-Allows personal file sharing server owners to change:
•the maximum CPU time file sharing uses,
•a Greeting Message that users will see when they initally connect. This message is saved by file sharing even when you stop, and then restart sharing.
-An option that lists users that are connected, and allows you to choose whom you would like to send the message defined in "Send message to all users" to. It even lists the AppleTalk address (by numbers, not by name <psst... hidden feature>) of the user! Previously this option did not function correctly. Now it does.
Requirements for this version
-AppleShare file server or Personal File Sharing availble with all Macintosh's since System 7.5.1.
-OpenTransport is going to be a requirement in future versions of UC. I have to require this in order to do "reverse AppleTalk address name lookup." (RAT lookups. heheh) However, I can remove this dependency if you are willing to suffer without knowing the user@machine name of users who connect to your file server.
UnderControl FAT: The embodyment of a lot of testing and freetime.
UnderControl beta fun script: This script sends a message to all users connected to your file server. The message is very deceptive: it is the same one a user would see if the file server disconnected them! Have fun with it. The AppleScript cannot be edited or viewed.
More info about UnderControl FAT:
The 'expiration' date for UnderControl is 4/1/97. (Yes, April Fools day.) Please make note of this. Just because this program is/has been/was designated as "beta" or "alpha" do not be intimidated by it. It is very crash proof.
UC has been tested, and will work with System 7.5x's (System 7.51, 7.52, 7.53, 7.53r2, 7.55) version of personal file sharing and newer. Get Info on "File Sharing Extension" in your Extensions folder. If its version is greater than 7.6, UC should work for you! Also, UC is compatible with Apple's File Servers 3.x, and 4.0x. (UC is compatible with AS2.0, but I have no way to test it.)
If for some reason UC does not work with File Sharing included in future versions of system software, FutureShare, AppleShare 4.x or AppleShare Pro, contact me. (Is there documentation specific for AS4.x or even FutureShare yet?) Anyways, if some future version of sharing software is released, just hold down the 'option key' when "Send"ing the message, and keep it held down til UC tells you the message was sent successfully or presents an error. This is a hidden feature which started in v0.1b2 that I only told people who emailed me with problems/suggestions.
Error dialogs: (What do I do if UnderControl does not function correctly?)
During the runtime of UnderControl, there is the possibility of encountering two different types of dialogs.
1) Error dialog: Email me with 1) the contents of this dialog; 2) the version of the "File Sharing Extension" or "File Server Extension", ie. 7.62; 3) the version of MacOS you are using, ie. 7.55. The kind of Mac you are using does not matter, except whether it is 68k or PowerPC based. NOTE: I use this in some cases to display useful information for you---use your judgement on whether or not to send me email about a dialog like this.
2) Informational dialog: A message that UC wanted to tell you. Not an error. This should not be reported to me via email.
UnderControl help:
•Is file sharing turned on?
•There is no limit on the number of messages you can send when NOT using AppleScript. However, you can only send messages using AppleScript TWICE. Then you have to quit UC and re-launch it. Yes, this is a simple form of the typical_annoying_shareware_disabling_feature_trick. If you are desperate, you will find a way around this.
•The included AppleScript program is not editable. "It works for me. Dont bug me if it doesnt for you" will be my policy on this script for a while.
•When you hold down the option key when sending a message, UC bypasses its check for a valid file sharing version. This generates a dialog that says "AS version: XX" or "FS version: XX" with "Report the above to s-bytnar@uiuc.edu." This is normal. However, if this dialog comes up when you send a message without holding the option key, then you should report it to me.
•The greeting message and CPU usage percentage can only be set when you are sharing files.
•The greeting message is seen by users when they mount any of your volumes. (The only case where the user will not see it is if they are using an older AppleShare client, or if they have AppleShare messages turned off via the AppleShareSetup control panel.)
•The CPU usage percentage designates how much CPU time file sharing dedicates to servicing clients.
•Try using the "Set Server Usage Limit" with earlier versions of file sharing. (File Sharing before v7.6) I'm pretty sure this option is backwards compatible.
General help:
•If UC locks up your Mac, try giving UnderControl more RAM.
•There are 0 conflicts with any extension I know of. There is a conflict with the Flipper FKey if you use it while in the "About UnderControl" dialog though. Heh *shrug*
•Run a disk analyzer (Apple's Disk First Aid, Norton Disk Doctor, or MacTools Pro) on all of your shared drives until it reports that your drives do not have any problems. UnderControl does nothing that would cause disk related problems. From my experience, file sharing in general has problems with drives that have HFS directory structure errors.
•Any bad blocks on your hard drive can possibly cause instantaneous freezes. Make sure you find some kind of utility that can force MacOS to ignore them, or to tell your hard drive to automatically try and resolve bad-block problems.
