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1997-01-31
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STAC NOTE STAC NOTE
CONFIGURING TCP/IP NETWORK LIST DESCRIPTION
(Applies to ReachOut Vversions 6.x for Windows 3.1)
STAC FAX 8516 (09-25-1996)
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CONFIGURING TCP/IP NETWORK LIST DESCRIPTION
(Applies to ReachOut Vversions 6.x for Windows 3.1)
BACKGROUND
ReachOut users have had the ability to choose from a list of
available ReachOut Network Hosts with IPX, NetBIOS, SAP and
Banyan Vines, but not Winsock. Recognizing the value of similar
functionality with Winsock based networks, STAC added Winsock
Network List to ReachOut. The design was intended to match as
closely as possible the existing network list functionality for
IPX, Netbios, SAP, and Banyan Vines without compromising on
speed and stability.
Because Winsock based networks can include the Internet, some
method of limiting the number of addresses checked for the
presence of a valid ReachOut Host must be employed. If this was
not done the list itself could become unmanageable both in size
and in wait time to build the list. To achieve this, a new section
was added to the REACHOUT.INI file, called [IP ADDRESS], and the
information contained in this section configures the search for
valid ReachOut Hosts to be limited to a manageable range of IP
addresses.
After upgrading to or installing ReachOut 6.0 for Windows 3.1,
add this new section ([IP ADDRESS]) to the existing REACHOUT.INI
file in order to enable the Winsock Network list. Since the INI
file is crucial to the proper operation of ReachOut a backup copy
of it should be made before making any changes. After the backup
is created, the INI file will be edited to include the [IP ADDRESS]
section along with its contents.
SOLUTION
There are two steps required to implement this feature:
* Make a backup copy of the existing REACHOUT.INI.
* Modify the REACHOUT.INI to include the new section [IP
ADDRESS] and addresses to be checked for ReachOut Hosts.
Making a backup copy of the REACHOUT.INI file useing the Windows
File manager:
1. Double click on the File Manager ICON in the Main Group.
2. Select the drive where Windows is installed (typically
drive C:).
3. Locate the Windows directory (typically WINDOWS).
4. Locate the file REACHOUT.INI.
5. Select that file by pointing to it with the Mouse and
clicking once.
6. Press the F8 Key (this copies the file).
7. A Dialog Box asks for a file name, type in REACHINI.BAK and
click on OK.
8. Close File manager.
Modifying the REACHOUT.INI:
1. Double click on the REACHOUT.INI.
2. Once the INI file is loaded in Notepad, press Enter.
3. Type the following:
[IP ADDRESS], press ENTER, then following the example below.
Add the TCP/IP addresses and address ranges desired.
4. Press ALT- F4 to close Notepad when done.
5. A prompt to save changes will appear, choose yes.
Here is an example of a correctly formatted [IP ADDRESS] INI section.
[IP Addresses]
Address1=199.105.175.65
Group1=199.105.175.110-199.105.175.120
Group2=199.105.170.10-199.105.170.30
Address2=199.105.176.75
The descriptive text (called Keywords) are unimportant to the
proper operation of the Winsock list function, but choose ones
that have some meaning to in relation to the addresses. Exercise
caution regarding the size and the number of them, since the
larger the number of characters used the more memory ReachOut
uses to maintain this list for active functions.
Note in the example of the [IP ADDRESS] section there are some
Keywords called Group1 and Group2. These are examples on how
to have ReachOut look for valid ReachOut Hosts over a range of
TCP/IP addresses without adding each individual address to the
INI file. In the case of Group2, ReachOut will check TCP/IP
addresses from 199.105.170.10 to 199.105.170.30 for Hosts.
Incorrect addresses will be disregarded, and care need be taken
to prevent this from occurring, below are a few examples of
incorrect addresses that will be ignored:
[IP Addresses]
Address1=joe.smoe.stac.com
Group1=199.105.175.110-199.105.175.100
Group2=199.105.170.10 -199.105.170.30
ADVANCED OPTIONS
These features may be used by administrators and advanced users
to assist in controlling ReachOut's Winsock Network list polling
feature. These functions would be added to the [WINSOCK] section
of the ReachOut INI file, and are detailed below.
KeywordBufSize=
The size of the buffer to hold the list of address keywords is 2048
bytes by default. It will allow you to set it as low as 512 bytes
and as high as 10240 bytes. This allows use of larger Keyword lists,
or lists with long Keywords. Testing has shown the default for this
setting to perform well in most cases.
AddressBufSize=
The size of the buffer to hold the current address is 256 bytes
by default. It will allow you to set it as low as 128 bytes and
as high as 2048 bytes. More space is unlikely to be needed
unless full DNS name support is added at a later date.
PollingTimeout=
The number of milliseconds to attempt to find a given address is
2000 would be (2 seconds) by default. It will allow you to
set it as low as 0 and as high as 10000 milliseconds would be (10
seconds). Setting this number too small can result in host machines
not appearing on the list and that should. Setting this number
too high can result in unnecessary performance penalties.
ConnectDelay=
The number of milliseconds to delay before connecting on a
connect to first available attempt. This is required because the
host machine that we just queried needs time to get set back up.
The default is 1000 milliseconds (1 second). The range is from 0
to 10000 milliseconds (10 seconds). Setting this number too low
can result in not being able to connect to a machine when using
the connect to first available feature. To long can result in
performance penalties.
ReceiveDelay=
The number of milliseconds to delay after connecting during the
polling before attempting to receive. The default is 500
milliseconds (1/2 second). The allowable range is from 0 to
10000 milliseconds (10 seconds).
Again, these options have default values and are not required.
An example of the [winsock] section reflecting the settings at
their default values is:
[winsock]
keywordbufsize=2048
addressbufsize=128
pollingtimeout=2000
connectdelay=1000
receivedelay=500
ConnectDelay=
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Copyright 1996 Stac, Inc.