Get that syncing feeling with DirSync Pro

If you work on multiple machines with different operating systems, you probably still want to have all your resources available, no matter where you are. If some of those resources are files, you can keep them in sync across all your platforms with DirSync Pro, a lightweight but powerful Java utility for file and folder synchronization whose most recent version was released last week.

DirSync Pro sports an easy-to-use GUI and can synchronize the contents of one directory or many folders recursively. It can check file modification times, and therefore make incremental backups, saving the time you’d otherwise spend copying files that haven’t changed. It supports bidirectional synchronization, and also has powerful command-line facilities.

DirSync Pro is not only lightweight and cross-platform, it’s also portable. You can run the software from a USB thumb drive. You can even make an auto-run for it to trigger auto-synchronization when you plug in your device.

Dutch programmer Omid Givi ran across the application, which was then called dirsync, when he went looking for such a synchronization program a couple of years ago. “I used it for a while, and somehow I got involved developing it. Previous project manager Frank Gerbig wanted to retire, so I took the project over, and renamed it DirSync Pro.

“I use Eclipse to code, the NetBeans GUI editor to maintain the GUI, Ant to build stuff, the GIMP for graphic manipulation, and OpenOffice.org to maintain the help pages – all open source projects that do exactly what I need them to do.

“For upcoming versions I’m working on some easy-to-use preconfigured synchronization profiles, such as full backup, incremental backup, and synchronize left and right, so first-time users can set up a sync with only a couple of clicks. FTP synchronization and scheduling jobs will come after that.

“If you are willing to contribute to the code, graphics, help files, testing, or anything else you think can help, please contact me.”

Nagstamon: A Nagios status monitor for the desktop

Nagios monitors an enterprise’s infrastructure to help administrators identify and resolve problems. Nagstamon is a desktop status monitor utility that provides a graphical front end to information from Nagios. Appearing on a user’s desktop as a system tray icon or floating status bar, Nagstamon checks the status web pages of predefined Nagios servers at configured intervals and displays information about down or faulty hosts and services in a short summary. Users can get more information by clicking or hovering over the display, and can connect to the host or service from a context menu to deal with its issues immediately. Nagstamon gives you an almost realtime window into your systems’ status.

German developer Henri Wahl says he used to use Nagios Checker by Petr Šimek to display Nagios server status on work desktops, “which is a great tool, but I did not want to always have a Firefox window opened to monitor our network and servers. I started working on Nagstamon in summer 2008. It’s written in Python, and I use SPE for editing and Gazpacho for GUI design, along with Inkscape for creating the graphics I did not take from GNOME.”

Wahl says he gets a lot of great feedback from SourceForge.net users. “I have some items on the project to-do list that came from users, like displaying flapping hosts or repeated sound notification. I’d also like to let users set hosts and services into maintenance mode from Nagstamon without visiting a Nagios server’s webpage. Maybe that will get into version 1.0.” However, because he works on Nagstamon in his spare time, Wahl doesn’t know when a new release will be ready.

Cross-platform accounting app offers special features for German users

Six years ago, German developer Jochen Staerk began coding GnuAccounting as a proof-of-concept of a magazine article on embedding OpenOffice.org. Today the Java-based accounting and bookkeeping application comes integrated with OpenOffice.org, and supports Homebanking Computer Interface (HBCI) chipcard online banking for German users. Of course it also lets you create invoices and credit memos and book incoming invoices.

In GnuAccounting you can import your bank statement (via HBCI or from Moneyplex or Starmoney export files) and select the VAT rate and the corresponding contra accounts. Because GnuAccounting uses double-entry bookkeeping, this import pushes the correct values to all related accounts. “This is more than 90% of the work in my (very small) company,” Staerk says, and more efficient than the usual approach of booking invoices and then crosschecking them against your bank statement.

Staerk chose to write GnuAccounting in Java for its portability, and uses the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) for its straightforward design. He promotes the application via the Web (“I’m very proud that the ultimate SWT tutorial, which brought me to SWT, links to GnuAccounting”), with articles such as one in a German open source magazine, and with talks like the one at last year’s Linux-Tag conference in Berlin. He hosts the code at SourceForge.net (“THE central open source repository, the first site to visit when I look for open source products – and its infrastructure (Subversion, wikis, project pages, mailing lists, bug tracker, you name it) is a great help”) and announces every new release via freshmeat, pro-linux.de, osnews.com, and elsewhere.

The project is still in beta. Staerk wants to enhance its stability, and has some bugfixes on his agenda: the template designer window, for instance, can crash if you select different transaction types too quickly. He’s considering adding some rudimentary fiscal year management, and moving to an Eclipse/Rich Client Platform version. He also wants to provide a manual and online help.

Staerk welcomes help from developers, testers, and translators. You can send Staerk e-mail, or join the project’s developer mailing list.