•Apple's AppleShare Servers with versions 4.0x (I have not tested 4.1x, or 4.2x) do not seem to work effectively when you set the CPU usage to 100 percent. Try 99 instead. In fact, 99 is generally the safe number to use for maximizing the CPU time that you want to allocate to file sharing.
•LOW DISK SPACE IS BAD. Low disk space does not allow the File Server to maintain sharing permissions. Free space on a drive should not go under 100K. The server might freak out and refuse to share a volume that does not have enough free space on it for the server to do things.
Quotes from some users:
“If you just want to tell people that your file sharing is going down, it's a lot cheaper than buying AppleShare!”
The future of UC:
The version 1.0 release of Under Control will have MANY more functions than this version. At this point in time, no release date is anticipated. It might even be released commercially. I know that there are users who want an alternative to NokNok, ServerManager, and ServerSentry at a FRACTION of the price.
With the release of FutureShare, (Apple's not-yet-released new and really cool server that integrates WWW, e-mail, ftp, and file sharing) UnderControl will probably no longer work. Disclaimer: I have not been able to test FutueShare myself, but I hear it is in private seeding.
UnderControl is not a trademarked or copyrighted symbol that I know of. Nevertheless, this program is copyrighted by me, Steven Bytnar.
Future features:
• I might add a modeless dialog maintaining a user list. (like ShareDevil.)
•Add test chart to this document reflecting versions of sharing and OT that are supported.
•AppleTalk-name-from-address-resolution will be coming very VERY soon. (ie. Instead of showing the numbers representing the network/node/socket the user is connected from, I would show their network address by names. This is in contrast to using a program like Apple's Interpoll to lookup the names by hand. (NokNok and NokNok A/S do some really evil things in order to figure out the name@host of users.) Pssst.. the code for this is included in this version. DO NOT SEND ME BUG REPORTS ON THIS FEATURE. It does not work the way I want it to work! Hold down the option key while selecting the "Send message to some users..." menu item, and keep it held down, even if an error dialog comes up! (Error dialogs will pop up when UC is unable to get OpenTpt to resolve an AppleTalk address. OpenTpt's documentation SUCKS if I may say so, and there is no other easy method of doing RAT lookups. If you do not have OT installed, it will put up an error dialog, and default to showing my standard AppleTalk address information string.
•If anyone can give me ANAT docs, I will be in their debt.
•Add complete AppleScript support and rewrite other AppleEvent handler to support the AppleEvent Object Model. This probably wont happen til I make a PowerPlant front end for UC.
•Logged logins with name lookup for the numerical AppleTalk address. (It is very easy to do this with AppleShare servers, but Personal File Sharing is going to require a hack for me to do this. However, it would be trivial for me to have UC watch the user list periodically for changes, and log that, but it is completely possible for someone to login/logout quickly, and UC wont catch it then.)
•Make the GUI look more like the File Sharing Monitor. (This will involve using PowerPlant, so don't be alarmed when UC is released and is 300K in size, just for the 68K part! Ask Metrowerks why they wont release a CFM-68K library or a PowerMac shared library for distribution to ALL Mac so as to encourage programmers to use PowerPlant!)
• All I can say is watch for some really cool stuff. =)
History:
—v0.4.5 - I forgot to mention that 0.4.2 was the first version to be compatible with System 7.55! This version: User interface changes... you can type a return to get a return in any of the dialogs. The Enter key dismisses the dialog as if you clicked the bold-faced button. Escape cancels dialogs. I was not planning on releasing this with the fixed "Send message to some users" but since I mistakenly did not test my 'removed' expiration code, consider the new working functionality a gift. ;-) Removed "UnderControl BugReporter applet" from the distribution because it requires "Scriptable Text Editor" which every Mac user does NOT have. Read the notes above for a hidden feature. (12-5-96)
—v0.4.2 - Got rid of the expiration code simply because I don't like continually getting email of complaints that it expired. (10-13-96) 0.42r2 Extra notes: Now compatible with System 7.55. Changed around the 'expiration date' info. (10-14-96)
—v0.4.1 - First fully stable version of UnderControl. I'm really getting sick of calling this beta software. =) This version also fixes a major bug that prevented it from recognizing File Sharing shipped with System 7.5 Update 1.0 and newer.
—v0.4a2 - UnderControl is now heading more in the direction that I wanted it to---UC's features are "wrapped" into a C++ class in this version. (This is pretty invisible to the user.) Users will indirectly notice this in how UC handles errors now. Some of the user interface has been made more (hopefully) understandable. (5/20/96)
—v0.3 transition: 0.3 was a horrible mistake. I added a few options, and it turns out some didn't work at all like they I wanted them to! 0.3b[1,2]'s option to send messages to users that they could select from a list---it does not work. 0.4 fixes that.
