'Netscape History' ver. 3.0.1, Copyright 1997 Claudio Potenza.
Pecora Soft 1997 cpotenza@kagi.com
What is in the archive
For first time users (System requirements and
use)
If you used the previous version
How to ask for info, report errors and give suggestions
Frequently Asked Questions (and their Answers)
How to pay the shareware fee
Why to pay the shareware fee?
Miscellaneous
Disinstalling Netscape History
Starting with the next major version the program will be named 'Web History'. This will be only a change in name: registered users will still be supported.
You should have received three items together:
you are encouraged to distribute 'Netscape History' provided that you keep these three items together and do not charge for it more than the usual cost of distribution.
'Netscape History' is a utility for users of the Macintosh version of Netscape (and Microsoft Internet Explorer) that lets them browse off-line (not connected to the Internet) the last Web pages visited with their browser. Images will be correctly shown, if they were loaded when the page was read from the net.
It works with (the Macintosh version of) Netscape 1.0, 1.1, 1.12, 2.0, 3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1 (but none of these will perfectly satisfy you) and in a limited way with files produced by Windows version of the same browsers.
If your Mac already runs Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer, it
will also run 'Netscape History'. As distributed it is set to use 600
KByte of RAM.
While the program file in itself is small, it stores all the visited pages
in a 'History' folder, and this folder can easily grow VERY big, so you
will need to delete pages from time to time.
I think that a program should have as few commands as possible: users
should USE the program, not spend time deciding which check box must be
checked and which option must be selected.
I've made 'Netscape History' following this line: in normal use it has
no user interface at all!
There is no special installation procedure: just copy the file wherever you like on your hard disk.
You basically use it in the following way:
When you want to browse again through all those beautiful pages you have
seen on the Web, you just double-click on 'Netscape History' (I keep it
on the desktop, side by side with Netscape).
You will see a dialog telling you to wait some moments, and at the end
your browser will be automatically started, showing a document (Last
Visited Pages) that contains a list of these pages, ordered by time
(most recent first).
In this document, for each page there is a line like this:
The Best Page Mon, 30 feb 1999 22:37 (3Kb) Real Link Select Save...
Where 'The Best Page' will be the title of the page.
Click on this link and you will immediatly see the page (with the corresponding
images, if you loaded them the first time)
The link labelled 'Real Link' will take you to the real page in
Internet (in this case obviously you need to connect first).
The 'Select' link will allow you to select the page if you want
to delete it .
And with the 'Save...' link you can save the page,
with all contained images, wherever you like (for instance on another disk).
As you can see, creation date and time are also shown, together with page size in Kb (including the size of all contained images).
You can follow any link while looking at the pages, keeping in mind
this:
if the link refers to one of the page on the disk, this will be immediatly
shown, otherwise the browser will try to load it from the net, trying to
connect, if you are not already connected.
By the way, you can check if a link refers to something in your disk or
on the net by looking at what appears at the bottom of Netscape window
when you move the mouse over the link (without pressing the button): this
is the URL; if it starts with 'file://..' then it is on your disk,
otherwise is on the net).
At the top of the page there are these other links:
| Go to List by site | Go to Lit of 'orphan' images |
| Select pages to delete... | Show selected pages |
The very first time you run 'Netscape History', it will show you a dialog that asks you to specify two things, using two dialogs very similar to the standard ones you normally use to save or open files from an application:
The general idea is this: you first select the pages to delete, either one by one or specifying criteria (for example: older than 10 days).
To select pages one by one you use the Select link that is near
each page listed.
To select many pages at once, you use the link Select Pages To Delete...
found at the top of the 'Last Visited Pages' list. This will show a dialog
with the options for selection.
When you are over selecting the pages, you review the list of selected pages to check that everything is ok, using the link Show selected pages (at the top of the 'Last Visited Pages' list).
This will show a listing of all the pages you have selected so far. The commands you will find on this page should be quite self-explanatory and allows you to delete the pages, de-select all selected pages or go back to the list of pages.
When you quit Netscape the selected pages will be de-selected automatically.
To save a page, together with all contained images, you just selecet
the Save... link near each listed page.
When you save a page containing images, 'Netscape History' will create
a Folder with the name you specified, containing all the files (HTML
file + images) needed to reconstruct the page.
One of the file will be named '00_PAGE.HTM'. You must open this file to see the saved page.
However, if there are no images, a single file will be created, with the name specified.
Normally when you open 'Netscape History', it will automatically launch
your browser with the Last Visited Pages list. All 'Netscape History'
standard commands are implemented simply as links on the Last Visited
Pages list, so you may not be aware that 'Netscape History' is running
in the background (with no open windows).
But if you look at the application menu, you will see that 'Netscape History'
is there.
If you switch to it, you will be able to use some other advanced function or change preferences. If you don't understand or don't care about the following, you don't have to use them.
