Start Officially Documenting

Today I was concentrating on updating the current setup of the project. I created a new SQL database and web project. In this setup I have just added a phone number attribute. A bit extreme I know, however before I had the unqiue ID of the table as the primary key. Editing the table would of been a lot of hassle so just making a new one was much simpler, well kinda.

The next thing for me to do is to check for the users that are in my address book and add them to my secure contacts list. 

Once the above task is completed, I can start to look at sending a file from one user to another and receiving a notification if they are offline. Once that is complete, hopefully its plain sailing from then on but who knows. One day at a time.

From 7-9 in the library, I will try to update the document as much as possible so David will have an updated version for next week.

Rainy Wednesday

I didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday but I am going to do it now.

Yesterday I was able to register my iOS app in order to recieve push notifications. The next task for me to undertake is to share a file with another user, and if they are offline, they will get a notification to indicate that a file is waiting for them.

Another thing task that I completed yesterday was implementing a new UI. By simply adding a custom Nav bar, the app has transformed. The sleek blue feel contrasts well with the white. I will try and get user feedback on this aesthetics of the application as soon as I can.

For now, the list of tasks on the Todo list are as follows:

• Improve Dropbox Browser
• Implement Address Book
• Notifications to other users
• Reconfigure SQL DB. Use phone number as key.

Supervisor Meeting

Today I had another meeting with my Supervisor David. We discussed topics such as what direction the app was going and what features could still be implemented to improve the overall grade.

Tasks that he outlined that would be nice to include within the application are

• Address Book sync with the Online Database.Checks to see who has app installed.
• Preview of file.
• Share Multiple Files
• Multiple Users getting notifications when file is sent.
• Improve UI

David explicitly stated that if I was to improve on the social aspect of this app, I would get a higher mark. He disclosed that if I was to give him what I have now, I would get the same mark as last semester, which is not what I want to achieve. As Tiger Woods says “My motivation is always better”. In order for me to achieve my goal of a 2.1, I require a 63% average this semester. It is vital I score well in the Project 2 considering that it is double weighted. Consequently, getting as much marks in this module as possible will help me in my overall mark.

I will also have to give David Weekly Documents of my Final Report, in order for him to keep me on the right Track. Sacrifices need to be made, but in the end it will be worth it.  

Wekeend Report

So far this weekend I was able to get my app uploading files to the server and consequently downloading files from the server. 

I need to discuss with David as to how the user will receive these files in a presentable way. I am making good progress and feel like I am nearly over the home stretch. There is still a lot of work to do but I am well up for it. Also I must discuss with David with regards what needs to go into the document.

Server Setup!

Today I got the amazon instance set up with apache2 tomcat7 mysql and php5. I am able to deploy my web project as a war file and retrieve information from the DB using php. I have also uploaded my php scripts on the apache2 web server which eliminates the need for two server.

I need to concentrate on uploading a file to the webserver from the iphone and generating a link to the recipient 

Today’s Tasks

For today I would hope to get the Amazon Web Service in order to connect my phone to the webserver. This will be essential in the coming weeks as you don’t want a situation arising where users have to be on the same network in order to be able to connect to this application.

Once the web server is set up I can begin sending push notifications to application when certain events occur such as receiving files when users are offline.

Watch this video

How to set up Amazon Ec2,Apache,MYSQL,PHP and Tomcat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZFSSVVdqmw

3 posts in one day. A New Record (I think)

As the title suggests….well yeah.

So far today I have looked at how to set up the notifications within the application. When a user is sent a file and they are not within the app, they are sent a “notification” to alert them that they have a file waiting for them.

Another task I looked at today is, Wifi Connectivity. I was able to use the utility classes called “Reachability” which allows developers to alert the user regarding what connection speed they are using.

The next thing I need to do is implement a Chat feature. I will need to test it between two devices. That means I need to complete a series of tasks before that is possible

• Connect Phone to Web Server
• When File is uploaded to server, send notification to user if they are offline
• Send link to user to download file

There are only three tasks defined above but they entail a lot of stuff.

Forgetful Tuesday

Today hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts but hopefully it will end in a good one. Forgot my wallet this morning but the asset has been acquired. Due to other assignments and classes that took place yesterday evening, the same tasks remain the same as defined in the previous post.

We are back

Looking back at my old posts, the last time I blogged was on the 19th of March. The Easter Cup weather was a disaster as well as the performance but we won’t talk about that.

Since then, a lot has changed. I have been able to complete the following tasks

• Deploy Web App
• Produce JSON feed from Web App
• Web Project connects to database
• iOS App pulls down JSON feed from Web Project
• Populate List of Users in iOS
• Display if users are online or offline

The things that need to be completed this week are.

• Notifications
• Share file with other users
• Wifi Connectivity