[gandelf]

I know this is a well ridden horse, but is their a reasonable way of migrating MY recipes
from ProMash to BeerSmith v2.0.40? Will BeerSmith v2.0 import xml? Or, will I be entering
them one brew at a time?

[BrewingRover]

I know this is a well ridden horse, but is their a reasonable way of migrating MY recipes
from ProMash to BeerSmith v2.0.40? Will BeerSmith v2.0 import xml? Or, will I be entering
them one brew at a time?

The first release of BeerSmith 2 doesn't import xml. Brad said a future update will. He recommended importing to BeerSmith 1.4 and exporting as .bsm, which the new version can import. Kind of a long workaround, but better than one by one. Last I checked, you could still download a trial of 1.4

[denny]

I have a utility (can't recall where I found it) that converts Promash recipes to xml.  Then you can load the xml files into Beersmith 1.4 and experot them as bsm files that can be loaded into BS2.  The utility will batch export Promash recipes, but you have to load and save them in BS1.4 one at a time.  A total PITA and needless to say I haven't imported many recipes in BS2 yet.

ETA:  Here's the .rec to .xml convertor....

http://dryfly.org/beer/brewing/promash-recipe-file-converter/

[gandelf]

Thanks, I got a couple of recipes imported for the trial period. The jury is still
way out on this version. New paint and more chrome, but little has changed
under the hood; is an easy to format recipe report too much to ask for? Lots
of PTA little issues for someone fifty something.

[jhwk]

Since I have never supported promash, I will ask the question...

What is a recipe report?

[tankdeer]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

[denny]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

Nope...I keep trying to learn Beersmith, but between confusion and stuff I'm used to in Promash that isn't in Beersmith, I keep going back to Promash.  I haven't given up on Beersmith, though.

[tankdeer]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

Nope...I keep trying to learn Beersmith, but between confusion and stuff I'm used to in Promash that isn't in Beersmith, I keep going back to Promash.  I haven't given up on Beersmith, though.

So this brings up the question, what is the motivation to move to Beersmith? If Promash has worked for you (and me) for so many years, why change? Is it simply because it's still evolving and getting updates, whereas we all know Promash is not?

[bonjour]

Denny,
what does ProMash have that BeerSmith doesn't that keeps pulling you back?

Both are good programs.  I have helped both authors develop the programs.  I found the ProMash database was too limiting for me.
I was playing around with a lot of different things and if I wanted to use a new hop I had to find some ingredient to delete from the database (a limit if 255 entries).

[blatz]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

Nope...I keep trying to learn Beersmith, but between confusion and stuff I'm used to in Promash that isn't in Beersmith, I keep going back to Promash.  I haven't given up on Beersmith, though.

So this brings up the question, what is the motivation to move to Beersmith? If Promash has worked for you (and me) for so many years, why change? Is it simply because it's still evolving and getting updates, whereas we all know Promash is not?

that in and of itself would be motivation for me.  

but I'd like to know, what is in Promash that isn't in Beersmith?  Granted I only used the trial version of Promash before deciding on Beersmith, but I can't recall any situation where there was a difference in terms of capability - I just preferred the look and feel of Beersmith better and hence chose it and became accustomed.  

edit: great minds think alike Fred

[bonjour]

No spot Denny, but I know Brad will consider what his users want, within reason.

[jeffy]

I switched to Beersmith because I have a PC and a Mac and it works on both for the same price.  I would not have switched from Promash except that my PC hard drive crashed and the new PC doesn't like the antique floppy discs that I originally loaded Promash with, whenever that was.
Hopefully I'll be able to learn to export my recipe docs to Beersmith.  I still find it a bit cumbersome, but I'm still learning.  It is a lot fancier.

[tankdeer]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

Nope...I keep trying to learn Beersmith, but between confusion and stuff I'm used to in Promash that isn't in Beersmith, I keep going back to Promash.  I haven't given up on Beersmith, though.

So this brings up the question, what is the motivation to move to Beersmith? If Promash has worked for you (and me) for so many years, why change? Is it simply because it's still evolving and getting updates, whereas we all know Promash is not?

that in and of itself would be motivation for me.  

but I'd like to know, what is in Promash that isn't in Beersmith?  Granted I only used the trial version of Promash before deciding on Beersmith, but I can't recall any situation where there was a difference in terms of capability - I just preferred the look and feel of Beersmith better and hence chose it and became accustomed.  

edit: great minds think alike Fred

Understandable motivation, but for me it's fallen into the, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" category. I'm fond of and familiar with the layout of Promash, so I've never been motivated to move away from it, despite the lack of updates. I was not aware of the limit of 255 entries in the DBs though. Whenever I encounter that, it may be motivation to start looking at something else. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it

[narvin]

Am I the only one that still uses Promash these days?

Nope.  I'm willing to give Beersmith 2.0 a try but haven't done it yet.  In the past, I found it to be cluttered with features I didn't need or with dubious value (FG predictions).  ProMash and Kai's water spreadsheet do everything I need to do with a better interface for me.  Right now I'm not lacking anything.

I met Brad at NHC and he was a really nice guy, though.

Also, in response to jeffy, you can run ProMash easily on a Mac using wine, even using your PC installation if you have that hard drive mounted.  I hear Beersmith 2.0 fails though, but there is a Mac version.

[tschmidlin]

I used to use promash, but the computer I had it on was stolen and I had misplaced the disks.  If I was going to buy a new one, I figured I'd go with one that was being updated and didn't have the limits Fred mentioned.