Older blog entries for alvaro (starting at number 41)

Planner evolution backend

Great news this morning about the backend. I have created the build system inside Planner CVS module and now all the backend code lives in our CVS. As a good team, Micke has helped me in some dynamic loading issues and Richard has helped in coordinating the commit to the CVS. So now the code is in CVS waiting for you to test it! You only need evolution data server from CVS until next release. Be careful, the backend isn't complete and has some problems that will be solved.

1 Oct 2004 (updated 1 Oct 2004 at 09:40 UTC) »
Planner evolution backend

Yesterday Chris Toshok commit the e-d-s modules change that let evolution data server load dynamically the backends it works with. This morning I have converted the Planner backend so now, it works without the need to touch anything in e-d-s code. Great! With this change, development will be easier because I don't need anymore to relink all the e-d-s binaries to test the Planner backend.

This morning also, I have tested the Planner postgres backend from evolution, and it works as expected. The main problem is the URI Planner needs to load projects from the database: sql://acs@localhost#db=plannerdb&id=2. I think we are going to need some kind of integration here, maybe using the gnome-db data sources tool in Planner and Evolution in order to configure the database access.

Evolution Planner backend

Step by step the backend is near to be in a first release state. Today, it can load several Planner files and show them as different lists of tasks in Evolution and now, you can also add new Planner sources from Evolution GUI. In the screenshot you can see four Planner projects showing in Evolution.

I need to check now the really enterprise integration: using Planner Postgres database backend from Evolution. It is transparent for Evolution that project is in a file or in a database (libplanner does it), and with database, you have a multiuser backend, but we need to test scenarios and solve some concurrent access issues before thinking about sharing projects between manager using the database backend.

Development environment

Three days ago I decide to update my Evolution CVS and have some problems with dependencies. I am thinking about if I will follow CVS Evolution or better, I will stop in Evolution release as soon as it has the plugin support for loading third party backends. It is fun to follow evolution day by day, as it is with GNOME and jhbuild, but you need a stable environment to develop and not loose time in solving environment issues.

26 Sep 2004 (updated 26 Sep 2004 at 10:21 UTC) »
Planner backend for Evo: alpha 0.7 released!

Weekend is marvellous to advance in projects and I finally found time to complete the alpha 0.7 Work plan (details) for the Planner Evolution backend. For now, I think all data than can be shared between Evo and Planner is shared. I have test all the fields from Evolution task and from Planner task and it seems to interop correctly. I have updated the Testing results for this alpha release and create the Work plan for next release. Working with Planner and Evolution libraries is great, things work as expected and you can concentrate yourself in doing the valued added work, make the integration as soft as complete as possible.

Next to alpha 0.8 release I will publish the first beta of the backend. I will start to push the backend in developers so they test it because I am sure some bugs are waiting to bite us. So the target for 0.8 is to simplify the compile and install process so other developers can play with the beast.

Talking with Rodrigo he has very ambitious goals: create a new backend system to manage Projects data in e-d-s. We need to create a new IDL (like calendar and contacts backends), implement it and start coding the library. Then, we need to add some support in Evo GUI to manage the data for this new backend. After the first release of the actual Planner backend, I think we will try to follow this way.

Talking with jpr, he said me the best thing to integrate the new Planner backend in the e-d-s daemon (service) will be to use the new plugin architecture. I am afraid it isn't included in e-d-s 1.0 and I have to wait some months before I can start to have real users :(

Tapia is working in a C#/Mono catalog application (sorry, it is in spanish) and he will need some support to take the user data from e-d-s. It will be great to start playing with the C# bindings for e-d-s.

Planner backend for Evolution

This morning I have created the work plan for the alpha7 release of the Planner backend for Evolution. I have found very valuable the Tesing plan because it is the guide in order to complete the work.

In next days I will be working in how data from Evolution tasks is saved to Planner. To be a good backend, every data in Evolution task have to be saved in someway to Planner. For that, you need to translate the concepts from Evolution to Planner and also, that Planner let you save all the data. Mikael works in custom properties for Planner objects is enabling that all all the data from Evolution could be saved.

The hard thing I think is to define a clear mapping for dates, because Planner manage dates in a more advanced way than evolution to schedule the projects, so I think that Planner will be the director here.

Hmmm, three days getting some sleeping time ... I think I am going to stop a little next days.

I am right now in very busy dates. Next year I will start teaching Inferno and Lingo in my University group, GSyC, in a cource with lots of students. I don't have any experience with this Operating System nor with the Lingo language. But I am progress well and Inferno has lots of concepts that I already studied in Java and .NET so no big deal, just some new concepts and lots of new details. You have to see the Inferno "Desktop". Ok, it is mainly for embedded systems so it is a very basic desktop.

This morning finally I catch the sencond problem in the Planner e-d-s backend and I think I have now a clear path to complete most of the features of the backend, but I need to review all the code because I started it using another backend, I use code from other backends so, I am not 100% sure that all the code is doing what I want. When I reach 0.1, I will upload it to the CVS and stop using snapshots.

