aCar - Track your vehicles

[armond]

I think it is a great program, but I need Mileage logging for business trips. Is this something that you can add easily?

This is one of the most frequently requested features after the already done import/export/backup/restore. The good news is that it's already in my todo list and you'll get it in a future version.

Best Regards,

 

[KZIWarrior]

For the maintenance, do the reminders not pull from the vehicle mileage (I was assuming they would pull from the gas mileage)?

aCar uses both service and fillup records mileage (which one is higher) to determine the reminders. But as I mentioned earlier, for the sake of simplicity, you'll only get the reminders for the already recorded services.
Not entering any service record for a service type means you're not interested to track it as well.

I figured that's what the 'delete service' was for, lol. Thanks for the info.

 

[armond]

For the maintenance, do the reminders not pull from the vehicle mileage (I was assuming they would pull from the gas mileage)?

aCar uses both service and fillup records mileage (which one is higher) to determine the reminders. But as I mentioned earlier, for the sake of simplicity, you'll only get the reminders for the already recorded services.
Not entering any service record for a service type means you're not interested to track it as well.

I figured that's what the 'delete service' was for, lol. Thanks for the info.

Okay! Let's suppose I'm going to turn on the reminders for all services. For service X that there isn't any records entered yet, I'm going to track either 12 months or 12000 miles have been passed from the previous record. But there isn't any "previous" record! So some information is missing here... How should I know if 12000 miles has been passed (the same story for time based reminders)? What should be the base of the comparison?

 

[mgrabo]

New user - 3rd fillup won't calc mileage (N/A)

I started using your app about two weeks ago. I have always maintained a mileage log with paper/pen in my car & loved your app from the get-go.

On my third fill-up today, it returned N/A for mileage. I compared the data entry to the first two entries that did calc mileage & it appears identical. I proofed my mileage to make sure I hadn't accidentally entered something lower than my 2nd fill-up.

Any idea what is wrong or how I can fix it?

 

[Cactus]

I'm a new Droid owner and was looking for an application like this. I have been using Gas Cubby on an Ipod for about a year. aCar looks a lot like Gas Cubby. Is it possible to transfer my data from Gas Cubby into aCar?

 

[armond]

Been using this since Dec and LOVE it. But there is one MAJOR issue (at least on my Droid). The auto-backup feature is useless... it creates a backup file but it is just a copy of the previous backup file (i.e. new changes/additions are NOT there)... I have to manually do a backup in order to get all the current data to save. Not sure what the issue is. It's not a big deal but it's caused me to loose data after a ROM flash several times until I figured out I had to do a manual backup before flashing (which at 2am I sometimes forget). Fix this and the app will be perfect:icon_ banana:

Armond, check your email when you have a moment. I sent you the files as you instructed. Thanks for the time.

Edit:
K-9 is having some issues so I've posted them here for you.

I inspected all of your backup files and successfully restored them one by one using both "manual" and "automatic" restore (yes! I've uninstalled/reinstalled the app eleven times to test the auto restore for every single backup). Everything is just working fine here (using version 1.3.0). I couldn't detect anything weird. By the way, both your manual and auto backup files contain the same set of data.

You can easily test them. Just rename their "abp" extension to "zip" and open them with a zip utility (yes! they're actually in zip format). You'll find four files there. Your data (including vehicle info, fillups, and service records) is in "vehicles.xml" file.

Just a question... Your automatic backup files were ranging from "March 09, 2010 - 08:57" to "March 09, 2010 - 21:47". Have you entered any new data during this period that have not been captured with the auto backup?

Even I don't see any change in data since your first manual backup on "March 06, 2010 - 15:35". Maybe I'm missing something here.

One good test would be to set your auto-backup frequency again on "hourly", and wait till one auto-backup is done. Then enter a few records or modify the existing ones and wait until the second auto-backup is executed as well. Then open those backup files in a ZIP utility (as I explained above) and examine their "vehicles.xml" file and see if your data modifications exist in the newer backup. Or you can just send me those files and I will examine them here.

