Using this software you will be able synchronize your contacts and calendar to any IMAP folder. Every item is saved in a separate Email using the Kolab Storage Format. This allows for interoperability with other Kolab Clients.

Please join us on the Google code projects for the Android and the Outlook connectors.

Since there are still quite a few rough edges, this is only a developer preview to publish the already done work. Read on for a more detailed status of the development so far.

Status

• Sync Infrastructure: although the two projects are written in Java and C#, they share the basic algorithms and principles of operation. This groundwork is also shared between the addressbook and contacts synchronizers of each project. This is already stable. Some edge cases still require a second synchronization run to converge.
• Addressbook Synchronization: being the easier part of the two, this is mostly finished and working.
• Calendar Synchronization: Arthur is currently implementing the last piece here: reading and writing of recurrences.
• Managing Edit Collisions: If two copies of the same item are edited and then synchronized, there is no easy way to automatically manage the merge. On the Android the server item always wins. For the Outlook plugin we plan on implementing a conflict resolution dialog where the user can pick and choose from the conflicting items.
• Managing Duplicates: When starting to use synchronization tools, users often end up with multiple copies of the same entries (especially in the addressbook) when multiple data sources are added. Currently the only way to work around this problem is to use a third-party duplicate-detector or wipe all but one device clean before synchronizing. A way to handle this could be added similar to a edit conflict resolver.
• Multiple Calendars, multiple IMAP Folders: planned.
• Testing: Currently there are only manual test routines.

To improve response times of the server running CC.Net while integrating, I’ve applied the ProcessPriority patch from CCNET-504 and now run all processes at BelowNormal. Now there is no noticeable impact on other services on the server while a build is running. Since the patch didn’t apply cleanly to the newest CC.Net version, I updated the patch to current HEAD and posted it in the bugtracker. Thanks to Craig Sutherland the patch is now applied in the HEAD and will be released with 1.5. Having already wet my feet, I proposed a refactoring for the Tasks to move all common properties to the BaseExecutableTask class, thereby removing ~300 lines of code and unifying the diverse set of properties currently in the wild. This will have to wait for the next release in order to not interfere with a timely 1.5 release.

Currently CC.Net builds the projects from subversion, runs all unit tests with NUnit and checks code quality with Gendarme.

While integrating Gendarme in our build process, I found and reported two bugs in the rules, which triggered false positives on our code. Thanks to Sebastien Pouliot both appear to be already fixed and slated for release with the next Gendarme (2.8).

Puppet doesn’t care whether it manages one or a hundred servers with the same configuration. Contrary to manual configuration, the effort scales with the number of programmed services instead of the number of administrated servers.

Another important factor is the organisation of configuration into modules. These can be developed, tested and deployed independently. David runs the first and one of the biggest public repositories of such modules under the very liberal BSD-License. Thanks to my engagement in the puppet community I was recently asked by multiple IT-departments to hold on-site trainings.

Finally it has to be noted that a manifest (puppet configuration) is a very detailed documentation of the (intended) system state.

David uses puppet for EDV-Beratung&Service to run a web- and mail hosting system. Before the advent of puppet, each customer was configured manually, leading to all kind of errors. With puppet any error gets fixed once and for all by improving the source code of the puppet manifest. Additionally this will also fix the problem on all existing customers.

From a press release of FFII e.V.:

The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Alison Brimelow, has asked the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) to decide on the interpretation of the European Patent Convention (EPC) regarding the exclusion of software from patentability. The EBA is replacing the European Parliament in order to validate software patents EU-wide without the need of a debate.

We already have signed. You should sign too, to make your voice against modern forms of highwaymens heard! Sign here.

Soil.NET is a port of an old DOS application written in Pascal to the .NET framework. It is a one-off programming project for the civil engineering office Steinhauser, who are useing the application to support writing expertises in the area of vibration protection and seismology. While the mathematical core could be taken almost literally, the use of a modern GUI toolkit WPF enabled important improvements in user interface experience:

• Free data entry: the DOS application only allowed sequential input. The WPF implementation not only enables free entry and correcting of parameters, but also displays the results immediately to the user. The feedback allows users to test more combinations of parameters in the same time.
• Model comparisons: as with data entry, models could only be input sequentially. Single typos thus lead to having re-type the whole dataset. The new implementation allows models to be input independently and to choose, display, and print different charts and combinations without having to re-enter any data.
• Graphical quality: the DOS application was restricted to 640×480 pixels on screen and when printing. Of course this doesn’t meet current expectations and is noted negatively when including the graphics in expertises and similar documents. Trhough using the ZedGraph library, graphics can be created in arbitrary resolutions and print outs conform to the specifications of the printer and the used paper formats.

Finally a printed page and a screenshot of the complete application:

We were positively surprised by the nice and friendly officials who we needed to register our company.

Now we can legally provide programming and consulting services.