jpolls-developers — Discuss the further development of this application

[Jpolls-developers] FASD project: Online survey launched

[<ben...@id...>]

Dear Open Source developer

I am doing a research project on "Fun and Software Development" in which I kindly invite you to participate.
You will find the online survey under http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/. The questionnaire consists of 53 questions and you will need about 15 minutes to complete it.

With the FASD project (Fun and Software Development) we want to define the motivational significance of fun when software developers decide to engage in Open Source projects. What is special about our research project is that a similar survey is planned with software developers in commercial firms. This procedure allows the immediate comparison between the involved individuals and the conditions of production of these two development models. Thus we hope to obtain substantial new insights to the phenomenon of Open Source Development.


With many thanks for your participation,
Benno Luthiger


PS:
The results of the survey will be published under http://www.isu.unizh.ch/fuehrung/blprojects/FASD/.
We have set up the mailing list fa...@we... for this study. Please see http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/mailinglist_en.html for registration to this mailing list.

_______________________________________________________________________

Benno Luthiger
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
8092 Zurich

Mail: benno.luthiger(at)id.ethz.ch
_______________________________________________________________________

[Jpolls-developers] v2.4.2

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

Hello fellow developers,

I've released v2.4.2 which is a maintenance release with more i18n =
support (Chinese!) and a few bug-fixes and minor improvements. The plan =
is also to introduce the user management and authentication module and =
to clean-up the codebase for better future extensions points.
We've also got new members which I welcome straight away.
Now pathetic as this may seem, I've got the new servers and all the =
equipment ready but I'll move premises yet again since our current =
location hasn't got the infrastructure required for the high-speed =
broadband we've committed (yep, it happens even in the UK in the XXI =
century)
So regretfully, jpolls is not yet being hosted on my own server.

My temporarily server down south (Portugal) is also down for reasons =
that are unknown to me as of yet. Since I'm also overloaded with work =
from my daytime job, I'll have to sort it out later.

Regarding the next release, I'd appreciate any feedback on what you guys =
are doing/have done.

Cheers
jorge


The first rule of jpolls is you do not pay for jpolls!

[Jpolls-developers] Closed issues

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

Hi guys,=20

This is just to let you know the following issues towards v2.4.2 were =
fixed or added:


-Integrated user-management component with login/logout, register, and =
the typical user CRUD functionality.
-Added configuration switches to globally enable/disable authentication =
and multimedia support.
-Upgraded jpolls site to current CVS with multimedia support enabled.
-Updated Russian resource messages.
-Changed MySQL database text/string fields to binary to properly =
accommodate utf-8 encoded content (didn't seem to work for some =
locales).
-Fixed/improved locale change action by adding navigation history: now =
control is forwarded to caller URI instead of homepage (I found this to =
be really annoying on the web-site).
-Fixed web-site download URLs.



Cheers
j.

The first rule of jpolls is you do not pay for jpolls!

[Jpolls-developers] Update

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

Hi guys,

A quick update on our current state-of-affairs. This coming weekend I'll =
put the new web-site online and release v2.4.1 simultaneously, which has =
a few bugfixes and minor changes to better accommodate future =
extensions.
Below is the change log for 2.4.1:

v2.4.1
-Added poll specific data retrieval to poll editor views
-Added poll specific data retrieval services to infrastructure
-Refactored/renamed/changed most methods and signatures on the =
persistence services
-Implemented getAllResultsById(Long pollId) on persistence services to =
return
 results for the given poll id only
-Finished first-cut PDF documentation
-Added small audio player applet to poll options
-Finished jpolls web-site v1.0
-Fixed potential ServletExceptions that could occur if a user =
intentionally broke the navigation flow. Now everything resumes =
smoothly, even if there is a malicious intention to brake the code.

I am completing some test-suites and automated tests before deployment =
-hopefully I'll add them to our core before the next version.

In the interim, Osvaldo is working on a Prevayler implementation for our =
persistence layer and Alex will be handling our streaming servlets, both =
of which will hopefully be an integral part of the core changes for =
2.4.2.
Can't wait for that!


Cheers
j.

The first rule of jpolls is you do not pay for jpolls!

[Jpolls-developers] Closed issues

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

The following issues have been implemented/fixed and are now closed:

-Fixed potential NPE on chart producers if debug was on;
-Fixed minor issue with locale change action;
-Added methods that return poll specific monthly and hourly chart data =
to persistence layer's interface and its implementations;
-Added poll specific charts to selected poll views;
-Added small audio applet to play audio poll options;

Cheers
j.

