Adobe Air Desktop Client

[conrado]

@Ignacio: Java could achieve some features easily, but I don't know about 'sleeping in the tray' (that sounds a lot like Windows) or how it would deal with each OS file management for syncing files.

My main point is that programming for the client (and maintaining the apps on the client side) is a lot harder when you exit the browser. The more we can achieve with the browser, the best.

Then, for better integration with client devices, I would go the 'standard-web-services' way, providing services and interfaces that client apps and devices could sync with (WebDAV, LDAP, iCal, etc.).

@Max: Great initiative!

[ignacio]

Java applications can be ran as windows services and there's a way to put Java Apps on the system tray. About monitoring the file system probably you can't achieve with Java all that you would with a Windows native app, but you can get away with it by using generic methods that would work on all OS's, like polling for changes. Still, of course, a Java application can't be as good on Windows as a native application, but you can leave out some features in exchange for portability + less maintenance + openness. I guess it's all about balance. The same happens with browser vs desktop app. You can't achieve everything on the browser, you may need desktop apps to work with user info that is stored on the user's computer. Using desktop apps along with the web app you get more functionality, but you add the cost of maintaining another app.

[JedMeister]

I too am really interested in an offline mode for OpenGoo. After searching I can see there are a number of topics covering this area, but seeing as this one is the most active I'll post here.

I think continuing to have OpenGoo operate from within a browser is the best way to go. It ensures cross platform compatibility and minimizes additional work for devs when working on changes (don't need to be ported to some other interface, which itself would need to be ported to each OS to ensure cross platform support).

Having said that, bundling OpenGoo with Prism (or similar minimalist browser) seems like a perfect idea.

My inclination would be to run with Google Gears but then again I'm a very very noobish programmer type person. There may be much easier ways to acheive the offline ends?

I would be more than happy to test any ideas put forward (provided some fairly clear steps/code can be provided).

PS congrats to devs on OpenGoo 1.4.1 - its a winner!

[Pet]

I don't think it is necessary to "bundle" OG with Prism, since all it takes is for one to install prism, then click once to create your opengoo app. Anyone can do this. Also, prism doesn't mean it will work offline, prism only affects the interface, you will still need to connect to the database and code.  If you want offline access, then the best way is to run your own OG installation on your local network.  It is pretty easy, and there are a number of ways to do it (ie there are plenty of free LAMP vms you can download and run on your local machine, or on a spare PC).

[conrado]

Offline access would be great. We haven't decided on the best way to go, nor is it currently top priority.

Thanks for the compliments JedMeister. And keep tuned for 1.5.0 

[JedMeister]

Hi, I've been thinking about this some more.

@Pet - I think perhaps you misunderstood where I was coming from. I wasn't very clear! I had 2 thoughts running in parallel and didn't draw them out very well.

Thinking about a standalone desktop OpenGoo desktop app - I was thinking that it could come with Prism (or similar) and whatever backend it would need (ie some sort of mirco AMP stack) all bundled into a single installer. I know that any browser could also be used but I think a chromeless browser customised specifically for OpenGoo would be way sweet. Sorry I probably didn't explain myself very well. The beauty of doing it that way is that then you could have it operate as a standalone desktop app, or have a 'replication plugin' or something of the sort to allow it to synchronize data with another client or a central server. So it could cover everything from the casual home user with a home network to corporate domain.

What I currently have is OpenGoo running on a Turnkey Linux (Ubuntu based) LAMP appliance (virtual machine). It works really well onsite, and is also available offsite although quite slow (limitation of internet upload bandwidth I'm fairly certain). As it is, it's adequate for checking the calendar offsite but not much else as its so slow. In the future we will have people out in the field needing to connect with their laptops and their service would often be intermittent. I have also been thinking about replicating the data online with a hosting company, but I'm not 100% sure about that. It would solve the offsite speed problem, but not for anyone with no net connection at all.

So I have been thinking, something that I beleive I could do myself is investigate some sort of micro AMP stack (perhaps the one suggested here somewhere) and replication with the onsite server.

So .... my question is, what data would I need to replicate to get this to work offline in the way I'm talking? What do I need to replicate? Just the MySQL database? What other files?

[koko]

Hi,

I've been following this thread with great interest!
Hopefully there will be steps taken quick :-D

A web-application working the way JedMeister suggested: Mindmeister ( http://www.mindmeister.com/ )

Hopefully this can help.

[Pet]

@JedMeister: ah, sorry for the misconception, that completely makes sense now.  I can see how that would make for some interesting advantages.

[trentrhode]

Hi all,
I am currently using dotProject and am looking to switch to OpenGoo/Feng Office... however my main concern is the lack of an offline mode, or a desktop time tracker.  As a project manager looking to create teams that can track their time easily, it is cumbersome and difficult to get them to login to a website every time to track their time in a large web application, when all I want them to do is to be able to track and submit time logs.

I think a good example of something that would provide a fair amount of functionality is the Yahoo widget (which runs on all platforms) dotProject Task Tracker, which enables one to track their time and submit logs without having to log in to the system via browser. Incredibly useful. This must not be too difficult to develop for Feng Office. Why not develop a simple widget like this for now and work from there?

Secondly, Activecollab and Basecamp can work with TimePost (http://www.timepost2.com), and it would be great to have something like this for Feng Office.

Thanks,
Trent

[conrado]

Noted.