# Android Steel Chart 2.1 published



## Gator

Hi All,

Version 2.1 went online tonight. This time, it is a standard android app update. No hassles 
Please let me know if you encounter any issues with update, or after updating.
What's new:

Fixed bug when the last synchronization date wasn't saved correctly.
Fixed bug with lingering toolbar after invoking filter dialog with active selection.
Fixed incorrect last synchronization date calculation after previous attempt failure.
Displays correct message when zknives.com lookup fails due to unstable or invalid internet connection.
Set default synchronization frequency to 1 week.
Latest db snapshot as of 07/26/11.

How to find the app on the market(if you don't have it):
1) Search for "knife steel chart"
2) search "pub:zviSoft"
3) If you have barcode reader in your phone then use this QR code:







P.S. - Not really related, but the web version of the chart now sports google +1 button. If you find the chart useful, please gimme a bump  Next time you visit the online knife steel chart, click the+1 button.


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## kalaeb

Interesting, my barcode reader picks it up and populates with the correct id, but says item not found when I try to get it. I can't seem to find it in the market either using your keyword search. Anyone else having problems? Or is it just my phone?


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## goodchef1

awesome work Gator, thanks for the android chart. I noticed that Uddeholm AEB-L is referenced to 440B alot, but do not see it on your chart, is it anywhere else? And is there any Japanese steels competing with CPM SV's and M4's? I didn't get to go over your whole chart yet. 

Rockin HTC Sensation android/ xda alienware


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## jm2hill

Great work Gator.

I'm on your site almost every day. Can't get enough of my steel .

+1 from me.


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## goodchef1

kalaeb said:


> Interesting, my barcode reader picks it up and populates with the correct id, but says item not found when I try to get it. I can't seem to find it in the market either using your keyword search. Anyone else having problems? Or is it just my phone?


 
I think he mentioned it having some bugs on certain phones, but I can't remember which. Well here is the link anyway, hope it works. 

https://market.android.com/search?q=pub:zviSoft"&so=1&c=apps


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## Gator

Thanks 

Kalaeb, I suspect it's your phone, I've tested on 3 different ones already. One problem I saw, on HTC droid incredible, using wireless connection it would for some reason pick up an old version, as soon as I switched ot 3g connection the problem went away. PM me if the pron is still there tomorrow.

Goodchef, never seen AEB-L listed as equivalent or similar with 440B, it's lower alloyed, cleaner, finer grained, etc... Although, I am no metallurgist, perhaps makers can answer that better.

P.S. The bug was n application V 1.0, on HTC inspires, but it wasn't being unable to find the app on market, app was crashing after installation.


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## goodchef1

Gator said:


> Goodchef, never seen AEB-L listed as equivalent or similar with 440B, it's lower alloyed, cleaner, finer grained, etc... Although, I am no metallurgist, perhaps makers can answer that better.



I just came across it a few times doing research and here is one, I don't want to list the whole page so I will just snip a quote.

"AEBL seems to be about 440B. Extremely easy to grind, in fact, I think I may have set a world record with it a few years back, over a hundred blades from bar stock to 220 grit within eight hours. Heat treat like 440C. Edge holding is best when heat treating includes a freeze cycle. Very easy to polish and buff. Very nice choice for miniatures, kitchen knives, etc. AEBL has several quirky habits in grinding that make it difficult to use on thicker or larger knives. Makes nice kitchen knives. "Hoss" uses this in his beautiful stainless Damascus and reports that it holds up very well"

I don't use either and was not comparing qualities, just wanted to know what was in it


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## Gator

In it there's come C, Cr, and small mounts of other stuff  - Here - AEB-L vs. 440B steel composition comparison.


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## goodchef1

Boy do I love graphs, analysis, and numbers. should have been an engineer. Thanks Gator


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## JBroida

gonna try it on my tablet and phone... oh, and i +1ed you :wink:


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## Gator

Thanks! Lemme know how does it look on the tablet. ATM, I am considering to buy Galaxy 10.1 and develop tablet specific steel chart, those have a lot more screen real estate and unlike web version, they don't have to deal with long response times when loading whole tables, so I have more room to improvise....


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## JBroida

well, i have the eee pad transformer, so i can let you know how it works on that


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## Dave Martell

You guys are so geeky. :tongue:


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## Gator

he he  I think we gotta get you a tablet for your BD, may be you'll get into it  Not that you don't like hanging around the comp anyway.
Jon, whatever input I can get is good, according to android dev home, my app is good for 520 devices, and no way I am buying/seeing/testing on all of those...


