Hello Everyone!
Google Summer of Code 2017 is off to an end and in this report I'll
be summarizing the work done throughout the summer.
Introductory blog post
Source code: https://github.com/HaikuArchives/Calendar
List of all blog posts:
https://www.haiku-os.org/blog/akshayagarwal007/
List of all Commits:
https://github.com/HaikuArchives/Calendar/commits/master
https://github.com/haiku/haiku/commits?author=AkshayAgarwal007
What has been completed
Calendar App
The Calendar app currently has the following features implemented:
- Create, modify and delete events.
- Generate notifications for events.
- Display Day Calendar view.
- Event categorization.
- Set all day long events.
- Fetching events from Google Calendar using Google Calendar API.
- SQLite backend for storing events.
- Setting preferences like 'First day of week',
'Display week number in Calendar'.
- App localization: DateTime strings are localised and updates with
locale preferences changes but GUI string still needs to be localised.
What's left to do (After GSoC)
- Localizing the app's GUI strings
- Implement month view
- Fix adding/updating events to Google Calendar
There are many features that a Calendar app in the present world requires and
all of it couldn't be completed in the summer. Apart from the 'future features'
which I already mentioned in the proposal, throughout the course of the work I
came across many features (based on discussions throughout the project and
suggestions on my blog posts) which the app would require and I opened issues for the
same in the repo so that they don't get lost.
Hello Everyone!
In this post I would be focusing on the work done in the past two weeks.
I worked on Google Calendar integration and general improvements and bug
fixes in the Calendar App. I also worked on implementing a relative datetime
formatter and general enhancements/bug fixes involving the Haiku locale kit.
Calendar App
Fetching events using Google Calendar API and syncing with the database works
now. There are issues with sending JSON data in an http post request, which
always results in a parse error in the API response, as a result of which
adding/updating events to Google Calendar doesn't work currently. I would
be working to fix the same over the next few days. Deleting events from Google
Calendar works fine.
Hello Everyone!
In this post I would be focusing on the work done in the past two weeks.
I implemented a database backend and worked on generating notification for
events. Currently, I am using SQLite3 for data storage, but I would be implementing
a BFS backend for the same sooner. Google Calendar integration is currently in
progress. Also there is an issue with date/time parsing and formatting in the
app which I would be fixing.
Hello Everyone!
It's been more than a week since I wrote my last blog post. In this post I
would brief you on the work done during this time.
I spent a little more time digging into the Haiku source (mostly the locale
kit) to work on bugs and possible improvements as I came across quite a few
places that would require it, while working on the Calendar app.
The current date is now highlighted in BCalendarView. This can be seen in the
deskbar calendar. I fixed a few bugs with my first commit regarding the same.
Hello Everyone!
It has been three weeks since my last blog post. In this post I would update
you with the current progress on the Calendar Application.
I have been working on the following since the past three weeks:
- Writing the Event and Category class.
- Working on UI of Event Manager.
- Working on UI of Category Manager and Category Edit Window.
- Working on a pop-up Calendar control to select event start and end date.
- Working on the Calendar View class to highlight the current system
date.
- Fixing bugs in the existing code and improvements.
- Working on Add/Modify/Delete events functionality.
- Exploring existing Haiku applications to look for widgets, trying to
implement new ones(For e.g DateTimeEdit - to select calendar start and end
date)
Add/Modify/Delete events
Basic Add/Modify/Delete events functionality is complete now. There has been
a little change from the initial mockups. Instead of switching views(I thought
of using the BCardLayout initially to switch been Day View and Add Event
section) and showing the Add Event section in the MainWindow, there will be a
separate Event Manager window for it. Event details such as Event's name, place,
description, start and end date/time can be filled. Also an event can be made
an all day event which will make it appear on the top of the Day View. Event
recurrence is not implemented currently and event category is not complete so
it's disabled for now. Because of not having a DateTimeEdit currently there's
just a text control that shows the date selected in Calendar View and a dummy
time. Also the calendar pop-up control is under work which would be a part of
DateTimeEdit. Currently, for storing purposes I am using BMessage and flat
files.
Hello Everyone!
In this post I would be focusing on the work done in the past two weeks,
issues faced and how I went about resolving them. Also, since the first
evaluation is near, the post also contains a brief analysis of the current
progress with respect to the deliverables mentioned in the proposal.