Ismael want that I see some performance problems he has in Planner. He is very happy with Planner but he'll love Planner if we can solve some issues. I will try to find sometime to understand the problems. He can't give me the real Planner project because the Plan Project is confidential so I will change a little Planner save function so the task names aren't saved. I hope it will be enought.

Thank Jeff for adding the blog to Planet GNOME. I am very happy with it and also, with this rodrigo photo.

20 Sep 2004 (updated 20 Sep 2004 at 06:49 UTC) »
GNOME Hispano Association

Finally yesterday we signed the regulations of the GNOME Hispano Association so we hope that before the end of the year we have the Association legally created in Spain. Then, we only need to start doing things ;-)

XML-RPC in GNOME

In the trip to home from Pamplona we talked about GNOME System Tools and in some moment, we talk about communications between the frontend (GNOME client) and the backend (Perl backends). Currently the communications is very basic, using a pipe and sending XML data only in one way. garnacho is thinking for the future, not before GNOME 2.10, using XML-RPC. It seems there are interest in adding to libsoup, now in the GNOME platform as a Evolution dep, XML-RPC support.

Planner and Bugzilla

It will be great because in Planner, we try in the past to integrate Bugzilla and Planner but it was impossible because in Bugzilla, only a XML interface to take the data from a bug number was the only interface we had. New bugzilla versions seems to offer a XML-RPC interface, I need to talk wih fer about it, so the Planner integration could be done.

It seems Jeff is now using the same laptop as mine: Dell Latitude X300. Jeff, a great buy. I am in love with it.

Yesterday in the afternoon in the GNOME Meeting in Pamplona we work in adding a new entry to the nautilus context menĂº to share folder to the network using samba and nfs. It was a good exercice to show people a real example on how we usually try to develop things for GNOME, but the Bonobo component syntax made the example too complex for newcomers.

After that we present GNOME 2.8 using Ubuntu: we can see in action HAL, DBUS and gvm, vino, gnome system tools, evolution and things like the new printing dialog. The show goes well and things normally "just works".

Today we plan to sign the legal paper for the GNOME Hispano Assocation in Spain that we are pushing since last GUADEC Hispana in Extremadura, the famous LinEx distribution region.

Txema has show me a video that he created last night at 5 a.m. when we end the night. It is killer: a program that takes a music song and mix the photos using the song rhythmbox and some basic effects.. The results are wonderful but the application runs only in Windows. We need something like that in Linux.

Right now Rodrigo is trying to show jhbuild use and then, we will try to solve some easy fix bug to show people how things work.

We plan to start the return to home around 13:30 and lunch in the road.

18 Sep 2004 (updated 18 Sep 2004 at 11:14 UTC) »

We are now in the GNOME Meeting in Pamplona, about 24 people mainly developers.

Planner and Evolution integration

I have presented Planner and the integration with Evolution and it seems that we are going to have to integrate ideas but going in the right path.

GNOME System tools

Now Carlos Garnacho is talking about GNOME System Tools and it showing us the new tool for sharing contents in networks: a configurator for SAMBA and NFS. The tool is very near to be in beta testing stage and the main problem is that you need to enter the root password to use the tool, but Carlos is working in a tool similar to sudo but simplified in order the user enters the root password only one time, like consolehelper in Red Hat. He needs more time to finish the tool and show it to the world. The main problem are the securities issues.

Disks Tool

Carlos Garcia is goint to show now the Disk Admin tool, from GNOME System Tools, a tool that is getting better and better. It is hard to have it user friendly because the disks world concepts, but Carlos is doing a good work.

Fisterra

Txema from Igalia.com company is now showing us the Fisterra ERP product. He us showing us the work with distributed system to manage companies using CORBA, libgda and sync technologies for databases. They are working heavly in the libraries and other technologies in the platform. Then, they will create an example of use of the ERP.

Spanish GNOME Development book

Time to talk a little about the GNOME book that we are writing since 4 years ago. It is a no end project and I am not sure if we are going someday to finish it ;-) We need a leader for the project because I feel we have resources, but we need someone who really love the book.

Evolution

Rodrigo is showing us in big figures the Evolution architecture, that libcamel is going to be distributed alone from Evolution and how to help in the project, working in easy fix bugs.

Working groups

To close the morning, we have presented the working groups for this afternoon and tomorrow day. I hope we do some productive working together.

I will add more contents as the show go on :)

17 Sep 2004 (updated 17 Sep 2004 at 10:12 UTC) »

Today we are going to the GNOME meeting in Pamplona. Around 20 dudes will go to the meeting and I am sure it will be a great sucess. I hope we grow the team feelings so we can push our GNOME contributions and make them bigger. We will have a GNOME 2.8 presentation with party, and we plan to create hacking teams to work together in the Pamplona University. With rodrigo there, I am sure I will advance in the Planner backend a lot.

I have just received the email from GNOME Foundation with the renewal of my subscription for 2 years more, so I can vote in the next elections to the Foundation. I hope this year I don't have problems voting: last year not sure if I loose the email or other problem, but I finally can't vote :(

Ismael is playing a lot with Planner these days and he is starting to feedback me with things to improve. Time to look at it and maybe, fills some bugs in bugzilla.

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