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!Help file for !AntUtils v1.29 (22nd Nov 1999) ⌐ 2000 Paul Vigay [ distributed on the cover CD of Computer Shopper 144, "February 2000" ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please read (or at least scan through) all these instructions because I may have added some new features since the last version - namely the Stay Online feature. Copyright and Application Status ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Written by Paul Vigay, Jan 1997. This program is freeware, on the condition that it is copied in its entirety without any files being changed. However, any donations will be gratefully accepted and will help inspire me to do further development and support the RISC OS/Acorn software market. A fiver would be nice, to cover some of the electricity used whilst coding and to buy more packets of tea or Hobnobs, for all those late nights. The copyright remains with the author (Paul Vigay) at all times. Purpose ~~~~~~~ To add various utilities to the Ant Internet Suite. Firstly, I wanted a way to automatically check mail every so often whilst I'm online surfing the world wide web. Other than Ant's suggestion of setting up a repeating task alarm in !Alarm, there doesn't seem to be an easy way of fetching mail automatically, and only if the Ant Suite is online (!Alarm doesn't like it if !InetSuite is not running) I also wanted a way of adding a random 'fortune cookie' or 'quote' onto the end of signature lines. AntUtils performs both of these tasks with each having its own configurable time delay. Over time, I have also added a number of other features, described below. Use/Choices ~~~~~~~~~~~ To open the choices/configuration window, simply select 'Choices...' from the icon bar menu. This will open the choices window. To change a value simply enter a new value. If you want the feature turned on, simply toggle the icons on the left. Clicking on 'Save' will permanently (until the next time you click on 'Save') save the choices back to disc. OK will simply change them for this session only. 'Check online mail and news' will allow you to automatically fetch either/or mail/news every so many minutes if you are online. This saves keep selecting the relevant menu option from the AntSuite icon menu. 'Use random sig', if on, will automatically append a random cookie to your signature file. The master signatures are stored within AntUtils.Files.Users and the relevant username directory. 'Auto status', if on, will automatically open the status window when you go nline and then close it again when you disconnect. 'Quit with InetSuite' will make !AntUtils quit automatically when you quit !InetSuite. 'Lan connection' tells AntUtils to think it is permanently online, for people who use AntUtils via a local area network. 'Multi-users' allows AntUtils to keep an eye on multiple user accounts and to automatically update phone logs, hotlists, signatures etc for more than one user. 'News reader' allows you to tell AntUtils whether you are using Marcel or Jon Duddington's Pluto newsreader. This ensures that AntUtils knows where the relevant files and signatures are stored etc. Clicking on Paths.... opens a small window which allows you to set the file paths for both Marcel and Pluto. This allows AntUtils to be run even if other applications have not been 'seen' yet. This allows you to install AntUtils as part of a !Boot sequence before the AntSuite has been loaded. To set the filepaths, simply locate your copy of !InetSuite and drag into the InetSuite icon in the path window. If you are using !Pluto, do the same to Pluto (but into the 'Pluto' icon). Remember to save the choices if you wish to keep these filepaths. From version 1.16 onwards you can also set a 'Downloads' path. Simply drag any directory from your disc onto this icon and AntUtils will save any files dragged onto its icon into this directory. This is handy if Fresco suddenly pops up a save dialogue box and you haven't opened a directory window. 'Auto Debatch' will only be available if you have selected Pluto as your preferred newsreader. If then toggled to 'on', AntUtils will tell Pluto to debatch new email messages one minute after the online newsfetch. eg. If your mail fetch is set to five minutes, and debatch is on, then AntUtils will tell Pluto to debatch email messages after six minutes. Hopefully one minute after fetching mail will be enough, but advanced users can edit the AntUtils messages file to allow longer times. News debatches will occur in the same fashion, but two minutes after the news fetch command. (Again, advanced users may edit the messages file) N.B. Pluto will normally bring its boxes window to the front when it performs a debatch, even if no messages are debatched. This effect can be toggled on and off by clicking on the small 'plus sign' to the right of the debatch icon. If a small 'plus sign' is visible, Pluto will bring its window to the front. 