General enhancements
New look and feel
Living Cookbook 2008 is a complete rewrite using a new development language (C#), a new development environment (Visual Studio 2005) and a new framework (.Net 2.0). The interface paradigm is substantially the same as Living Cookbook 2005 but there are many improvements that take advantage of interface elements introduced in Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Open multiple workspace windows
You can open multiple workspace windows. This is particularly useful when used with drag and drop. For example, you can drag from a recipe list in one window onto a calendar view in another.
Normal/print layout views
Each of the item views (recipe, ingredient, menu, glossary item, etc.) can be viewed in normal or print modes. The print mode displays the item as it would appear when printed (similar to Microsoft Word's print layout view).
More detailed display options
You now have detailed control over each of the display elements. For example, you could specify the font, font size, color, heading, etc. of recipe procedures independently of all other display elements.
Flag records
All items except favorites and searches can be assigned a color flag (similar to Microsoft Outlook's flag feature). This flag can be displayed in list views. It can also be sorted, searched and filtered.
Auto image resize
Living Cookbook can optionally resize all images to optimize storage and standardize resolution.
Synchronized views
All views (items, lists and navigators) are synchronized. This means that a change made in one view will be reflected in all other affected views regardless of the number of workspace windows that are currently open. This includes updating nutrition data, costs, etc.
More shortcut keys
Many new shortcut keys have been added to dialogs and menus.
Batch print
You can now select multiple recipes and print them all at once. You can also choose an option print dependent recipes (recipes linked to by the printing recipe). Also, when you print a calendar view Living Cookbook can automatically print all of the recipes referenced by the selected view.
Rendering engine
Living Cookbook 2005 used Microsoft Internet Explorer technology to render recipes, ingredients, meals, etc. Living Cookbook 2008 has its own rendering engine that allows much greater control over layout and printing. It also makes possible other features such as duplex printing, booklet printing, printing on custom paper formats, etc. It also enables such things as widow and orphan control (i.e. preventing a single line of text from appearing at the top or bottom of a page).
Simplified installation
Living Cookbook 2008's program files are smaller and fewer in number than previous versions. Also, the use of the C# and the .Net framework mean that components do not need to be registered with Windows (a source of many problems for all software developers).
CTRL+N to create default item and CTRL+SHIFT+N to create default folder
Pressing CTRL+N when the recipe navigator is selected will open the New Recipe dialog. Similarly, pressing CTRL+N when the ingredient navigator selected will open the New Ingredient dialog. The same applies for all other navigators. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+N will open the new cookbook chapter dialog in the recipe navigator.
New validation error interface
In most cases the "Validation Error" window has been replaced by a validation error icon that appears next to the offending control. This is less intrusive and doesn't require the user to click a button to close the validation error window.
Automatically convert fractions to associated symbols
Digitally signed code
The Living Cookbook 2008 setup program has been digitally signed with Radium Technologies' unique code signing certificate. This assures users that the software was developed by us and has not been modified by any third parties.
Dialog toolbars
All item dialogs (recipe, ingredient, menu, etc.) have a toolbar with undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, formatting, symbol and spell check buttons.
Customizable symbols
The symbols (accented characters, fraction symbols, etc.) available on the dialog symbol toolbar button and the symbol popup menus are customizable. You can choose up to 15 symbols of your choice.
Compare items
Side-by-size comparisons of recipes, ingredients, menus, meals, glossary items, techniques, publications, grocery lists, inventory items, stores and publications are now possible.
New launchpad
The new launchpad interface works and looks like the Windows XP explorer bar.
New application option interface
Living Cookbook 2008's application option interface is much more flexible and better suited to large numbers of application options.
Transfer all application options to another computer
All application options are stored in a single option file that can be easily moved to another computer.
Choose file locations (support for network installs)
The user can choose the location of the application database, image file, media files and the user dictionary file. This makes it very easy to configure Living Cookbook for a shared database.
Repair database
Living Cookbook 2008 can detect and repair many database-related problems.
