SMSLib News

SMSLib forum unavailable

2011-09-12T12:12:00.002+03:00

Hi all,

A database problem has been identified which has forced me to temporarily disable the forum.
For the time being, please use the old SMSLib User Group until I sort things out.

Thanks.

HOJY WYLESS_600 USB Modem

2011-05-28T00:08:00.006+03:00

This is an initial review of my latest USB modem.

I needed to see how these $20 devices work, as they are a pretty cheap alternative to a real gsm modem. So I bought one. I shopped from Deal Extreme. First time, everything went ok. Order arrived in Greece after a couple of weeks - I was prepared for this delay, as they use standard post. Package was stamped as "sample".

I purchased this device.

Don't expect much from the packaging or the modem. I've managed to insert the SIM correctly after trying a couple of times. There is no manual or anything, no brand and the label just reads "EDGE MODEM"... LOL!

Installation on my Win XP machine:

1) Plug the USB.
2) Wait for the driver to install.
3) Don't run the setup! If it runs by itself, cancel it!
4) Reboot as instructed.
5) The USB appears as a normal USB storage device.
6) Run the setup in order to install the modem drivers.

Mine appeared as COM5. It identified itself like this:

Modem Information:
Manufacturer: HOJY
Model: WYLESS_600
Serial No: 353036025712340
SIM IMSI: ** MASKED **
Signal Level: -71 dBm
Battery Level: 100%

I used the default HUAWEI handler, i.e.:

new SerialModemGateway("modem.com1", "COM6", 115200, "Huawei", "");

The good thing is that this cheap device plays OK! I've managed to send and receive messages without problems. The inbound notifications don't work, but I will examine it further.

Of course, I cannot give any feedback about the stability of the device in long running applications. I just played for a couple of hours and, for what's worth, it seems good enough.

Fix for "Orphaned part detection issue".

2011-05-14T22:33:00.021+03:00

Hi all,

Here is the fix for the previously reported bug - a really important bug that leads to message loss with mathematical accuracy. You are advised to fix this manually ASAP. The same fix can be applied to v3.4.6 as well.

Edit ModemGateway.java file.
Locate the checkMpMsgList(msgList) call inside the readMessagesPDU() method.
Add the following lines:

List tmpList;
for (int k = 0; k < this.mpMsgList.size(); k++)
{
tmpList = this.mpMsgList.get(k);
tmpList.clear();
}
mpMsgList.clear();

For more information, check this revision.
If you follow the SMSLib repository, just update to revision r2303.

An official new release will of course, follow shortly.

Orphaned part detection issue.

2011-05-09T21:58:00.040+03:00

While checking a user bug report, I've discovered something really worrying that may lead to data (i.e. message) loss. The actual cause of this problem has not (yet) been identified, but since data loss was observed, a formal warning is in order:

An implementation of an orphaned callback notification with code to delete the orphaned part reported, either explicitly or by returning TRUE from the notification method, may wipe out other normal (i.e. non-orphaned) messages.

I've observed this a couple of times without being able to trace down the reason.

In case you have implemented the orphaned part notification method, you are advised to remove the callback handler ASAP.

You can follow the progress on this issue on the relevant Issue Tracker Ticket. More information will also be posted on the blog.

SMSLib v3.5.1 released.

2011-04-22T11:20:00.001+03:00

Greetings all,

SMSLib v3.5.1 is now available.

This is a maintenance release, solving a couple of important bugs and annoyances. It also includes a new HTTP handler for EzTexting, kindly donated by Velvetech, LLC.

More information:
Release Notes
Download SMSLib

Getting ready for SMSLib/Maven...

2010-11-23T14:02:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

I guess it's time to fulfil a long standing request: to make SMSLib available via a Maven repo.

Hendy, who has recently joined the team, has performed all the necessary setup for hosting SMSLib on a public Maven repository. At this point and before SMSLib is put on public repos we need your help!

If you are a Maven guy, please follow this thread and report your experience / comments.
Thanks in advance!

SMSLib v3.5.0 released.

2010-11-13T22:09:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

It's been some time, but SMSLib v3.5.0 is now available.
As always, you are advised to have a look at the Release Notes and plan your upgrade carefully.

You can download the latest SMSLib packages for both Java and .NET platforms from the Download page.

Web site maintenance...