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## JBroida

so far so good on mine... i'll test on my phone later, but it looks nice on the tablet. Maybe just one thing... too many steels


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## Vertigo

Works great on my Atrix. Thanks Gator!


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## Gator

Thanks for the input.
Just uploaded an update. There were 2 bugs reported today, fixed them both. Although, I commend someone's superhuman clicking abilities for bringing up the menu before the app's first view was created...


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## Chef

Very interesting post.
Thanks for sharing:hungry:


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## Gator

Knife Steel chart for android 2.2 went online few minutes ago.
Changes:

1) Fixed integrated search and suggestions. Knife steels are searchable from phone global search again. Make sure knife steel compositions is checked in Settings>Search>Searchable Items list.
2) Fixed back navigation problems in alloy detail views.
3) Fixed crashes in error reporting.
4) Latest database dump as of 2011-09-25


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## Gator

Hi All,

Uploaded new version today - 2.25, fixes navigation issues for some alloy links in the alloy notes section. As I was updating the application file, market console either crashed or did something funky. As a result, new verion is there, but upload date is old, from prev. version.
I am not sure if automatic update will work correctly. If you don't have notification to update the app, then simply delete existing app and download it again:


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## Randy Jr

Works on the droid 3, awesome app gator!


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## Gator

Thanks.
2.27 was uploaded on the market last week. Finally I was able to track down the installation issue on some HTC models, added workaround for that problem, although can't say I'm happy. The prob is somewhere deep inside HTC code, but workaround works for majority of HTCs.
If the database install fails, it still can be restored from the database menu.


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## Eamon Burke

I just want to add this was the first app I downloaded. It's great.


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## Gator

Knife Steel Chart 3.50 is available on the market now. Compared to last few updates this one required quite a bit more coding. Therefore, despite all my testing, chances of new bugs are higher. Please let me know if you catch any of them.

New feature "Listings" replaced old "Std" menu item. Now you can quickly switch alloy listings not only between standards but also Countries, Makers and technologies.
Also, makers are represented as a choice list, you won't have to type the name, much faster than typing, no potential typos too.
Added about dialog, accessible from the main menu, has a "rate this app" button which opens app page on the market, so you can show your support


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## Crothcipt

I loved the last version. But unfortunately it doesn't work from the sd card. Have to keep it on the sideline until I get a new phone. 

This sounds even better.:thumbsup:


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## Gator

Thanks! I meant to add SD card feature forever... Never got to it. I suppose I'll do it for the next upgrade.

P.S. For the iphone crowd. 1.1. steel chart for iphone was submitted to Apple for their "review" process. They sure like to take time with the reviews. 1.0 was approved in 8 days, I guess 1.1. will have the same fate. I've removed 1.0 from the market back in Jan, and considering that I found a crash in 1.0, I do not want to put it on the market now. So, you'll have to wait few days more till "their holiness" approves it...


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## Gator

I did screw up after all. 3.50 has a crash for old Android versions, when you click the menu button. Fixed it already, 3.51 was tested on old androids as well.


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## Gator

Knife steel chart 3.60 is on the google play.
Added SD card support for Android 2.2 and higher. Application can be moved to SD card, however the data files must remain on the phone, which requires about 1mb space on the device. Use Android Settings/Applications menu to move app.

For the moment, moving all data to SD card would require dropping support for old android devices below 2.1, and since there are few hundred users using the app on those, I can't do that. 

Based on your Android OS decision, app will be installed on the phone or SD card. After that you can move app between those two using Settings/Applications menu. Simply copying the app to SD card will result in a crash.

Let me know if you encounter any problems.


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## WildBoar

Got the newest via auto update this morning. Spent a few minutes with it, and all looked good. Android 2.3.4.


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## Gator

Happy to report, app passed 10K download count  
And I'm proud that out of almost 100 ratings, all but one are 5 and 4 stars  Thanks everyone for support, keep them coming.


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## Crothcipt

lol I think the 4 star one said they wanted heat treat methods on there for a star. Great app. it is deserving of 5 stars.


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## Gator

Thanks. Yeah, one of the 4 stars was that  I'd add HT info, but I'll need some help from makers and so far nobody stepped out. Even though, HT can be troublesome for me and can lead to arguments.


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## Rottman

Gator said:


> Even though, HT can be troublesome for me and can lead to arguments.





Gator said:


> Even though, HT will be troublesome for me and will lead to severe arguments and fights.



fixed that


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## Crothcipt

lol


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## HHH Knives

Gator, I just spent half the afternoon and part of the evening on that great site, Thank you for setting it up. 