New licensing framework
The new licensing framework that we're using was designed specifically for .Net applications. It uses a much more sophisticated and flexible algorithm to identify computers. This means that you can reinstall your operating system, upgrade your operating system, replace your motherboard, network card, memory, hard drive, etc. and Living Cookbook will still be able to identify the machine as the same computer (i.e. no need for a license reset). The licensing framework also includes the ability to unregister a computer when you want to move your license to a new computer (i.e. no need for a license reset).
Favorite lists act like item lists
In Living Cookbook 2005 lists of favorites behaved like favorites. In Living Cookbook 2008 list of favorites act like the items they reference. For example, right-clicking on a list of recipe favorites will yield the same action menu items as right-clicking on a list of recipes.
Visual cues and cancel for very long tasks
Long-running tasks (e.g. deleting large cookbooks, large copy/paste, moving a large number of items, etc.) display a progress dialog with a cancel button. The user can set the threshold (i.e. the number of affected items) that will result in the progress dialog being shown.
Creation and modification dates for all items
All item records have a creation date and a last modification date. These dates can be displayed in list views, sorted, searched and filtered.
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Backup and restore
Automatically verify backup files
The validity of a backup file is determined automatically as soon as it is written.
Automatically determine the version number of any backup file
When restoring backup files Living Cookbook 2008 can automatically determine the version of Living Cookbook that created the file.
Option to automatically append date to backup file names
This feature ensures that backup file names are unique. It also prevents users from overwriting older backup files. This is an optional feature.
Option to automatically exit the application after automatic backup
When you choose to have Living Cookbook automatically backup your data every time you exit the application you can choose whether you want Living Cookbook to inform you that the backup completed successfully or simply close.
Start restore by double-clicking on backup files
This feature works regardless of whether Living Cookbook is running.
Backup user options
Applcation options, display options and the user dictionary are all included in the backup file (in addition to the Living Cookbook database, images and media files).
Restore user options
Living Cookbook 2008 gives you the option to restore applications, user options and the user dictionary when you restore a Living Cookbook 2008 backup file.
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Export and import
Improved file validation for imports
New algorithms have been added to detect poorly formatted import files.
Start file imports by double-clicking on export files
This feature works regardless of whether Living Cookbook is running.
Import Big Oven files
Living Cookbook 2008 can import Big Oven recipe box files (*.CRB) along with their associated image files.
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E-mail
MAPI and SMTP mail support
Living Cookbook 2005 only supports the SMTP e-mail protocol. Living Cookbook 2008 also supports the MAPI protocol. This will greatly increase the number of mail servers that can be used with Living Cookbook. It will also enable uses of mail programs like Microsoft Outlook and Windows Mail to use their address books and other features.
E-mail configuration wizard
The e-mail configuration wizard steps the user through the e-mail configuration process. It also lets the user choose their e-mail server from a list of popular services in order to set the mail server address.
Support for SSL connections
Some e-mail servers such as gmail use SSL, a secure communications protocol. Living Cookbook 2008 can be configured to communicate with these servers.
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Spell check
As-you-type spell checker
Living Cookbook 2008's spell checker works in two modes. The first mode is the traditional check spelling dialog. The second is as-you-type mode which checks your spelling as you type and puts a red wavy underline under misspelled words (just like in Microsoft Word).
Choose dictionary location
Users can choose the location of the user dictionary. This allows a dictionary file to be shared over a network.
Edit user dictionary file from within Living Cookbook
The user dictionary file can be opened from within Living Cookbook to add, remove or change dictionary entries.
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Nutrition
Multiple nutrition data modes
Living Cookbook 2008 supports three nutrition modes for recipes. Manual mode allows users to enter all nutrition values. Semi-automatic mode is the same as manual mode except that some computed nutrition values (e.g. net carbohydrates, MyPoints, percent calories from fat, percent calories from protein, etc.) are calculated automatically from other nutrient values. In automatic mode all nutrition data is calculated automatically.
Customizable nutrition layouts
Users can choose from six nutrition layouts for recipes, ingredients, menus and meals: Summary; custom summary, basic, detailed, all and custom box. Summary layouts list nutrition data as text. Box layouts display nutrition data in the format seen on product packaging. The custom summary and custom box layouts can be fully customized by the user.
