JSMS

Infobox Software
name = JSMS



developer = Finbarr Brady, Keith Flynn
frequently updated = yes
programming language = Java
operating system = Cross-platform
language = English (with dictionary support for hundreds of languages)
license = GNU General Public License (GPL)
website = [http://jsmsirl.sourceforge.net http://jsmsirl.sourceforge.net]

JSMS is a free, cross-platform software application that allows mobile phone users send text messages directly from their PC desktop using the short message service (SMS). Messages appear to recipients exactly as if they were sent from a mobile phone.

JSMS takes advantage of the fact that many mobile phone operators offer free text message services to customers who have registered with their online websites. Typically, the mobile operator allocates a certain number of free text messages that can be sent from their website on a monthly basis. JSMS makes life simpler for the user by allowing them to send the messages directly from their desktop. The application manages all of the interactions with the operators website, making the process of sending a message much faster. JSMS also provides a whole wealth of other features to make it easier for the user to take advantage of their free credits.

How it works

JSMS emulates a user of a web browser and does all the tedious work of logging into the online account provided to the user by his/her mobile operator, navigating to the "free text message" page, typing the message, choosing the contacts and then sending the message. Because the process is 100% automated, it can be executed "much" quicker than if the user were manually interacting with the website. Efficiencies are also gained by ignoring all images on the website, whereas a user accessing the site via a web browser would have to wait until all images were downloaded and rendered.

Platforms

JSMS is developed using Java SE (version 5 and later), which means it should run on any computer capable of running a suitable Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Automated installers are currently provided for the following platforms: Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux and Solaris.

History

JSMS was created in 2006 by Finbarr Brady, an Irish software tester. Finbarr created this simple Java application to send texts quickly from any PC. The idea was borne from the frustration of sending a free text message via his operators website. This involved having to log into the website, navigate to the text message page, select the contact(s) to send to and then to send the message.

Only when he was asked by his friends and work associates to "pass on" the application, did he realise the benefit of making JSMS available to the general public. He first published JSMS as a free download on his website, and subsequently hosted the project on SourceForge.net and licensed the source code under the GPL.

A personal friend of Finbarr's, Keith Flynn joined the project soon afterwards. Keith is a Technical Team Leader with a prominent Irish company focused on integrated network test solutions for Next Generation Networking. Keith added native support for more network operators without the need for third party servers and added many other features to enhance the program, including custom user preferences, an automatic update mechanism and native installers for each OS. [ [http://jsmsirl.sourceforge.net/JSMS/FAQ.html JSMS FAQ page] ]

Features

As well as making it quicker and easier to send text messages, JSMS also provides may other features [ [http://jsmsirl.sourceforge.net/JSMS/Features/Features.html JSMS Features] ] to aid the user:

* Internet connection proxy support
* Multi-language spell checking
* Look and Feel customisation
* Fully customizable user interface fonts and colours
* Cross platform installer
* Support for Multiple Users with individual phone books and preferences
* Automatic splitting of long messages. Individual text messages are limited to 160 characters. JSMS allows the user to send a message up to 20 times this length and automatically handles the necessary message splitting while making suer that the message recipient will never be in doubt about orcer the order of the individual parts of the messages
* Ability to send to groups of contacts at once
* Reports the number of remaining free credits
* Message history log
* Account information from operators website
* Phone book
* Ability to import from operators website and popular PIM sources
* Ability to backup/restore copntact details
* Automatic software updating
* Ability to send text messages directly from the command line

Security

JSMS makes the following security considerations:
* All communications to the mobile operator's website are made using encrypted secure HTTP connections using Transport Layer Security(TLS) [ [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5246 RFC5246 Transport Layer Security] ] technology.
* JSMS does not send any private information to third party servers.
* Users details and text messages are sent directly to the operator's website using encrypted secure connections to prevent third parties from seeing your sensitive information."
* Sensitive data pertaining to the users account (e.g. the users account PIN) is encrypted before being saved to your PC.
* JSMS does not attempt to protect users from phishing. In the unlikely event that a hacker hijacks an operator's website, JSMS will not attempt to detect the intrusion and will still attempt to log in to the website using the users username and password.

Availability

JSMS is currently only available to Irish customers of mobile phone operators Meteor, O2 and Vodafone.

Support

Support for JSMS is available directly from the project developers by e-mailing: [mailto:[e-mail] [e-mail]]

Credits

The following projects are used to make JSMS possible:
* [http://bitrock.com BitRock InstallBuilder] - InstallBuilder provide a cross platform installation system, and kindly provide a free licence to open source projects
* [http://launch4j.sourceforge.net Launch4j] - Lanuch4J is a cross platform Java executable wrapper
* [http://jmyspell.javahispano.net JMySpell] - JMySpell is a 100% pure-Java implementation of the MySpell spell checker, licenced under the LGPL
* [http://tomlauren.com/weblog/archives/000006.html Atomic File Transactions] - Atomic File Transactions code provided by Jonathan Amsterdan
* [http://jarbundler.sourceforge.net JarBundler] - System to allow programmers to easily create jar files
* [http://code.google.com/apis/gdata Google Data API] - Google Data API
* [http://jacob-project.wiki.sourceforge.net JACOB (Java COM Bridge)] - JACOB is a JAVA-COM Bridge that allows you to call COM Automation components from Java without writing Custom JNI
* [https://wizard.dev.java.net SwingLabs Wizard Project] - A simple API and UI for Wizards, a commonly used UI pattern in GUI interfaces
* [http://www.orbital-computer.de/JComboBox JCombobox Auto-complete] - System for auto-completing user input into Java combo boxes

References

External links

* [http://jsmsirl.sourceforge.net JSMS Home]
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/jsmsirl JSMS project on SourceForge.net]
* [http://www.vodafone.ie Vodafone Ireland]
* [http://www.02.ie O2 Ireland]
* [http://www.meteor.ie Meteor Ireland]