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1 This file contains features that need work. If you wish to tackle
2 any of them, please post a quick message to the mailing list of your
3 intentions, in order to avoid duplication of effort.
5 If you would like help or more information on any of these items,
6 please ask on the mailing list as well.
8 - Chris
9 <cdfrey@foursquare.net>
12 Next Release Checklist (- todo, + done, x skipped)
13 ==============================================================================
14 Target: release version 0.17 (Nov 1)
15 - figure out a solution to the HideSequencePacket issue
16 - website documentation:
17 - www documentation / howto for bjdwp and friends
18 - add a more detailed set of instructions for how to
19 contribute to the project using git
20 (see email to Josh)
21 - incorporate Bill Paul's modem HOWTO for FreeBSD
22 into web docs (see list emails)
23 - add docs for opensync 0.4x plugin (note that it is
24 currently experimental, based on devel opensync)
25 - add docs for using libmtp with the Storm to access media
26 - incorporate Martin Owens' Barry logo/icon into Barry
27 - add to documentation page?
28 - add to identi.ca barry group
29 - add to sourceforge
30 - add to repo.or.cz
32 Target: release version 0.18 (Dec 1)
33 - test and fix all build and functionality issues on:
34 - Fedora 11
35 - Fedora 12 (scheduled release on Nov 10)
36 - Ubuntu 8.10, 9.04
37 - Ubuntu 9.10 (scheduled release on Oct 29)
38 - openSUSE 11.1
39 - see mailing list reports
40 - give openBSD a test compile
41 - support our own repositories for apt and yum and zypper
42 to make installation easier
44 Target: release version 0.19 (Jan 1, 2010)
45 - polish up bfuse, and add feature to split out fields
46 - add record classes for Content Store based on
47 Martin Owens' doc/barry-research.ods
48 - look at incorporating contrib/ into main tree, or at least
49 into binary packages and tests
54 General Features
55 ==============================================================================
57 Add firmware upgrade support via USB
58 ------------------------------------
59 Duplicate the firmware upgrade functionality of the RIM Windows
60 software. There are USB captures of this in the USB Capture Log
61 archive at http://www.netdirect.ca/software/packages/barry/logs.php
64 Add media management via USB
65 ----------------------------
66 The Windows version of desktop software has the ability to manage
67 photos on the Blackberry that are not stored on a flash card, but
68 are instead stored in the Blackberry's internal memory.
70 It is challenging, on some devices, to even copy such photos and
71 media to the flash card.
73 Capture the USB traffic for this media management, and add support
74 to Barry.
77 Add HAL/dbus support to BarryBackup
78 -----------------------------------
79 The latest version of the backup program lists devices in a combo box,
80 with a Reload button to handle new devices being plugged in.
82 Add an optional feature to listen to HAL/dbus for device addition and
83 removal and update the list automatically. Note that this must be
84 optional, since some systems may not have HAL available at compile time
85 (such as FreeBSD) or perhaps at runtime (HAL may not be running),
86 and so the Reload button must be available.
88 Leave the Reload button even if HAL support is present, since the user
89 may wish to control the list manually, or force a reload.
92 Command line tool to parse backups
93 ----------------------------------
94 Add the ability to feed raw database data into the parser from various
95 formats, so that you can test parser code, and get human readable output
96 without a Blackberry device attached.
98 Ideally, this tool should be able to read tarball backups from barrybackup,
99 and read only the database(s) of interest. There should be a sort of
100 plugin method for reading data from multiple sources: Windows backup
101 files, barrybackup files, btool save files, ldap, text, etc.
104 Add support for the new " - All" databases
105 ------------------------------------------
106 New Blackberry devices appear to support a set of mixed databases, such as
107 Calendar, Calendar - All, etc. The format of these new "All" databases
108 is not yet fully known, but needs to be supported as these databases become
109 more popular.
112 Reverse engineer date/time functions
113 ------------------------------------
114 The date/time calculations in src/time.cc:Message2Time() are still not
115 completely understood. There is an explanation of sorts in an email
116 from Brian Edginton on the mailing list, but there are odd constants, etc.
