Help Topics for Filetopia

 

  • Introduction
  • Basic concepts
  • The Search system
  • The Chat Client
  • The File Client and Server
  • The Messaging system
  • Options
  • The Collection Manager
  • The Getting Started Wizard
  • Contact Information
  •  


    Introduction

    Filetopia is a free communications software that includes: instant messaging, chat, e-mail, a powerful file sharing system with a search engine, online friends list and message boards. What is unique to this software is the level of security and privacy that it provides. It uses a choice of strong ciphers and public key techniques for all communications and sophisticated techniques to protect your IP and thus make you truly anonymous and safe from attacks.

    The collection manager included is a powerfull tool to manage your files and compare them with files from other users so that you only obtain files new to your collection. The chat client provides mechanisms to protect your identity and to prevent attacks from other users which are so frequently seen on IRC.

    The messaging system allows you to post messages or e-mails to other users and with the message boards you will be able to keep "conversations" or threads without the need to be online at the same time

    -- Use Filetopia to improve your collection in a secure, easy to use environment.

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    Basic concepts

     

    File Sharing

    This term applies to programs that can turn a user's machine into a file server. This way, files can be shared among users creating a huge "virtual server" that grows as more users connect. In Filetopia, files can be shared in a one-to-one basis and it is also possible to search for all the files online in the "virtual server". 

    Context menus

    Context Menus appear when the user presses the right mouse button over a certain area of the screen.  At that time, a Popup Menu with options related to that part of the screen appears.  In Filetopia context menus are used extensively, and will be referenced throughout this help.

    Encryption

    The process of encoding the information in such a way that it can only be read at the intended destination is called Encryption.  If the information is not encoded in this way, it is relatively easy for it to be intercepted by someone while it is travelling to its destination. On the other hand, if the information is encrypted, it is infeasible to intercept.  For the information to be read, it needs some data called the key. This key enables the destination computer to decrypt or decode the information.  

    There are two types of encryption: "Weak Encryption": where the method of encoding is known to have weaknesses or the key length used is 64 bits long or less: and "Strong Encryption": where the method of encoding has no known attacks and the key length used is greater than 64 bits.  Filetopia uses strong encryption, which means: there is no way that any unauthorized person can read the message.  For a more detailed description of the encryption algorithms used in Filetopia, visit the web.

    Collection Managers

    These are programs that help users to manage collections of files.  However, when you are collecting files, there are some requirements that are not addressed by a "file manager" such as Windows explorer. The additional requirements include:

    Chat, IRC

    In Internet terms, a Chat is a service that enables several connected Net users to maintain a conversation, via the keyboard in real time.  One standard protocol used in chat networks on the Internet is called IRC (Internet Relay Chat). These chat networks consist of many interconnected servers and permit thousands of users to chat simultaneously.

    Filetopia uses a different chat protocol and therefore it is not compatible with the IRC networks. However it provides many advantages over the IRC protocol:

    Security - the Filetopia protocol has less weak points that can be attacked.

    Privacy - the information travels encrypted.

    Auxiliary protocols - that help in the file exchanging among users and many other tasks.

    Message boards

    These date back to the early days of bulletin board systems (BBS's) and they are among the most popular ways for a group of users to communicate.  The users can effectively share information by posting messages that can be read by other users at a later time. Unlike Chat there is no need for the users to be present at the same time. Filetopia hosts a Message Board, which is highly integrated with the rest of the components and which also shares the secure communications channel.

    File clients and servers

    If you want to retrieve files from the Net, you need some kind of file client.    Web browsers are the most common kind of file client, but there are other kinds.  Filetopia is a very specialized kind of file client due to its integration with a collection manager and the ability to use strong encryption.   The files made available through the Net need also some kind of software to "serve" them to the clients.  The file servers are the programs in charge of performing this function and Filetopia has one of these servers that "speaks" the same language (protocol) as the client.

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    The Search system

    To search for files shared by other users, all you have to do is press the "Search" button and enter a search text. This can be one or more words that will be matched agains the file's name, path and description. Aditionally, you can choose to limit the results to files that are currently online or to a certain kind of files (categories) as well to a minumun speed. 

    Once you find a file you want, you can download it by pressing the "Get Selected files" button or you can also send a message to the file's owner by using the context menu over the result list.

