Voucher Safe in Spark

Spark is a popular open source Jabber (XMPP) client which features a plugin architecture and a large number of nifty features, including OTR (off-the-record encyrpted chat). A Spark plugin for Voucher-Safe is now available. This plugin adds the same capabilities that are provided by the regular Java webapp client (obtainable on this site or through voucher-safe.com). The standard client is provided so that users can have the simplest possible application, that only does one thing. However, it can also useful to be able to chat with the people you are doing business with, so for those who do not mind adding Voucher-Safe payment capabilities to another larger context, the Spark plugin client may be desirable.

Nota bena: because Spark does not handle connecting through PageKites, at present you can only use the Spark client with the test/demo server, but not for live servers. A re-branded Spark with suitable modifications is planned, but not yet available.

To install Spark and the Voucher-Safe Client plugin, you will need to perform the following steps:

1. First, you'll need version 6 or 7 of the Java virtual machine on your computer. We recommend that you obtain this directly from Oracle, which you can do here. (Note: Java-8 was released a few days ago, but is not yet supported by most software products, including Spark and Voucher-Safe, so install version 8 at your own risk.)
2. Next, you'll need to install Spark, which can be obtained from igniterealtime.org. If you already have the Java JRE installed, select a download which does not bundle it with Spark. Run the Spark installer (Windows), or unpack the tarball (Linux). Start Spark once to verify the install, and automatically create your Spark user directory.
3. Thirdly, you will need two files from this site: voucher-safe.jar and xpp3.jar. The first is the plugin itself; the second is a standard open source utility library which parses XML for certain messages. The voucher-safe.jar file is signed by our developer key, and you can verify this by running:

   jarsigner -verfy voucher-safe.jar

4. Place the xpp3.jar library file into the lib directory where you installed Spark, e.g. C:\Program Files\Spark\lib.
5. Copy the voucher-safe.jar file into the plugins directory. You may do this either within the Spark installation (i.e. Spark\plugins), or in your local user directory where application data is stored. (On Linux/Mac this will be in ~/.Spark/plugins. On Windows it will be something like C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Spark\plugins. Note that the Spark user directory is created the first time you start Spark.)
6. Start up Spark. If you do not have a Jabber login, you will need to create one. You can do this by clicking on the Accounts button at the bottom left. Enter your desired username and password, and enter ofs.voucher-safe.org for the server.
7. Next, click on the Advanced button at the bottom. Uncheck the automatic discovery box and enter Host ofs.voucher-safe.org and port 5233. You may enable compression if you wish. Click Ok.
8. Enter your username, password, and server ofs.voucher-safe.org, and click Login. After a few moments, you should see a third tab appear labeled "Voucher-Safe Login," together with a Voucher-Safe menu item in the menu bar at the top. Your Voucher-Safe Client runs in this tab and uses this menu. Click on the tab to switch the screen. Log into your voucher safe as you normally would. Note that you can log in and out of safes without logging out of the Jabber server.
9. Your Voucher-Safe Preferences are controlled from the top menu via Spark/Preferences/Voucher-Safe. Many other generic Spark preferences can also be configured.
10. If you are on Windows, we suggest that under Appearance, you select Nimbus as your Look and Feel, because that is the L&F for which the webapp client was written, and this will make the look consistent if you use both clients.

As always, post any questions or problems in the forums on this site.

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