RoboJournal Documentation

for version 0.4.2

Welcome to RoboJournal

What is RoboJournal?

RoboJournal is a cross-platform, database-driven application that allows you to keep a journal/diary on your computer by means of an intuitive graphical user interface. RoboJournal is designed to run on a variety of operating systems, including Windows and practically any type of Linux.

Unlike similar computerized journal tools that store data as a file on your hard drive, RoboJournal stores all entry data "in the cloud" as a MySQL database. These journal databases can be accessed directly through the server machine, through another computer on the same LAN/WAN as the server, or even remotely via the Internet. For instance, you can run RoboJournal on your primary workstation while your journal database is stored on a server machine in the same building or even in another country. You can even store RoboJournal itself and your journal on the same computer and run RoboJournal in an entirely closed ecosystem.

Current Limitations

At the moment, RoboJournal is not intended to be a high-security program; all entry data in each journal database is stored in an unencrypted state. However, RoboJournal already offers some nominal security—by means of account restrictions and a password, journals are protected from all other unauthorized users except the root-level database administrator (who has unconditional access to all MySQL databases on the server whether they were created by RoboJournal or not). This danger is minimal if you control the root account. If not, keep in mind that it is possible for other people to read your journal. You can minimize this danger by storing your journal(s) on a private MySQL server that you control.

Future versions of RoboJournal will fortify security by offering support for on-the-fly encryption and decryption of journal content. Under this planned security model, RoboJournal will store all data in an encrypted format and decrypt it into a readable state only when necessary. Once implemented, this encryption will protect journal content from even the root administrator (unless he or she has the additional password required to unlock it).

Help Topics

Most RoboJournal software features have been documented. Consult the Table of Contents for a complete list of topics.