Issues faced and how I went about resolving them:
- I wasn't able to set the day names header in the calendar view based on
the locale preferences, the day names always showed up in English no matter
which language is selected in locale preferences. The Calendar view uses
BDate::ShortDayName() which in turn uses strfime to get the day of week
names, and it uses LC_TIME to decide which locale to use. By default it is
set to use the "C" locale set which is a rather neutral locale with minimal
locale information. In order to use the locale set selected in the
environment, setlocale(LC_ALL,"") has to be called. But still work has to be
done to update it with live changes in locale preferences.
<li>This was not an issue but still I have to look into several
implementations in order to find a proper way do this i.e updating the date
headers with changes in system date. I'm making the MainView in the calendar
app accept pulse messages(using B_PULSE_NEEDED) and every time the Pulse()
method is called I'm checking the system date and sending the state change
message using SendNotices() to all the other subscribers(currently there is
only one- SidePanelView that contains the date header and calendar views)
and calling the method to update the date header in the SidePanelView class
on receiving the message. Instead of using pulse, BMessageRunner can also be
used to send periodic messages.</li>
<li>There was a bit difficulty in updating the date headers and calendar
view day name headers with live changes in locale preferences as I was
unsure about how the handle B_LOCALE_CHANGED message. When locale preference
are changed BApplication gets the B_LOCALE_CHANGED message, I am forwarding
the message to SidePanelView and updating the headers based on the new locale
preferences. Work has to be done in updating the day name headers in the
calendar view on locale preferences change.</li>
<li>I explored the Haiku message-passing system in details and had a few
doubts regarding how to post and forward messages as there are similar ways
of doing itand used interchangeably in the existing applications. Stippi and
PulkoMandy helped me in understanding it better.</li>
<li>In the calendar view when I change the selected day, the current day
doesn't remain highlighted. Also if a day which is not in the current month
is selected, then I cannot bring the focus back to the current day
programmatically i.e the CalendarView::SetDate() doesn't work. I am working
to fix this.</li>
<p><img src="/files/blog/AkshayAgarwal007/calendar-focus.png" alt="Calendar"
class="img-responsive center-block"></p>
<li> This is more of a learning than an issue. Haiku uses a 32-bit time_t
and therefore is vulnerable to the Y2038 problem</li> So if events are set
to happen after the date 19-January-2038 3:14:08 AM GMT, they would cause
problems. Moreover the system date cannot be set to a date after Y2038
currently. Waddlesplash has recently worked to switch to a 64-bit time_t
and that is applicable for x86_64 build and not for 32-bit x86 and the Y2038
will remain the same for it. We will hopefully drop 32-bit support by 2038.
So for 32-bit x86 the calendar would not support dates after Jaunary 19th
2038.</li>
I also implemented preferences settings for the app. The user can enable/disable
week number and set the first day of week(which can be set to locale based first
day of week or any specific day.)
Hello Everyone!
In this post I would be focusing on my last two weeks of community bonding.
The coding period has officially began on 30th, although I had already started
it in my second week itself.
I had one or two different things in mind for this week as I mentioned in my
previous post. But I ended up working on implementing a locale aware date
header, and the calendar widget, which is more important initially as to
implement the basic functionalities of the calendar app, and is also the first
goal. In the process, I also gained a better understanding of the locale kit
and Haiku date/time classes.
Hello Everyone!
In my previous post I introduced you all to the Calendar Application
project that I would be working upon as a part of GSoC 2017. In this post I
would be focusing on my first two weeks of the community bonding period.
Getting to know people
The first few days were spent in exploring more about the Haiku community,
getting to know the mentors and fellow students, and learning in details
about their project through their blog posts. All the projects are geared to
take Haiku forward and it would indeed be an awesome summer for Haiku.
Introduction
Hello I'm Akshay (IRC/Trac: akshay, GitHub: AkshayAgarwal007) from Kolkata, India. I would be working on developing a native Calendar Application for Haiku as a part of Google Summer of Code 2017. My mentors for the project are Scott McCreary and Kacper Kasper. I am very excited for this project.
Why a Calendar Application? Isn't there already one?
A Calendar application is a must have application for any operating system and would be beneficial for end users as well as developers. Haiku doesn't have a calendar application yet. There are a few existing 3rd party Calendar apps out there, but none are close to a simple and elegant Calendar app that an end user would like to use, with all the necessary features a modern Calendar app should have.