[Jpolls-developers] Tasks

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

Hello fellow developers,

For those of you ready to tackle the jpolls code and produce some =
serious hacks, I've got a list of things that could be part of the next =
release. Whatever you don't handle I'll do it myself. Feel free to come =
up with other suggestions of your own.

The priorities for v2.4.X are:

1) Poll servlet accepting poll id and outputting poll HTML with CSS =
support. CSS support can be added later at no cost. Basically, to start =
with the servlet would replicate the behavior of the JSP code available =
in /views/pages/pollForm.jsp.
2) Add a J2ME module that integrates smoothly and allows J2ME devices to =
be part of an enormous pool of polls. We need 1) sorted to get this one =
up and running.
3) Add a configuration editor and module. Basically, this would be a JSP =
page along the lines of /views/pages/pollUpdateEditor.jsp, populated     =
    with the configuration data on polls-config.xml from an Struts =
action, where the configuration parameters could be changed via dropdown =
menus and checkboxes. Changes would, of course, be persisted onto the =
same xml file.
4) Look for bottlenecks, concurrency access and violations, code =
optimizations. Even if not found on the code itself, I am interested in =
places where you spotted slow responsiveness and weird behavior.

I will be handling the following items anyways (unless one of you really =
wants to get his hands dirty):

-PDF documentation
-More goodies such as overlaid charts, charts for this, charts for that
-Implement getPollResults(Long pollId) method to persistence services. =
Will return results for the given poll only.
-Add poll charts to poll editor view
-Add small customizable Applet/Flash audio/video player to poll options. =
I'll burn the audio player bridge first. Not only I'm faster handling =
audio but it's also easier to tackle than video. I'm also concerned =
about providing video upload to my currently borrowed servers -despite =
having full control on the uploadable file size. People tend to abuse =
generosity :-)


The following issues with 2.4.0 were solved/updated:
1) Replaced hardcode references with friendlier keys on Constants =
package.=20
2) Added improved Polish localization
3) Fixed issue with locale change to English by adding explicit English =
resources.

Cheers
j.


The first rule of jpolls is you do not pay for jpolls!

[Jpolls-developers] Translation

[Piotr K. <pkr...@wp...>]

Hi guys,

I did a little bit testing and improved polish translation.
I have also noticed that some messages are not localised yet. For 
example 'export options" and "items found..." message. Is that only in 
version 2.4.0?
I would also suggest formatting of browser info. Instead of putting raw 
output we could do some text processing to give only browser name (eg. 
MSIE 6.0 or Mozilla 1.5) and operating system?

Regards
Piotr
-- 
More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One 
path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total 
extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. - Woody 
Allen

[Jpolls-developers] Just testing, pls ignore

[Piotr K. <pkr...@wp...>]

-- 
More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One 
path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total 
extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. - Woody 
Allen

[Jpolls-developers] Pipeline

[Jorge L. de C. <jo...@ho...>]

Thanks for your suggestions and ideas Osvaldo,

I've added your suggestions to the "suggestions" list on the @todo file. =
Perhaps I should have told you lot what I had in the pipeline as well.
My short/medium term add-ons are:

1) Servlets accepting id and outputting poll HTML with CSS support. The =
servlet responds to any kind of device that communicates using the right =
interface. As of yet, you enter the main URL to access the poll's page. =
The purpose of the servlet is to enable automated systems to access =
polls as well or users to be able to insert code similar to <a =
href=3D"http://www.jpolls.net/getPoll?id=3Dwhatever"> to have their poll =
data streamed into their page section of choice.

2) Integrate user management. I have got an user management module from =
another project on another company that I will *change* and donate to =
the SF struts group. Integration of this module should be =
straightforward. The purpose is to keep anonymous polls but also to =
allow people that signin to be the only editors of the polls they =
create. Perhaps user hierarchies could also be accounted for.