Best Regards,

 

[armond]

I started using your app about two weeks ago. I have always maintained a mileage log with paper/pen in my car & loved your app from the get-go.

On my third fill-up today, it returned N/A for mileage. I compared the data entry to the first two entries that did calc mileage & it appears identical. I proofed my mileage to make sure I hadn't accidentally entered something lower than my 2nd fill-up.

Any idea what is wrong or how I can fix it?

First off, let me clarify one important point. The fuel efficiency always is calculated and set for the previous record. So the last fillup record will never have any fuel efficiency associated with it. There is a logical reason behind this... You don't know how many exact miles you will drive with the current fuel in your car tank until you go for the next fillup. So the calculated fuel efficiency is always for the previous "fuel".

Another reason for not calculating the fuel efficiency for a fillup record (while it's not the last one) is that perhaps you have a marked as "partial" or "missed-fillups" records in your data:

1. In the "partial" case, there should be at least one full tank fill-up (non partial and non missed-fillups) after the partial ones so that a fuel efficiency can be calculated. No matter how many partial fillups you have, if you want to see a fuel efficiency value, you must enter a full tank record. From mathematical point of view, no correct fuel efficiency may be calculated until there is full tank record. So I prefer not to calculate it at all rather than to put there a wrong value and correct it when a full tank record is entered.

2. In the "missed-fillups" case, no fuel efficiency can be calculated for the record before that, because the records have not been continuous. For example, you've regularly entered your fillups till "March 1". Then you've forgotten to enter the next two fillups and now that you're entering the fillup for "March 10", you should mark it as "missed-fillups". The consequence is that you won't get any fuel efficiency for "March 1" because the immediate next fillup has been missed and it's impossible to find out how many miles you've driven and how much fuel your car has consumed with the fuel of "March 1" to calculate the fuel efficiency.

Hope I've clarified some of the confusing points. Let me know if your case is none of the above ones!

Cheers,

 

[armond]

I'm a new Droid owner and was looking for an application like this. I have been using Gas Cubby on an Ipod for about a year. aCar looks a lot like Gas Cubby. Is it possible to transfer my data from Gas Cubby into aCar?

There isn't any direct/first-class support for importing from Gas Cubby. But since aCar can import any plain CSV file using its very dynamic approach, it's just a matter of knowing if Gas Cubby can export to CSV format.

If you're going to import any CSV file using "Plain CSV import" feature, please make sure to carefully read the "Help & Usage Tips" I've put on that screen before using it.

Best Regards,

 

[KZIWarrior]

I inspected all of your backup files and successfully restored them one by one using both "manual" and "automatic" restore (yes! I've uninstalled/reinstalled the app eleven times to test the auto restore for every single backup). Everything is just working fine here (using version 1.3.0). I couldn't detect anything weird. By the way, both your manual and auto backup files contain the same set of data.

... It must be something in the ROMs then... I just flashed the latest BB and sure enough when I started aCar for the first time it asked if I wanted to 'restore' which I did but it restored NOTHING... no vehicle info, not even my registration I had to use Titanium backup to restore the registration info (since I apparently deleted the registration email, d-oh...).

As to the maintenance records I understand what you saying about no previous records, I was just figuring it would adapt according to the first mileage record added. e.g. if first mileage recorded is a few it would take that mileage and estimate the next interval given the maintenance settings, i.e. if oil chance is at 5K intervals it will set the next reminder at next divisor of 5K. Just my odd way of thinking, lol, no biggie. Thanks for all the work, loving the app (except for the above issue).

 

[aaf709]

Very nice. I've been using the app Mileage, but this one seems better. I'll probably donate.

EDIT: Just donated.

 

[armond]

... It must be something in the ROMs then... I just flashed the latest BB and sure enough when I started aCar for the first time it asked if I wanted to 'restore' which I did but it restored NOTHING... no vehicle info, not even my registration I had to use Titanium backup to restore the registration info (since I apparently deleted the registration email, d-oh...).

My guess is that you've used an empty backup file (settings only) to restore.

