2017 6 th MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE ON EMBEDDED COMPUTING ,,/" (MECO), 11-15 JUNE 2017, BAR, MONTENEGRO

Social Media Based App Organizing Daily Events

Erenis Ramadani1, Agon Memeti 2 , Florinda Imeri 3 , Nexhibe Sejfuli-Ramadani4 , Florim Idrizi5
Faculty ofMath and Natural Sciences
University ofTetovo
Tetovo, Macedonia
{erenisramadani, nexhibe.sejfuli}@gmail.com 1,4
{agon.memeti, florinda.imeri, florim.idrizi}@unite.edu.mk 2,3,5

Abstract- Since the primary attraction for IT developers is to The only information that platform will save are user's
build applications by reusing the existing resources, especially settings such as to send or not the notifications and sources
using mobile platforms as it is changing the way software that the information come from.
applications are developed and accessed, the platform presented
in this paper aims to keep users up to date for all of their daily This paper is composed into three parts. The first part is
events. The idea was to develop a new contemporary application review of similar work done by other people in this area. The
for the mobile platform that will be able to integrate several second one represents the architecture of the app, containing
social media APIs. While selecting sources and notification time, infonnation about how the app is designed in the background
the proposed implemented platform will be able to generate a to- whereas the last part describes the implementation and the
do list ofthe daily events, offering high flexibility and portability.
design of the proposed platfonn.
Keywords- event; social network; mobile; user; API IT, RELATED WORK

T. INTRODUCTION Bizzabo [2], a similar application with the proposed

Different searching engines and social media are designed application in this study, is an advanced event management
system, designed as a comprehensive suite that takes care of
to help people to finish their daily obligations by offering
all of the aspects needed to make your events successful and
services such as schedule management, reminders and others. pleasant
This is one of the reasons why they are so popular among
people/users. But, not everyone uses these services in the same Similar to Bizzabo, Explara [3] is designed to manage an
manner, as some people use Facebook services, others Google event from scratch, allowing the user to manage pre - event,
services, or both of them. event day and post - event tasks. To improve performance and
make event management easier, it is connected to several
According to [1], social media has fundamentally changed services such as Paypal, EventBrite, Coogle Docs, etc.
the manner people communicate and collaborate, In fact, it According to [4], the user will be notified depending on event
represents one of the most transformative impacts of changes, and the systems will be context - based, in such a
information technology on business as they drastically change manner that it will be able to make a decision if notifying the
how consumers and businesses interact. These media are user is appropriate or not. The current work put on this paper
mostly users by marketing companies, seeking a better way to is not related with this field, but, in the future, it might be
create new connections and engagement for the brands they added as a functionality. The system might be able to change
represent. attending status, depending on user's mood, schedule,
prioritize events based on their context, and others.
In this paper we will present a solution that allows users to
manage all events in one place, Initially the platfonn will be Super Planner is a business app for the professional event
implemented in Android, with the possibility that in future we planner. It provides a variety of planning tools, including
will be able to build and implement the same platform for iOS calculators for venue capacity, staffing, catering, staging,
and Web. The platform is an open source app in order to projection and dance floor as well as useful tips in several
enable other developers that may be interested to work in areas. As seen in the description, it is dedicated for a single
same field. planning event at a time, and such a professionalism does not
come for free: it comes with a price of$9.99 [5].
Relying on previous experiences, it IS proven that
Schedule Planner is another project that is similar to the
accessing user's infonnation is quite sensitive, and the
platfonn proposed in this paper. The difference is that it does
platform proposed in this paper requires access to these not collect events from other sources, but instead, the user
information, The proposed platform accesses user's creates his/her schedule, It also provides several charts to make
information and uses them only for representative purposes. progress tracking a bit easier for the user, task alerts to remind

978-1-5090-6742-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

 2017 6 th MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE ON EMBEDDED COMPUTING ,,/" (MECO), 11-15 JUNE 2017, BAR, MONTENEGRO

the user, password protection, arranging options for tasks, and As seen in the diagram, user will directly interact with the
more. It has a beautiful and user-friendly interface and comes platform in a read-only manner. In fact, the user will be
for free [6]. allowed to select or deselect services that the proposed
platform will consume information from. In background, the
III. PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE
platform will handle all of the tasks. For example, if Facebook
Smartphone came onto the consumer market in the late is checked whenever the user starts the application, the service
90s, but only gained mainstream popularity with the will execute a GET request in the Facebook public APT and
introduction of Apple's iPhone in 2007. The iPhone filter the retrieved events by start time [8].
revolutionized the industry by offering customer friendly
Figure 2 shows the Class diagram, which, in details
features such as a touch screen interface and a virtual
represent the whole connection and communication between
keyboard. The first smartphone running on Android was
classes.
introduced to the consumer market in late 2008. The
smartphone industry has been steadily developing and MalnAcltYlty