3) Proper statistics module, which would require a few more persistence =
services. Also, some of the methods on the persistence services =
interface need rewriting/refactoring/split.=20

4) Currently, underlying support for ANY multimedia resource is =
available for the poll options. This means users can add images, audio, =
or video to their poll options/questions, as of now. I have disabled the =
video and audio because we need a small self-contained player for those =
file types (you don't really want the user to open MediaPlayer or =
whatever to see the multimedia resource...). Just when I was finishing =
my small applet audio player, a friend pointed me to an existing one =
-tested, working, smaller. Damn. It looks good but now I've been =
thinking a better looking one can be achieved with Flash. So I'm putting =
myself into that task as I write this :-) The next version will have an =
audio player after the poll option whenever an audio file was uploaded =
for it. But the version after the next will hopefully have a niiiice =
looking small Flash player for audio AND video!

5) Offer a few more of the easy goodies such as overlaid charts, charts =
for this, charts for that, you get the point. One of the things I like =
about the direction this is taking is the inherent and potential visual =
appeal.

6) Add a configuration editor and module. Currently, I've got a XML file =
with some properties that I edit to have some global properties change =
effects. I'd rather do this on an HTML form editor with dropdown menus =
and checkboxes.

7) (Piotr's) Add a J2ME module that integrates smoothly and allows J2ME =
devices to be part of an enormous pool of polls! In other words, get =
this component mobile (mobile IS trendy these days).

Long term plans:
1) Currently, although support for any number of poll options is =
possible and advertised, this infrastructure is essentially a static =
one. In the future we need a dynamic structure, i.e., separate poll =
options from the poll entity and create a 1-2-Many relationship between =
polls and poll options. This saves space (only those answers inserted =
and available are kept), and gives the user better flexibility regarding =
the number of options they want to provide per poll. It also seems to me =
it is an unique feature. I haven't seen any already made component with =
such flexibility.

Short/Long term constraints:
1) Keep the core small. Currently, it has ~140KB. I think a fully =
featured component can be achieved within the ~250KB-300KB size range.
2) Look for bottlenecks, concurrency access and violations, code =
optimizations, especially in the persistence layer. The next layer =
important to optimize is the charts package. I _doubt_ there is any =
optimization needed for the actions package (!) -code there has been =
thoroughly tested in other packages in other modules in other projects. =
It is stable as a rock, elsewhere.

Although the above items are numbered they are not to be in any peculiar =
order. I would very much appreciate hearing your ideas! So if you have =
anything to add on or change, let us know.
                                                                         =
                 ...
My comments to Osvaldo's suggestions are:
-Docs YES! It has been a constant white noise in the back of my head. =
Besides, OpenOffice these days allows me to write some proper doc and =
have it saved as .pdf. I know, I know, I've got no excuses...
-Regarding the Jax-RPC, by prevalence layer I guess you mean =
presentation layer :-). It does not make much sense as another =
persistence option. I thought about web-services when the word was =
trendy (is it still?). After doing some work with bloody SOAP on .NET =
and supervising work with bloody SOAP on J2EE, I can't say I am at all =
pleased with what can be achieved and how. It is an open option though, =
and I wouldn't say no to a free working module :-)
It would be on my not-for-this-year-options list, though.
-I admit security has not been of my initial concern. This started as a =
tutorial application to illustrate advanced Struts features, as I =
initially agreed with Ted Husted (one of Strut's creators). Free =
anonymous polls didn't require that much security in the beginning. =
However, thanks to them struts features and to the modular design (which =
still has plenty of room for improvement), security can be added easily. =
I think, however, that only a few places and a few selected =
transmissions would require such an effort.

Ok, prolix as usual, these are my 50cents.

Cheers
j.
      I=B4m from Brasil, my native language is portugese but i=B4ll try =
to speak english ;-).=20
      I think i=B4m the newer member of the team,  therefore,  i=B4d =
like to share some thoughts and questions about this project with every =
one of you:
      1 - i like Java, this is my "GANHA P=C3O".
      2 - i belive on this project.
      3 - i felt lack of project documentention.(i think it=B4s very =
important to the people know what does it do exactly)
      3 - What you think to use the Jax-Rpc on the prevalence layer? =20
      4 - What you think to use the crypt algorithms(java.security) to =
secure the data on the net?=20
      Well, this is some of my thoughts regarding the projetct. I=B4d =
like to know what you think about?=20
  Att,=20
      Osvaldo

[Jpolls-developers] Russian locale file is finished.

[Alex T. <a3...@ng...>]

Hello all.
I have finished work on translation of the jpoll on russian.

  

-- 
Best regards,
Alex Tretyakov             mailto:a3...@ng...