Coin Inventory Software -- for the Mac!

[astrostu]

Okay, first, sorry to get your hopes up if you're a Mac user and were hoping I found a coin inventory program. But it's (perhaps) the next-best-thing: Rather than just complain and fume that no one has written a program to do this on the Mac, I've decided to actually learn how to program in Objective-C and Cocoa and write my own program to keep track of my coins. Note also that I plan on offering this as free software, though it might be donation-ware. (I have no timetable for this project yet, but I would like it to be done by the end of the year.)

 

I'm envisioning something like an iTunes-esque interface with three main panels. The left would have categories of coins (e.g. cents, 5 cents, etc.), and a coin could belong to multiple ones (e.g. both in "cents" and in "sets" and in "errors"). The next column would be divided into two rows with a divider that can be pulled up or down to temporarily turn it into just one big window. The top row would be "list view" where you would have all of your coins (or the coins in the selected category) listed with various columns that you could toggle on or off and sort by. It would also have a smart sorting where "1959 D" comes after "1959" and before "1960," even though it "should" come after because of the space in the text; and smart sorting for grade (like "EF" comes before "AU" even though alphabetically it shouldn't). The bottom row would have all sorts of text boxes to enter information about a coin.

 

The program would keep track of changes you make (by default, could be turned off?) so that you can see the history of upgrades you made to, say, your 1857 Flying Eagle cent. It would also have an image well where you can drag an image (images?) of the coin into.

 

It would also have various modes of printing, kinda like Quicken. It would generate the print version on the fly so you could select what columns you want to print for a large list (e.g. insurance would care the date, mintmark, grade, value, but they don't care when you bought the coin). Or you could print individual coins with an image, header, and other information.

 

So that's what I currently envision, but I've only tried to write Mac software once and that was with a Java back-end and not Objective-C. Consequently, I don't know (as I said) how long this would take or if some of it's even possible.

 

But, I thought I would announce the project and solicit ideas. None, some, or all might be included in the final version. Comments are welcome.

[physics-fan3.14]

If I used a mac, I would say that this was an excellent idea. Theoretically, anything is possible, it just depends on how much you know how to do. Have you ever programmed before, or are you flying blind? (if so, this sounds extremely ambitious). Good Luck, and I hope you are successful. BTW, I really like the idea of being able to track upgrades. That is cool, and I might have to start doing that in my Excel spreadsheet.

[astrostu]

Have you ever programmed before, or are you flying blind? (if so, this sounds extremely ambitious).

 

I've programmed for the last ~8 years, but it's been limited to mainly C++ and Java tools (small applications to process data or do math). I once tried to make a Cocoa application with a Java back-end as opposed to Objective-C since I already knew Java. But this would require Objective-C to make use of all the libraries that come with it.

 

So I'm not flying completely blind, but given my level of knowledge, it's pretty ambitious.

[DC Dawg]

I stopped programming many years ago. I do know C/C++ and started to learn Java (along with a number of other "legacy" languages). Then I went into being an information security analyst as a full-time job. Nowadays, my programming is limited to shell and perl scripts to get some things done (I have a set of perl scripts to scrape the PCGS price files). I have also been learning AppleScript to interface other scripts within the MacOS paradigm. I've even re-written a number of Doug's Scripts for iTunes to make them more efficient and run faster! Oh yea... then there's JavaScript to write a widget or two!

 

That being said, my time is limited. While I may not be able to help much with the programming, I could help in testing.

 

If you are going to pursue the iTunes paradigm, allow for collections (like playlists) and smart collections (like smart playlists). An off-line registry set manager would be nice--maybe you can scrape the scoring information from the websites to keep the information off-line and correct.

 

Scott

[astrostu]

Thanks, Scott. It'll be awhile before an alpha - much less a beta - version will be available, but I'll certainly keep you in mind for testing.

 

I'm keen on the idea of the albums and smart albums, like a smart album for coins that haven't been updated for 1 year or more, or a smart album for all your photographed coins.

 

I'm not certain about the registry set information (first off whether it would be legal - same with grabbing the online PCGS price database), but I'll mark that down under my long list of features to somehow possibly add.