jBoom 1.0

jBoom is a Java program for remote storage and management of browser bookmarks. The project allows accessing a central set of bookmarks from any system connected to the internet. JBoom is browser and system independent, not bound to a dedicated server, and doesnt require a special web service. The only preconditions are:
- There is a remote system to which which the user has read and write access via FTP, SSH, or HTTP.
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Version 1.5 or higher is installed (1.4 will not work!)
The bookmarks are kept in an XML file on the remote system. A local copy can be stored on the client. The program may be started from the client or over the internet from a HTTP server.
Bookmark entries consist of an arbitrary name, a URL and an optional comment (description, user name, account number etc.). They are organized in folders, where every folder contains an arbitrary amount of bookmarks and subfolders. The graphical user interface displays this structure as a tree with expandable and collapsable nodes. A double click on an entry or pressing the enter key shows the correspondig page in the browser. Additionally a linear search over names and/or URLs is possible. New entries can be created manually or taken from the browser using the system clipboard, existing ones can be modified, deleted, moved or sorted easily.
For FTP connections, jBoom uses classes from the ftpbean package, for SSH connections classes from the Ganymed project (extracted using autojar).
License: jBoom is licensed under the GPL, Ganymed under a BSD-like License.
Pros:
- Users changing systems and/or browsers frequently have access to a single set of bookmarks.
- JBoom is not a browser extension, it has to be started separately. Therefore the browser wont hang on startup in case of an unreachable server.
- Several jBoom files can be joined; inserted files appear as separate branches in the bookmark tree. Those branches can be updated or deleted by a single mouse click.
- Installation is easy and requires nothing but a FTP or SSH connection.
Cons:
- A JRE installation is required.
- The program must be started in addition to the browser, which takes some time.
- Creation of bookmarks cannot be done directly, either manual input or the clipboard has to be used.