In'side Shareware 1995 April/ish0495.iso/win95/wswatch/wswatch1.txt

Text File | 1995-04-24 | 15KB | 351 lines

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This file is additional information by:
Colin Seymour                  | Tel. [phone]
CRL, Dawley Road, Hayes,       | Fax. [phone]
Middx. UB3 1HH, United Kingdom | Internet: [e-mail]

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Utility: Windows Sockets Net Watch
         Displays state of network hosts and allows remote
         logins to displayed hosts by "point and click".

Author:  WS_WATCH is Copyright 1995 by the author John A. Junod.
         (All rights reserved).
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Source of WS_WATCH:  Anonymous ftp from host:  129.29.64.246
                                   Directory:  pub/msdos

See the author's WS_WATCH.TXT file for documentation and update info.

This file created 26/1/95 for Alpha version 11
Updated 27/1/95 (Undocumented editing facilities described, & various
minor corrections), 30/1/95 minor corrections + more info about
netwatch.db file format.
Updated for Alpha version 13, 13/2/95.
Updated for Alpha version 15 95_02_20, 23/2/95.  NETWATCH.DB file is
superseded by WS_WATCH.DB file.


Installing WS_WATCH with a database configured for local requirements
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The author's documentation is in WS_WATCH.TXT
On-line help is available by selecting Help on the main
menu (The help file WS_WATCH.HLP need only
be in the \WS_WATCH directory to be accessible).

The author's files (including the above) are packed in
the WS_WATCH.ZIP distribution file.

The WS_WATCH.ZIP file should be unpacked using PKUNZIP
or a compatible archive unpacking program.
For example: Copy all the distribution files to a suitable
directory (e.g. C:\WS_WATCH), and in DOS type PKUNZIP WS_WATCH
Another well known shareware unpacker running in Windows
is called WinZip, which is (R) and copyright Nico Mac Computing Inc.
There is also Info-ZIP's self-extracting package for decompressing
.ZIP files available from public domain FTP sites; distributed
as UNZ512X3.EXE for DOS running on 386+ PC-compatibles;
plus other unzipping utilities too numerous to mention.

To install, run Windows file manager.  Locate the WS_WATCH.EXE file
in the directory WS_WATCH and drag it with the mouse on to a suitable
Program Manager group where you want the WS_WATCH icon;
this automatically installs the correct icon for WS_WATCH.

When replacing a previous version, delete the old icon and
use the drag-and-drop technique above, rather than editing the
Program Item Properties.  Otherwise, you will not get the updated
icon.  Version 15 introduces a new Sockets graphic in the icon.

Run the WS_WATCH program by double clicking on your new group
icon.  Use the options menu to select appropriate settings.

Users may prefer to set up and distribute their own WS_WATCH.INI
file containing setup information tailored to local requirements.
The locally adjusted version of the WS_WATCH.INI file can be
stored in the WS_WATCH directory (or a subdirectory called,
say, WS_WATCH\WINDOWS).
If you then copy your file from the WS_WATCH
subdirectory to your Windows directory before running WS_WATCH,
you will get the locally adjusted settings, otherwise
WS_WATCH will create a default .INI file in the Windows directory.

Users will also need to set up and distribute their own WS_WATCH.DB
file tailored to local requirements.  The locally adjusted version
of the WS_WATCH.DB file can be stored in the WS_WATCH directory
on a local machine or as a network directory.  Until further notice,
the author is distributing the old-style NETWATCH.DB file, not
a WS_WATCH.DB file, so if you have your own tailored WS_WATCH.DB file
this will be used by defualt.


Description
-----------

WS_WATCH monitors routing hosts on the TCP/IP (Internet)
network.  Every so often it checks to see if each host in
its database is responding.  Initially the hosts are shown
in yellow in a graphic display.  If they respond to a check
data packet, they turn green.  If there is an error, they
change colour.  There are colour codes for varying numbers of
lost packets.  These colours may be altered from the default
settings in the File/Colours menu.
Lost packets may be caused by networks responding slowly,
i.e. slower than the timeout period set in the options menu,
due to heavy data traffic, and also by hosts being shut down,
hardware faults etc.

The value of this utility is that you can see whether failure
to connect via the Internet is due to a gateway machine being
down (an error condition may mean several things, but if
the machine is down, that will certainly show as an error).
It also serves as a handy graphical method of logging in
as a remote terminal to a displayed host.

