BOINC Manager Event Notifications

Design Document The features on this page are not implemented. This page includes discussion of proposed features, and documentation of work in progress.

Goal: configurable UI notifications of BOINC errors and events.

If the BOINC Manager window is open, then notifications should appear in the window (status bar) instead. This distinction isn't quite so clear cut for the simple view.

Windows XP

Existing balloon notifications for errors.

• Add configuration options and other events.

Windows Vista

Existing balloon notifications for errors.

• Alerts were in Longhorn, but not in Vista.
• Some improved balloon features.

Mac OS X

• Support Growl.

Linux

• Add notification icon to BOINC Manager first.

Events

Event	Default notification	Priority	Comments
BOINC needs an Internet connection and is (almost) out of work	Balloon notification	Critical	Cancel notification on reconnect
Lost connection to core client	Balloon notification	Normal	Cancel notification on reconnect
BOINC needs an Internet connection	Balloon notification	Normal	Cancel notification on reconnect
Abnormal task termination	None	Normal
Task start	None	Low	Realtime
Task finish	None	Low	Realtime

Status

The notification mechanism must not be used to indicate status. However, there are other possible interfaces for conveying status.

Vista

The notification icon is extended with owner-draw tooltips. These can be used to show task progress without abusing the balloon notification system.

The sidebar can host a BOINC gadget showing status.

Mac OS X

The dashboard can host a BOINC widget showing status.