'Log cron events' will store each cron event in a log file, so that if you leave AntUtils to run automatic scripts you can come back later to check if the various commands have executed successfully. 'Quick mail send' will tell AntUtils to check the Ant outgoing mail queue every five seconds (editable within the AntUtils.Resources.Messages file) for any mail messages waiting to be sent. If there are any, AntUtils will instruct the Ant Suite to send them immediately rather than wait until the next mail check. This option actually overrides the 'Check online mail' option because it will still activate even if the auto mail timer is turned off. 'Check RMA' allows AntUtils to ensure that a minimum amount of RMA space is always available, hence fixing the fabled DLL crashing that the Ant Suite sometimes suffers from. The actual value of RMA space is defined within the AntUtils.Resources.Messages file, and its default value is 128k. This is only scanned if you are using a dialup connection. If using a LAN it is ignored. 'Sound FX' enables AntUtils to play various sound effects to accompany different events. The actual sound effects are stored within !AntUtils.SoundFX and are described below. 'Cancel' will restore the settings to the previously saved ones. 'Save' will save the settings for future use. 'OK' will ok the settings for this session only, but next time you load AntUtils, the settings will be their original values. Stay Online ~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this option from the main iconbar menu will cancel the operation of InetSuite's Transfer All+Hang up function. It will continue with the mail fetches but will NOT hangup afterwards. This is very handy if you accidentally click on All+Hang up and then decide that you want to stay online afterall. Status Window ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A status window can be opened by selecting 'Status' from the icon bar menu or just clicking SELECT on the AntUtils icon. This simply opens a small window giving you the current modem/INetSuite status along with the time delay until the next mail check or signature change. In the top right corner of the Status window is a small coloured indicator. This is a status LED and gives a quick indication of AntUtils' current status. Black - Offline and InetSuite not loaded. Green - InetSuite loaded but still offline. Red - Online. Orange - LAN connection. Blue - Mail fetch initiated. Cyan - Pluto mail debatch command issued. Purple - News fetch initiated. Pink - Pluto news debatch command issued. Auxillary Applications ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you click Adjust over the icon bar icon, AntUtils will open an auxillary utilities window. This operates very much like a mini pinboard and allows you to drag up to 8 applications into it, so you can launch them by double- clicking on the one you want. Apps are automatically saved within AntUtils so they are available next time you load AntUtils. LAN connection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you use InetSuite over a Local Area Network (LAN) you can toggle the LAN option on. This will tell !AntUtils that you have a permanent connection and will ignore the automatic on/offline detection. Multi-users ~~~~~~~~~~~ v1.03 and above of AntUtils will automatically provide some multi-user support for more than one user wanting to have settings within !InetSuite - for example multiple Fresco Hotlist files and call logging files. Simply select the user you require from the 'Users' menu and !AntUtils will manage the individual files for you. This allows different people using the same copy of !InetSuite to have their own hotlists and telephone logs. This feature was added after noticing various requests for this on the AntChat mailing list. When you quit !AntUtils, the original files will be restored (ie. the files active when !AntUtils was loaded in the first place). N.B. Please let me know of any bugs in this code, as obviously there are numerous different combinations of files. Please don't blame me if your hotlist file(s) get lost or corrupted. Although I've tested it as thoroughly as possible, it is still possible that certain combinations may confuse AntUtils. Search ~~~~~~ The Search sub-menu from the main icon bar menu allows you to search the web for a specified string, using a variety of 'Search Engines'. By clicking on the required engine name, it will set that one for future searches - simply enter the string you wish to search for in the writable icon at the top. If you wish to search multiple engines simultaneously, hold SHIFT down whilst you click on a new engine. The engines currently ticked are also saved within the choices when you save choices. Fresco Control ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first option in the Fresco sub-menu provides a simple way to delete various Fresco control files. The 'Delete' sub-menu has the following 5 options; Delete Cache: This will erase Fresco's local cache. If Fresco is already