Google Summer of Code 2012

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Google Summer of Code 2012 is now being planned. As in previous years, Google has generously sponsored students to work on Free Software projects. AbiWord plans to participate in the program, as it did in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011

Organizations may apply to the GSoC program between February 27th and March 9th, 2012. Students may apply to approved mentoring organizations between March 26th and April 6th, 2012 - please see the Google program page for specifics on the timeline!

Google Summer of Code 2012 program page

Contents

Project Ideas

This is a list of project ideas with the name of a potential mentor. You can use these ideas as a basis for your proposal, but if you have an idea that is not in this list, feel free to propose it.

Projects with an interested mentor

Table improvements

Proposed by: Martin Sevior

AbiWord's table support currently lacks the ability to make a selected row repeat at the top of every page the table is broken over. This useful for big tables with a heading above each column. Repeated rows allow the headings to be visible at the top of every page. This project would implement that.

This includes both the backend work to enable AbiWord to display those tables and to fix the table dialog to enable the user to implement the feature.

Add a testing framework

AbiWord needs a functional/regression test suite. You would propose testing frameworks, methodologies, key areas of the code that you would test, etc. You may want to address the following points in your proposal:

Improve ODF support

Proposed by Martin Sevior

AbiWord has rather good ODF support but it is not perfect. There are a collection ODF import/export bugs that need fixing. This project would be to fix these and improve our ODF compliance.

Improve import/export of maths

Proposed by Jean Brefort

Implement and improve the import and export of maths to rtf and odt. Investigate import and export of maths to docx. While we can in principle import and export maths to odt there are many bugs. We cannot import/export maths to rtf or docx. The project would to improve and implement this filter.

Implement support for svg snaphots for embedded objects

Proposed by Jean Brefort

Implement support for svg snaphots for embedded objects such as equations and charts whenever possible. Currently, when the math plugin is not installed, equations are printed at low resolution.

Improve docx format support

Proposed by Martin Sevior

AbiWord has reasonable support for MicroSoft Open XML file format (docx) however it is far from perfect. The project would be to gather together a collection of sophisticated .abw file and translate abw => write out docx => read in docx to MS Word => write out docx (MS Word) => read in to abiword> write out abw. Perfect translation would be the final abw is identical to the original. The project would be to improve docx support as we find errors in the translation.

Application process

AbiWord is primarily written in the C++ programming language (and to a lesser extent, C). Ideal applicants would have some experience in one or both of these languages and would be able to demonstrate this.

Google start accepting student applications from March 26th, 2012. Students wishing to work on AbiWord over the 2012 summer for USD $5000.00 should follow the steps outlined here - Google Guide to SoC applicants

A presentation on applying for Google Summer of Code focusing on AbiWord can be found here - Google Summer of Code Introductory Presentation - AbiWord

The Application 

*Name:*
*Email:*
*Project Title:*
*Synopsis:*
  A short description of your project.
*Benefits to the AbiWord (and/or other) project(s):*
*Deliverables:*
  Quantifiable results. E.g. "At the end of my project, AbiWord's piece table will be 50 times faster."
*Project Details:*
  A more detailed description of your project.
*Project Schedule:*
  How long will the project take? When can you begin work? Do you know of any planned absences or 
  other major conflicts (summer classes, vacations, etc.)
*Bio:*
  Who are you? What makes you the best person to work on this project?

Application Review

Applicants are encouraged to discuss their project ideas on the mailing list, irc, or with individual mentors before submitting the proposal. However, it's unlikely that you'll get much useful feedback by posting your application to the mailing list.

Google's application submission system allows applicants to edit their proposals after they've been submitted. It also allows mentors to read your proposals and comment both publicly & privately on them. Our advice is to submit your proposals to the GSoC program as soon as you are reasonably comfortable with them. If we feel that your proposal is unclear or otherwise "lacking", we will ask you to edit it.

Additional Requirements

In addition, we require you to make a screenshot as described below:

  • Checkout abiword from our svn repository.
  • Make a debug build of the application. (Pass --enable-debug to configure, or when compiling on Windows, use Visual C++ build)
  • The file abi/src/wp/ap/xp/ap_EditMethods.cpp is the file that describes the functions that are called from the Graphical User interface.
  • The function "fileInsertGraphic" is called when the user chooses to insert a picture. Just before returning, add a debug statement: 
UT_DEBUGMSG(("Image has been inserted!!\n"))
  • Take a screenshot of the debug output from abiword showing this statement has executed.
  • Attach a png image of this screenshot to your application email or post the screenshot on the web somewhere and include a link to it in your application.

More detailed building instructions are available in the "Compiling AbiWord" article. "Developing AbiWord on Windows using Visual C++" discusses building Abiword for Windows.

Where do I actually apply?