    Privacy note: User's nicks are not shown in Filetopia's searchs unlike in other file sharing systems. You can send a message to the owner but the user's nick won't show during the whole proccess.

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    The Chat client

    Once you have your collection organized, you can reach out to find other users who collect the same kind of files you do and so share your files while increasing your collection.

    In Novice mode: all you have to do is press the "Chat" button to start chatting. You can change channels by selecting one from the channels combo (this will exit the current channel and move you to the selected channel). To create channels or join more than one channel at the same time: get the channels list first by selecting: Chat->Get Channel List.

    If you are in Expert mode and have entered the required values in Tools->Options->Chat, then pressing the Connect button or the Connect to Server option in the File menu will connect you securely to the Filetopia Chat Server. When you are connected, you can press the Channels button to get a list of all the channels on the server.  You can then join a channel by selecting it from the list and pressing the Join button, or you can create your own channel with the Create button.  The Info button updates information about the selected channel (topic, number of users, etc) in the channel list.

    After you have joined or created a channel, a Public chat window opens, and this is where you can chat with all the users on the same channel. Any text typed in the box located at the bottom of the window will be seen by all users of the channel. To the right of this window there is a list of all the users who are connected to the same channel, including you.  If you select any of these users you will have access to a context menu with the following options:

    If you are the creator of the channel or have Operator status, then the Operator menu option will also be visible to you. This will give you access to the following commands:

    If you select 'Properties' from the context menu the Channel Properties Window opens. Using this window you can customize your channel:

    Other things you can do from the chat's context menu are:

    In the Chat menu, we have the following options:

    The Private Chat window opens when you double click on a user in the list or you select Private Chat from the context menu. In this window, you will be able to have a secure one-to-one chat with another user.

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    The Messaging system

    If you don't find the kind of collectors you're looking for when you're online, you can leave messages on the appropriate channels or send them to particular users of the system.   To see the messages associated with a given channel, get into the chat room and press the "Messages" button.   The "Messages window" will open and you will be able to see all the messages previously posted by selecting any from the list.  It is also possible to perform the following actions in this window:

    The "New message window" lets put a subject heading to your message. Your message can include a Subject, the text of your message and an expiration period, which can be from 1 to 30 days (it defaults to 7). After this period the message will be deleted from the server.

    The "Actions" menu has a few options related to the messages:

    Private Messages

    It is possible to send and receive private messages using Filetopia.  The 'Messages' button opens your private messages and lets you read and reply to other users.  The messages first shown are those stored on the server, if they're bold it means that they are new messages.  You can also open your past messages history and see all the messages that you have sent (red) or that have been sent to you (blue).   The 'History' button can be disabled as well as the procedure for saving of messages by un-checking  'Save personal messages encrypted in my hard disk' in Options->Advanced.  If the message files are stolen, the hacker must also know your connection password in order to access your messages.

    Once you connect, if you have any new messages, the "Private messages window" will open automatically.

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    The File Client and Server

    The file Client is integrated in the List window.  When a list is Activated, two new tabs appear: the Download and the Upload tab, which serve the purpose of getting files from the list-owner's server and sending files respectively.  From the Files or Missing tab, it is possible to add files to the Download list.   As soon as files are added, a connection with the owner's server  is established and file retrieval starts automatically (unless changed in options).  We can add as many files as we want, which will be queued for delivery in the Download list.  Inside the Download tab, it is possible to move the files up or down in the queue, or to delete them from the queue.  It is also possible to skip a given file or to stop completely the connection to the remote server.    Similarly, we can add files from the Missed list to the Upload list.

    The file Server starts as soon as we go online, from the File Server Window in the Tools menu -or clicking in the transfer panel at the lower right of the screen-, we can monitor all file transactions taking place in the program, we can abort any transaction, kick a user from our server and even ban that user.  The Active Transfers tab, shows all transfers currently in progress, while the History tab shows all past transfers with some statistics and the status of the transfer (Ok, Not found, Aborted, etc). In the Users tab, you can see all users that connected to our server during the current session as well as those currently connected. This window has some statistics for each user: files sent and received, Kbs sent and received, time online, time idle and credit remaining.

    To open the windows explorer right in the Download directory, we have an option under the Tools menu called Open Download directory.

    To create a list with all the files downloaded and received, we have an option under the Tools menu called Make a list with new files.