loaded, then just the files will be deleted and the directory structure will be left intact. This is to stop Fresco throwing a wobbly when it suddenly finds that its cache has disappeared! If Fresco is NOT loaded when you select this option, then the entire Fresco cache directory will be deleted. This won't cause any harm because Fresco will recreate it next time you load it. Delete Cookies: This will erase Fresco's cookies file. The cookie file is where some web sites can customise the look you get depending upon your own profile. Delete History: This will erase Fresco's history list, but won't come into operation until you next load Fresco. You may also find that it's not completely erased, because Fresco saves its current history when quit, so if Fresco is already running when you select this option, then it will write a new history when you do quit Fresco. Delete Users: This will delete Fresco's Users file. This is the file in which usernames and passwords are stored for some sites requiring a password entry. Be careful of deleting this file in case you can no longer remember what your passwords are. Delete All: This will perform the four operations above in one single operation. Read the notes for each option before you use this option. Back to the main Fresco sub-menu, and the following options are available:- Open cache: This will merely open Fresco's cache directory from inside the scrap directory. This may be handy if you want to manually examine it. Cookies: Toggle Cookies on and off. This requires Fresco to be re-loaded in order for the changes to take effect. It will be greayed out if your version of Fresco does not support Cookies. Javascript: Toggle Javascript on and off. This only works with Fresco 2.02 and above and requires Fresco to be re-loaded in order for the changes to take effect. It will be greayed out if your version of Fresco does not support Javascript. N.B. If you've just upgraded to version 2.02 or above, you will need to re-save the choices from Fresco in order for the Javascript options to become active. Faking: Leads to a sub-menu providing various degrees of browser faking. Simply select the options you require. This may help you to access some sites that would otherwise be inaccessible. This option will be greyed out if your version of Fresco is too old. N.B. If you've just upgraded to version 2.02 or above, you will need to re-save the choices from Fresco in order for the Mozilla options to become active. JS Faking: Sets the faking of the browser type from JavaScript. This tells Fresco which browser to pretend to be when asked via JavaScript. N.B. This only works with Fresco 2.11 and above. Open Directories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 'Open' option from the main icon bar menu leads to a submenu from which you can tell AntUtils to open various internal AntSuite directories. This is handy if you suspect that a particular mail/news article has got stuck in the input or output queue. Downloads will open AntUtils downloads directory. This is the directory that AntUtils will save files to when you drag them to its icon bar. To set the download path, see the choices>paths window. The 'URL Store' option will launch AntUtils internal hot list of stored URLS into a Fresco window (see below). If you hold down SHIFT whilst clicking on 'HotList', AntUtils will load the internal HTML file into a text editor so that you can edit it by hand. This may be required if you wish to delete entries from it. URL Store ~~~~~~~~~ Whilst AntUtils is loaded it will intercept all 'launch URL' wimp messages and determine whether you are online (or on a LAN) and thus, whether or not the URL can be fetched immediately. If AntUtils thinks that the URL can't be fetched immediately it will open a URL store window containing the URL in question. You can enter an optional description (or notes) for the URL if you like and click 'OK' to store within AntUtils' internal HotList - for viewing later. Click 'Cancel' to ignore the URL. A third option, 'Launch anyway' will attempt to visit the URL anyway. This is handy if the site has already been visited and is in Fresco's cache. N.B. This function only works if AntUtils is loaded BEFORE Fresco (or another web browser). This is because Fresco will claim the URL message before AntUtils otherwise. Fresco File Download saving ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * New feature added at v1.16 * If you drag a file onto the !AntUtils icon on the icon bar, AntUtils will automatically save the file into a pre-determined directory. This is useful if an application suddenly pops up a save dialogue box and you haven't opened a directory window in which to save the file. The directory path is set from the 'Paths' option in the choices window. CRON table ~~~~~~~~~~ From v1.03 onwards !AntUtils can execute various commands at preset times of the day (assuming !AntUtils is loaded). Full instructions are provided within the 'cron' file inside !AntUtils.Files. You can execute the next command immediately if you like, by double-clicking on the "Next Cron" icon in the status window. N.B. Again, please let me know if there are any bugs you find. There are a couple of example cron files inside !AntUtils.Docs.Examples for you to examine and perhaps modify for your own use. They will logon to a server at 1pm, load InetSuite and then dial out one minute later, then 'see' Fresco (in case you want to run WebTool). They will then wait until 1.30pm (should be long enough to download messages) and then disconnect (in case InetSuite hasn't timed out and hung up itself) before Quitting InetSuite and swapping the cron files around (the second one is set up as an exact duplicate of the first but refetching messages at 5am). The last line will reset the computer, thus resetting AntUtils to load the other cron table. Email me if you are unsure of anything! Automatic Commands on Loading or Quitting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ v1.23 and above If a file called !AntUtils.Files.Start exists, then AntUtils will automatically execute each command in the file one after the other immediately on first loading. The commands recognised are the same ones as the cron commands mentioned above. Similarly, if a file called !AntUtils.Files.End exists (also containing a list of commands) they will be executed whenever AntUtils Quits. Thus, an 'End' file containing the following; quit Ant Fresco quit Pluto would also quit Fresco and Pluto when AntUtils quits. Iconbar Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The info on the icon bar can be toggled between time and free memory by holding CTRL down while clicking on the icon bar. If you subsequently save choices, the current setting will be saved for future use. PLUGINS ~~~~~~~ As from version 1.24, AntUtils supports Plugins. These are small auxillary applications residing in the !AntUtils.Plugins directory, which allows AntUtils to be more flexible in its operation yet not require any additional memory. To execute one, simply select the one you require from the main menu. It will quit automatically as soon as you close its window. PLUGIN: Image Index ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Originally added at v1.11) This feature will automatically create an HTML page containing a table of handy thumbnail images for any directory containing image (Sprite, JPEG, GIF or PNG - ie. formats understood by Fresco) files. Drag the HTML icon to the relevant directory to create the file. The various options are (I hope) self explanatory.... If you drag a directory to the Image Indexing window it will set the destination directory of the images, if different to the location you wish to store the index and background image in. If you wish to create the index file in the same directory as the images, you MUST ensure that the 'Images' icon is blank. To set an image directory, you can either drag a directory or drag an individual file to the indexing window. If you drag an individual file, it will assume you wish to index the parent directory - ie. the directory that the file is in. N.B. AntUtils is fairly intelligent in that it will convert filenames into a format suitable for web browsing, if images are in a different location to where you want to save the index file - and also truncate filenames if it detects that the image directory is a sub-directory of where you are saving the index file. Max columns decides how many thumbnails go across the page. Max width is the width of each thumbnail image (100 pixels is about right) Cell spacing is the distance between each cell in the table. Use background, if on, will copy the image called 'background' inside !AntUtils.Resources into the destination directory to use as a background image. This can be any image type that Fresco recognises (filetypes above!) Add HREFs will automatically add a link from each thumbnail image to the full size image. Add filenames will also include the filenames underneath each thumbnail. Advanced users may edit the default values for these parameters inside the !Index Plugin 'Messages' file. Toggle options should be ON or OFF. You can also set the text of the title text (or have none) and set whether AntUtils will add a 'created at time' to the index. PLUGIN: Marcel Mailbox Recovery ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this will open a mailbox recovery window into which you can drag a corrupted Marcel mailbox. This will set the filepath in both writable icons. If you wish to change the destination filename (ie. make a copy) then either drag the Marcel icon into a new location, or edit the filename in the bottom icon. Clicking 'Recover' will start the recovery process and attempt to repair the corrupt mailbox. This is not guaranteed to fix the mailbox and should only be used as a last resort, but may help in awkward situations. Clicking 'Cancel' will abort the operation and close the window. Notes: Whilst recovery is in process, the