This command will open the browser with the History list. This is the action normally done at the startup of 'Netscape History'.
You can drop a 'cache' folder over the program application, or you can
select one using this command.
'Netscape History' will ask you if you want to add the pages contained
in the dropped folder to your standard History list or if you prefer to
create a separate History folder for them.
The folder you drop can also be a 'cache' folder of Netscape or Microsoft
Internet Explorer for windows.
This will show a dialog that lets you specify new locations of your browser and 'History' folder and has also two check boxes:
The check box 'Show History automatically whne launched' is normally checked and specifies if you want 'Netscape History' to open the History list when started.
The check box 'Use original file names' means simply this:
"if a page is originally named home.html, the copy in the History
folder will be named exactly home.html. Obviously, this is the default.
--What is the use of this? -- you may ask.
If you uncheck this box, ALL files will have names like 'N15F7A22.HTM'.
If the form "8+3 character" reminds you of something, you are
probably correct: yes, you can copy all the History folder on a Win machine,
open the file '_HISTORY.HTM' with a Win versione of Netscape or MSIE, and
be able to navigate through the files.
But you will not be able to delete and save files, and applets will not work.
If you move the browser 'Cache f' from its standard location (somewhere
inside 'System folder:Preferences') usually 'Netscape History' is able
to find it. In certain circumstances however it will not find it.
In this case you will need to explicitly specify it. This is the command
that lets you do this.
This will simply show the memory still free for 'Netscape History'. It is a toggle command. to make the memory info window disappear select it again.
First, especially if you want to know if there are new versions, you can check my main web page or my alternative web page.
There I will also maintain a list of found bugs, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and known problems.
For more direct feedback, you can contact me at one of these email addresses:
cpotenza@kagi.com (preferred, always try this first)
mc4924@mclink.it
If you want to report a bug or ask something about the program use, please remember to specify the version of the program you have, type and version of the browser you use, plus, in case you have seen some error messages, the message exactly as it appears and what was doing the program just before you had the error.
Version 3.0.1 has no new new feature; it just fixes some bugs; I won't bother you with the minute details.
The basic use of the program is the same as the previous version: normally
you simply double click it and after a while you will see your browser
opening with a page listing all the recently visited pages.
These are the main differences with the previous version:
There are also other improvements:
Read here for more information on the use of the program.
QUESTION:
Is there a Windows version of this program? In case the answer
is NO, do you know the name of a similar program for this platform?
ANSWER:
Currently there is only a Mac version; however I have a 'Win version'
item on the 'to do' list (not with high priority).
On Win95 I have used a shareware program called 'UnMozify'
that worked well; I have heard of another program called 'Cache
Explorer' but never tried it and I know that many more exist.
NOTE: I have obtained the above URLs with a couple of simple Altavista
and Lycos searches.
QUESTION:
Where is my registration code? I have payed my registration but
still not got my code!
ANSWER:
There is no registration code for this program. The version you
downloaded or copied from a CD-ROM is not a demo and has no missing features.
I decided to follow this way to simplify life for honest user.
PROBLEM:
Not all the pages I've visited are in the list!
OR
Some of the images are missing!
SOLUTION:
Netscape version 1.xx does not stores all the visited pages in
the 'cache' (those relative to FTP and also many HTTP pages).
MS Intenet Explorer, Netscape 2.xx and 3.xx score much better on this regard,
but if the program hangs or crashes (not an unlikely possibility!) the
last pages will not be stored correctly.
Moreover there are some subtleties in HTML pages, especially for image
display (and now with Javascript and Java!) that guarantee that you can
always find a combination that will not be reconstructed correctly. I am
constantly working to improve this side, thanks particularly to users who
report of troubling pages.
PROBLEM:
I think that 'Netscape History' is really a disgusting program:
I want back my shareware fee and I want to completely erase it from my
computer!
SOLUTION:
For the first part of this question, I'm sorry, but the shareware
fee is not reimbursable (shareware='try before you buy'). The second part
instead is very easy to accomplish: to completely disinstall 'Netscape
History' you just have to erase:
The fee for a single user license is $8. This entitles you to all future
upgrades of the program.
You can pay in a number of ways: cash, check, credit card...
To simplify payment processing, I use a shareware payment service called
'Kagi Shareware'. Basically, users send the money to Kagi shareware, which
send them back e-mail receipts, collects all the payments and send them
to me in batches.
If you are an organization, you can buy a Site License, that costs $200
and covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius
of your site (100 miles). One big advantage of a Site License is that you
do not need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the
software.
There is also a World-Wide License, that costs $800 and covers all locations
for your organization on the planet earth.
You can do it only using credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) or First Virtual.
At this address you will find
a form to fill that will allow you to pay online. Be sure to have your
credit card or First Virtual ID handy. This is a secure server.
