═══ 1. Conman ═══ ═══ 1.1. Introduction ═══ The purpose of the Connection Manager, is to provide OS/2 LAN Requestor users with an easy method of managing LAN resources. Connection Manager will display the current state of all LAN connections while allowing the user to connect to, release, and to reassign LAN resources. The main window of Connection Manager is used to display the current resources that the local OS/2 LAN Requestor is connected to, and the locations where they are connected. This display may be either graphical or text depending on the selection of the "View" pull-down. The userid logged onto the machine is indicated in the upper left hand corner, or "Not Logged on" if OS/2 LAN Requestor has not been started. In a column to the right is a list of all servers that connections exist between. To the right of the server list is a list to all resources in use at that server and the location at which they are connected. This window is scrollable if the connections displayed exceed the size of the current window and the window is in graphics display mode. Related topics: o Installation o Command line invocation o STARTUP.CMD usage ═══ 1.1.1. Installation ═══ There are three files that constitute the Connection Manager utility. These files are CONMAN.EXE, CONMAN.INI and CONMAN.HLP. CONMAN.EXE is an OS/2 Presentation Manager application that utilizes OS/2 LAN Requestor. This file needs to be placed in your path or installed as an application in a group menu. Location of The other file, CONMAN.INI, should be located either in the same location as CONMAN.EXE or somewhere along the DPATH. Connection Manager searches for all occurrences of CONMAN.INI, looking first in the directory where CONMAN.EXE was called from and then in each location along the DPATH, adding the entries found in the CONMAN.INI files to its list of known resources. The CONMAN.HLP file is the online help for Connection Manager, It needs to be located in the current working directory, or in a directory pointed to by the HELP environment varaiable. A LAN administrator may choose to have Connection Manager as one of the applications in the "Public Applications" group. This will allow the main executable and main CONMAN.INI file to reside on a server where it can be centrally maintained. Users then have the option of keeping a CONMAN.INI file of their own personalized resources on their own machine (Located within the DPATH). ═══ 1.1.2. Invocation ═══ Command line parameters At the command prompt, the syntax for Connection Manager is: ┌─────────────────────────┐ V │ ─┬──────┬─ CONMAN ─┬──────┬───┬─────────────────────┬─┴─┤ └ path ┘ ├ /MIN ┤ ├ /N=nickname ────────┤ │ │ │ │ └ /MAX ┘ ├ /F=alias ─┬─────────┤ │ └ @ d: ───┤ ├ /P=alias ─┬─────────┤ │ └ @ LPTx: ┤ └ /S=alias ─┬─────────┤ └ @ COMx: ┘ ═══ 1.1.3. Path ═══ Either the drive and path location of where to find CONMAN.EXE, or the universal naming convention of where CONMAN.EXE is found on the network. This location is used to find the primary CONMAN.INI file. Additional CONMAN.INI files will be pulled in if they are located along the DPATH. ═══ 1.1.4. /MIN ═══ Connection Manager will be minimized when started. ═══ 1.1.5. /MAX ═══ Connection Manager will be maximized when started. ═══ 1.1.6. /N=nickname ═══ Indicates that a nickname is to be connected. The nickname must be defined in the CONMAN.INI file. The nickname may contain spaces. ═══ 1.1.7. /F=alias ═══ Indicates a file alias to attach. Alias is either the alias of a resource that exists in the current domain, or the universal naming convention of a resource that exists in another domain. ═══ 1.1.8. /P=alias ═══ Indicates a printer alias to attach. Alias is either the alias of a resource that exists in the current domain, or the universal naming convention of a resource that exists in another domain. ═══ 1.1.9. /S=alias ═══ Indicates a serial device alias to attach. Alias is either the alias of a resource that exists in the current domain, or the universal naming convention of a resource that exists in another domain. ═══ 1.1.10. d: ═══ A drive to attach a file resource to. If not specified, the first available drive location is used. ═══ 1.1.11. LPTx: ═══ A printer port to attach a printer resource to. If not specified, the first available printer port is used. ═══ 1.1.12. COMx: ═══ A serial port to attach a serial device to. If not specified, the first available serial port is used. ═══ 1.1.13. STARTUP.CMD Usage ═══ STARTUP.CMD setup A common usage of Connection Manager is to have it activated by your STARTUP.CMD after logging on to OS/2 LAN Requestor. An example illustrating this usage is given below: ExampleSTARTUP . CMDfile . . . . LOGON userid /P:password \\server1\tools\CONMAN /MIN /N=Lotus Working