An option to make outbound calls on-demand (or disable it totally)

[tsankuanglee]

Is your feature request related to a problem?

Somewhat related to #35, but even if that one is fixed, this feature is still nice to have.

The main reason for me is security and privacy. For example, I do not wish to create network activities in a public, or monitored environment. This plugin is the only one in my whole system making outbound calls on its own.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would like one of these solutions:

1. The option to choose between on-demand (only call out whenever user demands it) and pre-cached data (current). This would be ideal.
2. The option to turn off the periodic outbound calls in the background. When the user requests it, remind user to turn it back on first in order to use it. Or,
3. The option to turn off services (right now only Currency) that make background calls. (probably easier to implement without having to change much)

Describe alternatives you've considered

Right now I just remove the currency part of the code. Not ideal.

[tchar]

Hello again @tsankuanglee.

So if I understand correctly your main concern is privacy so you don't want an outbound connection. I could turn off the currency, but the automatic turn off, turn on functionality that warns you, and so on, is going to take some time.

First of all, I am not actively developing the project. It is more like patching serious bugs and I would gladly accept any well-written PR & tests that pass the tests.

Would an option to turn it off completely satisfy you? Mind you, it may take some time as I have prioritized my job right now.

[tsankuanglee]

Thanks again for responding, @tchar Your priority makes perfect sense.

Yes, turning the Currency part off will be enough for me for now. If nobody else finds this option crucial, I'm OK running my own version that comments this part out.

Thanks again!

[tchar]

Okay, I think I can add an option that does not use the currency at all.

Here are some suggestions. You can update the currency offline. If you go to where the logs are (one directory app) there is a currency file with a structure of the currency data which I assume you can update on your own. So you can mock-patch it by not allowing the thread to ever run.

Here are some suggestions I can implement to fix it.

• Create the currency updater function under a main file which you can run manually after cloning behind maybe a VPN, or even update the currency file manually.
• Create an option not to use the built-in currency functionality at all through the extension preferences. This will not stop the plugin to use currency, but rather does not allow the update thread to run.

For long-term implementations.

• I can create something like an inner command to update currency. Maybe something like =/Update Currency which will do it on demand.

Regardless of it I tried changing some things and I am currently having problems passing my tests so it needs a bit more time, which I currently don't have due to job requirements. It might take a month or so.

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