new output file is temporarily saved inside <Wimp$ScrapDir> so that the input file is not damaged in the case of severe errors. This also means that the destination can overwrite the original if you so desire - but will not actually get overwritten until the end. If you press escape, the process will halt immediately so you may end up with a corrupt 'new' mailbox. If overwriting the original the new filename will be amended so that it ends in a tilde (~) symbol (to avoid overwriting the original with a partially copied file). PLUGIN: URL Store ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This plugin basically performs the same operation as the URL Store previously mentioned (see above) does, but is controlled entirely within AntUtils itself, without needing Fresco. The benefit of this plugin over launching into Fresco is that you can delete stored URLs by clicking MENU over the one you wish to delete. The actual file is the same as the one that loads into Fresco, so any entries deleted will be deleted if you launch it into Fresco via the 'Open URL Store' menu option (above). SoundFX: ~~~~~~~~ AntUtils can play various sound effects to accompany different events. The raw sound samples are stored within the !AntUtils.SoundFX directory and are as follows:- Sample name Played when/purpose.... beep replace system beep (see also beep command) bleep replace system bleep (see also bleep command) changesig AntUtils changes your signature inetdial AntUtils tells InetSuite to dial inetFAH AntUtils tells InetSuite to fetch all + Hangup inetload AntUtils tells InetSuite to load inetquit AntUtils tells InetSuite to quit load When AntUtils initially loads maildebtch a Pluto mail debatch occurs mailfetch a mail fetch occurs newsdebtch a Pluto news debatch occurs newsfetch a news fetch occurs offline InetSuite goes offline offlineurl attempt to launch a URL when offline online InetSuite goes online oscli AntUtils issues an OSCLI command quit AntUtils itself quits url AntUtils launches a URL shutdown AntUtils forces a shutdown swap AntUtils issues a swap command If a directory exists instead of a sound sample, then a random sample is chosen from within that directory. If Rick Hudson's PlayIt module has been seen, the samples can be in any suitable format, otherwise InetSuite's internal FPlay is used and the samples should be in ARMADEUS format. Advanced users can define the actual filenames by editing the 'Messages' file. Advanced Features ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Automatic mail and news checking on Startup: AntUtils will automatically do a single mail and news check as soon as it loads. This can be disabled by editing the !AntUtils.Resources.Messages file. Look for the imm: command and change it to 0 to prevent checking of either type of message. More instructions are provided within the Messages file, but don't fiddle around unless you know what you are doing - keep a backup safe. Advanced users can configure whether or not AntUtils appears as an icon on the icon bar. Load AntUtils !Run file into your favourite editor and insert the parameter -noicon immediately after the !RunImage in the last line. Leave a space either side. ie, so it looks like Run <AntUtils$Path>.!RunImage -noicon %*0 The default is to display an icon. ie. Run <AntUtils$Path>.!RunImage %*0 Once AntUtils is loaded you can toggle the status (ie to make it reappear) by pressing SHIFT CTRL A U (ie. simultaneously hold down SHIFT, CTRL, A and U) N.B. For the really advanced, the A and the U can be reconfigured by editing the hotlist1 and hotlist2 lines in the !AntUtils.Resources.Messages file. They are the INKEY- values as shown in the BBC Basic Guide. There are a few other options in the !AntUtils.Resources.Messages file but don't change them unless you know what you are doing. Future additions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm open to suggestions really. If you want extra features added please let me know. I want AntUtils to provide all the various little utilities you may need in a single application. Feel free to comment! I'll probably add a sound theme plugin so that you can swap complete banks of sound effects around. Contacting me ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can contact me in several ways:- 1. Email me at pvigay@interalpha.co.uk 2. Go my Acorn Shareware page on the internet at http://www.vigay.com/riscos/shareware.html 3. Dial into my BBS (24hr, 8N1) on 01705 871531 4. Write to me at 104 Manners Road, Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 0BG 5. or voice-phone me on 01705 871530 (0956 135633 One2One mobile, hence fairly cheap!) ⌐1997 Paul Vigay ⌐2000 Paul Vigay List of files in !AntUtils.Files (ie. alterable by the user) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /signature Original signature file. This is the base signature to which quotes get appended to. quotes Random quote file. Add your own quotes here, each seperated by a single zero (ASCII 0) code.