Set /P=Q4019A @ LPT2: . . . In this example, the user first logs on to the network specifying his userid and password. After the logon completes, the STARTUP.CMD invokes Connection Manager from where it resides on a LAN server by specifying the universal naming convention of this alias in front of CONMAN. This will cause Connection Manager to also load any CONMAN.INI file found at that location. Further parameters on the command line inform Connection Manager that it is to minimize itself on startup, connect to all the aliases specified by the "Lotus Working Set" nickname, and to connect the alias Q4019A at printer port LPT2:. Note that Q4019A is an alias, and therefore must exist in the current domain. If the printer exists in a different domain from the logon domain, the full universal naming convention must be specified. ═══ 2. Menu Bar Selections ═══ ═══ 2.1. Actions Pull-Down ═══ Actions allow the user to control normal network functions. Available options are: o Logon Log the user onto the OS/2 LAN Requestor. o Logoff Log the user off of OS/2 LAN Requestor. o Attach Connect a LAN resource to a local device. o Release Disconnect a currently attached LAN resource. o Move Move a currently connected LAN resource to another local device. o View Resources Select a server to display all the resources for. o Quit Close Connection Manager. ═══ 2.1.1. Logon ═══ When the user is not logged on, this choice is available to initiate a LAN logon. ═══ 2.1.2. Logoff ═══ If the user is currently logged on the the LAN network, this selection is available to allow a logoff. Note that a LAN logoff may be blocked if the "LAN Requestor" session is up, or if a Command prompt session has a LAN drive as its current drive. ═══ 2.1.3. Attach ═══ Attach opens a dialog box which lists all the resource nicknames that have been specified in the CONMAN.INI files. The user can select a nickname from the listbox, or may specify the universal naming convention of a resource to be linked. If the user selects a nickname, Connection Manager will attempt to link all resources that belong to that nickname at the default location for each of those resources. Any resource that can not be linked to the default location will be attached at the next open slot available. If no locations are available, the resource is not linked. If the user chooses to connect to an alias by specifying the universal naming convention, that resource will be linked following the rules listed above. The user is allowed to specify a local device where the alias will be attached. If this field is left empty or contains an asterisk ("*"), Connection Manager will attempt to use the first available slot of the type indicated by current device type. Note that resources that are currently linked will not be relinked at another location. ═══ 2.1.4. Move ═══ This dialog will display two listboxes. The first listbox will enumerate all currently linked resources of the same type as the current device type. The second list box will enumerate all unused locations of the current device type. By selecting an entry from each of the two lists and pressing "Move", the selected resource will first be deleted, and then attached to the new selected location. ═══ 2.1.5. Release ═══ This dialog will display a listbox enumerating all currently linked resources of same type as the current device type. By selecting entries from the list and pressing "Release", the selected resource(s) will be deleted. "Release" may be blocked if a Command prompt session has a LAN drive as its current drive. ═══ 2.1.6. View Resources ═══ "View Resources" provides the capabilities of the command line "NET VIEW \\servername" function. A dialog box is displayed to query the user for the name of the server to view. A dialog box with all shared resources for the specified server is displayed. The listbox shows alias, resource type, current connection if any, and a short remark describing the resource. The user may select items within the listbox to be either released or connected. When ENTER is pressed, all highlighted resources that are currently attached will be deleted, while all highlighted resources that are not attached will be connected at the first available location. ═══ 2.1.7. Quit ═══ This option shuts down Connection Manager. The user is not prompted on exit since there is no data that can be lost within Connection Manager. ═══ 2.2. View Pull-Down ═══ Two display modes are available for Connection Manager although graphics display mode is the primary mode for usage. Text display mode is provided for circumstances where more connection data needs to be displayed on the screen at one time. Available options are: o Text o Half Graphics o Graphics o Refresh ═══ 2.2.1. Text ═══ This