The WS_WATCH.DB file contains details of the routing computers
on the TCP/IP network, and should be edited for local requirements.
The WS_WATCH.DB file is kept in the WS_WATCH directory.

If you use the sample NETWATCH.DB or WS_WATCH.DB file supplied
in the .ZIP file, it is really valid only for local conditions at
the author's network.

Read WS_WATCH.TXT for author's information about the utility.

Editing the WS_WATCH.DB file for local requirements may be
done using facilities built in to the utility
(see Additional Editing Facilities).  It can also be edited
with a text editor, but this method is more prone to error
and the built-in facilities are easier to use.

Extracts from a sample WS_WATCH.DB file are shown below:

Tws_watch.db 95/02/23 13:26
Bnetwatch.bmp
V1
Hlocalhost,127.0.0.1,Loopback,CRL,16,1,0,1,0
Hgblink,146.101.128.1,uknet link m/c,External Router,14,21,0,1,0
HCanterbury2,146.101.3.2,Canterbury2.GB.EU.net,External router,6,29,0,1,0
Hlinx-gw...,146.101.28.2,linx-gw.GB.EU.net,External router,24,29,0,1,0
N12,14,7,14,12
N12,0,7,36,7
N12,14,12,14,21
N12,36,27,0,27
N12,14,27,14,21
N12,6,29,6,27
N12,16,7,16,1
N12,24,29,24,27

The first line contains version information for the database file.
The second line relates to the author's other software and is not
thought to be used by the present version of WS_WATCH (Alpha v. 15).
There is a netwatch.bmp file in the authors's NETWATCH utility
(which is a completely separate application from WS_WATCH).
The lines starting with "H" describe hosts, and contain fields for
name, IP address, description, location and displayed screen
coordinates.  The lines starting with "N" are records for the lines
that make up the graphic display but otherwise do not affect the
function of the program with respect to the active host checking
process.
Specifying the IP address 127.0.0.1 for the local machine will work
for any machine that WS_WATCH runs on, since this is the standard
"loopback" IP address.  You do not therefore need a separate local
IP address for each machine that WS_WATCH runs on, and the same file
can be used on different machines.


Additional Editing Facilities
-----------------------------

The author's 12/12/94 development history quotes:
  "Check out the menu available by RIGHT clicking on a host or the
   screen.  The NETBEUI option is NOT complete, nor is the New->Line
   menu item.  The EDIT mode will eventually disappear. Not all
   menu items work yet...."

Documentation is in fact now being added in WS_WATCH
distributions for these facilities in the on-line Windows help file.

As the author barely has time to work on the program, there is
unfortunately very limited documentation from the horse's mouth.
We can, I suspect, expect further interesting developments in
WS_WATCH.  It is a very useful utility which, in the
event of local network problems, can save Internet users a lot of
time, and the graphical Telnet feature can also save time.
Consequently support for WS_WATCH such as this file is in my
opinion well worth giving.

Further details in support of WS_WATCH documentation are given below.

Some of these details may vary, depending on a specific system
configuration.

There are some very useful facilities available through the mouse
(This description is based on a system running
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with Microsoft
TCP/IP and WIN32s 1.20).

Click right on a host, in the upper left corner, and
you will get a menu:

    ----------
    New
    Delete
    ----------
    Connect
    Ping
    Traceroute
    ----------
    Properties
    ----------

Delete gets rid of the host (you still have to use edit mode to
delete lines).  Connect activates a program such as Telnet
(a reference to the application program is needed in the Options
menu) so you can log in to any of the displayed hosts.  This can
also access NCSA Mosaic ( (c) University of Illinois, 1993, 1994),
and other applications.  See the on-line help for further information.
Ping and Traceroute are grayed, but can be accessed anyway on the
Tools menu-
Ping doesn't work on my machine - can't find ICMP.DLL
Traceroute has the same behaviour (this "ICMP support" DLL is
specific to Windows NT and Windows 95, so don't expect it to work on
Windows for Workgroups).  Those that use Windows for Workgroups
and Microsoft TCP/IP but have no ICMP.DLL support can still use
Ping.exe and Tracert.exe, available through the Windows DOS box.
Properties allows you to edit the information associated with the
host (so it isn't actually necessary to edit the .DB file unless you
want to change the order in which hosts are checked, which follows
the order in which their lines appear in the file).

Click right elsewhere on the screen, and the menu appears with only
New enabled, which allows you to place new hosts.  Delete is enabled
but neither of its sub-menus are enabled.

