MiniMoni - Traffic monitor for BlackBerry

So now we are on a new public version 1.01.03.

This software is free and I let the user voluntary decide if they want to donate or not. It's my tribute to all the helpers around in the community. You may consider, though, a PayPal donation in order to support the future development of MiniMoni. Please do read the appropriated statements in the "Donation" tab carefully.

Main features:

Counts the IP traffic on GSM/GPRS/EDGE network in byte.

Scrolling graph to visualize the traffic of the last minutes.

Builds sums on a daily and a time period basis.

The day the period ends in the month is configurable.

A lot of functions can be configured in the preferences in particular to show in bytes or kbytes.

Maintains a daily and a period's logbook. Logbook entries can have user remarks.

You may switch on an alarm once a particular amount of traffic volume is reached in the period.

For devices with SD card the program can write the content of the logbook to SD.

Separate "Traffic watch" to observe the traffic for a limited period of time separately (Testing of an application etc.)

Supported languages are English, German and Italian.

Auto starts on device reboot and installation of new versions.

Tested and proofed to work on different BlackBerry devices.

Changed in version 1.01.03:

Fixed the bug that causes an exception while opening a logbook with more then 100 entries.

Have a look on the screen shots in the tabs to see more about the program.

Please keep in mind: The way of measuring data usage is different from the one your provider might use. In dependency of the cost model there might be several effects of rounding this way increasing the amount you have to pay for. So I'll not take any responsibility for that!!

Please note that I give no warranty on the proper function of this application. Neither will I take any responsibility for damages to your devices.

Please note as well that this will work on GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks only. In particular there is no support for CDMA. The current RIM API does not support that.

USE IT ON YOUR OWN RISK!

From the release notes:

1.01.03 - 27.03.2008
    - Fixed the bug that causes an exception while opening a logbook
      with more then 100 entries.
1.01.01 - 17.01.2008
    - Fixed the bug, that the billing period is not recalculated
      when you changed the billing date in preferences and saved.
1.01.00 - 15.01.2008
    - Intermedieate version
1.00.16 - 12.01.2008
    - The monthly alert is now registered in the alert profiles of the devices.
      So it follows the normal behaviour of all other events. If you set the alert
      profile to off, MiniMoni does not alert visualy and soundly either.
1.00.14 - 10.01.2008
    - Changed the way to display the roaming icon
1.00.12 - 09.01.2008
    - Changed the save interval for the logbook to 5 minutes.
1.00.11 - 09.01.2008
    - First working for firmware 4.1 release
    - Fixed a lot of stuff to support 4.1 devices
    - For 4.1 devices SD options are not available
    - Added some code for roaming detection. A roaming icon is shown in the header if needed
    - Some changes to the website including download pathes for 4.1
    - Added Spanish language version. Thanks to blackberryitalia.it community
1.00.8 - 05.01.2008
    - The Application Icon contains an exclamation mark once the limit is overdrawn.
1.00.2 - 04.01.2008
    - There is the default menu in the Edit Remark screen now allowing the
      change input language

I list the main topics I have on my to do list here.

Establish a daily volume alert - Coming soon

Check the opportunity to distinguish between BES/BIS and APN traffic.

Distinguish between traffic counter in roaming and no roaming.

Establish a newsletter the user may subscribe to - Done

Provide a version for 4.1 devices - Done with 1.01.01

Register the application in the alert profiles - Done with 1.01.01

Change the save interval for the logbook to 5 minutes - Done with 1.01.01

Describe the procedure to update the application on the web site - Done with 1.01.01

Add Spanish version - Done with 1.01.01

Improve the main window on smaller screens - Done with 1.01.01

Other small things are on the way as well.

To update MiniMoni to a new version please respect the following rules:

Don't deinstall MiniMoni before installing a new version. You will loose your logbook, the counter values and preferences otherwise.

Close MiniMoni before installing a new version. Or at least go to the menu and choose "Update now". Both ways will cause MiniMoni to write the last values to the permanent store. Otherwise you might loose some counted traffic of the last hour (maximum).

You may support the development of MiniMoni by giving a donation via PayPal. It helps me to cover the costs for signing the code by RIM (otherwise the Auto-Start feature doesn't work, for example) as well as other costs for this web server etc.

Please DO NOT donate before TRYING the software. Only send me money if you have the program working, and feel like it! There is no need to, and I can't give you extra support or help if you do before you have it working!

If you really like MiniMoni and it does help you save money please consider to make a donation.

US $				Euro
10	15	25	Other	7.50	10	20	Other

The main screen on an 8800

The two top lines contain the daily and monthly cumulated traffic. Updated every minute.
The daily will be reset at midnight and a record is added to the logbook.
The monthly will be reset at midnight at the last day of the month.

The graph in the middle shows the traffic over the last minutes. Please take into account that the amount is logarithmic by base 10. The figures are representing bytes. Updated every second.

Cycle elapsed time is an internal measurement to show how many milliseconds it takes to calculate all values during the last second. Updated every second.

In and Out show the cumulated traffic on the device since the last reboot. Updated every second. Accordingly max/s show the maximum number of bytes per second since the last restart of the program. Updated every second.

Net does show the string of the current provider name.

Volt shows the status of the voltage of the battery as well as the gauge below shows the percentage of battery load left. Updated every minute.