selection changes the main window display to text mode. ═══ 2.2.2. Half Graphics ═══ This selection changes the main window display to half sized graphics mode. ═══ 2.2.3. Graphics ═══ This selection changes the main window display to graphics mode. ═══ 2.2.4. Refresh ═══ At times, the status of current connections may change due to actions outside of Connection Manager such as using the OS/2 LAN Requestor NET USE command. The refresh command allows the user to tell Connection Manager to recheck its network connections, and to redraw the screen. ═══ 2.3. Devices Pull-Down ═══ Selecting these items changes the current device type. This affects the dialogs in the "Actions" pull-down. Both the "Move" and "Release" dialogs will only display resources of the same type as the current device type. For the "Attach" dialog, if the user specifies a resource to attach via the universal naming convention field without specifying a location to connect to, a location is chosen based upon the current device type. Available options are: o Files o Printers o Serial Devices ═══ 2.3.1. Files ═══ This selection changes the default device type to Files. ═══ 2.3.2. Printers ═══ This selection changes the default device type to Printers. ═══ 2.3.3. Serial Devices ═══ This selection changes the default device type to Serial Devices. ═══ 2.4. Configure Pull-Down ═══ Configuration allows the user to create or modify the CONMAN.INI file through a basic editor function. Available options are: o New o Open ═══ 2.4.1. New ═══ Opens up the Edit dialog box for a blank CONMAN.INI file. The user must select "Save As" to provide a name for the file while saving. See Editing the CONMAN.INI file for information about the edit dialog. ═══ 2.4.2. Open ═══ Displays a list of all CONMAN.INI files found in the DPATH or in the same location as CONMAN.EXE. The user may select one of these files or specify another file to edit. See Editing the CONMAN.INI file for information about the edit dialog. ═══ 2.5. Help Pull-Down ═══ Available options are: o Help for Help o Extended Help o Keys Help o Help Index o About ═══ 2.5.1. Help for Help ═══ Use this choice to find out what kind of help is available and how to use the help that is available. In general, help is provided for every action bar choice, pull-down choice, and other selections. ═══ 2.5.2. Extended Help ═══ Use this choice to get extended help for the program. Exteneded help provides general information about the program you are using. ═══ 2.5.3. Keys Help ═══ Use this choice to display a list of keys. The list of keys groups similar keys together so they are easier to find. ═══ 2.5.4. Help Index ═══ Use this choice to display the help index. The help index lists all of the titles of the help information that is available. ═══ 2.5.5. About ═══ Use this choice to display the copyright information. ═══ 2.6. Ok ═══ Select to continue the action. ═══ 2.7. Cancel ═══ Cancel will return you to the previous screen. ═══ 3. Logon Dialog ═══ This dialog allow the user to log on to OS/2 LAN Requestor. ═══ 3.1. Userid ═══ Enter your LAN userid in this field. ═══ 3.2. Password ═══ If you have a password for the LAN userid that is being logged on, enter that password in this field. NOTE that the password will not display when typed in. ═══ 3.3. Domain ═══ Enter the LAN domain that you wish to log onto. ═══ 4. Attach Resource ═══ This dialog allow the user to connect OS/2 LAN Requestor resources to a local device. ═══ 4.1. Resources ═══ Select the resources that you want to have connected, when done select "Connect". NOTE that if an entry is specified under "Alias Name", this entry will be connected instead of the entries specified in the Resources listbox. ═══ 4.2. Alias ═══ This is the UNC or local name of an OS/2 LAN resource to be connected. NOTE that if an entry is specified under "Alias Name", this entry will be connected instead of the entries specified in the Resources listbox. ═══ 4.3. Local Name ═══ Specify the local device that the alias is to be connected to. If no local device is specified, or the entry is "*", the first available local device of the appropriate type will be used. ═══ 4.4. Connect ═══ If an entry was typed in under Alias Name, that alias will be connected when enter is pressed. Otherwise, all entries selected in the Resource Nickname listbox will be connected. ═══ 5. Release Resource ═══ This dialog displays a listbox enumerating all currently linked resources of same type as the current device type. By selecting entries from the list and pressing "Release", the selected resource(s) will be deleted. "Release" may be blocked if a LAN drive is currently in use. ═══ 5.1. Release ═══ Selecting release causes all currently selected resource(s) to be