AWebResume

© 1999 Duane McDonnell tachyon@tolstoi.saccii.net.au


Index


Introduction

AWebResume is a system snooper which integrates FTP and HTTP resume support into AWeb. It does this by interfacing AWeb with external resumption programs so that interrupted downloads can be both detected and resumed in a seamless fashion.

This version of AWebResume is designed for use with AWeb-II 3.2 (demo and registered).

AWebResume features:

To use the software you will need FTP and HTTP retrieval programs with resume support. AWebResume comes configured to use HTTPResume by Andriya Antonijevic for HTTP and HTTPS resumptions and GNU Wget for FTP resumptions. These programs are not included as part of the AWebResume distribution archive (you can obtain them from Aminet directories comm/www and dev/gg respectively).


Requirements


Distribution

AWebResume is released as FreeWare. You are permitted to charge a nominal fee to cover duplication and distribution costs but no profit is to be made on the sale of this software. The software must not be altered in any way (except for changes to the archival format) and it must be distributed in full.

The software and all distribution components remain the property of the author however you may freely use the software in either a commercial or non-commercial environment.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this software is fit for its intended purpose, no guarantee of any kind can be given, nor can the author be held liable for any loss and/or damage resulting from the use of this software.

Use of this software signals your acceptance of these terms.


Installation

If you use the popular ReqChange patch by Magnus Holmgren you should ensure that you have at least version 3.15 installed. Earlier versions contain a bug which prevents AWebResume from functioning correctly and may cause system instability. The latest version of ReqChange is available from Magnus' home page at http://www.algonet.se/~lear/.

Step 1

Copy AWebResume and AWebResume.info to the same directory where you have the AWeb executable installed. Shell users may omit the .info file if they like. Workbench users might like to select an alternative icon from the ExtraIcons/ directory of this archive. You might also like to copy the HTML documentation to AWeb's documentation directory.

Step 2

Copy AWebResume.cfg to ENVARC:AWeb3/.

Step 3

Modify S:User-Startup by adding the following line after AWeb's installation block:

AWebResume >NIL:

Important:

AWebResume installs pass-through patches on various system functions. If you have other patches installed there is a possibility they may patch some of the same functions which AWebResume patches. This is usually not a problem with pass-through type patches, however replacement patches (those which divert a function to another function entirely) can cause problems. Replacement type patches must always be installed before pass-through type patches. The easiest way to ensure this is to install AWebResume as far down in your S:User-Startup file as possible, after any other patch programs.

Step 4

Reboot the system.

You should now configure AWebResume to suit your requirements.


Configuration

AWebResume can be configured according to your personal requirements. The configuration file is a text file which you can edit using a standard text editor such as Ed. The configuration file is called AWebResume.cfg and resides in directory ENVARC:AWeb3/ (do not configure the run-time copy stored in ENV:AWeb3/).

At this stage it is recommended that you load the configuration file into a text editor and read the comments which describe the various options. The options are not repeated here as they are best documented in the configuration file so that all relevant information can be kept together.

You may change AWebResume's configuration file at any time. If AWebResume is installed and running in the background it will automatically update its configuration buffer when you modify the configuration file as it sets up a file notification (provided the device where ENVARC: resides supports notifications). AWebResume also sets up file notifications on AWeb's configuration files (also stored in ENVARC:AWeb3/) so you can update AWeb's settings at any time and AWebResume will adjust to these settings too (do not modify AWeb's settings using a text editor though, use AWeb's configuration interface).


Usage

AWebResume was designed to be as transparent to the user as possible. For this reason you usually won't notice anything different about AWeb's behaviour unless an event occurs which AWebResume is configured to process, such as an interrupted download detection.

The intention of this section is to give you a brief overview of user feedback changes you might notice with AWebResume installed.

The most obvious change you will notice with AWebResume installed is the different "Incomplete file!" requesters generated when an interrupted file is detected when ResumeEnable is set to 1 in the configuration file.

The extra Resume gadget will invoke the configured FTP or HTTP resumption program to collect the remaining part of the file. In some cases this gadget will instead read as Select. This occurs when you have not specified a download filename for the URL which failed. Choosing Select will invoke a file requester so that you can either select an existing file or type in a new filename. Once the filename is given this option continues as if it were a normal resumption. Note that resumptions will not appear in AWeb's network status window since AWeb is not responsible for the network traffic required to resume a file.

The Delete gadget will delete an unsuccessful download while Retain will prevent AWeb from deleting a partially downloaded file. Retry will re-submit a URL to AWeb to attempt to download again (note that you will lose whatever part of the file you have already downloaded).

If MailEnable is set to 1 in the configuration file you will also get a Mail gadget to choose from. This option allows you to retrieve a file via your e-mail account using a service provided by downloadslave.com. The configuration file describes how to establish your free account. Further information about this service is available by visiting http://www.downloadslave.com.

One unusual thing which you might notice with ResumeEnable set to 1 is what is known as a requester override. Sometimes AWeb generates its own requesters for interrupted files, and sometimes it doesn't. When AWeb chooses to display its own requester AWebResume will override it. It does this because AWebResume's requester offers more options so the normal AWeb requester becomes redundant. To avoid user confusion arising from having two requesters on screen which both refer to the same URL, AWebResume will quietly cancel AWeb's requester.


History

Version 1.12

Version 1.11

Version 1.10

Version 1.00


Acknowledgements

AWeb-II is copyright © Yvon Rozijn and is distributed by Amitrix Development.

HTTPResume is copyright © Andriya Antonijevic.

GNU Wget is copyright © Free Software Foundation. The Amiga version was ported as part of the Geek Gadgets project.

The author would like to thank the following people for their assistance during the development of AWebResume:

Andriya Antonijevic, Gabriele Favrin, Magnus Holmgren, Ian Lightbody, Jim Noble, William Parker, Kent Seaton, Bruce Steers.


Author

AWebResume was developed by Duane McDonnell.

Bug-reports, comments and questions can be sent to:

tachyon@tolstoi.saccii.net.au


HTML conversion by Kent Seaton seaton@tfs.net