Please not that on devices with a screen height of 240 the lower fields are not shown (see below for an 8800).

The main screen on an 8800

The main screen - the graphic output is stopped

Using the appropriated menu function (Toggle graphic) or pressing "s" the graphical output can be stopped and started. All counter and calculations necessary for the statistics continue to run. Use this to reduce the processing time of the program and this way to may be prolonging the battery live time.

The main screen with the main menu

Logbook		Show the logbook screen - see below
Preferences		Show the preferences screen - see below
Traffic watch		Start a traffic watch or show the window if it was started before. The small watch symbol in the header line shows, if the watch is running in the background. You may use the key "w" in place of the menu as well.
About		Show the about screen

Toggle graphic		This menu point starts/stops the graphical output. See above for explanation.
Update now		Every hour the current daily and monthly are written to the persistent data store. This menu point forces this update immediately
Reset period's counter		This function resets the counter in the second line of the screen. Be careful! You can not redo this function and the previous value is not stored anywhere up to now. That will change in the near future. This function is intended to be used by people having a billing period different from month end or people having unlimited data plan but travelling and during their stay in another country want to take care about the volume. Arriving simply reset the firgure and have a track then. Please consider the preferences as well to eventually switch of the automatic cut at period's end (today it's the month end).

Show data stores		This function is for debug purposes only. Normally it does not exist.

Close		This closes the application after a security question. The behaviour depends on the preferences - see below.

The main screen with the traffic watch on top

Once the traffic watch is started this screen is shown. The screen may be left by the <ESC> button. The watch keeps running. If the menu point is chosen again, the running watch is shown with the current values. The watch can be stopped with the "Stop" button of this screen only. While the watch is running a watch symbol is shown in the header bar.

The logbook screen

This screen shows the collected logbook records.

On the top the summaries are shown with the last date and time this data was written to the permanent record store.

The bottom of the screen shows the collected records. Navigation can be done with the trackball or page wise by 3 (up) and 9 (down).

The logbook screen with the remark window on top

A remark can be added to every entry in the logbook. The purpose is to remember some circumstances under which the traffic was generated.

The logbook screen with the menu

Edit remark		Show the remark screen - see below - for the current entry.
Write logbook to SD		For BlackBerry devices with an SD card installed this function will write the content of the logbook to a file in the "blackberry" directory on the SD card. The name is: MiniMoni.DD.MM.YYYY.log
Period's logbook		Shows a similar to this one screen containing entries generated on the period's end cut.
Purge logbook		Displays the following screen to make some housekeeping on the logbook.

The logbook purge screen

Here you are able to select how many days the data should be kept, when you press the start button below. The check box "Include period's logbook in purging" controls if the period's logbook entries should be purged as well or not. This way you may purge the day entries keeping the monthly entries for further checking.

The logbook purge screen after completion

After completing the logbook purge this screen shows the number of records purged/number of remarks purged.

The preferences screen

Show scale lines		Controls if the scale lines are shown.
Nice graphics		Controls if the header background is shaded.
Gray background		If the header is shaded this option defines if a gray or an orange color is used.
Show in kB		This switches the display to show the figures in kB instead of bytes.
Show cycle elapsed time
Move automatically to background		If this option is checked, the application is moved to background after 60 seconds of not being used.
Never terminate		This option ensures that the application is never terminated, even if you use "Close" from the main menu.
Stop graphic in holster		Checking this, the application stops the graphical output as described above, every time the device is put into holster. Taking it out from holster restarts the graphic (if it was not stopped manually before putting the device in holster)
Reset period's counter at period's end		Use this to control if the period's counter is reset automatically add the end of the period. Uncheck this here in order to use the manual reset counter function.
Billing day		This is the day in month when the period's cut should happen. The following rules apply: The cut is done at 00:00:00 this day every month. If the application was not running at this time, it is done on the next start. If the actual month has less days then "Billing day", the cut occurs at the last day of the month. In the logbook screen line 4 you can see the start and end of the actual period.
Enable period's limit alert		If this option is checked the device gives a vibration and optical alert once the limit (in bytes) is reached. Please take into account, that the traffic measured this way, does not necessarily fits to the one you find on your bill. In dependency of your cost model there might different ways of rounding.
Period's limit (in bytes)		Enter the number of bytes after the alert should be raised.
Disable alert in holster		Decide if the alert should be given in holster as well.

The about screen

The two buttons at the end offer you the opportunity to:

Compose a mail to the author (mail application automatically started on your BB)

Check for a new version OTA - Please don't mix OTA and DM installation if you have chosen one way, please keep it! Your logbook may be destroyed otherwise!

Discussion of final version at BlackBerryForums.com

Report about the final version at pinstack.com

Discussion of final version at the German BlackBerry forum

Discussion of final version at the Italian BlackBerry forum

Review at berryreview.com

Review of the final version on blackberrycool.com

Thanks to metsfan from blackberryforums.com for the valuable hints on donations.

Thanks to Klotar from blackberryforums.com for the valuable input and the very first donation!

Thanks to blackberryitalia.it community for the Italian translation.

Thanks to blackberryitalia.it community for the Spanish translation.

Thanks to nicotin from blackberryforums.com for the help in testing version for firmware 4.1.