2010-09-26T12:07:00.000+03:00

Maintenance notice from my hosting provider:

SoftLayer Scheduled Maintenance - Short Notice [09/26/2010]
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2010 (09/26/2010)
Start time (GMT+00:00): 06:00 AM
End time (GMT+00:00): 10:00 AM

The web site may be unavailable during the above window.

BULKSMS Handler updates.

2010-08-30T22:29:00.000+03:00

Two important fixes are available for the BULKSMS handler:

Using POST instead of GET when sending out messages.
Fix for the QueryMessage() method which was found broken.

If you work with BULKSMS, please download the latest file from here. Assuming you are using SMSLib v3.4.6, you won't have any problems overwriting your version of the BulkSmsHTTPGateway.java file with this one.

The new SMSLib Forum.

2010-08-13T09:18:00.000+03:00

Hi all,

Please note the following changes:

The SMSLib Discussion Group will be closed down. To be exact, it will be set to Archive mode, which means that no new posts will be accepted but otherwise will be fully accessible and searchable to all people. The operation of the group has been problematic lately (couple of months) - I have constant complaints from people getting banned for no reason or from people saying that their posts never appear. I have no other alternative than to shut it down...
The brand new SMSLib Forum is now launched. I wanted a light and discussion oriented forum software so I've installed bbPress.

The Discussion Group shutdown is imminent, so please direct all your questions to the Forum.

Hope to see you all there!

Discussion group banning.

2010-06-03T11:31:00.000+03:00

Hi all,

In the last couple of days I've received requests from 3-4 people to unban them from the discussion group. After checking them, their accounts were indeed banned - but not from me...

This is a very high rate of complaints if you consider that its been years since the last one... I don't know if this is a Google Groups bug or any new half-working-as-always, antispam feature that bans suspicious posts - point is that I never ban people without a serious reason and without warning them first.

If you see that you are banned from the group, please drop me an email and I will sort it out asap.

SMSLib / Rails Integration.

2010-05-20T10:29:00.000+03:00

Originally referenced on SMSLib tracker, here is another project based on SMSLib: SMSServerGui.

Copying from the author's documentation: "[SMSServerGui] It is a Ruby on Rails based web front for SMSServer. It acts as interface between users and SMSserver. Users can load , unload sms. Also they can monitor SMSServer from this."

Sounds interesting...

Modem-based 3G signal analysis.

2010-05-15T21:12:00.001+03:00

Novak Petrovic has written an interesting article about 3G signal analysis using SMSLib. Pretty unique idea - never thought that this library could be used for such a purpose.

Novak has also contributed his enhancements to the SMSLib project and will be included in the next major release. Thanks!

SMSLib v3.4.6 released.

2010-04-22T22:36:00.000+03:00

SMSLib v3.4.6 has been released.

You will find many new features in this release, the most important of which are:

Enhanced USSD support.
Derby database support for SMSServer.
PDUUtils now packed as an independent jar file.
The .NET Framework edition has now full debug logging capabilities.
SMSServer has now a Kannel interface.
Last, but certainly not least, SMSLib now supports the SMPP protocol with the help of the jsmpp library.

You may find the full details of this version in the Release Notes.

Important Note: Please read the Release Notes carefully. SMSLib v3.4.6 is incompatible with the previous releases! Two issues (one for the Java and one for the .NET edition) must catch your attention and are marked in red in the Release Notes.

You may download the latest SMSLib packages for both Java and .NET platforms from the Download page.

Project news.

2010-04-08T12:22:00.001+03:00

Greetings,

Bassam Al-Sarori has joined SMSLib project. Bassam is from Yemen and he works as a senior engineer in the local telecommunications company SabaFon.

Bassam has implemented an interesting new SMSLib/SMSServer gateway: a gateway that links SMSLib with Kannel, allowing the former to control Kannel and sent messages via the latter's SMPP connections. If you are interested in this new functionality, you can have a quick look at this commit set.

The new Kannel gateway will be included in the next release.

Snapshot builds available.

2010-04-02T21:07:00.000+03:00

Hi all,

In order to help friends having difficulty accessing the latest code from the repository, as well as .NET friends for whom the DLL build process is a bit complicated, I've decided to publish snapshot builds of the latest SMSLib sources.

The builds can be found here: http://smslib.org/download/files/snapshots/

Change of logging subsystem.

2010-02-21T00:29:00.002+02:00

Greetings,

One of the pending issues of the .NET SMSLib package was the debug logging.