100 new nutrients (for a total of over 150)
Living Cookbook 2008 tracks over 100 new nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, phytosterols, sugars, lycopene, vitamin K and many others.
Customizable RDAs
Choose from standard RDI mode (same as Living Cookbook 2005), 23 different DRI modes (for infants, children, males, females, pregnant, lactating, etc.) and 1 user-defined mode.
Reset nutrition
All nutrition interfaces have a button to reset all nutrition controls for the item.
USDA SR-20
Version SR-20 of the USDA's nutrient database is included in Living Cookbook 2008. The nutrient database can be upgraded as new USDA databases are made available.
Customize fat, protein, carbohydrate and alcohol factors
Fat, protein, carbohydrate and alcohol factors are used to calculate a recipe's (or ingredient's, etc.) percent calories from fat, protein, carbs and alcohol respectively. Living Cookbook 2005 used standard, but fixed, values. In Living Cookbook 2008 you can set these values if you have more reliable data.
Display MyPoints in recipe list
MyPoints can be added as a column in recipe, menu and meal lists. This allows MyPoints to be sorted, searched and filtered.
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Clipboard
Copy and paste virtually anything
Recipes can be pasted into chapters or into meals, ingredients can be pasted into folders, etc.
Paste text to other applications
Users can copy recipes and grocery lists and paste them as text in other applications.
Paste special
Living Cookbook 2008's paste special feature works much like Excel's feature of the same name. For example, you can copy a recipe and then selectively paste one or more attributes of that recipe into one or more other recipes.
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Drag and drop
Drag and drop virtually anything
All items in Living Cookbook 2008 (recipes, ingredients, menus, meals, glossary items, techniques, grocery lists, stores, inventory items, publications, saved web pages, RSS feeds, favorites and searches can be dragged and dropped to other locations or to favorites.
Use drag and drop to copy or move
Pressing the CTRL key during a drag operation changes it from a move operation to a copy operation.
Drag and drop from Task to Navigator, between tasks, between navigators, etc.
In Living Cookbook 2005 you could only drag and drop items in the navigator view. In Living Cookbook 2008 you can drag and drop items within a navigator, between navigators, from tasks to navigators and to calendars.
Drag to other applications
Some items in Living Cookbook 2008 can be dragged to other applications that support pasting of text.
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Search, replace and filter
Quick search
Living Cookbook 2008 has a search toolbar that appears above the task pane. Users can type search text into the search toolbar to perform quick searches that do not need to be saved.
Turn a quick search into a saved search
Quick searches can be easily turned into Living Cookbook 2005 style saved searches.
New filter interface
The filter control has moved from the navigator in Living Cookbook 2005 to above the task pane in Living Cookbook 2008. Dragging a saved search onto the filter toolbar activates a filter. Filters can be selectively enabled and disabled.
Replace
Living Cookbook 2008 includes a search and replace feature. This feature works with recipes, ingredients, menus, meals, grocery lists, inventory items, glossary items and techniques. Options can be set to find only whole words, find only matching case and only search selected items.
Improved performance for "does not include ingredients" searches
Living Cookbook's database has been optimized to speed the performance of searches that involve "includes ingredients" and "does not include ingredients" criteria.
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Display options
New display option interface with much finer granularity
Users now have detailed control over each of the display elements. For example, you could specify the font, font size, color, heading, etc. of recipe procedures independently of all other display elements.
New display option file format
Display option data is stored in a new, more flexible, XML file format.
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Printing
Support for all paper sizes and formats
Living Cookbook 2008's rendering engine can print to any paper size and page format.
Support for N-Up page formats
Living Cookbook can print on N-up paper (e.g. an 8.5x11 sheet with three 3x5 index cards or an 8.5x11 sheet with two 4x6 index cards).
Duplex printing
Living Cookbook allows you to print on both sides of your printer paper. This feature can also be combined with n-up page formats such that recipes are printed properly (i.e. prevent a new recipe from being printed on the back of another recipe).
Booklet printing
Publications can be printed in booklet form. Booklet format is a manual duplex landscape format designed to be folded in half to create a booklet.
