General enhancements
New application home page
The application's home page is the first view that is displayed when the application is run. The new home page in Living Cookbook 2011 provides a kiosk-like interface with quick links to some of the application's most commonly-used features and help topics. For example, on the left there are icons and links that let you create and work with recipes, ingredients and meals. On the right there are links to the most frequently-used help topics relating to creating, editing and deleting recipes, ingredients and meals.
Apply button
Living Cookbook's recipe, ingredient, menu, meal, glossary item, technique, grocery list, inventory item, store, RSS feed and web page editing windows now have Apply buttons. The apply buttons allow you to save your work-in-progress without closing the window. This is particularly useful when typing long recipes.
Open a link in a new workspace
In Living Cookbook 2011, pressing the CTRL key when clicking on an application hyperlink opens the target item in a new workspace window. This is particularly useful when you want to compare recipes in a list of search results. You can view each recipe and then return to your search results without using back/forth navigation.
Database security
Some users want to prevent other users of their computer from seeing the contents of their Living Cookbook database. Living Cookbook 2011 enables users to password-protect their database. Once their database is secured users must enter the selected password in order to run Living Cookbook. The database can be unsecured later, if necessary.
Recent items menu item on File menu
Living Cookbook's File menu now includes a "Recent Items" menu item that lists the ten most recent items (e.g. recipes, ingredient, menus, etc.) that you have viewed.
Scan images directly into Living Cookbook
Living Cookbook 2011 enables users with TWAIN-compliant scanners and digital cameras (i.e. almost any scanner or digital camera sold in the last decade) to scan images directly into the software. Living Cookbook communicates directly with your scanner's software to scan, rotate, crop and otherwise manipulate scanned images prior to saving them to Living Cookbook's database.
New image preview window
Living Cookbook 2011's support for multiple recipe, ingredient, menu and glossary item images
required a new image preview that would make it easy to scroll through each of the images associated with an item. The image preview window also includes an image thumbnail strip at the bottom that lets you preview each of the images associated with the item.
Image captions
In Living Cookbook 2011 you can add captions to any of the images associated with recipes, ingredients, menus and glossary items. These captions appear beneath the images in the "More Images" views.
Improved video thumbnail rendering with captions
The video elements in recipe, menu and technique views are now displayed as icons. The icons display the first frame of the video for AVI and MPG file formats. A generic filmstrip icon is displayed for all other file formats. Optional captions can be added to the video icons.
Support for WMV video files
WMV (Windows Media Video) files have been added to the list of video file formats supported by Living Cookbook. You can added WMV video files to recipes, menus and techniques.
Interactive image, video and attachment views
Clicking on an image, video or attachment in the recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, technique or grocery list views will open a viewer for the selected file. Image files are opened in Living Cookbook's image preview window. Video and attachment files are opened using the default file viewer on your computer (e.g. Windows Media Player for video files, Excel for spreadsheets, WordPad for text files, etc.).
Option to select a specific cookbook as the startup item
Living Cookbook's startup options have been expanded to let you select a specific cookbook as your startup item. The startup item is the item that is displayed by default when you first open the application.
Force navigator to show on restart
Living Cookbook allows you to hide the navigator control (the treeview control on the left) to maximize the screen real estate available for viewing recipes and other items. However, this makes the application difficult to navigate until the navigator control is displayed again. For this reason, Living Cookbook 2011 will always open with the navigator displayed even if it was hidden when you last closed the application.
Longer favorite descriptions
The descriptions associated with favorites (shortcuts to favorite recipes, ingredients, etc.) have been lengthened from 50 to 250 characters.
Longer yield text
The recipe yield field has been lengthened from 50 to 250 characters to allow for more detailed yield descriptions.
Automated support system
In addition to e-mail, support tickets, user forum, FAQ and knowledge base, we now offer an automated support system. If a system error occurs in Living Cookbook the software will attempt to find a solution to the problem automatically.
More online help options in the help menu
Living Cookbook's help menu now includes links to the support ticket system, forum, FAQ, knowledge base and version history.
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Export and import
FDXZ file format
Living Cookbook 2011 supports a new native file format: FDXZ (compressed FDX). This new file format reduces the file size for most recipes by about 50%. It also exports and imports more quickly and uses less memory during reading and writing.
