Engineer Journals
Engineer Journals
(OP)
Hello Group,
If this belongs in a different forum, please point me in the right direction.
Engineers sometimes keep journals to log their daily activities, and work results. I am looking for software that serves this purpose. It should be able to easily combine text, images, videos, flowcharts, and sound clips into a single entry, while maintaining a pleasant appearance, and ease of use.
Blogs, accessible through the intranet, were considered, but I do not think the typical blog format is suitable for the task. If you use blogs for this purpose, please let me know.
Is anyone aware of software that is built for this purpose?
If this belongs in a different forum, please point me in the right direction.
Engineers sometimes keep journals to log their daily activities, and work results. I am looking for software that serves this purpose. It should be able to easily combine text, images, videos, flowcharts, and sound clips into a single entry, while maintaining a pleasant appearance, and ease of use.
Blogs, accessible through the intranet, were considered, but I do not think the typical blog format is suitable for the task. If you use blogs for this purpose, please let me know.
Is anyone aware of software that is built for this purpose?





RE: Engineer Journals
RE: Engineer Journals
RE: Engineer Journals
RE: Engineer Journals
RE: Engineer Journals
I know/understand, it is a personal choice and your situation may be different (i.e. legal wise).
good luck!
-pmover
RE: Engineer Journals
http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=731
I personally dont us the computer to manage my time
RE: Engineer Journals
http://www
RE: Engineer Journals
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?
RE: Engineer Journals
RE: Engineer Journals
A Journal entry can keep as file inserts all file types. It does not display them, but it keeps them. You can double click on any of the inserted file to open up and view. And you can email the Journal entry around, including all inserted files.
You also have the capability of stashing all relevant emails in a Journal entry. You can also log time for discussions, set appointments, categorize, etc etc etc. There's some powerful functionality in MS Outlook, despite all the hate mail and invective Bill Gates receives.
But one thing you should consider is whether or not your work will ever wind up in a courtroom on a liability case. Then handwritten log entries in a bound research note book is essential. Any electronic entry can be forged and won't necessarily hold up under scrutiny of the court.
TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Advanced Robotics & Automation Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com
RE: Engineer Journals
Outlook keeps everything in one big file. Okay, fine. The file can be no bigger than 2Gb, because of filesystem limitations that existed when it was first written. Okay, fine. It gives you a warning when the file is almost 2Gb. Okay, fine.
Problem: The warning comes too late. When you get it, the file is already too big for Outlook to handle. MS offered a downloadable 'fix', a program to truncate the file. It does; it truncates it in such a way that the file is still quite large, but _all_ of your data is gone. Unrecoverable.
Photos, and especially videos, will cause the file to grow too large quite rapidly. Then they are gone. Data. Photos. Videos. Everything.
I have takne to using Notepad to keep text files for each project, with related files in the same subdirectory, in their native form.
Putting all your eggs in one basket leaves you susceptible to basket failures.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Engineer Journals
Check this if u like
http:/
RE: Engineer Journals
Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
sw.fcsuper.com
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
RE: Engineer Journals
I can't find the details now and he got canned a little while ago.
I didnt' like it much because although I could view the files I couldn't cut and paste from them etc.
Also he just created a file for each project so it wasn't a comprehensive log as such.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Engineer Journals
The advantage was that EVERYTHING on my pc could be linked to it.
The disadvantage was that it was a bit difficult to back up. I can't see that it is more difficult to back up than anything else though.
My internal customers really liked it, which makes a change from writing reports that elicit no comments.
I used to handcode the html, since basically you only need to know about 4 html tags to write a page.
The format was strictly
title
words
picture
link
repeated ad infinitum
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Engineer Journals
I try to keep things simple, and easy to use, with little investment in the setup because Lord knows, it takes forever to write it down.
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?
RE: Engineer Journals
Nowadays I create them in HTML in a public directory. Whenever I have to go back to it or work on the same thing again, I update the "howto" with any new bits.
It means that other people can also look at what I've done or just read all I know about it without having to bother me.
What's surprising is that these files have been burned on CD and are still being used on site, years after I've left the company.
RE: Engineer Journals
Just my opinion but has worked well for me. Just organize the folder, sub folders, and file names accuratly.