Added to my favorites.


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## Gator

Rottman, your fix is right on, but let's hope for the best 
HHH thanks, it's very nice getting acknowledgement for that work from knifemakers.


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## Larrin

If you're serious about heat treatment information it would be better to collect data sheets rather than specific heat treatments from knife makers. If you did add heat treatments from knifemakers there need not be a definitive heat treatment. They can simply be compiled without commentary.


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## ajhuff

What would be the point. Chemistry defines a steel. Heat treat is a secondary operation. It's not like aluminum where A356-T6 has a specific meaning. And even then, chemistry defines what A356 is.

-AJ


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## Gator

Larrin said:


> If you're serious about heat treatment information it would be better to collect data sheets rather than specific heat treatments from knife makers. If you did add heat treatments from knifemakers there need not be a definitive heat treatment. They can simply be compiled without commentary.


I am serious about adding HT, I wanna do it, but not 100% decided though. That's what I wanted to talk to you about in this post in iphone app thread.
The thing is, I don't really understand HT info as it is listed in various sources, and where to get that info either. Some steel makers list it, others do not, HT books I've seen also have info in varying formats and so on...
There are also issues with alloy groups, e.g. is D2 HT info applicable for its German or Chinese counterpart?

Another problem is, I am not sure yet how many people actually want it, I did get quite a few requests, but judging from knife steel iphone app experience that's not really an indicator of an interest. 
Considering that some people get cranky with my absolutely free/ad free apps for whatever reason, I suppose HT info will just add to that. So, yeah I have a few things to think about


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## Crothcipt

I would think it would be very cool. But I have yet to do any kind of forging/ heat treating ect. So for me it would be more info than what I have now.


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## Gator

New version is up, 3.70.
Added history, or recently viewed item under listings, shows last 50 viewed steels, fixed few bugs, UI and settings related, reworked UI to be more uniform and so on... Enjoy


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## Gator

Version 3.72 is up. Added Belgian(NBN) and Hungarian(MSZ) standards. Improved support for hi res phones.


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## Marko Tsourkan

Downloaded on my phone. Will try later with the tablet.


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## Gator

Version 3.80 went online today, an hour ago. Fixed a crash which appeared last week, due to incorrect db data. UI improvements, speed and memory optimizations. Also, included in the app are alloying element effects descriptions. In both, alloy detail and graph views "Elements" menu item displays a list of chemical elements composing alloy(s) and tap on the ? next to the name displays its effects.


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## Gator

Knife steel chart for Android ver. 3.90 posted on google play.

A lot of new features and bug fixes this time:

New Features:
Added Bookmarks, including import and export; Now you can mark alloys and view them in a separate group Listings/Bookmarks.
Country codes, Standard codes, element effects and other metadata are downloaded from the server; I.e. I can add new standards and country codes without releasing new app.
Added toolbars in all major views; Since it's faster and I got tired of complaints that app had no search, apparently not everyone could find menu button on their anrdoid phone...
Added support for multiuser environments;
Disabled dialog buttons look different;
Updated help file;
Added Quick search bar to the steel list, displays alloys containing search string;
Performance Optimizations in the browser list;
Detail view can handle complex links;
Detail view shows Maker, Standard, Country and Technology;
Increased line spacing in the steel detail view; Easier to read and tap on the ref. name links.
Graph In Atomic count mode doesn't display decimals, gives more space;
Added group boundary indicators;
Element legend popup in graph hides on touch on empty space, shown by default;

Enjoy and Merry Christmas 

P.S. iPhone version with corresponding changes will follow in 1-2 months.


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## WildBoar

Mine updated earlier today. Continued thanks for all the work you put into this.


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## apathetic

Just updated mine, thanks for all the work you put into it.


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## cranky72

gator ; good to see you again.cranky72--[dennis strickland]


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## Gator

Thanks guys 
Cranky. I had no idea you were Dennis  Good to see you too and Happy new year everyone!


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## Gator

Knife steel chart for Android ver. 3.91 posted on google play.

You need to back up your bookmarks before downloading this update, and then import them. I'll add automatic bookmark migration in the next version.

What's new:
Unified Search
Bookmarks Sorted By Name
Browser Window Title Shows When Filtering Is Active By More Than One Criteria
Note Search String Became Inclusive, Returns All Alloys Containing Search String
Improved Note Lookup Algorithm For Aliased Alloy Names
Considerably Improved App Loading Time
Reduced Memory Footprint For Deep Hierarchy Navigation
On Restore App Returns To The Last View

Bug Fixes:
Fixed potential crash on app startup for older devices


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