Week 5 & 6 Report

Customized Certificate Managers and Certificate Chooser UI Improvements

Greetings, OSS enthusiasts! Welcome to another thrilling update on my journey through GSoC'23 at LibreOffice. This report covers the accomplishments of the past two weeks, filled with patch submissions, bug fixes, and progress in improving the certificate manager and chooser dialog.

TL;DR: Implemented customized certificate managers, improved the certificate chooser dialog, and started working on search and filter functionalities for enhanced certificate management in LibreOffice.

Patch: Customized Certificate Managers

During these two weeks, I focused on enhancing the certificate manager functionality in LibreOffice. One of the major achievements was the implementation of a patch that allows users to have customized certificate managers. This patch resolves numerous bugzilla issues related to certificate management. You can find the patch here.

The customization feature empowers users to choose and integrate their preferred certificate managers seamlessly within LibreOffice. By providing this flexibility, we aim to improve the overall user experience and address the specific needs and preferences of different users.

Patch: Certificate Chooser Dialog Improvement

In addition to the certificate manager enhancements, I also submitted a smaller patch that marks an initial milestone in the journey of improving the certificate chooser dialog. The patch can be found here. This patch just allows sorting by column in the certificate chooser.

The certificate chooser dialog plays a crucial role in the signing and encryption process. With this improvement, we aim to start the simplification of the traversing and selection process for certificates. By streamlining the dialog's design and functionality, users will have a more intuitive and efficient experience when choosing certificates for their documents.

Work in Progress: Search and Filter Functionality

Looking ahead, I have already started working on the search and filter aspects of the certificate chooser dialog. The goal is to further simplify the process of finding and selecting certificates. By implementing robust search and filter capabilities, users will be able to locate their desired certificates more quickly and effortlessly.

This feature will enhance the overall usability of the certificate chooser dialog and contribute to a smoother workflow when signing and encrypting documents within LibreOffice.

Conclusion and Next Steps

These two weeks have been productive and rewarding, with two significant patches submitted and progress made on the certificate chooser dialog's improvements. The next week will be dedicated to continuing the work on the search and filter functionalities of the certificate chooser dialog.

I am grateful for the support and guidance provided by the LibreOffice community, including Thorsten Behrens, Heiko Tietze, and Hossein Nourikhah. Their mentorship and enthusiasm have been invaluable in my journey.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more updates next week. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me via email. Thank you!