If you cannot use the secure server you can use this alternative
address (not a secure server)
The form requires you to input your data and should be self-explanatory.
Postal address is optional and needed only if you want a postal receipt.
When asked for your credit card name, remember to enter it exactly as it appears on the card
You can do it only using credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) or First Virtual.
The credit card data is encoded with a simple algorithm, not with a high security one (But then, also fax and postal mail can be easily intercepted!).
Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet email address you will receive an email acknowledgement.
You can pay using cash, check, credit card. You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollar.
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-CP
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
for cash or check, put it in the envelope inside the folded paper so that it is not visible.
If you are an organization and have a purchasing department that handles
payments, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then
select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the
form and send it to your accounts payable people. You might want to highlight
the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with their
payment.
Kagi Shareware can not invoice your company, you need to act on my behalf
and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed.
Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi Shareware and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi Shareware when the form is processed.
Sto preparando la versione italiana del programma. Se vi interessa,
verificate la mia pagina
web principale o alternativa,
o contattatemi al mio indirizzo (cpotenza@kagi.com).
Il metodo di pagamento preferito è sempre tramite Kagi Shareware
(vedi sopra) ed è anche l'unico utilizzabile
per pagare con la carta di credito.
Comunque gli utenti italiani che vogliano pagare tramite vaglia o in
banconote possono anche inviare la registrazione direttamente a me.
In questo caso la registrazione shareware è fissata in 12000 Lire (l'eventuale differenza con la registrazione di 8$ è dovuta al fluttare del cambio).
Se volete utilizzare questo metodo di pagamento contattatemi tramite e-mail (cpotenza@kagi.com).
the short answer is: 'because you have to'
the long answer is:
because you have to and because it is your convenience as a user of computers.
'Shareware' is a way of distributing software in which distribution costs
are practically zero, the user can really try the product before buying
and (conequently) the cost of the product is generally very low.
If the shareware system will continue to grow, users will be happy because
they could have quality software at low price, software auhors will be
happy too because they could simplify distribution.
If every user would pay his shareware fee, costs could be even lower!
Moreover, even if you should always pay for what the product is now and not for what it will be in the future, it is obvious that for each single program, if the authors receives good return, he or she will continue to maintain and improve it.
Registered users will have quicker assistance in case of problems (Claudio Potenza cpotenza@kagi.com). However I will try to answer to all bug report.
The program is set with a memory partition on 600 Kb. If you have a
very big cache and depending on the contents of the pages, this may not
be enough.
In this case 'Netscape History' will show you an error message and you
will have to increase it.
'Netscape History' uses the browser 'cache' mechanism.
The browser itself stores the most recently visited pages in a 'Cache'
folder (by default is in 'System Folder:Preferences').
This is done so that when you are connected and ask the browser to show
a page, the browser looks in the cache to see if the page is there. If
it is, it asks the Internet host if the page has changed; if it has not
changed, it will load the page from disk instead of from the Internet,
which is obviously much quicker.
When you discover this, you immediatly think: 'all I need to do is open
the file corresponding to the page I want to look at!'.
The problem is that the pages have names like 'cache541@%!9-8' and so it
is not easy to find which is the one you want.
Moreover, you won't be able to see the images in the page, even if you
loaded them together with it.
So 'Netscape History' copies the pages from 'Cache' folder to 'History f', modifying the image links in the copies so that they can be correctly shown and at last it creates the file Last Visited Pages.
With Netscape 2.xx and 3.xx, if you do an 'Open Location' of the 'address'
about:cache you will get a document that lists all files present
in the cache, with some info for each file.
Please note that this document can be quite big: on a slow mac the computer
could seem to hang for some instants while opening it. Moreover I have
noticed some inconsistences in the info.
(Thanks to Alberto Berretti of Mc-Link for this hint)
'Netscape History' 3.0.1 has been tested with Netscape 1.0, 1.1, 1.12, 2.0 3.0 and with Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1. (it surely doesn't work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x and with beta version of 2.0)
None of these browsers store flawlessy all the visited pages on the
'disk cache'. Each one, from time to time, 'forget' some of them.
Apart from other considerations the best ones on this regard are Netscape
3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:
In using this software, you understand and agree that this software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and performance of using this software lies entirely with you, the user. The author does not make any warranties, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to this software.
In no event shall the author be liable for any consequential, incidental, or special damages whatsoever (including without limitation damages for loss of critical data, loss of profits, interruption of business, and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use this software.
Although the author would appreciate any feedback and bug reports, the author shall not be responsible for correcting any problems which you discover or otherwise help you maintain and use this software. Furthermore, the author may at any time replace, modify, alter, improve, enhance or change this software.
last modified: 25 june 1997 - Copyright ©1997 Claudio Potenza