Printer offsets
Living Cookbook 2008 gives you precise control over printer output. If your printer output doesn't line up exactly with your chosen printer paper (especially important with n-up formats) you can "nudge" the output by a few hundredths of an inch in any direction such that everything matches up excatly.
Different printer settings for each task
Living Cookbook 2008 stores printer settings for each task view. This means that you could print recipes to index files and techniques to full 8.5x11 paper.
More control over print headers and footers
Print headers and footers can include page numbers, page counts, dates, times, page titles (item names) and custom text.
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Undo and redo
Database undo
Every database action (e.g. create a recipe, delete a recipe, delete a cookbook, etc.) can be undo or redone unless the action is too large to be undone.
Dialog undo
Many dialogs (e.g. new recipe, new ingredient, etc.) have their own undo capabilities. Any action within these dialogs can be undone or redone.
Customize undo engine settings
The database undo engine can be configured to control the maximum allowable undo transaction size and the maximum number of stored undo transactions.
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Navigator
Navigator bar
Living Cookbook 2005's navigator tabs have been replaced by a navigator bar that appears above the navigator treeview. The navigator bar is used to select the navigator context (recipe, ingredient, menu, calendar, etc.).
Collapse all
Living Cookbook 2008 includes a feature to collapse all navigator treeview items.
Quick edit of navigator items
Double-clicking on an item in the navigator opens the edit dialog.
Customize navigator
Change the font, colors, etc. of the navigator.
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Task
Task data caching
To improve application performance when retrieving large amounts data in the task pane Living Cookbook uses a data caching mechanism that only retrieves only enough data from the database to display on the screen. Additional data is retrieved as the user scrolls though the list. The data-caching mode is enabled when the user retrieves a list with more than 1000 rows. This threshold and other attributes of the caching engine can also be customized by the user.
Size to fit task columns
Double-clicking on the right edge of a column header will resize the column to fit the column data.
Drag and drop column reordering
Task column headers can be dragged and dropped to reorder the columns.
Task images
Task lists now supported images. Ratings, flags and other columns are configured to display as images.
Outlook-style collapsible groups
When row grouping is enabled users can collapse groups as you would in Microsoft Outlook.
Customize list views
New list view options include coloring alternating rows, customizing cell border format and customizing hyperlink attributes.
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Recipes
Autolink
Living Cookbook 2008 can link your recipes automatically during data entry, import or capture. Living Cookbook "learns" your linking preferences as you enter more and more recipes.
Link confidence indicator
Each recipe ingredient link in Living Cookbook 2008 has a link confidence value which denotes how confident Living Cookbook was in the quality of the automatic link. A link confidence icon appears next to each recipe ingredient in the Edit Recipe dialog.
Unlink/no link
Recipe ingredients can be unlinked or marked as "no link". Designating a recipe ingredient as "no link" is useful when a recipe ingredient is a non-food item. It tells Living Cookbook that the ingredient hasn't been missed, it simply can't be linked.
Oven temperature
Oven temperatures (either Celsius or Fahrenheit depending on your unit settings) can be recorded for any recipe.
Procedure text boxes automatically resize
The text boxes used to enter recipe procedures automatically resize themselves to display entire recipe procedure paragraphs. This is useful for long procedure paragraphs that would otherwise have been truncated.
Copyright information
Copyright information can be entered in the source tab for recipes (also for ingredients, menus, glossary items and techniques).
New recipe capture interface
The recipe capture interface has been modified to make it easier to see which recipe elements have already been captured. The recipe text changes color as each element is captured.
Bulk recipe scaling
Recipes can be scaled individually or users can select multiple recipes and scale them all at once.
Add recipes to cookbooks without chapters
Cookbooks can now be created with or without chapters.
Blank ingredient row
While it is recommended all recipe formatting be implemented using display options, it is possible to create a blank ingredient row by creating and blank recipe ingredient heading.
Inactive time
In addition to recipe preparation time, cooking time and ready in time (total time), Living Cookbook 2008 adds inactive time. Inactive time is the difference between ready in time and the sum of cooking time and preparation time.
Automatically calculate recipe cooking times
Living Cookbook 2008 can automatically calculate ready in time if the other times are known or inactive time if the other times are known.