117 Need to understand it fully and document it.
119 Mail from Brian Edginton on the topic:
120 http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=200706291619.05854.edge%40edginton.net
123 An automated test suite
124 -----------------------
125 Testing Barry will be a challenge, since an actual device is required
126 for a large bulk of tests. Ideally, it should be easy for someone to
127 make a full backup of their device, donate it to science, and then
128 restore their settings and data, since not everyone has a pure device
129 for testing.
131 Things that need automated testing:
133 - test all possible compile options (finished, see test/)
134 - test parsing of all supported records
135 - test building of all supported records
136 - test backup and restore, of random sets of databases, as well
137 as the "all databases" set
138 - test LDAP / LDIF conversions
139 - test test Boost serialization backups and restore
140 - make sure it is possible to create records with the same
141 SHA1 sums, purely programmatically
142 - test syncing of all fields, including international data / charsets
143 - test password support, and password safety catch (bad passwd X times)
144 - test modem functionality
146 Estimated time: open ended
150 Flesh out the Troubleshooting web doc
151 -------------------------------------
152 Every stumbling block that users run into should either be fixed
153 in the code or binary package, or documented in a Troubleshooting
154 document. This troubleshooting document is already started, but
155 contributions are welcome from all users!
159 Timezone support to opensync plugins
160 ------------------------------------
161 Support for timezones will likely stress the opensync API as well as
162 the Barry API, but definitely needs to be done for completeness on both
163 sides of the equation.
165 This may involve switching from the text based vcard formats to
166 the opensync XML formats.
168 Estimated time: open ended
172 Multi-program Database and Modem Access
173 ---------------------------------------
174 The architectural challenge:
176 As Barry is not a single application, how do you access the
177 database while pppob is using the modem?
179 There are two viable ways of dealing with this. One involves placing
180 a (hopefully thin) driver in the kernel, and the other involves using
181 a daemon and RPC calls.
183 My preference is to implement this using RPC calls if needed, and hammer
184 out all the implementation details in user space. Once they are well
185 understood, a smaller kernel driver hook may be more easily written
186 that supports routing messages according to socket or application
187 needs. For example, one application may register an interest in
188 database messages, another in javaloader messages, and another in the
189 multiple modem socket messages.
191 There is currently no support for this RPC daemon, but threading
192 support already exists.
194 Estimated tasks:
195 - design suitable RPC system
196 - implement support in the Barry library so it works
197 with and without a daemon, using the same API
198 Estimated time: open ended
202 Add bluetooth serial support
203 ----------------------------
204 It is reported that it is possible to access the database through
205 Bluetooth using the older Blackberry serial protocol. XmBlackBerry
206 has support for this and may be used as a reference.
208 The goal here would be to hide the bluetooth access behind the
209 same Barry library API, so that syncing with the opensync plugin
210 would be seamless whether plugged in via USB or Bluetooth.
212 Estimated tasks:
213 - research and design serial protocol stack to reuse as much
214 library code as possible
215 Estimated time: unknown
219 Add internationalization (i18n) support to the backup GUI and tools
220 -------------------------------------------------------------------
221 Translations are needed for the GUI and command line tool prompts, as
222 well as support in the code for this translation.
224 Estimated tasks:
225 - update the code to support i18n
226 - translate to languages of interest
228 Estimated time: unknown
232 Write simple GUI for streamlining sync setup and action
233 -------------------------------------------------------
234 Syncing setup and operation is currently a tedious, complicated task.
235 A GUI that performed all the detailed setup and configuration work,
236 for a Blackberry-specific sync, using opensync libraries and plugins
237 for Evolution, Sunbird, etc, would be very helpful.
239 This would be much easier for an experienced GUI programmer, but there is
240 a learning curve for the opensync API.
242 Estimated tasks:
243 - document the settings required for Blackberry, and
244 all intended plugins required
245 - write application that:
246 - does the opensync configuration through the opensync
247 API directly
248 - scans the USB bus for available Blackberry devices using
249 Barry
250 - lives in the system tray watching for Blackberry devices
251 - if aiming for super ease of use, script a source build of
252 all needed opensync components and install in private
253 area to avoid conflict with system
254 Estimated time: unknown
255 Note: Depending how fast HAL, OpenSync, and Conduit are implemented,
256 this may never be needed... but if it existed today, there's a
257 lot of users who would be very happy...