deleted. ═══ 6. Move Resource ═══ This dialog displays two listboxes. The first listbox will enumerate all currently linked resources of the same type as the current device type. The second list box will enumerate all unused locations of the current device type. By selecting an entry from each of the two lists and pressing "Move", the selected resource will first be deleted, and then attached to the new selected location. ═══ 6.1. From Listbox ═══ This listbox provides a list of all LAN resources that are currently in use of the current device type. ═══ 6.2. To Listbox ═══ This listbox shows all local device names that are not currently in use. ═══ 6.3. Move ═══ Select the Move button to move the currently selected resource to the new local device name as specified by the TO listbox. ═══ 7. Selection ═══ Select an entry from the listbox, or specify an entry in the entry field. ═══ 7.1. Listbox ═══ The listbox shows all available selections. These selections may be overridden by specifing a selection in the entryfield. ═══ 7.2. View ═══ Select Enter to view the indicated selection. ═══ 8. Edit CONMAN.INI file ═══ ═══ 9. The Connection Manager Data File ═══ Nickname entries for the "Attach" dialog are obtained from the Connection Manager data files. The data files are named CONMAN.INI and must exist in the DPATH or the same location as CONMAN.EXE. All CONMAN.INI files in these locations are used to fill the nickname list, filling first from the DPATH and then from the location of CONMAN.EXE. In this way, CONMAN can exist on a network drive with a master CONMAN.INI file, and the user can have a personal list of nicknames located along the DPATH. Format of the Connection Manager Data File Format of The source file to the Connection Manager is a user editable file, which defines the resources in the network and how they are accessed. Each file consists of two types of lines, comment lines and resource lines. Columns Record field 1 - 40 Nickname User defined name of the resource. If the nickname field is blank, the record is considered to be an additional resource that will be linked along with the previous resource. 41-60 Alias Name The full universal naming convention of the resource. 61-70 Resource type Only the first character of the resource type is significant. The resource type can be either "F" for files, "P" for print devices, or "S" for serial devices. 71-76 Default location First choice location for linking the resource to. If this field is left blank, or contains an asterisk, the first available location will be used. 77-84 Password If the remote resource requires a password, this can be specified in columns 77 - 84. Either an explicit password may be stored in the table, or a "?" may be placed in column 77 to indicate Connection Manager should prompt the user for the password. Blanks, or an "*" in column 77 indicate that no password is used. The limit of aliases that may be defined to Connection Manager is 1000 for all CONMAN.INI files found. Any aliases above that number are discarded. This number may be further limited by system limitations. ═══ 9.1. CONMAN.INI display ═══ This listbox displays the nicknames as specified in the CONMAN.INI file as well as the associated resources for those nicknames. ═══ 9.2. Insert Nickname ═══ Select this botton to add an additional nickname line to the CONMAN.INI file. The nickname line will be inserted at the current location and all following lines will be moved down one line. The first line in a CONMAN.INI listing must always be a nickname line. nickname lines may have one or more alias lines following them. ═══ 9.3. Insert Alias ═══ Select this botton to add an additional alias line to the CONMAN.INI file. The alias line will be inserted at the current location and all following lines will be moved down one line. There may be more than one alias line following each nickname line. ═══ 9.4. Delete ═══ This removes the currently selected line from the listbox. ═══ 9.5. Save CONMAN.INI file ═══ Saves the CONMAN.INI file under the current name, and ends the edit session. ═══ 9.6. Name and Save the CONMAN.INI file ═══ Prompts for a filename to save the CONMAN.INI file under, saves the file under that name, and ends the edit session. ═══ 9.7. Nick name field ═══ Edit the nickname field. The nickname is a user defined name which is used to identify an alias or a group of aliases. ═══ 9.8. Alias field ═══ Edit the UNC or local alias used to attach to the indicated LAN resource. ═══ 9.9. Default field ═══ Specify the local device that the alias is to be connected to. If no local device is specified, or the entry is "*", the first available local device of the appropriate type will be used. ═══ 9.10. Disk Resource ═══ specifies that the alias is a