Copy to Brew Log

It would be nice if "Copy to Brew Log" would update the Brewer to "me", and date to "today".  It might also be nice if it added a bit of text to the "notes"...something like "<Date>: Copied from <folder>/<recipe name>". 

What if I brewed yesterday and didn't get it copied to the brew log for a few days or a week? If it automatically changes the date my fermentation and bottling on the calender gets screwed up.

When I brew I click on the date and update it just like I have to update the measured gravities through the process.

Myk-

The "idea" of the brew log is to provide a place to record the "as brewed" results and leave the "ideal" recipe un-touched. 

Both the date and brewer fields are editable in the brewlog, so if you were catching up on historical things, then you could still change the date to match history. 

I'm probably 50/50 on the date thing, though.  Sometimes I plan my brews in advance, and copy them to the brewlog "post-dated".  Other times, I print my brew instructions from the recipe...brew it, come in and "copy to brewlog", and update the "as brewed data". 

Regardless, the recipe that I'm starting from has some other date (2002, 2003, etc) on it that is NOT the date I'm brewing the recipe when I copy to the log.  It might be today or some date nearby.  It seems that changing the date to "today" is a good a choice as any, and will be right more often than leaving it alone. 

Anyway, the "brewer" change was the one that really struck me, and got me thinking about what else should/could change when copying to the log.  Nothing else in the recipe fields struck me as needing to be (or able to be) automatically modified.

Open a recipe, click the arrow by the date and click the box that says today's date. Do that on brew day and the date is as brewed no matter when you drag it.
It's the first thing I do once the grains are crushed and mashing.

For auto changing the brewer there are multiple brewer households or taking your laptop to a friend's to get them into brewing or show them the program.
I write my own recipes so I wouldn't notice that but I can see instances where it would cause problems for some, especially back when my roommate was brewing and we shared equipment.

The danger with automatic changes is they don't fit everyone.

Yes, I'm aware of how to change it.  I would have thought that was obvious from my second post---where I said "Both the date and brewer fields are editable in the brewlog". I've been using Beersmith for 2.5 years now.  I've also been a software engineer for a very long time...working on decade number 3.

Having a field and assigning it a value (by copying from the original recipe, or from the Brewer setting) is an automatic action in either case.  Both are "automatic" changes---neither is going to be correct in EVERY circumstance.  In cases like this, the question is which automatic action is more likely to be correct.  Is it more likely that the author of the recipe is the same as the Brewer, or that the "Brewer Setting" in the preferences is the Brewer?    Is the multiple brewer household the primary Brewsmith user, or is the single brewer household more prevalent?  Since Brewsmith has a single "Brewer" setting in the preferences panel...it seems like the single brewer household is the target. 

The program could ask me what I want it to do, but that is usually poor UI design, except in very special circumstances.  It's generally better to make the most likely to be correct choice (best guess), that makes intuitive sense.  Intuitive is arguable, but I would argue that if a program asks for a "brewer setting" then I expect that to be the default value for "brewer" in contexts where something is about to be brewed (copying to the brewlog).  As a brewer, I'm most likely to recognize when I'm doing something different than "expected"...ie, using someone elses installation...and can correct for the special circumstance.

I write my own recipes, as well.  However, I frequently start with a "base recipe" and tweak from there (adjust the grain bill, mash profile, water, etc).  When I do this, I almost always forget to update the Brewer (which in the case of a stock recipe is more accurately the "author"...not really the "brewer"). 

Which is the case that brought this to my attention---I'd modified the "Robust Porter" recipe, but never changed the "brewer" field from John Smith (or whatever it was), nor did I edit the "brewed on date".  So, when I copied to the brewlog both remained unchanged.  About a week later, I was adding some more recipes to the brewlog (planning the next few brews), and noticed that my Porter was not listed in the calendar.  I quickly discovered why, and fixed the date (and consequently the Brewer). 

So, what percentage of Brewsmith users are brewing from recipes that list someone else as the brewer and have filled in the "brewer field" in settings with their own name....versus the precentage of the populace that: a) always brews their own recipes, or b) multiple users who alternate using the same beersmith installation.  (A) is unimpacted by the proposed change.  Only (B) has to change the Brewer value populated by the software. 

The only way to answer that question factually is to take a sample...but, my money is on the population of users who edited the "brewer" preference being the overwhealming majority of brewers.

As I said previously, I'm 50/50 on the brew date (even though it was my own suggestion).  I copy to brewlog to PLAN future brews as ofter as I do it to document something I've already started.  So, while it was my suggestion...I could easily see that one going either way.  Even in my own "sample of one" I'm split down the middle.  So, there may not be a "more probable" right answer, in this circumstance.