Usage

The Call Recorder is designed for unattended usage. Once properly installed, it records every GSM call you make or receive with respect to white and black lists. The UI application doesn't need to be run to make this happen. The UI application is used to manage recorded calls and change recorder settings.

##Operation mode

The Call Recorder operates in either of two modes: black list or white list. Black list mode means that the Call Recorder will record any call from/to any number except those in the black list. White list mode means that the Call Recorder won't record any call from/to any number except those in the white list. Black and white lists are kept separate so you can have different sets of numbers for both operation modes.

The default operation mode is Black list mode. If the black list itself is empty, the application records all calls. In other words, it behaves just like it did in the earlier versions of the Call Recorder.

If the call recording is started using cover action of UI application, the decision on call recording will be made with respect to operation mode. In other words, if you have an ongoing call from +123456890, operation mode is Black list and this number is blacklisted, turning on the recording using cover action won't record this call.

##Storage

Data generated by the application is stored by default at writable location under /home/nemo/.local/share/kz.dpurgin/harbour-callrecorder/ (further referred to as $DATA).

All the recordings made by the daemon are initially stored at $DATA/data. You may change this using Settings part of the UI application.

List of recordings with their properties is stored in a database at $DATA/callrecorder.db. Please refer to libcallrecorder/database.cpp, Database::Database() for database structure.

##Audio Format The recordings are initially encoded to FLAC, 32 kHz, mono, 16-bit LE, compression level 8. You may change sample rate and compression level at the Settings page of the UI application (see Known Issues for side effects).

##Call Recorder UI

This application is a front-end for accessing the recordings which were made since you got the recorder working, as well as making change to recorder settings.

###Start page -- View and Select recordings

The start page contains a list of all the recordings. It has two modes: View and Select. The View mode allows to navigate through the recordings, open a recording and manipulate the recordings one by one. Each list item contains call type marker (incoming/outgoing), caller/callee ID, date and time, recording duration and file size. Tap on item gets to Details page.

Pull-down menu provides access to Settings and Filter pages, page mode can be toggled between Select and View.

Long tap on an item to open its context menu. The item can be deleted or quickly added/removed to/from black/white list.

Select mode disables going to the details but allows to select multiple recordings and remove them. If the recordings are filtered, choosing 'Delete all' in this mode removes all the filtered recordings.

###Filter page

Filter page contains four filters that can be activated at the same time. The first filter allows to filter the recordings by fully or partially entered phone number, as well as pick the full numbers from contacts.

The second one filters the recordings made on a specific date.

The third and fourth filters choose the recordings after and before a specific date, activated together they make it possible to choose all the recordings between two dates.

If the recordings are filtered, choosing 'Delete all' on the start page in Select mode removes all the filtered recordings.

###Details Page

This page allows to listen to the recording. Player is situated in the lower part of the page. If an error occurred, player is replaced with textual error description. The recording can be seeked through using the progress bar above the Play button.

Upper pulley menu allows to add/remove the number to/from black/white list. The lower pully menu allows to remove a recording.

###Settings Page

This page contains subpages with their respective settings.

Recorder Daemon

Turn the recorder on or off, enable or disable automatic startup on this page. If an item remains lit/unlit after tap, this means the underlying action didn't succeed. You might want to take a look at DBus session bus to see what's wrong.

Operation mode

Choose either of two: black list or white list. Press on "Edit list" button to edit the list selected. Please note that these are two separate lists. Operation mode setting takes effect immediately.

Storage

Type in save location or choose with a directory picker by pressing 'Browse' button. If location does not exist or is not writable, the text field is marked with red. After either browsing or typing in a new location, press 'Save' button to save it. If the old location contained recordings, they will be moved to the new location after 5 sec remorse. You may cancel this action but the old recordings won't be accessible from the UI. If the action was canceled accidentally, reset location to the old one, tap 'Save' and then set the new location again followed by tapping 'Save'.

Storage limits

The Call Recorder can automatically remove old recordings based on the size and/or age. There are predefined limits, as well as a custom user-defined limit can be used.

Approval for storage The Call Recorder can ask for approval of storage after a call is made. A WLAN-like dialog will be shown with the information of a recording and buttons for making a decision: Save, Remove or Ask later. Tapping anywhere outside the dialog or waiting for 30 sec will automatically choose 'Ask later'.

If several recordings are waiting for approval, the dialog will be shown for every one of them starting from the latest.

Audio settings

FLAC encoder can be tuned on this page. Select sample rate and compression using the widgets on this page. There are issues with sample rates other than 44.1kHz and 32kHz, please refer to Known Issues.

User Interface

Application locale can be changed on this page. Please make sure to restart the application for this setting to have effect.

###Operation mode list editor

Use the input field to enter phone numbers you want to add to list. Long tap on a list item to remove it.

All numbers can be removed at once using pull-down menu.

Current list can be replaced with numbers from another list by using pull-down menu.

Please note that any change on this page won't take effect until you select Save action.

###Directory picker page

Directory picker can be used to select a writable location. It opens with current path set to one entered in 'Location' text field. If path doesn't exist, the picker opens your Home directory. The directory you will peak by accepting dialog appears both at the bottom toolbar and at the top right corner of the dialog.

List of directories

This is a list of directories at current path. Short tap on an item to navigate to this directory. If directory doesn't contain any nested directories, placeholder appears. Although this doesn't mean that directory doesn't contain files. Long tap on an item to rename writable directory or remove empty writable directory. When renaming is not available, this means this directory is not writable. When removing is not available, this means this directory is either read-only or not empty (may contain other files or directories).

Bottom Toolbar

The dialog contains a toolbar at the bottom for convenient navigation and directory creation. The buttons from left to right are: 'Navigate Up', 'Go to Home', 'Go to SD Card', 'New Directory'.

'Navigate Up' is used to go to parent folder. You may also use 'Home' and 'SD Card' buttons of the bottom toolbar to quickly navigate to /home/nemo or to /media/sdcard/<SD Serial Number> respectively. 'New Directory' button can be used to create a new directory in a writable location.

About Page

Pretty self-explanatory. Click on the button at the bottom to view short license notice. Full license text is installed to /usr/share/harbour-callrecorder/LICENSE.