Kilamea

@author Kay Schröer ([email protected])

Kilamea is a messaging software developed specifically for the needs of blind and visually impaired users, i.e. the focus is on a slim user interface (e.g. with a sidebar, classic menus, separate dialog windows) and keyboard operation (e.g. using shortcuts).

Of course, anyone not affected can also use the software with pleasure. Everything can be easily controlled with a mouse as well. I have simply refrained from elaborate layouts in the design.

Main features

• Reading, writing, replying, and forwarding messages
• Plain text editor
• Easy handling of file attachments
• Passing application arguments as file attachments
• Managing email accounts and folders
• Gmail support
• Address book

Future goals

• Lazy loading of message content and file attachments
• Integration of rich text editor
• Spellcheck capability
• Implementation of spam filter
• Backup tools

Implementation

The application is entirely written in Kotlin (currently version 2.0) and targets JVM 22.

Development

Gradle is used to build, test, execute, and package the app.

Prequisites

Gradle depends on Java, so Java must be installed on your dev machine.

Windows

1. Download OpenJDK version 22 for Windows from the official OpenJDK release page.
2. Extract the zip archive to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-22.0.2
3. Go to System settings -> Advanced -> Environment variables.
4. Set or add JAVA_HOME to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-22.0.2

macOS

1. Download OpenJDK version 22 for Mac from the official OpenJDK release page.
2. Create a folder in your user directory, e.g., ~/java, extract the downloaded tar archive and copy the resulting jdk-22.0.2.jdk into ~/Java/
3. Open ~/.zshrc in a text editor and add this line, so your JDK can be found:

export JAVA_HOME="/Users/$(whoami)/Java/jdk-22.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home"
export JDK_HOME=${JAVA_HOME}

Build from command line

1. Open a terminal
2. Clone this repo locally: git clone [email protected]:kschroeer/kilamea.git
3. Go to project root: cd kilamea

Windows

1. Check gradle works: gradlew.bat
2. Build the project with gradlew build
3. Run the app: gradlew run
4. Package the app as installer for your platform: gradlew jpackage

Mac and Linux

1. Check gradle works: ./gradlew
2. Build the project with ./gradlew build
3. Run the app: ./gradlew run
4. Package the app as installer for your platform: ./gradlew jpackage