- calibildIMiinager CalibackManilO'f
SettlngsActlYity

growing since then, both in market size, as well as in models - rnCredentials GoooleAccounlCredentiaJ
- mToOosList LisMew
• mFacebook. Ch.c:kBo~
- mFacebookEvent CtleC:XSox
- mToOosAdapter ToOosAdaPler - mhceboo«Birthday- CheckBox
and suppliers. By 2017, over a third of the world's population - mFriioment EventOelailFragrTll!1I1
-mllstAtrayLlst-<Eve/lr>
- mGooQle" CheckBox
- mScheduledTlme" TexMew

is projected to own a smartphone, an estimated total of almost -lniMewsO. void

·lnllRequestsO_ void
-lnllVlews().volci
-loaciOataO: voId
2.6 billion smartphone users in the world. According to [7], -" • oelResultsFromGoOllleAPI() void
- ... ~keEvenlGrlphR.quesUJvoid
• INkeBirlhdayGfaphReques() void
·hancileFaceboC\l{Checks(boolean checkedl void
·looou!FromFaceboo : void
• ~nclleNotificationChecks{boolean etlKkecl} void
Android additionally offers flexible coding and rapid • makeCalendarReques ) void
- dledcAndSelAdapterQ- volcl

development that allows a short time span of implementing of

different ideas into something concrete.
1 i
ToOo,Adaptel
I
Event

-Id String
- rnContext Context -bile Stnng

The proposed platform in this paper aims to provide a

- mUst List<Event> - cllSwption String
- starfTime· Dale
• «constructo~:o- ToOosACIapter(COnteXl contlUlllst<Event:o-lIsl) - endTIme· Date
solution that will collect events from different existing services -fSYpStalUS String

L
·Iocauon. $a"lno

and represent them in a single platform, as shown in figure 1. -rype.Eventl'fpe

• «construeIOP:>- Event(JSQNObJeet object. EvenlType type)

• «consIlUCIOP> Evenl(Evenl event)
"=-"--::'lD:-
...7'ils=-,,,-gm--::
.., ' • EventType enum
Too...App
~ : ~~~~~~~~exMew
·startTlrne TllxlVlew
·enclTlrne TexMew
1
AlarmReceiYer
• stalus·TuMew
• location TuMew • alarmManager A1amlManager

..
- source TexMew • pencllO\llnlent Pendlnglnlenl
- eveRt Event
- setAlarm(ConleKt context Int hour jot Inlnutest voicl
«extend» • -lfIlIVlews(V1ew VIew}: void
. ·loaciDataO.vold
- cancelAlaml(Context context}· void

; ".

Sclledu~oService

«Include» • • «construetoP'> Sd\edubngSelYlceO

• sendNobftca~n{Slrtng messagl) vold

Figure 2: Proposed platform Class Diagram

The class diagram also represents the Data Flow Diagram

of the platform we are proposing. Tn this diagram is clearly
defmed the interaction between classes and how does that

•
«include» interaction occur. For instance, MainActivity can start
SettingsActivity and vice versa; MainActivity can also start
EventDetai!sFragment, but the fragment can not exist if the
activity does not exist; SchedulingService invokes
AlarmReceiver's setAlarmQ method to set the notification
time, or cancelAlarmQ method to disable notifications at all,
and AlarmReceiver invokes the service in the scheduled time
for notification.
Figure I: Proposed platform UseCase Diagram
By starting the application, the MainActivity opens, and
As seen in Figure 1, there are two types of "users" checks whether the app is used for the fITst time. If so, it will
interacting with the platform: in one side is the end user, who automatically open SettingsActivity so user can set up his
represents the targeted user of the platform, and in the other preferences. Checking and unchecking saves the state of each
side is the platform itself, which in background fmishes the sources or other settings, so the platform knows how to
tasks such as notifying the user about his events and while the behave. MainActivity will execute requests depending on
platform is open, retrieving the events from selected sources. user's settings. The list is populated through ToDosAdapter,
The whole infrastructure is based on consuming public which represents a BaseAdapter, used for dynamic binding of
APls from predefmed services for retrieving the required data. data in lists or tables [9].
 2017 6 th MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE ON EMBEDDED COMPUTING ,,/" (MECO), 11-15 JUNE 2017, BAR, MONTENEGRO

