This page describes an obsolete prototype of Rhizome, and is retained here for historical purposes.

Create an application that allows to spread files over the mesh network by exchanging with servers that the handset can see (could be peers and web servers)

A Rhizome logical file is constituted of three elements:

• The data file (ex: serval.apk): the actual data
• The meta file (.serval.apk.meta): contains <strong>local </strong>informations
  • When the file appeared on our repository?
  • Has the file been already read?<br />&gt; It's a personal file, never exchanged but generated when a file gets into your repository (ie, when imported or downloaded)
• The manifest file (.serval.apk.manifest)
  • Contains static information on the file (author/version/creation date/file name/hash)
  • It's a companion file ; when a file is exchanged, always comes with its manifest

A file can be imported from the local FS : informations are asked to create the manifest, and the meta is automatically generated.

A file can be downloaded from another repository (an HTTP server – can be another batphone or a classic server). It comes with its manifests, and the meta is built when the file is actually downloaded. Here is the algorythm for choosing what to do with a proposed file.

• If the file exists and the version number in the new manifest is not greater, does nothin
• If the file no longer exist (because it has been deleted), do nothing except &hellip;
• If the version of the new manifest is greater, download the manifest
• Download the file
• Compute the checksum of the new file, and if it fits with the manifest, import the file in the repository.

Every 15s, the app :

1. Look for the peers
2. Locate all the possible manifests
3. Download interestings file

In the background.

There are three important locations on the SD card:

• serval-rhizome: the repository
• serval-rhizome-export: the export folder
• serval-rhizome-temp: the temporary folder

• List all the files in your local Rhizome repository
• Open (some)
• Allow to import from a file picker (asks for some info to build the associated manifest, and the meta is created automatically)
• Allow to delete a file on your Rhizome repository
• Allow to see manifest's informations
• Allow to mark the file as read (information stored in the meta file)
• Allow to export a received file “out” of the Rhizome system – for instance, if you want to keep it from evoluting
• Download a manifest and a file from the cloud (will be another Rhizom or a standard web server)
  • If the file exists and the version number in the new manifest is not greater, does nothing
  • If the version of the new manifest is greater (or the phone does not have this manifest yet), downlaod the manifest
  • Download the file
  • Take the checksum of the new file, and if it fits with the manifest, import the file in the repository.
• Background looking for other peers – WIP
• Background and periodic lookup for unknown – or newer – manifests in the neighbors and known hosts
• Lots of notifications – on update, on error, on import, on the screen :) (toast)
• Auto refresh when a file comes from the network
• Creates the architecture at the launch time, remove the unnecessary files when closing
• Possibility of defining a static repo – which will be tried each time, such as Serval update repository
• Maintain an exclusion list – the file you've downloaded and deleted, so you dont want them to reappear 15 s after.
• Allow to reinit the exclusion list (in the menu)

• Opening all files type &hellip; Looks complicated, need to trigger the MIME type from extension StackOverflow
• Message signature&hellip; I'm fighting with the keystores and algorithm. If you have an android example, i'll be glad to have a look.
• Peer lookup and actual manifest list fetching – i need the phones

• The updates stop after the app is closed. This can be changed very easily if another behavior is preferred.

MAKE SURE YOUR SD CARD IS NOT MOUNTED ON A COMPUTER OR THE PROGRAM WILL CRASH WHILE STARTING!

Android doesn't manage to access to a filesystem which is already mounted somewhere else.

1. Start the app
2. Wait for the files to appear from the network
3. Try to look their manifest
4. Look at the content of one of the meta file (especially date)
5. Delete one of the file
6. The file does NOT come back, because you've deleted it.
7. Reinit the exclusion list (in the menu)
8. When its comes back, check the meta date; should have evolved to the new date
9. Import a file (menu)
10. Give informations to build the manifest
11. Modify the .manifest to change the hash (into a wrong one)
12. Check the Manifest view : you should see a warning saying the hash is wrong
13. Increment the version number of one of the remote file and observe the update process (check in the manifest version number to ensure the update process went right.
14. Delete a file, and increment the number in the remote manifest file ; the file should come back because the number is greater and you deleted the last version, not this one.
15. Increment the version number of one of the remote manifest file and change the associated hash. The file wont update, because the hash is wrong.
16. Export one the file to rhizhome-serval-export
17. Quit the program, it will kill the update process and clear the cache directory.

In order to demonstrate how bad I am with the UI, I made this small screenshots. Romana, I know you'll hate me.

The base application wihen the menu key is pressed.

Contextual menu

If I delete a file, here is the feedback (the file's no longer in the list)

Import a file from a picker.

Add some data to the manifest

Later, you can check the manifest using the menu

The file database.xml has been updated to the version 58 from the network (background update, no action from the user)

The code source is on GitHub : https://github.com/rbochet/Rhizome-Retriever

You're more than welcome to fork / push if you find a bug you can fix in a second.

You can import easily the project in Eclipse, there are no external dependencies.
The only _strange thing for the moment is that if you want to test using the network updates, you'll have to have a place on the web where you can put manifests and files. My files are here:

• http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3505759/serval/.database.xml.manifest (and http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3505759/serval/database.xml)
• http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3505759/serval/.disable-lagfix.truite.manifest (and http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3505759/serval/disable-lagfix.truite)

But there's more fun if you can change their version number, and play with the file hash to test the functions&hellip; So find a place on the web where you can put them and where you have writing permissions. If you want to try with other files, just grab files you have already imported and their manifests from the serval-rhizome directory.
The path is to set up in the StuffDownloader class for testing purposes: StuffDownloader.java.

I may have been unclear in this documentation. If you dont understand something, send a mail romain@servalproject NOSPAM org or to the developer list.