Automatically generate export file names
Living Cookbook 2011 automatically generates default export file names for most export operations. For example, if you export your "Black Beans and Rice" recipe using the FDXZ file format the suggested file name will be "Black Beans and Rice.fdxz". If you select multiple recipes for export, the default file name will be "Recipes.fdx". The default file location will be the last selected export file location. This new feature speeds up the export process dramatically as it can eliminate the need to select a file name or location.
Import Cook'n database files
Users of DVO's Cook'n software can import their recipe collection directly into Living Cookbook. The import process allows you to select all of your Cook'n recipes, or just certain cookbooks, chapters or recipes. Living Cookbook attempts to import all of the recipe data (including images), link the recipe ingredients to Living Cookbook's ingredient database, calculate cost and nutrition, and reformat recipe ingredient units (e.g. replace "c" with "cup") according to your user preferences.
Import Cook'n export (DVO) files
Living Cookbook 2011 can also import DVO files (Cook'n export files). The import process is identical to the Cook'n database import with the exception that image import is not supported (images are not included in the DVO files).
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Nutrition
Option to show or hide nutrition fact text
Living Cookbook 2011 gives you the option to hide the nutrition fact text that lists the source of the nutrition data and the number of unlinked recipe ingredients that were omitted from the nutrition calculations.
USDA SR-22
Version SR-22 (the most current version available) of the USDA's nutrient database is included in Living Cookbook 2011. The nutrient database can be upgraded as new USDA databases are made available.
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Clipboard
Paste images, videos and attachments directly onto recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, technique and grocery list views
Images, videos and attachments can be pasted directly onto recipe views without the need to open the edit recipe window. The same applies to ingredients, menus, glossary items, techniques and grocery lists.
Paste images, videos and attachments directly onto recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, technique and grocery list edit windows
With the edit recipe window open, you can paste images, videos and attachments directly into the image, video and attachment controls, respectively.
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Drag and drop
Drag and drop images, videos and attachments directly onto recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, technique and grocery list views
Images, videos and attachments can be dragged and dropped directly onto recipe views without the need to open the edit recipe window. The same applies to ingredients, menus, glossary items, techniques and grocery lists.
Drag and drop images, videos and attachments directly onto recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, technique and grocery list edit windows
With the edit recipe window open, you can drag and drop images, videos and attachments directly onto the image, video and attachment controls, respectively.
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Printing
Option to suppress header and footer data on the first page of an item
In Living Cookbook 2011 you have the option to hide recipe names in headers and footers of the first page of the recipe view or printout. The same applies to ingredients, menus, etc. The recipe names will appear normally in the headers and footers of the second and subsequent pages.
Reference cookbooks and chapters in headers and footers
Cookbook names and chapters can be included in recipe headers and footers by using the "@cookbook@" and "@chapter@" tokens in the recipe header and footer text.
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Task
Views toolbar button
A "Views" button has been added to the task toolbar to make it easy to select alternative views for a given navigator selection. For example, with an ingredient selected you can choose between the "Ingredient (Normal)", "Ingredient (Print Layout)
and "Ingredient Recipes" views.
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Recipes
User-defined recipe data
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you define 15 custom attributes for recipes. Five of the custom data columns can contain text, five can contain numeric data and five can contain hyperlinks (URLs or e-mail addresses). The custom attributes appear in all recipe views and publications and they can be exported and imported using the FDX and FDXZ file formats.
Recipe attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to a recipe. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each recipe. Attachments can be included in recipe exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large. Important note: Recipe scans in previous versions of Living Cookbook are now treated as recipe attachments. This makes it easier to view and edit scanned images of heirloom recipes, particularly compex, multi-page recipes.
Multiple recipe images
Previous versions of Living Cookbook were limited to one recipe image (not including procedure or source images). In Living Cookbook 2011 you can add as many images as you like. The first image will be treated as the primary image and will appear next to the recipe ingredients just like in previous versions. The other images will appear in a "More Images" element in the recipe view. Clicking on any one of the images will open the new image previous window that will let you cycle through all of the images for the recipe.
Recipe tip and author note headings
Recipe tip and author note text can now include headings. For example, if the tips section of a recipe includes multiple recipe variations as well as a series of cooking tips you can add a "Variations" text heading and a "Cooking Tips" text heading to make the recipe easier to read and use.
