Copyright: Copyright Symantec Corporation 1995-1996
Citation: Copyright Symantec Corporation 1995-1996


Connecting to an Internet site

To link to the Internet site for your software or hardware:

1	Select a Hardware or Software item from the tree list. (To expand the folder for a vendor, click [image].)

2	Select Web Site to launch your Web browser and connect to the Web page of the product you selected.

OR

Select FTP Site to launch EasyFTP and connect to the FTP site of the product you selected. (See note.)

3	Browse the Web page or FTP site for the files of interest.

Tip:

Once you have connected to a Web page or FTP site, create a Notify watch item from the Web page, file, or folder you are interested in. Then Notify will alert you when the item changes.

Note:

If your company has set up an Internet firewall to provide network security, EasyFTP might be blocked from accessing FTP servers, which it will try to do if you Goto an FTP site. Contact your system administrator if EasyFTP cannot connect with any FTP sites.


Customizing PatchConnect hardware and software sites
Customizing hardware and software sites

When you jump to the Web page or FTP site of a hardware or software vendor in the PatchConnect list, you may not end up at the specific page or FTP folder that contains the specific information you need. You can customize the Web sites and FTP sites that PatchConnect jumps to.

Vendor Data Files

The Web sites and FTP sites associated with each hardware and software vendor are stored in the files HARDWARE.DAT and SOFTWARE.DAT in the Internet FastFind folder on your PC. These are plain text files that you can edit using Notepad.

Warning:  Use extreme caution when editing HARDWARE.DAT or SOFTWARE.DAT.

Vendor Sections

Each vendor in the PatchConnect list has its own section in HARDWARE.DAT or SOFTWARE.DAT. For example, Symantec's section begins with:

[Symantec Corporation]

This string (within the brackets) must match the Company Name stored with the version information within the EXE file of the program whose Web site or FTP site you want to customize.

To view the company name stored within an EXE file:

1	Right-click the EXE file in Explorer.

2	Select Properties.

3	Click the Version tab.

4	Select Company Name in the Item Name list. The company name you should use is displayed in the Value list.

If the company name is not stored in the EXE file, use [Software] for the vendor name.

Product Entries

Each section in the DAT file has an entry of one line for each of the vendor's products. The format of a product entry line is:

<EXENAME>=<FTP site>, <Web site>

<EXENAME> is the name of the EXE file (but without ".EXE") of the program you are customizing.

<FTP site> and <Web site> are the URLs of the corresponding Internet sites for this program.

If the product has no Web site, the format is:

<EXENAME>=<FTP site>

If the product has no FTP site, the format is:

<EXENAME>=0, <Web site>

For example, the product entry for Microsoft Internet Explorer is as follows. (Note: In SOFTWARE.DAT, it occupies a single line. If it wraps on your screen here, it is only because of the limited width of this help window.)

IEXPLORE=ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/msdownload, http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie.htm

Product Suite Entries

Two additional optional parameters are used for listing suites of applications as a single entry in the PatchConnect list. (Do not use these parameters for hardware entries.) The format for the product entry for an application in a suite is:

<EXENAME>=<FTP site>, <Web site>, <Product Name>, <Primary Exe>

<Product Name> is the name of the suite as it will appear in the PatchConnect list.

<Primary Exe> is either 1 or 0. When PatchConnect finds a 1 for <Primary Exe>, it will use the icon and URLs from that EXE for the entire suite.

Here's how it works:

All <EXENAME>s under a single vendor that have the same <Product Name> will be listed as a single entry in the PatchConnect list.

The icon for the <EXENAME> where <Primary Exe> is 1 will be used to represent the suite in the PatchConnect list.

The URLs for the <EXENAME> where <Primary Exe> is 1 will be used for the entire suite. (Normally, though, the URLs for each application in the suite are identical.)

To change the Web site or FTP site:

1	Find the section for the vendor of the product whose site you want to change.

2	Find the line for the product you want to change.

3	Edit the line for the product to include the URL of the document or folder you want.

Tip:

Before you edit one of the DAT files, use LiveUpdate to download the latest hardware and software lists for PatchConnect from Symantec's Internet site. Updated lists may contain the specific Internet sites you want.


Launching PatchConnect

Launch PatchConnect in any of the following ways:

On the Windows taskbar:

Start | Programs | Internet FastFind | PatchConnect

Start | Programs | Internet FastFind | Internet FastFind. Click PatchConnect.


WT FTP Site Button
Launches EasyFTP and connects to the FTP site for the hardware or software item selected in the list on the left.


Displays the Help Topics dialog box for PatchConnect.


WT Item List
Select a hardware or software item in this list, then connect to the Web site or FTP site for that item using the buttons on the right. In the hardware list, expand the "folder" for a vendor by clicking [image]. To update this list, click Rescan.


WT Rescan Button
Rescans your system for hardware and software and updates the list.

PatchConnect scans your system the first time you run it after installation. After that, you must click this button to update the list. Rescan your system every time you install new hardware or software.


WT Web Site Button
Launches your Web browser (if it is not already running) and connects to the World Wide Web site for the hardware or software item selected in the list on the left.


What does PatchConnect do?

PatchConnect gives you quick, direct access to the Internet sites for your software and hardware.

PatchConnect searches your PC and creates an inventory of the hardware and software on your system. It creates and displays a customized "tree" of Internet sites for your software and hardware. Click a button and you can link directly to the Web page or FTP site of the item you select.

Internet FastFind Help Contents


! Topic Title (NSR)

Banner Base

Base

Button Bar

Definition Text

Definition Title

Heading 1

heading 4,pg name,h4,-1

heading 4,pgname,h4,pg

1	List 1

List 2

List 3

Normal

Topic List Fat

Topic List Fat Last

Topic Step #

Topic Step Intro

Topic Step Last

Topic Text

Topic Text Indent

Topic Title (NSR)

fileopen.bmp

nnot_on.bmp

remove.bmp

squar_lg.bmp

squar_sm.bmp