!

Thanks - it is, but it's too hot to do anything outside or in the shop, so it's a good time to try to catch up on the database.