    Trade mode

    If you dont want to share your files freely, but rather just share with a limited number of users or under a set of rules you decide, you can choose to become a trader by selecting this option in Options->Server. In this mode, you can decide which users get your file's list and access to your server. You can set a ratio: which means the number of bytes you allow to get for each byte that is uploaded to you, and you can set a Initial credit: which are the number of bytes a user has to sample your files before they need to start uploading.

    Additionally, you can automate the file exchange procedure with other users by entering a channel and selecting 'Unattended' from the channel context menu.  In this case, you will allow all users (except ignored or banned users) of that channel to have access to your List and file Server. 

    On the other hand, a trader cannot retrieve files from searchs (the system will warn you if you try and invite you to change to 'share' mode) and cannot get files from other users that are not traders.

    There are several settings that can be configured here in Options-Server:

    The Number of Slots is the number of people we allow to be connected simultaneously.  This depends on our bandwidth and, as a general rule, it is better to have a few happy people with quick response times, than a lot of frustrated ones with very poor response times.
    The Max number of search connections that we allow: from those slots that we just defined, how many are available for search users (the rest will be available for friends and users we meet in the chatrooms).
    The Bandwidth allowed for each connection: we can limit the speed a user can download from us.
    The Bandwidth allowed for all search users: this is how much bandwidth will be available to all search users (note that for each search users the maximun speed is still what we defined in the previous option).

     

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    Options

    There are a large number of things that can be configured in the Filetopia's Client, and to do so we need to open the Options Window, which is under the Tools menu.    In Expert mode, this window is divided in eight different tabs that group related parameters together.  These tabs are:

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    The Collection Manager

    This is the heart of the Filetopia's Client, the module in charge of managing the collections of files. The collections are organized in file lists. 

    The file list window, is organized it tabs, it can have up to 5 tabs, although only two are visible initially.

    The first tab, called Files, holds the collection file list. The list consists of a grid, which has initially the following columns: Icon, Filename, Size, Date, Category, Path and Description.  By default, the lists are ordered by filename in ascending order - although clicking on any of the column headers can change this.

    The Properties tab holds some information about the list such as the summary of a "compare" if the list has been compared. It also allows the entry of a written description of the list that will appear in the status bar.

    The Missing tab holds a list of the files that are not in this list but which are in a "compared to" list.

    The Missed tab shows those files that are in this list but are not in the "compared to" list.

    When the list is Activated (we have access to the list owner's server)  it also shows the Upload and Download tabs, which will be explained later - they allow the transfer of files among users.

    There are a number of operations that can be performed on the file lists:

    There are two types of lists that can be generated:



    Additionally,  it is possible to mark the "Generate CRC Checksums for exact duplicate analysis". This makes Filetopia analyze each and every file included in your collection. For this purpose, the program applies an algorithm that extracts a unique number that identifies each file. This helps to produce an exact duplicate file analysis, however this list takes much longer to generate.  It is also possible to mark the "Make this list the Master list for default comparing" option if you want the list that you are creating to be used to automatically compare all the lists you receive. When you're ready, you can click the Create button to start the list creation. To help you share your files, there is also an option: "Share the selected directories" which you can use to add all the directories used in the list to your shared paths.

  • Open: This option lets you Open a previously saved list.  The list can be either a binary list (CML) or ASCII list (CMA). It can also read lists saved in any of the supported list formats: SLD, SLX (Superlister) and CLF (Cybernaut).

  • Save: Lets you save the selected list. For instance if you have edited the list by adding or deleting files and you wish to keep your changes.

  • Save As (File menu) Lets you save the selected list with a different name and/or with a different file format.  The supported save file formats are: binary compressed (CML), ASCII (CMA) and you may also save in database readable ASCII (ASC).

  • Close: (File menu) Closes the currently selected file list (it does not ask if you want to save changes). This is the same as closing the list window.

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    The Getting Started Wizard

    This opens automatically the first time we start the program and anytime we select the option under the Help menu.  This wizard will help us in the initial configuration tasks, taking us step by step through the following:

    Additionally, it allows us to start Filetopia when the system starts (not a default option).

    It is very advisable that the newbies complete the Wizard every time they want to change their shared files, as the Wizard does all the necessary adjustments to the configuration for you.

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    Contact Information

    For updated versions and more information, please visit our web page at:

                http://www.filetopia.com

     

    You can also contact Filetopia at the following email addresses:

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