I last looked at BOnTime early this year when I wrote a comparative review on a number of time keeping applications for the Pocket PC.  While I didn't rank it as my absolute favourite, it was nonetheless among the best I looked at.  BSystems recently released a public beta of their latest offering and I decided it was about time I fulfilled my promise to look at it again.

For those who have not looked at it or my the previous review of it, BOnTime is an application for recording the amount of time spent on tasks, with tasks being grouped by project and client.  For a more in-depth look at the original testing criteria please refer to my original review.

I should again point out that this review is based on a beta version (2.2.0) of the product and there may therefore be some minor changes in functionality between this and the final released product.  I shall not be detailing in this review any errors I find (but sending them to BSystems) but will of course be reporting any functionality issues I discover.

So... to business.  When started, BOnTime takes a few moments to initialise then presents the user with the main window which acts as the primary reporting and time entry screen.  The upper portion of the window is occupied by a treeview which displays the Client/ Project/ Tasks hierarchy and timed job data and the lower part of the screen provides the controls for recording job times.

As the user is reminded at the first startup, the first requirement is to create some Clients, Projects and Tasks against which to record time.  Clients, Projects and Tasks may be added either using the File menu or the treeview popup menu.  Once the items have been created the next decision is to choose how to record time.  In addition, BOnTime can support multiple data files which enables yet further breakdown of data recording.

BOnTime has four different entry modes - One Touch, Full Timer, Block Entry and Duration - and the user may choose the desired mode only when no timers are running.  One Touch starts the timer on each task in the tree as it is touched;  Full Timer permits the full specification of the start and end times, and paused time;  Block Entry adds block units of time e.g. quarter hours, to the highlighted task, project or client;  finally duration permits the user to enter a description and a duration. All entry modes except One Touch provide the ability to add a description and update entries but any mode can be used to adjust entries created by any mode.  As entries are added by the user, job elements are added into the treeview. 

The Edit menu permits access to Cut, Copy and Paste functions, as well as Find and Delete operations.  The Properties menu item enables all elements in the tree to be examined and edited.

The View menu controls what is shown in to treeview, enabling the tree to be fully expanded or collapsed, unused elements to be concealed and the entire tree to be rebuilt.

The Tools menu allows the entry mode to be chosen, items to be marked as inactive (hidden) or active, provides access to the options screen, summaries and report mechanism.  The options include setting for hours in a day and week, block sizes for controlling the rounding of entries, duration format - decimal or hh:mm, global display options and other miscellaneous options.

The reports engine permits the user to filter data by Client/Project/Task and date range, and specifying the report format.  Report Formats are user createable by selecting the desired fields and order.  Report results may be exported in CSV format.  The Summaries screen has four tabs that show the entered data is a summarised form by Agenda, Day, Week or Project.

BOnTime is a flexible time recording application which has continued to improve since I last saw it.  The current version 2.2.0 public beta is quite useable but is too fragile at the moment for realistic use.  Once the minor bugs and instabilities have been ironed out, however, BOnTime will have the potential to provide a very useful function for the busy PPC user. BSystems have created a powerful yet flexible tool which should permit most users to be able to track their time on tasks quickly and effectively.  The interface has achieved a nice balance between complexity of function and simplicity of use.

Given that this version is a beta release it would be unfair to rate it, as features and functionality may change before the official release, but it is certainly as good as its predecessor. You can download and purchase BOnTime from the BSystems website!