Submit your application through the GSoC 2012 website. Register as a student first then submit your application. http://socghop.appspot.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2012

Mentoring Organization Application

Describe your organization

The AbiSource community consists of a highly skilled group of people interested in, as our tagline states, bringing Word Processing to Everyone. We do this for example by making our software, AbiWord being our flagship product, available on as many (operating) systems as possible, and adapting it for use on the One Laptop Per Child system.

Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2012? What do you hope to gain by participating?

AbiWord has had a very rewarding experience with GSoC during the past 6 years. we have many new feature implement and bugs fixed. In addition we have attracted enthusiastic new contributors. We hope to improve on our successes by making further improvements and by attracting new talented developers to our organization. In fact 2 of the mentors list in this application were previous GSoC students. We think this is a fantastic validation of both GSoC and our own organisation.

Did your organization participate in past GSoCs? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation.

We've had a fantastic run so far and are really grateful for Google's support. We've had 21 successful projects and only one missing student over six years. Some of biggest improvements and new features have been implemented through the GSoC program. Our biggest complaint has been that not all students have been truthful and forthcoming with their availability.

See Google Summer of Code 2006 , Google Summer of Code 2007 , Google Summer of Code 2008 , Google Summer of Code 2009, Google Summer of Code 2010, and Google Summer of Code 2011 for information related to our involvement in GSoC.

Who will your organization administrator be? Please include Google Account information.

Martin Sevior

What license(s) does your project use?

What is the URL for your ideas page?

http://www.abisource.com/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_2012

What is the main development mailing list or forum for your organization?

abiword-dev AT abisource.com (Archives)

Does your organization have an application template you would like to see students use? If so, please provide it now. 

*Name:*
*Email:*
*Project Title:*
*Synopsis:*
  A short description of your project.
*Benefits to the AbiWord (and/or other) project(s):*
*Deliverables:*
  Quantifiable results. E.g. “At the end of my project, AbiWord’s piece table will be 50 times faster.”
*Project Details:*
  A more detailed description of your project.
*Project Schedule:*
  How long will the project take? When can you begin work? Do you know of any planned absences or 
  other major conflicts (summer classes, vacations, etc.)
*Bio:*
  Who are you? What makes you the best person to work on this project?
*Amount Requested:*
  (Put in $5000.00)

In addition, we require you to make a screenshot as described below:

  • Checkout abiword from our svn repository.
  • Make a debug build of the application. (Pass --enable-debug to configure, or when compiling on Windows, use “ABI_OPT_DEBUG=1 make” in place of “make”)
  • The file abi/src/wp/ap/xp/ap_EditMethods.cpp is the file that describes the functions that are called from the Graphical User interface.
  • The function “fileInsertGraphic” is called when the user chooses to insert a picture. Just before returning, add a debug statement: 
UT_DEBUGMSG((“Image has been inserted!!\n”))
  • Take a screenshot of the debug output from abiword showing this statement has executed.
  • Attach a png image of this screenshot to your application or post the screenshot on the web somewhere and include a link to it in your application.

More detailed building instructions are available in the “Compiling AbiWord” article.

What is the main IRC channel for your organization?

irc://irc.gnome.org#abiword

Who will be your backup organization administrator? Please include Google Account information.

Marc Maurer; uwog AT uwog.net

Who will your mentors be? Please include Google Account information.

  • Marc Maurer; uwog AT uwog.net
  • Martin Sevior; msevior AT gmail.com
  • Kathiravelu Pradeeban; kk.pradeeban AT gmail.com
  • Xun Sun; xun.sun.cn AT gmail.com
  • Jean Bréfort; jean.brefort AT gmail.com

What criteria did you use to select these individuals as mentors? Please be as specific as possible.

Our mentors are highly-motivated, long-standing contributors to the AbiWord project. All of them have a deep first hand knowledge of the AbiWord codebase and are community members "in good standing". All have been involved in previous GSoC projects through proposing ideas, reviewing applications, and mentoring students.

What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students?

We've had a student disappear before. It's thoroughly unpleasant. We hope to minimize the damage done by a missing student by requiring routine code updates.

What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors?

This has not been a problem in previous GSoC programs. But we plan for each project to have at least one "backup" mentor who remains involved in each student's particular GSoC project, who shall assist in cases where the primary mentor cannot fulfill his/her obligations.

What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project's community before, during and after the program?

All of our mentors strongly encourage would-be students to get involved on both the mailing list and the IRC channel, where most of the developers hang out.

This year, our project list has generated a lot of interest before we'd even submitted it to Google. All of the mentors with their contact info listed on the proposal page have gotten at least 1 email from an interested student.

What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes?

AbiWord's main strength is its community. We strive to provide a fun, cooperative atmosphere with interesting and rewarding projects.

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