I had much trouble while trying to make the logging subsystem work as it should. For example, read a configuration file and react accordingly, or "silence" completely. In fact, nothing worked... I am sure that this has something to do with the IKVM conversion.

After a lot of experiments, I found that I could control the logging if I disable the Simple Logging Facade. If I switch to a pure log4j solution, I can easily control if, when and how the debug logging gets activated.

So, I have decided to dump the Logging Facade library. Starting from the next release, Java users should expect log4j to be the only logging dependency. .NET users are not directly affected by this as the IKVM conversion takes care of the details. Instructions will be provided in order to allow them to enable/disable debug logs at will.

SMSLib @Twitter

2010-02-05T14:29:00.002+02:00

Hi all,

Just to drop a note that a Twitter account has been opened. Currently, the only thing posted on Twitter is this blog's feed (via the FeedBurner socialize settings). So, if you are of those people who are in love with Twitter, you can get SMSLib news there as well.

Have fun.

SMSLib v3.4.5 released.

2010-01-06T22:07:00.001+02:00

Greetings and warmest wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year.

SMSLib v3.4.5 has been released.
Its primarily a bug fix release. Important notes:

The HttpServer Interface has been updated to be used with Jetty 7. Jetty 6 will be removed from my downloads' list - you can grab the latest version directly from Eclipse Jetty Distributions.
This version will hopefully close the issue with stuck-in-queue messages which bugged me for some time now. Many thanks to Norman F. who provided detailed log files.

Please note that the .NET distribution file has increased in size as I have included the IKVM dll files as well.

Links:

Release Notes
Download

SMSLib used in Apache Axis 2 SMS transport adaptors.

2009-12-23T22:30:00.000+02:00

In the last couple of months, I've been playing around with Google Alerts. I've set some alerts for the words "smslib" and "smsserver" in order to check the results found by Google.

Today, Google Alerts pointed me to this post. Charith's post pointed me to the Apache Axis 2 Transports page. I was a bit surprised to see that SMSLib is used in the SMS/SMPP transport implementation. Our little library is used in an Apache project! Nice one, Santa :)

SMSLib for .NET (v3.4.5 build Nov 12) released.

2009-11-12T21:42:00.000+02:00

Version v3.4.5 (build Nov 12) of SMSLib for .NET Framework has been released.

This version, among other things, solves the serious issue mentioned in a previous post.

Links:
Release Notes
Download

SMSLib for Java v3.4.4 released.

2009-11-10T21:58:00.007+02:00

SMSLib for Java v3.4.4 has been released.

This is a critical update. It solves a very important bug described here, as well as a couple of other minor issues. You are advised to upgrade to v3.4.4 the soonest possible!

Links:
Release Notes
Download SMSLib v3.4.4

Outbound messages disappear or stay queued for ever.

2009-11-07T23:59:00.001+02:00

A very nusty bug has been reported (and verified) which affects both SMSLib and the SMSServer application:

SMSServer Effect

If you are hit by it, you'll see messages left as "queued" (i.e. status = "Q") for ever - SMSServer makes no attempt to send these messages. The bug affects random messages from your database and its more frequent for those with a small number of modems (or other gateways) and for those who have "unstable" modems (i.e. modems which tend to block or restart often).

Until this issue is fixed, the only solution is to restart SMSServer regularly, in order to minimize the risk of leaving messages unsent for a long time (or for ever).

SMSLib Effect

The core SMSLib library is also affected by this issue: Messages may be dropped (after a fatal gateway error / exception, like a modem timeout) without the callback handlers being called and the caller application be notified about the situation. Unfortunately there is no easy way to deal with this.

(Issue tracker ref: #290)

SMSLib for .NET (build Oct 26) released.

2009-10-26T11:51:00.000+02:00

A new version of SMSLib for .NET Framework has been released.

This release is based on the latest SMSLib source tree and is marked as Oct 26, 2009 Build. You can download the zip file from here.

New version of Comm2IP available.

2009-10-24T10:14:00.000+03:00

In an attempt to solve some blocking issues reported, I have prepared a new version of the Comm2IP library used in the .NET distribution.

You should perform a small change in your code in order to allow for a smooth application exit: Once your app is finished and you call the SMSLib.Service.stopService() method, remember to also call com1.Stop(), where com1 is your instance of the Comm2IP thread.

The new .dll file is available here. If you wish to build it yourselves, you can checkout the latest code from the repository.