CaseNotes

The purpose of CaseNotes is to provide a single lightweight application program to run on the Microsoft Windows platform to allow forensic analysts and examiners of any discipline to securely record their contemporaneous notes electronically.

The main features are:

• Flexible configuration of case meta-data (case details, like the reference number, etc.)
• Secure “write-once, read-many” style of case note data capture
• Full audit trail of case note data entry and meta data edits in a self contained log
• Tamper evident storage of data using internal MD5 hashes for all data entered
• No use of heavy database technologies – all you need is the program and your case file
• Use of AES 512bit encryption (optional) to further secure data in sensitive cases
• Storage of configuration information in a user editable text based .ini file
• Support for running multiple copies of CaseNotes at the same time
• Tested and works in languages other than English (Japanese, Russian, Greek, Italian, ...)
• Supports changing time zones and any standard Windows date or time format
• Tested on Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows Vista. (sorry if you use a Mac)
• It’s free! That means no dongles and no restrictions on how many copies you use!

CaseNotes Changes for v 1.0.2007.8
This will be the last update to caseNotes for a while. I've got a lot of work and study going on at the moment so unless someone reports a major problem this is it for a while.
Some users have reported errors with the MSI installer. These are Microsoft errors and not mine. They have produced a KB article about these errors, which can be found here.

The Bug Fixes and Updates

1. Bug which appends "hrs" to the timestamp when your profile is set to "AM/PM" is fixed.
2. Printed document footers are back! The signature block now also correctly prints "page n of n".
3. Bug which prints first tab to the selected printer and all other tabs to the default printer is fixed.
4. Bug where default printed document name is "document" is fixed. Displays the case reference now.
5. Bug where changes to printer settings were not being remembered is fixed.
6. Fade-in / Fade-out of splash screen removed as this was causing performance problems to users working over slow links and VPN.
7. A 'New Note' can now be saved with a 'ctrl-s' key combination. 'Esc' will cancel.
8. Bug where paste button in 'New Note' and user tabs would not paste objects other than just plain text, is fixed.
9. An entry now exists in the CaseNotes.ini file to change the title in the first case tab to allow this to be user defined.

Known Issues at this Release
Formatting of the heading text in the User Tabs takes two clicks to change (select the title text and then click bold twice to switch off bold). I don't know why this is and am struggling to figure this out. Once undone, it seems to work as expected from that point forward. It only happens the first time you try to change the formatting.

Some coloured text entered in a new note changes colour when saved into the main CaseNotes window. Strangely this happens in WordPad too, so I suspect the Microsoft RTF control I'm using has a bug in it somewhere - not a lot I can do about that one.

Print preview only works with the main CaseNotes tab for now. I'll add support for the user tabs sometime soon.

Upcoming Features in Future Releases

Creation of a "CheckList" Tab
This specialist tab will be defined by the user to allow creation of a check list with user defined controls, including radio buttons, drop down combo lists (user populated), check boxes and text boxes. This tab will allow the analyst to check steps off the list as various activities are completed. The default configuration for this will be stored in the .ini file with the actual values stored in the case file. I'm also looking to add the option to make this tab detachable and always stay on top (cheers Tim).

Creation of User Templates
The purpose of these is to provide a user editable set of boiler-plate text entries for common text, for steps that are always carried out on every case. By right clicking in the new note window, the user will be able to select a template bit of text from a list and add this to the note. Simply edit this text in the note to add the details for that instance and then save the new note. This should cut down on the amount of repetitive typing that occurs in every case and make life a bit easier.

That's it for now. Please let me know how you're getting on with CaseNotes - if you like it or hate it. If you have any ideas for new versions or problems, errors or bugs you're experiencing - I'm keen to know how it's being used and what I can do to improve it. email me at 'contact (at) qcc.co.uk' and put the word "CaseNotes" somewhere in the subject line so it gets past our email content filtering.

CaseNotes is free and will continue to be so in the future