New recipe ingredient link interface
Living Cookbook 2008 includes a new, more efficient, recipe ingredient link interface.
Capture and paste recipe images
Recipes can be copied directly from web sites or documents and pasted directly into the New/Edit Recipe dialog.
Preview images in new recipe dialog
All recipe images (recipe images, procedure images, scan and source image) can be previewed from within the New/Edit Recipe dialog.
Preview media
Recipe media (audio and video) can be previewed from within the New/Edit Recipe dialog.
Customize recipe layouts
There are two recipe layout modes: standard and custom. The standard mode works much like Living Cookbook 2005 in that it lets you select which recipe elements you want to view and the order in which you want to view them. The custom mode gives you complete control over the layout. You can use Living Cookbook 2008's layout editor to customize the recipe layout.
Volume and mass estimation
Provided Living Cookbook has enough information and the recipe ingredients are linked, LC 2008 can estimate the volume and mass of a recipe.
Recipe measures
Recipes can now have volume and mass measures in the same way as ingredients (i.e. measures other than serving). This will allow you to add "2 oz homemade breadcrumbs" or "2 Tbs Mom's salad dressing" to your meal plan (instead of having to figure out the equivalent number of servings).
Non-integer recipe servings
Recipe serving values no longer need to be whole numbers.
Use drag and drop to turn a cookbook into a chapter and vice-versa
Cookbooks can be converted into chapters and vice-versa by simply dragging and dropping.
Copy and paste entire cookbooks and chapters
Entire cookbooks and chapters can be copied using copy and paste
Change sort order of ingredient and recipe searches when linking recipe ingredients
The ingredient and recipe search results is the link dialog can now be sorted by link frequency or alphabetically.
Create ingredients from link interface
New ingredients can be created from within the link dialog.
Preview ingredients from link interface
Ingredients can be previewed when linking to ensure that the attributes (nutrition, etc.) match what you expect.
Improved pen scanner support
The integration with pen scanners has been simplified and made more reliable.
Option to allow Living Cookbook to standardize recipe units when capturing
Living Cookbook 2005 standardizes all recipe ingredient units during the capture process (e.g. "T" is converted to "Tbs"). This can be disabled in Living Cookbook 2008.
New formatting options for recipe procedures
The new formatting options include convert to lower case, upper case, title case, sentence case and remove white space.
New recipe review interface
The recipe review data entry and capture interface has been improved and streamlined
Ingredient on hand information
More control over recipe ingredient formatting (quantity and unit columns)
In Living Cookbook 2008 users have more control over how recipe ingredient quantities and units appear. Quantities, units and ingredients can appear in the same column, separate columns or quantities and ingredients can be displayed in one column and ingredients in another. Users can also control the spacing between these columns.
Degree of difficulty
A degree of difficulty attribute has been added to recipes. This attribute can also be displayed as a column in recipe lists and therefore sorted, grouped, searched and filtered.
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Menus
Menus in their own navigator
Menus have been moved from the recipe navigator into their own navigator.
Option to add entire recipes to menu
When adding a recipe to a menu users have the option to add the number of servings to match the menu servings or just add the entire recipe.
Menu media
Media files (audio and video) have been added to menus.
Menu search
User can now search for menus in the same was as they are used to searching for recipes.
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Calendar
New calendar interface
The new calendar interface is much more powerful and flexible compared to previous versions. It makes working with large amounts of meal data much easier.
Drag and drop calendar items
Drag and drop can be used to add items (recipes, ingredients and menus) to the calendar as well as move and copy items within the calendar.
Option to add entire recipes to meals
When adding a recipe to a meal users have the option to add the number of servings to match the meal servings or just add the entire recipe.
New calendar list views (days, meals and meal items)
Calendar data for any date range can also be displayed in list form. The available views are days, meals and meal items.
New calendar summary view
The summary view summarizes the daily nutrition for any range of dates. For example, you could view the average daily nutrition for a week, a month or a custom date range.
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Grocery lists
Display recipe names next to grocery list items
It is now possible to see which recipe (or recipes) are associated with each grocery list item when viewing a grocery list.