IV. ARCHITECTURE IMPLEMENTATION Following is the method of SettingsActivity that handles

notifications:
The mobile platform proposed in this paper, entitled ToDos
consists of two activities, a fragment, a background service handleNotificationCheckBox
and some side classes that help handle back-end tasks of the if checkbox is checked
platform. input hour from Preferences
input minutesfrom Preferences
The MainActivity as a main class of the platform does most
else
of the tasks. The events represented in this activity, as a list,
disable notifications
are sorted by the starting time of the event. This means that
the event about to happen sooner will be in the top of the list. set "Notifications disabled" in textview
These items are of different types, depending on the source it
comes from, such as Facebook events or birthdays or Google
calendar meetings.
Settings
A list item contains event title, attending status of the user,
the time when the event is scheduled to start, the time when Sources
the event is scheduled to end, and if contain, the event Facebook I'J
location. Evenls
Birthday I'J
Following is the pseudo code for retrieving events from Google I'J
Facebook API.
Notifications
makeEventGraphRequest Notifications I'J
make graphRequest to get user SChedule: 09:30
events onResponse
generate array ofdata retrieved
for each event in array
if event startTime is later
than now put event to list
set listview adapter

Daily ToDos Daily ToDos Figure 4: SettingsActivity User Interface

StJtmr
Sfl .... 21
Binhday
__ Event 23:30
£ndinv.
The fragment used in the implemented app is named
QAJon22
00:30 EventDetailsFragment. It pops up when the user clicks any
one item in the list. Beside the information shown in the
MainActivity list, the fragment contains more detailed
Looks like there a~ no events for today' information about the event, such as description about the
event or the source where the event comes from. If the event
has an image, it will also be represented in this fragment. In
the future, when other features will be added, such as creating
event or changing attending status, most likely they will be
controlled from this screen. Following is represented the user
interface of the EventDetailsFragment.
The app also contains a background service, called
SchedulingService. This class represents the background
Figure 3: MainActivity User Interface in both scenarios: (left) there are no service responsible to send notifications to the user. The
events; (right) there is one event. service is invoked whenever the user changes the time of the
SettingsActivity is another activity that allows users to notification or disables the notification at all. In fact, there is
select or deselect sources that events come from, reschedule AlarmReceiver class that does most of the job [10].
the time of receiving everyday notification with events and It uses a WakefulBroadcastReceiver that does the
other basic settings an app offers. Basically, it is a standard background work such as setting the time of the notification or
settings activity where the user can set up his preferences, in disabling all notifications, and then invokes
order to define app behaviour. This activity can be accessed SchedulingService.
from the Options Menu of the platform.
 2017 6 th MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE ON EMBEDDED COMPUTING ,,/', (MECO), 11-15 JUNE 2017, BAR, MONTENEGRO

is a free and open source, since users prefer trying before

Birthday Event using. But most ofthese services are not so flexible, since they
Meeting friends and other close
people to celebrate birthday
enable to manage only one event at a time and the user must
itself to enter the events, whereas our platform allows
integration with widely used social media and platforms,
making easier for the user to manage more daily events at a
time.
In near future we will implement more features to the
Evenllocetlon: Unknown
framework, such as creating an event, changing the attending
Attending $teIlUS: con'mned
SteHtlng lime: Sat, Jan 2118:00
status or inviting other friends.
End time; SlIt,. Jan 21 19:00
REFERENCES
Souro@: Google CAlendar
[I] M. Bauer "Event Management for Mobile Users", 2004. [Online].
Available:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/99d9/3a99b9a574cef74d984906c6ed93
cOaO 1977.pdf
[2] Finances Online, "Bizzabo Review," Finances Online, [Online].
Figure 5: EventDetailsFragment User Interface
Avai lable: https://reviews.financesonline.com!p/bizzabo/.
[3] Explara, "Explara," [Online]. Available: https:/lin.explara.com!.
V. CONCLUSION [4] P. Adamopoulos, V. Todri "The Effectiveness of Promotional Events in
Social Media", 2014 [Online]. Available:
Tn this paper we have presented an architecture a mobile https://www.misrc.umn.edu/wise/2014]apers/94.pdf
application, named ToDos, which will enable users to easily [5] Super Planner Event Planning [Online]. Available:
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features with high level of flexibility. anner&hl=en
[6] Schedule Planner Classic [Online]. Available:
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sources into a single place, in order to easily manage daily dule
tasks. Tn order to be widely used, we tried to create a user-
[7] Quartz, "Quartz," [Online]. Available:
friendly interface.
https://gz.com!826672/android-goog-just-hit-a-record-88-market-share-
Even though similar platforms are already in use, we of-all-smartphones/
believe that the proposed platform will be more attractive for [8] Event Graph API References [Online]. Available:
https://developers. face book. com!docs/graph-ap i/reference/event/
the users for several reasons.
[9] R. Meier, Professional Android 4 Application Development,
In the market the user fmd several online payment services Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2012.
that manages and organize events, but we believe, the most [10] Google Inc., "Developers," [Online]. Available:
important reason to use the ToDos application would be that it https://developer.android.com!traininglschedulinglalarms.html.