3 "zavai" is a word of the Bolognese language which means "useless thing of no
4 value". The idea that I'm trying to do what I can with what I have.
6 It is written with the purpose of working for me; everything else is optional.
7 Feature requests for things that I don't need will likely be ignored unless
8 of course they come with patches.
12 * Install dependencies
14 apt-get install valac libglib2.0-dev libdbus-glib-1-dev libgee-dev libgtk2.0-dev libwnck-dev
16 Optional: apt-get install polygen polygen-data
22 * Install dbus.d configuration file
24 cp conf/zavai.conf /etc/dbus-1/system.d/
26 * Copy the .desktop files of the applications you use more often in ~/.zavai
31 cp /usr/share/applications/tangogps.desktop ~/.zavai
32 cp /usr/share/applications/navit.desktop ~/.zavai
33 cp /usr/share/applications/vala-terminal.desktop ~/.zavai
34 cp /usr/share/applications/midori.desktop ~/.zavai
35 cp /usr/share/applications/zhone.desktop ~/.zavai
36 cp /usr/share/applications/FBReader.desktop ~/.zavai
37 cp conf/satmon.desktop ~/.zavai
39 * Copy accessory scripts in ~/.zavai
41 cp src/display ~/.zavai
43 * Update the information about the polygen grammars installed in the system
46 src/update-polygen-info
52 This will run zavai and restart it if it quits/crashes. If you want to
53 restart zavai (for example after you build a new version) just choose
60 Push the power button to get the power menu, with options to
61 suspend/shutdown/reboot, lock the screen and keep the backlight always on
62 (useful if you are using the openmoko as a satellite navigator in the car)
66 Hold the power button longer to lock / unlock the screen. If the screen is
67 locked you see a lock icon in the traybar.
69 A short push of the power button while locked will turn on the backlight for a
70 bit, which is useful if you want to check the map for a moment. Another short
71 push will show the main zavai window, which is useful if you want to see the
72 time. Another short push will hide the main zavai window.
76 In the main window you see the time. If your GPS has a fix, the time comes
79 In the top left there is a gps icon. Push it to toggle the GPS to be always on
80 (useful to restart tangogps or navit without needing to reacquire a fix).
82 In the bottom there is a button to access the main menu.
86 Zavai shows several tray bar buttons. One kills the current application (or
87 goes back in the menu if the current application is zavai).
89 One hides and shows zavai.
91 One hides and shows the keyboard.
93 One shows the status of the battery.
97 The menu should be self-explanatory. It has options for simple GPS management
98 tasks, setting an alarm, running applications, a task switcher, and a polygen
103 It is possible to set an alarm, which will be shown in the alarm window. When
104 the alarm expires, the phone wakes up if it is suspended, and zavai vibrates
107 It is planned to use the AUX button to acknowledge the alarm and stop the
108 vibration; when this will happen, vibration can go on for more than 5 seconds.
110 When I'll implement some audio playing infrastructure, I'll implement playing
111 an audio file as well.
113 Also missing are a popup that tells that an alarm is ringing, and a notifier
114 for unacknowledged popups.
120 You can reach the calendar from the menu or by clicking on the date in the
123 The calendar shows notes on every day. You can add notes just by typing on the
124 white space below the calendar.
126 The notes are saved in ~/.zavai/cal/YEAR/MONTH/DAY.txt, feel free to:
127 - sync it with your main computer;
128 - create a tool that populates it using the information from your
129 favourite calendar system;
130 - interface zavai with a proper calendar system, without making the interface
131 harder to use (if you can).
135 Zavai currently focuses on the interface side, trying to make it easy for me
136 to reach the functions that I need. I try not to focus on hardware details
137 (yet) (when I can), so I build it on the freesmartphone framework, which is
138 unstable, underdocumented and sometimes untested, whose developers so far have
139 never answered my questions and whose API tends to change every now and again.
141 This said, I'm surprised it works for me so far.
143 TODO list / wish list
145 * FSO API "documentation":
146 http://git.freesmartphone.org/?p=specs.git;a=blob_plain;f=html/index.html;hb=HEAD
149 - GSM power and network
150 - link to open SHR-dialer
151 - icon to show if there are new messages
152 - link to open SHR-messages
153 - switch backlight keep mode when on power/recharging
154 - the button changes the default for the current power mode
156 + vibrate at alarm trigger
157 - play sound at alarm trigger
158 - acknowledge alarms with AUX button
159 - then, vibrate and play sound for longer
160 - popup that tells that an alarm is ringing
161 - leave expired alarm on screen until acknowledged
162 (alarm status icon that also brings to alarm menu)
163 - remember alarm names (on request, maybe with an add feature) and how
164 often they are triggered, and show them most frequent first
165 - remember unexpired alarms persistently (again, a table in sqlite?) so
166 that they can be reinstated if zavai is restarted
167 - show active alarms and allow to delete them
168 - unlock screen when receiving phone calls
169 - GPX status icon (off, waiting for fix, recording)
170 - GPX waypoint using AUX button
172 - track EPV (and similar) in gpx and kill trackpoints with bad accuracy
174 - shortcut icon in main screen
178 - start/stop wicd-client
179 - Simple wireless scanner (code from guessnet)
180 - Suspend phone if not calling and gps is not on and backlight is not on
181 (maybe with idle notifier?)
182 - Phone from kapula (or just running kapula)
183 - Split polygen applet in a separate app, ran via a .desktop file
184 (faster zavai startup time, can then integrate a browser in the polygen
185 applet, makes more sense altogether)
186 - Is there a way to lock the screen completely turning off the touchscreen, so
187 that interrupts are not even generated?
189 - Location aware (show timezones in order of distance from current
191 - Show timezone in clock
194 - Why sometimes the phone will stop acting normal and will completely ignore
195 the screen for the purpose of screen dimming, that is, it will dim the
196 screen even if I'm using the touchscreen?
198 * Not quite needed yet:
199 - GPX log with more features (quality, course, speed, ...)
200 - Take a waypoint then show a menu with a timeout
201 - Add a scribbled note
203 - Add a text note (tickling the text input method thing)
204 If timeout expires, leave the waypoint with the automatic name
206 (also on dbus fuckup)
207 (can be done by just quitting and let the runner script restart it)
208 - get fix events without requesting the GPX resource (and then? gpx log all the time? what for?)