Delete recipes from grocery lists
Entire recipes can be deleted from grocery lists.
Option to only add whole recipes to grocery list
When adding a recipe to a grocery list the user can choose an option to only add whole multiples of recipes (instead of the number of servings specified in the meal plan or menu).
Autolink
Living Cookbook 2008 can automatically link grocery list items to the ingredient database. This is especially useful when the user is creating grocery lists manually (as opposed to adding recipes or meal to a grocery list).
Link confidence indicator
Each grocery list item link has a link confidence value. This value is depicted as a link confidence icon next to the grocery list item in the Edit Grocery List dialog. This is useful if LC 2008 has automatically linked the grocery list items to the ingredient database. If the automatic linking module is not 100% confident about the quality of the link the link quality icon will denote this.
Type-ahead for grocery aisles and stores
The process of adding or editing grocery aisles and stores for grocery list items is made easier with type-ahead.
Checkboxes to denote that an item has been purchased
Users can click a checkbox in the Edit Grocery List dialog or in the grocery list view to indicate that a grocery list item has been purchased.
New link interface
Grocery list items can now be linked to the ingredient database in much the same way as recipe ingredients. They can also be autolinked.
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Glossary
Glossary item images
Add an image to any glossary item.
Capture
Living Cookbook 2008 includes a glossary item capture interface similar to recipe and technique capture.
Eliminate duplicates
The glossary item eliminate duplicates feature works the same as that for eliminating duplicate recipes, ingredients and menus.
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Techniques
New technique capture interface
The technique capture interface has been modified to make it easier to see which technique elements have already been captured. The technique text changes color as each element is captured.
Eliminate duplicates
The technique eliminate duplicates feature works the same as that for eliminating duplicate recipes, ingredients and menus.
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Publication
New publication engine
Living Cookbook's publication engine has been completely rewritten. It no longer uses the OLE Automation technology that caused performance and resource problems in the past. Living Cookbook now generates all publications internally and does not depend on any outside programs (e.g. Microsoft Word).
Support for sub-chapters
Living Cookbook 2008 publications can include any number of chapters, sub-chapters, etc.
Native publications
Living Cookbook 2008 can print and preview publications without exporting to Microsoft Word first. These native publication have all of the same features as Word publications, including cover page, table of contents, chapter cover pages and index.
No need for Word installed
Unlike Living Cookbook 2005, you don't need to have Microsoft Word installed in order to export publications as Microsoft Word files.
No publication navigator
The publication navigator has been removed and replaced with a much simpler publication interface. Publications can now be generated from cookbooks with a single click. Publications can be generated, previewed or printed in a single operation.
Booklet printing
Living Cookbook 2008 can publish booklets. For example, if you publish a booklet onto US Letter paper would print out the pages of your cookbook on both sides of the paper such that they could be folded in half to form an 5.5 x 8.5 booklet. Living Cookbook takes care of all of the pagination, table of contents and index.
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RSS
View RSS feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can be viewed from within Living Cookbook. This feature is intended to make it easy for Living Cookbook users to view syndicated recipe content.
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Internet
Popup blocker
Living Cookbook's embedded Internet browser now uses Internet Explorer's popup blocker to block unwanted popup ads.
Ability to disable Internet views
Living Cookbook's Internet access can be disabled from within the program. This will prevent Living Cookbook's Internet and RSS feed views from retrieving any web pages from the Internet.
Automatically sense web pages with RSS feeds
When viewing web pages in Living Cookbook the embedded browser can detect if the page being viewed has any syndicated content. An RSS icon appears in the browser toolbar that allows you to subscribe to the RSS feed with a single click.
Default web browser
When you choose to open a saved web page in a separate browser Window, Living Cookbook opens your default web browser.
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Help and support
Forum link from within the application
A link to the Radium Technologies support form has been added to the help menu.
Context-sensitive help
All of Living Cookbook's major dialogs now have context-sensitive help. Clicking on the dialog's help icon opens the appropriate help topic in the Living Cookbook help file.
New help file format
We have invested in new technology to produce all of our help file assets. The Living Cookbook is now available in compiled HTML, web, PDF, DOC, DOCX and XPS formats.
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