disk resource. ═══ 9.11. Printer Resource ═══ specifies that the alias is a printer resource. ═══ 9.12. Serial Resource ═══ specifies that the alias is a serial resource. ═══ 10. Save as... ═══ ═══ 11. About ═══ This selection displays a dialog box identifying this version of Connection Manager. ═══ 12. Error display ═══ An error has occured while attempting a LAN function. Note the error number and message and consult your LAN administrator for assistance. ═══ 12.1. Mouse Selections ═══ Mouse manipulation of objects. While the display is in graphics mode, the capability exists to select items in the display with the mouse cursor. Move the mouse to the desired item and double click with mouse button 1. Depending on which item you select, the responses are as follows: ═══ 12.1.1. Double Click on User Icon ═══ If the user is currently logged on the network, the action is to log the user off the network. If the user is not logged onto the network, a dialog box appears to let the user enter their userid, password, and domain to log onto. ═══ 12.1.2. Double Click on Server Icon ═══ By clicking on a server icon, a "View Resources" dialog box for that server is displayed. (a.k.a. the NET VIEW function.) A dialog box with all shared resources for the specified server is displayed. The listbox shows alias, resource type, current connection if any, and a short remark describing the resource. The user may select items within the listbox to be either released or connected. When ENTER is pressed, all highlighted resources that are currently attached will be deleted, while all highlighted resources that are not attached will be connected at the first available location. ═══ 12.1.3. Double Click on File, Printer, or Serial Device Icon ═══ A dialog box appears, which allows the user to either delete the connection, or to move the resource to another local device name. ═══ 13. Network Aliases and Local Devices ═══ Connection Manager is used to administer a users connections to resources made available by accessible LAN servers. Resources on any LAN server in any domain can be connected provided the user has permission to use this resource. Local devices are the identifiers used to reference an attached alias. Three types of devices exist: o File devices. Valid local device names are D: through Z: o Print devices. Print devices include printers, plotters, and serial print devices defined as printer aliases. Valid local names are LPT1 through LPT9. o Serial devices. Valid serial device names are COM1, COM2, and COM3. The maximum number of aliases that may be attached at one time is 35. This is 23 file devices, 9 print devices, and 3 serial devices. ═══ 14. Universal Naming Convention ═══ The Universal Naming Convention (UNC) is the fully specified name of an OS/2 LAN resource. It takes the form of two back slashes followed by the server name followed by another back slash, followed by the name of the resource. E.g.: \\server01\P4201AAA ═══ 15. Nicknames ═══ To shield the user from the sometimes confusing names of LAN resources, Connection Manager uses nicknames to refer to LAN resources. Nicknames can be specified by both the LAN administrator or the user. They are up to 40 characters long and may include spaces. Each nickname may have one or more LAN resources as specified by a UNC or an alias. Nicknames are specified in the CONMAN.INI data file, and are listed by selecting "Attach" under the "Actions" pull-down menu. An typical usage for a nickname would be "Lotus Working Set". This nickname would be what the user would see and choose to connect to. When the user selectes this nickname, it may cause Connection Manager to attach to the Lotus license disk, a read/write work disk, a LAN plotter, and a LAN printer. All of this would be equivalent to the following set of NET USE commands: NET USE l: \\RALSERV1\L123GN NET USE z: \\RALSERV1\WORKAREA NET USE lpt2: \\RALPRT02\P6182 NET USE lpt4: \\RALPRT02\P4019 ═══ 16. Key Summary ═══ The following is a list of all keys and their defined usage in Connection Manager. Key Function ALT-A Allows a user to attach to resources. ALT-F Set current device type to files. ALT-G Change main window display to graphics mode. ALT-L Depending on whether a user is currently logged on to the network, allows for logging on or logging off. ALT-M Activates "Move Resources" dialog box. ALT-P Set current device type to print device. ALT-R Activates "Release" dialog box. ALT-S Set current device type to serial device. ALT-T Change main window display to text mode. ALT-V Activates "View Resources" dialog box. ALT-2 Change main window display to half sized graphics mode. F1 Displays context sensitive help for Connection Manager. F3 Quit the Connection Manager. F10 Menu toggle key.