Click left on a host and a list of host information is displayed
(which varies with the system platform and setups you are running)
Double clicking left on a host connects in the same way as accessed
through the menu described above.


Updating hosts information
--------------------------

Network hosts may change, and the .DB file needs to be kept
up to date to correspond with what is actually on the
network.  To verify Internet connectivity, you need to have the
machines on the routing path out of your local network on display.

Routing outside any particular location, such as CRL, is likely to
change (as is the network inside a location) and may be different
from day to day.  The further the host is along the route,
the more likely it is to vary according to the destination
address.  So there is little point in displaying routing nodes
past the first external connection, unless you want to use
WS_WATCH to connect to external hosts (which could be very useful!).

Information on the hosts may be obtained (if you have
Microsoft TCP/IP-32) by using the tracert.exe program in a
Windows DOS box (not in real mode DOS, as it will crash);
or by using the traceroute facility built in to WS_WATCH itself,
if you have ICMP support; or by other similar utility programs which
will vary slightly from one platform to another.

Using a sufficiently far destination will show up all
the local routing.  E.g. for users in the UK, tracert 149.171.248.9
which is the University of New South Wales.
Make a note of the first few host IP numbers and names,
and update the WS_WATCH database accordingly.
Additional hosts can be added using the editing facilities
of WS_WATCH (see under Additional Editing Facilities), or by
copying one of the lines in the .DB file starting with H,
then using the WS_WATCH program to move the new graphic to
a suitable new location and adding a line to the
"network" picture.

Try at a different time of day- the routing may be different.


Example Table of sample IP addresses for tracert route analysis
---------------------------------------------------------------

These are selected as various "compass headings" from London
and similar examples for use at other locations may be found by
searching the FTP sitelist file, which can be obtained by
anonymous ftp from:

                 Site: garbo.uwasa.fi
                 Dir:  /pc/doc-net/ftp-list.zip

Suitable "compass headings" will obviously vary depending on
where you are.  At my location, I found that most communications
went through one particular external router, but a different one
came into use when communicating between London and Scotland.

"NW"
193.4.210.1      complex.is                 Iceland
"NE"
193.71.1.7       ftp.eunet.no               Norway
"N"
129.215.112.130  ftp.ed.ac.uk               Edinburgh
130.209.240.50   dcs.gla.ac.uk              Glasgow
"W"
134.226.32.15    ftp.cs.tcd.ie              Ireland
134.226.81.10    ftp.maths.tcd.ie           Ireland
192.48.96.9      ftp.uu.net                 New Jersey
16.1.0.1         decwrl.dec.com             New Jersey
"SW"
146.155.1.43     malloco.ing.puc.cl         Chile
"SE"
193.127.1.2      ftp.eunet.es               Spain
130.206.1.2      archie.rediris.es          Spain
149.171.248.9    keystone.arch.unsw.edu.au  Australia
"E"
129.69.18.15     ftp.uni-stuttgart.de       Germany
129.20.254.2     archie.univ-rennes1.fr     France


Bug Reports
-----------

Bug reports should be sent as instructed by the author of the
utility, also, I suggest you quote the following technical
details to enable accurate bug diagnosis:

   WS_WATCH version, e.g. A15, 95.02.20
   Your personal details and email address
   Description of bug and circumstances when it appeared
   Program options selected (particularly type of ICMP ping)
   Copy of your personalised .DB file
   Description of your PC, DOS version,
   free space on disk, type of graphic display,
   version of Windows, Virtual memory setup,
   type of Windows Sockets software and version,
   Windows memory (quoted in Program Manager About box)
   Network settings e.g. Microsoft Windows Network v. 3.11
                         Novell Netware (Workstation Shell 3.X)
   Type of network card
   Network drivers used
   Netware version, e.g. if you are using Novell Netware,
   you can get information from the Netware Version utility such as:
     NETWARE VERSION UTILITY, VERSION 3.12:
     NetBIOS Protocol Specification:  V-2.0
     IPX Version: 3.16
     SPX Version: 3.16
     LAN Driver:   V0.00
     Shell:       V3.32 Rev. A
     Novell NetWare v3.11 (250 user) (8/9/91)
   Other networks will have different features but will likely have some
   means of displaying version information.


DISCLAIMER

  Neither the Author or the Author's employers accept any liability
  should any person incur expense or damage by following these
  guidelines.