What is NetLookout for OS/2?
NetLookout for OS/2 is a internet notifier. It will watch
Web, FTP and Gopher sites, and tell you if they have changed. A "Lookout"
is also known as a "bot", an "agent" or an "informant".
In this document, we refer to them as "Lookout"s.
NetLookout for OS/2, Version 2.04 (NLOOK204.ZIP, 1160K)
released by Chris Kennedy,
the developer of Frugal Software, Inc. NetLookout is an internet notifier for OS/2.
This applet will watch Web, FTP and Gopher sites, and tell you when they change.
You can configure individual sites for how often to check and how to notify you
when the site changes. Import from Netscape, WebExplorer, Opera, FTP Browser, VxFTP,
etc. From Frugal Software, Inc. It is shareware and the register costs $20.00 and
you can register it in BMT Micro, Inc.. You
can visit Frugal Software clicking here:
http://www.primenet.com/~ckennedy/software/lookout
************** Special Notice **************
This version of NetLookout ( 2.04 ) now distributes a set of .dll's with the executable.
To get this version to run, you must use the included "install.cmd" installation
script.
How do I install it?
The file nlook203.zip should unzip into 6 files:
- readme.txt
- netlook.exe
- netlook.hlp
- frugrsrc.dll
- register.txt
- install.cmd
Just unzip nlook203.zip into a directory, then type "install".
How do I use it?
Start by running netlook.exe. Program settings are saved in
lk.ini, and information about the various sites is stored in lookout.dat.
The main window of NetLookout contains a "details" view, where information
about each Lookout is displayed and updated. You can right-click on a Lookout's
line to display a popup menu, with choices of actions to perform on that Lookout.
Here's a list of what you can do:
Create - create a new Web, FTP or Gopher Lookout Edit - change the settings and
parameters for a Lookout Delete - self-explanatory Check - have the Lookout check
right now if the site has been changed Reset - change the Lookout's status to "Idle"
Start watching - if the selected Lookout is suspended, start watching it Stop watching
- stop checking the selected Lookout
If the selected Lookout watches an FTP site, you also get the choice:
Details - if an FTP site has changed, this will display a
dialog that lists what files have been added, removed or changed.
To create a new Lookout, select "Lookout|New|Web", or "FTP"
or "Gopher".
Most of the fields on the Create & Edit dialogs are obvious. Here are
the not-so-obvious ones:
Gopher:
Selection string - the selection string of the
Gopher item
you want to watch. If left blank, will default to a new-line,
which is the Gopher default.
Web:
URL - the "Universal Resource Locator(?)".
Basically,
this is what you see in the URL field on a browser.
More... - displays another dialog, where you can enter words
and strings that the program will ignore when comparing two HTML
files to see if a site has changed.
FTP:
Directory - defaults to "/".
More... - displays another dialog, where you can enter file names
and parts of file names that the program will ignore when checking
if an FTP site has changed. "index" is a good one to add here.
Select "Settings|Program settings..." to bring up the settings notebook.
Web, FTP
and Gopher each have a notebook page where you can select and enter the client program
used to "view" a Lookout. Also, there is a field to format the command
line of the client program.
For FTP Lookouts, place the following in the "FTP Client Parameters"
field in the order your FTP client needs them: %host %user %password %port %dir
%desc
Web Lookouts only recognize two parameters: %URL %desc
Gopher Lookouts recognize %host, %port, %selector and %desc
For example, if you want to use the IBM WebExplorer as your Web client, and you
normally start it from the command line with the "-q -t 6" options, in
the "Web Client Parameters" field, you would enter "%URI -q -t 6".
For another example, if you use VXFTP for your FTP client, you could enter the following
command line in "FTP Client Parameters": "%host %user %password %dir".
If a client program that you select is not in your PATH, you must enter the full
path to
the program in the "Client" entry field.
The %desc parameter outputs the description of this Lookout to the specified program.
How does it work?
Each Lookout has a thread that does the checking. Every 60
seconds, the main thread goes through the list of Lookouts, and sees if it's time
for any of them to be checked. If it is, that Lookout's thread is signalled, and
it does the checking.
Where do I send bug reports &
suggestions?
Obviously, the author need bug reports. But, he is very interested
in any ideas you have for improvingthe performance and usability of this program.
If you have any problems, suggestions or enhancements, please send them to the author.
***NOTE***
This distribution DOES NOT contain a lookout.dat
file with the information for this site.
Users didn't like the fact that their previous lookout.dat file was getting overwritten.
Known bugs & what's planned?
Known bugs?
- Occasionally, an FTP Lookout will get stuck waiting on a directory listing. The
site will say "Checking...", and the program will become sluggish. Close
the program and restart. I'm working on this one very hard! *** This should be fixed.
If you see this, please let me know. ***
What's not implemented yet?
*POSTPONED - Applying temporary overrides permanently, on the "Global Overrides"
page of the settings notebook.
What's planned?
- Folders, folders, folders! I plan to implement an "Explorer" style main
window, with
folders on the left side, and groups of Lookouts on the right. Look for this to
coincide
with the release of the Windows version ( May-June? 1998 ).
- Interface to BackTalk speech synthesizer *POSTPONED - can now launch ".cmd"
files, like "spchstr.cmd"
- Import from Internet Adventurer and NetExtra
- Support dragging from the main window
Version History
Version 2.04 - May 6, 1998
- changed distribution to be a small .exe and several .dll files
- fixed problems with importing from FTP Browser - import from Microsoft Internet
Explorer - improved code for launching other programs, now VIO programs work.
Also, if you run NetLookout from a command window, then launch a viewer program,
then close NetLookout, the command window will come back, without having to close
the viewer program. - updated help file to describe how to launch ".cmd"
files
- fixed problems with "Look for file" feature on FTP Lookouts - improved
memory management - on changes, message boxes now display after beeps and .wav files
- reworked the threading model, so threads are only created when
needed. Should cut down on NetLookout's use of system resources.
Version 2.03
- user can now select max number of connections - intro dialog displayed when data
file is empty - fixed problem with "Ignore all tags" selection - fixed
problem with saving timeout value
Version 2.02
- proxy support fixed
- pull-down menus & hot keys to copy/paste URLs to/from clipboard - install
script ( thanks Don Hawkinson - DH-Grep-PM )
Version 2.01
- change to .zip file - now only one .zip file, not two - More improvements to the
FTP code - Option to ignore all HTML tags for Web Lookouts - Option to not display
the Settings dialog when creating a site by dropping a URL on the main window.
Version 2.00
- much improved user interface - HTTP proxy support - drag'n'drop support for creating
Lookouts - importing Lookouts from other OS/2 and Windows internet apps
- improved communication code
CCONTACT THE AUTHOR:
Chris Kennedy
Frugal Software
ckennedy@primenet.com
@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
Java Lobby Member
Java Site Accredited
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