SDI Computer Consulting - Midland Texas

Do you use the open-source "community" version of eGroupware, and need to sync your data with a BlackBerry? This article will show you how...

My Setup
I am running a Debian Etch server with Apache2, PHP5 and eGroupware 1.4.004.

Results
At the end of this process I can sync Calendar, Notes, and Tasks both ways without problems. Presently, my contacts do not sync. I will update this document with the tweaks required to fix that too -- or maybe I just need to turn off my Google sync that keeps copies of my contacts in my GMail account.

There are some fields in eGroupware that can't be entered or transfered to the BlackBerry, but I can still create and edit the primary data and then log in with a browser and tweak the other stuff like participants in appointments, etc.

Steps
1) First, I tested my eGroupware setup by going to http://myserver/egroupwarepath/rpc.php

The system told me I needed to set mbstring.func_overload to 0 for the rpc.php file, so I added the following lines to my PHP.INI file:



<Location /egroupwarepath/rpc.php>
php_value mbstring.func_overload 0
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Location>


When I tested again, I got no errors other than the message that I should only connect to the url with a mobile device.

If you are on someone else's server and can't change php.ini, you have to try putting a line in your .htaccess file in the egroupwarepath folder. This method does not always work, and in certain versions of PHP can create errors with other files in other folders. The line to add seems to be "php_value mbstring.func_overload 0", without the quotes. I cannot say for sure since this is not the method I used. I tried it first, but it did not fix the error message shown in the browser test.

2) Next, I downloaded the latest version of the Funambol Client for BlackBerry. At the time I write this, the version is 8.0.4

Go to https://www.forge.funambol.org/download and click "I want to sync my Phone" and then choose the BlackBerry "PIM Sync Client for OS 4.7 or newer" link. I got the following download link, but you want to go through the preceding links to get the latest version: http://www.funambol.com/opensource/download_response.php?file_id=Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47-8.0.4.zip

When I unzipped the Funambol files, I saw lots of .cod files, but no readme or anything helpful. Some Searching said I needed to use the BB Desktop Manager to install the files, but further searching told me there was an install file missing from the zip file. The Desktop Manager needs a .alx file which is not included in the zip. This is incredibly stupid and annoying. There is an old install file for a previous version, so I downloaded it and modified it to copy all the .cod files used in the current version. Here is the install file I created and saved as Funambol_Sync_Plugin.alx:

<loader version="1.0">
<application id="Funambol_Sync_Plugin">
<name>
Funambol_Sync_Plugin
</name>
<description>
Funambol - Based BlackBerry SyncML Client
</description>
<version>8.0.4</version>
<vendor>Funambol Inc.</vendor>
<copyright >
Copyright (C) 2003 - 2009 Funambol, Inc.
</copyright>
<fileset Java="1.25">
<directory >
</directory>
<files>
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_common.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_common-1.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-1.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-2.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-3.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-4.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-5.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-6.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_lib-7.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_pim.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47_syncml.cod
Funambol_Sync_Plugin_os47.jad
</files>
</fileset>
</application>
</loader>


3) Finally, I used the BB Desktop Manager to install the program. Once the program was installed, I ran the tool and went through the setup on my BlackBerry. At first I kept getting 'Network Errors' when trying to sync, but that was because I typed the wrong url for my server. In my case, I also have to use port 8080 (http://myserver:8080/egroupwarepath/rpc.php) since my ISP blocks port 80 on home accounts.
Conclusion
The overall process is not too hard - and would be much easier if Funambol would include the missing .alx file in the download. Setting up the sync process inside the BlackBerry is straightforward if you already know how to connect to your eGroupware from the outside world, and started working right away once I fixed the PEBCAK error. I hope this document has helped you put the pieces together and get sync working between your BlackBerry and eGroupware.