I agree that the restore interface should at least warn the user that he's going to restore an empty backup file, and perhaps to give him a second chance to choose a non-empty backup. This is already in my todo list

As to the maintenance records I understand what you saying about no previous records, I was just figuring it would adapt according to the first mileage record added. e.g. if first mileage recorded is a few it would take that mileage and estimate the next interval given the maintenance settings, i.e. if oil chance is at 5K intervals it will set the next reminder at next divisor of 5K. Just my odd way of thinking, lol, no biggie. Thanks for all the work, loving the app (except for the above issue).

Thanks for the further explanations. Everything is clear. I guess I should think more about this and see if others think in the same way. Actually I prioritize and implement the features based on the votes I receive.

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinions. Many of the enhancements and features already implemented in aCar have come out of such discussions...

Best Regards,

 

[ntimid8r]

As to the maintenance records I understand what you saying about no previous records, I was just figuring it would adapt according to the first mileage record added. e.g. if first mileage recorded is a few it would take that mileage and estimate the next interval given the maintenance settings, i.e. if oil chance is at 5K intervals it will set the next reminder at next divisor of 5K. Just my odd way of thinking, lol, no biggie. Thanks for all the work, loving the app (except for the above issue).

Thanks for the further explanations. Everything is clear. I guess I should think more about this and see if others think in the same way. Actually I prioritize and implement the features based on the votes I receive.

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinions. Many of the enhancements and features already implemented in aCar have come out of such discussions...

Best Regards,

I'm with KZIWarrior on the maintenance records. To me, if the setting can be changed to a certain mileage or time frame then it will automatically alert once that setting parameter is met. But I see your point of "where to start from" if no previous record is made. But again, it's my interpretation that the date I first downloaded and started the app is the starting point for everything. So yes, a whole bunch of alerts will declare themselves at whatever the default parameter is...but the user, at that point, will adjust or turn off that alert feature. Then once the oil is changed, for example, now a new start point can be made for that timer.

Don't mean to seem like I'm beating a dead horse over this. Overall a GREAT app and I really enjoy having it. I feel the need to donate now. That's difficult for me as I'm an extreme cheapskate. :blush:

 

[KZIWarrior]

My guess is that you've used an empty backup file (settings only) to restore.

I agree that the restore interface should at least warn the user that he's going to restore an empty backup file, and perhaps to give him a second chance to choose a non-empty backup. This is already in my todo list

Thanks for the further explanations. Everything is clear. I guess I should think more about this and see if others think in the same way. Actually I prioritize and implement the features based on the votes I receive.

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinions. Many of the enhancements and features already implemented in aCar have come out of such discussions...

Best Regards,

That's the thing, it would have been the same file(s) I sent you. I tried 'restoring' with three "auto" files and nothing. Used Titanuim Backup to restore the data and then used one of the manual backups and everything is straight now.

No big deal overall, I just know now to make a manual backup before I flash.
Thanks for the time. Look forward to future updates and features.

 

[armond]

I'm with KZIWarrior on the maintenance records. To me, if the setting can be changed to a certain mileage or time frame then it will automatically alert once that setting parameter is met. But I see your point of "where to start from" if no previous record is made. But again, it's my interpretation that the date I first downloaded and started the app is the starting point for everything. So yes, a whole bunch of alerts will declare themselves at whatever the default parameter is...but the user, at that point, will adjust or turn off that alert feature. Then once the oil is changed, for example, now a new start point can be made for that timer.

Don't mean to seem like I'm beating a dead horse over this. Overall a GREAT app and I really enjoy having it. I feel the need to donate now. That's difficult for me as I'm an extreme cheapskate. :blush:

Thanks for your feedback. One more vote for this!

Best Regards,

 

[armond]

That's the thing, it would have been the same file(s) I sent you. I tried 'restoring' with three "auto" files and nothing. Used Titanuim Backup to restore the data and then used one of the manual backups and everything is straight now.

No big deal overall, I just know now to make a manual backup before I flash.
Thanks for the time. Look forward to future updates and features.

Glad to see the problem has been resolved. After all, I will do more investigation on this and will post here if I could find any reason why you've faced such problem.

Thank you,