261 Document the USB protocol
262 -------------------------
263 Currently the only english documentation for the Blackberry protocol
264 is the webpage by the Cassis project (found at
265 http://off.net/cassis/protocol-description.html).
267 The USB protocol is not nearly so well documented. The best documentation
268 available can be found in the Barry header files: protocol.h and
269 protostructs.h.
271 Translating the code into documentation (into a wiki, that will hopefully
272 soon be available) is a great way to get involved in the project and
273 learn a lot about the Blackberry from a low level.
275 Unfortunately, Jedi mind tricks don't often work when trying to convince
276 people to write documentation for me... :-)
278 Estimated tasks:
279 - write, write, write
280 Estimated time: 40 hours (documentation expands to fill available time...)
284 Improve useability of web documentation
285 ---------------------------------------
286 Add a Q&A style of support web site, where Blackberry users can plug in
287 their device model, data provider, etc. and get exact command lines that
288 they can use for modem tethering, etc.
292 Code cleanup
293 ------------
294 Code can always be improved. There are two big ways to help:
296 - write an application using the Barry library
297 - improve the Barry library itself and send patches
299 By writing an application, you can provide crucial feedback on the ease
300 of use of the Barry API. I'm very eager for such feedback.
302 Secondly, there is currently a lot of code ducplication in the record
303 classes, and a careful refactoring is required. I would be open to a class
304 hierarchy, with possibly private or protected inheritance. My primary
305 concern is object safety when using the record classes as objects in
306 STL containers, with a secondary concern to make it easier to
307 abstractly work with a record. This implies a careful mix of
308 virtual functions and a generic record base class. Patches in this
309 area will be thoughtfully considered.
311 Estimated tasks (refactoring):
312 - design safe hierarchy
313 - move common code to base class
314 - make sure all record classes use the common record API
315 - test
316 Estimated time: 7 hours
320 C API wrapper
321 -------------
322 For those that write applications in C, a C API wrapper has been started
323 in the cbarry.h header. It has not yet been implemented, but should be
324 straightforward.
326 Estimated tasks:
327 - finish some API design work (head not fully complete)
328 - implement all functions (about 50)
329 - write test application, or test suite, for C API
330 Estimated time: unknown
334 Python wrappers and example code
335 --------------------------------
336 For those that write applications in Python, a SWIG wrapper has been
337 started by H Miz Jones. This is partially functional, and involves
338 working with the Barry API, and may introduce changes to it depending
339 how hard it is to translate things to the Python world.
341 The SWIG wrapper scripts have not yet been publically released, but
342 please contact me if you are interested.
344 Estimated tasks:
345 - finish C++ / Python integration (possible template issues)
346 - finish SWIG wrapper
347 Estimated time: unknown
351 Command line backup and restore
352 -------------------------------
353 The only command line backup currently available is the one in btool,
354 using the -f and -s switches. This does not backup exact data from
355 the device, but parses it, stores it in the Boost serialization format,
356 and then reverses the process for restore. This is a great test
357 for the Barry library, but not so great for backup, since not all
358 databases can be parsed.
360 There is already an exact backup and restore interface with the GUI, but
361 there is a lot of useful functionality trapped in a layer of GUI
362 that could be just as useful from the command line. Tasks such as a nightly
363 cron backup of any Blackberry devices attached to the system would be more
364 easily done via command line.
366 You could add command line arguments to the barrybackup program to skip
367 the GUI (tricky and possibly error prone), or you could pull the backup
368 functionality into a standalone command line utility (more work, but smarter
369 in the long run). This is mostly a code refactoring job, consisting of
370 all working code that's already there, and I know there are people
371 who would thank you. :-)
373 Note: see also the perl scripts in contrib/
375 Estimated tasks:
376 - split out tar and backup functionality code into shared library
377 - write and test command line tool
378 Estimated time: 6 hours
382 Misc Low Level Todo Items:
383 --------------------------
384 - test whether sorting of contact records is required before
385 uploading data to the device... test whether it is ok
386 to upload a GroupLink item in the middle of a contact
387 upload, even before all the groups have been sent...
388 if ok, remove the sorting code from Contact, Message, and
389 Calendar classes