MacTCP Tracer logs the status of MacTCP connections and can be used as a companion to Peter Lewis' MacTCP Watchter. Unlike MacTCP Watcher, MacTCP Tracer writes the connection status of TCP/IP streams to a console window so you can see who connected to your Mac.
I started MacTCP Tracer when I read a posting in alt.bbs.first-class from someone who wanted to know who logged into his FirstClass® Server over the Internet. I also use MacTCP Tracer to test the robustness of my self-developed MacTCP Library (yet another… *:ô) ), so you may see more features in the future.
Please note: MacTCP tracer is a quick hack that I did in my spare time (just a few hours of work). Although I tested it for almost two days on my machine (Quadra 840av running System 7.5 and MacTCP 2.0.6) and didn’t notice crashes caused by it, I can not guarantee that MacTCP Tracer will also work on your machine. Please see "Disclaimer" and "Warranty" below. Don’t blame me…
Comments and suggestions welcome, flames ignored.
Installation
To install MacTCP Tracer, simply copy it to one of your hard disks and start it.
Using MacTCP Tracer
MacTCP Tracer will open a console window and display status information for up to 64 (MacTCP’s maximum) connections.
MacTCP Tracer will generate output similar to the following:
1. Date & Time in the format [mm/dd/yyyy HH:MM:SS]
2. always "MacTCP:"
3. Status Text
4. Status ID
5. local IP address
6. local por number
7. remote IP address
8. remote port number
9. remote machine domain name
10. mail domain of the remote machine (actually the result of an MX-entry DNS lookup, for the techies)
Columns are separated by spaces (ASCII 32), although this may change in future versions. If you want to analyize the log, expect that fields are separated by whitespace (space=ASCII 32 or TAB=ASCII 9).
Future Enhancements
I plan to include the following features if I find the time, have nothing better to do *:ô) and if enough people find MacTCP Tracer useful.
• Write the log entries to the FirstClass Server console window
• Lock out unwanted callers by IP address or domain name
• Trace only incoming connections
• better user interface
Disclaimer
Andreas Pizsa and Networx GmbH ("Networx") hereby disclaim all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Andreas Pizsa and Networx GmbH will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if Andreas Pizsa or Networx have been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall Andreas Pizsa or Networx be liable for any damages, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
This program is Freeware, you can use it or distribute it as long as you don’t charge for it and include this document.
Warranty
Forget it *:ô) There is absolutely no warranty for MacTCP Tracer. Simply suppose it doesn’t work on any machine, doesn’t have any useful features, can crash your machine, destroy your data, format your hard drive, burn your modem, etc. Now go for it *:ô) ! If it turns out that it really does anything useful - that’s great for you. Let me know if this is the case by sending me an e-mail (piz@networx.co.at)
Acknowledgements
Thanx go to Networx for paying me while writing "useless" software like this and for paying the time I spend on various online services.