Option to relink selected recipes
Living Cookbook 2008 was the first version to include an autolinker that automatically linked recipe ingredients when you typed, captured or imported recipes. Living Cookbook 2011 adds the ability to re-run the autolinker for a selection of recipes.
Cookbook page number field
A source number field has been added to the recipe source tab in the Edit Recipe window. This will enable you to record the page number of the cookbook from which you copied your recipes.
Strip asterisks from captured recipes
Some recipes captured from the Internet using Firefox include asterisks at the beginning of each recipe ingredient. Living Cookbook 2011 ignores these asterisks and can capture and link the recipe ingredients successfully.
Customizable recipe capture and import units
Living Cookbook 2011 can standardize recipe ingredient units when you capture and import recipes. For example, you might want "c" to be changed to "cup" and "cl" changed to "clove". Living Cookbook 2011 lets you customize how these units are standardized. This is particularly useful for non-standard and foreign units.
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Ingredients
User-defined ingredient data
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you define 15 custom attributes for ingredients. Five of the custom data columns can contain text, five can contain numeric data and five can contain hyperlinks (URLs or e-mail addresses). The custom attributes appear in all ingredient views and they can be exported and imported using the FDX and FDXZ file formats.
Ingredient attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to an ingredient. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each ingredient. Attachments can be included in ingredient exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large.
Multiple ingredient images
Previous versions of Living Cookbook were limited to one ingredient image (not including the source images). In Living Cookbook 2011 you can add as many images as you like. The first image will be treated as the primary image and will appear next to the ingredient notes just like in previous versions. The other images will appear in a "More Images" element in the ingredient view. Clicking on any one of the images will open the new image previous window that will let you cycle through all of the images for the ingredient.
Search for ingredients by common name
Living Cookbook 2011 makes it easier to search for ingredients using their common name. Basic searches (searches executed using the search toolbar) now search both the ingredient's name and common name. And the basic tab of the advanced search interface now includes a common name field.
Ingredient note headings
Ingredient note text can now include headings. This is particularly useful if your ingredient notes are long and you want to break up the text into sections.
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Menus
Scale menus
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you scale menus in the same way that you can scale recipes. You have the option to create a new scaled menu or simply scale the selected menu. You can scale a single menu or multiple menus.
User-defined menu data
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you define 15 custom attributes for menus. Five of the custom data columns can contain text, five can contain numeric data and five can contain hyperlinks (URLs or e-mail addresses). The custom attributes appear in all menu views and they can be exported and imported using the FDX and FDXZ file formats.
Menu attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to a menu. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each menu. Attachments can be included in menu exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large.
Multiple menu images
Previous versions of Living Cookbook were limited to one menu image (not including the source images). In Living Cookbook 2011 you can add as many images as you like. The first image will be treated as the primary image and will appear next to the menu items just like in previous versions. The other images will appear in a "More Images" element in the menu view. Clicking on any one of the images will open the new image previous window that will let you cycle through all of the images for the menu.
Menu tip and author note headings
Menu tip and author note text can now include headings. This is particularly useful if your tip or note text is long and you want to break up the text into sections.
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Grocery lists
Grocery list attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to a grocery list. This is useful for attaching scanned images of grocery list receipts. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each grocery list. Attachments can be included in grocery list exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large.
Grocery list note headings
Grocery list note text can now include headings.
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Glossary
Glossary item attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to a glossary item. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each glossary item. Attachments can be included in glossary item exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large.
Multiple glossary item images
Previous versions of Living Cookbook were limited to one glossary item image (not including the source images). In Living Cookbook 2011 you can add as many images as you like. The first image will be treated as the primary image and will appear next to the glossary item text just like in previous versions. The other images will appear in a "More Images" element in the glossary item view. Clicking on any one of the images will open the new image previous window that will let you cycle through all of the images for the glossary item.
Glossary item text headings
Glossary item text can now include headings.
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Techniques
Technique attachments
Living Cookbook 2011 lets you attach files of any type to a technique. There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to each technique. Attachments can be included in technique exports using the FDX and FDXZ file formats but it is recommended that you use the FDXZ file format if your attachments are large.
Technique text headings
Technique text can now include headings.
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Publications
Access publication menu items when chapters or recipes are selected
Living Cookbook 2011 makes it easier to work with publications and publication options. You can access all of the publication menu items when a cookbook, chapter or recipe is selected.
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