—v0.3b2i - Fixed "Send Message To Some Users" option, I hope. In 0.3b1, if you had more than 1 user connected, UC would get stuck in an infinite loop that you could safely force-quit. Also, sending a message to the second user in the list didn't work. (3-21-96)
—v0.3b1 (0.3b3i) - Fixed a lot of bugs so that I dont get a lot of junk mail. (3-12-96)
—v0.3b2i - Added "Send message to some users" capability and fixed 99.99% of the bugs in the three new options: "Send message to some users," "Server CPU Usage Limit" and the "Greeting message." (3-5-96)
—v0.3b1i (internal) - Added the ability to change the "Server CPU Usage Limit" and the "Greeting message." (3-4-96)
—v0.2b7 - Turned off a bunch of purgeable bits on resources. Fixed a procedure call that could possibly cause PPC problems. Sorry, since this is a non-release program, and I dont have a PowerPC, I'm going to push up the RAM requirements to a generous amount. (2-23-96)
—v0.2b6 - I was wrong in guessing the Ram Allocation for PowerPCs. UC will crash on PowerMacs when you open the "Send a message" dialog if it has less than 160K. Thanks Dan. Hopefully this will be the last version I have to release because of Ram settings. (2-20-96)
—v0.2b5 - I was wrong in guessing the Ram Allocation for PowerPCs. This version reflects that fact. (2-19-96)
—v0.2b4 - Fixed quit AppleEvent code. Oops, forgot to initialize the 'quit' variable! Thanks for pointing it out Dan. :) Fixed previous history version number. Heh. (0.2b2 is not followed by 0.2b2.) Cleaned up all memory allocation, and resource purgeable bits. UC should work with as little as 72K on 68k Macs. *shrug* I'm guessing it will work with this much RAM on a PowerPC. (2-12-96)
—v0.2b3 - Added System 7.52 & 7.53 versions of file sharing to the list of valid server version numbers. Also put in check code to distinguish AppleShare from personal File Sharing. The one dialog should say "AS version: XX" if you have AppleShare, and "FS version: XX" if you have personal File Sharing as included with System Software. Corrected my email address. (2-6-96)
—v0.2b2 - Fixed all AppleScript problems I know of. The included script should work great now--I optimized some time/date routines so that they use math calculations instead of using text-manipulating routines, resulting in much better performance, as well as getting the script closer to language independance. (Public release 1-29-96)
—v0.2b1 - Added menus, AppleEvents, and even a AppleScript dictionary! "Turned off" dialogs so that they dont display themselves during an AppleScript---a potentially bad thing. (1-25-96)
—v0.1b3 - Compiled for PowerPCs! Absolutely no testing has been done with the PowerPC portion. Added code to handle unknown server versions in a more favorable way. Privately distributed/tested. Revealed hidden feature "skip file server/sharing version check." Hold down the option key when sending a message for UC to send the message without reguard to the version of file sharing you are using. (11-20-95)
—v0.1b2 - Fixed 2 memory allocation bugs. AppleShare File Servers used to sporadically lockup after running UC 0.1b1. (Public release 8-18-95)
—v0.1b1 - Initial public release.
Shareware:
If you find yourself playing with UnderControl more often than you do with Apple's "File Sharing Monitor", or "AppleShare File Server" applications, read the chart below and send the appropriate amount to me:
Steven Bytnar
8642 W. Brodman Ave.
Chicago, IL 60656-4127
World-wide use of UnderControl per organization to use UC for as many file servers as the organization owns: US$100
To register UC for use on any file server: US$5 each server.
Computer labs/organizations should contact me for appropriate pricing.
I take feedback seriously, especially from people who register UnderControl. :-)
Special thanks to:
Brian Eklov for being the first person to send me moolah for my efforts on UnderControl.
Samuel Crausaz for following suit!
Dan Zink for causing me to put my programming ahead of homework those late nights.
My brother Mike... for all the times he complained about the time I was spending on the computer we shared.
Vik Adukia for all the inspiration in making me maintain my other most popular "trumpet" program.
How to contact me:
s-bytnar@uiuc.edu (Send me any comments and ideas you might have for this program even if you do not want to pay the shareware fee!)
http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/s-bytnar/undercontrol/
Keep an eye on this page! I will update it every time a new version of UC comes out.
ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/systems/mac/info-mac/comm/atlk/ is the directory UC resides in when I upload it to Info-Mac.
Check out my homepage for my PGP public key.
PS. Job offers accepted for Summer 1997! I have been actively programming in C, C++, AppleScript, html, JavaScript, Java, Perl, and various flavors of Unix (HPUX, SunOS, Linux, AIX, A/UX) since Fall 1993. Additionally, I know Basic, Pascal, Scheme (Lisp), Intel x86 assembly, and 6502 & 65816 assembly (remember the NES, SNES and the Apple IIgs...). Understanding MC680x0 assembly is something I pride myself in. =-) I reside in the Chicagoland area, and am willing to do some traveling.
