PingTool Help Index

How To ...

Get Started

Ping Everything

Ping just a few servers

Launch QuakeWorld

Rearrange the windows in my workspace

Commands

File menu

PingTool menu

View menu

Help menu


File menu commands

The File menu offers the following commands:

Open Workspace	Opens an existing PingTool workspace.
Save Workspace	Saves the current workspace using the same file name.
Save Workspace As	Saves the current workspace to a specified file name.
Exit	Exits PingTool.


PingTool menu commands

Go!	Performs all steps necessary to find the best servers for you.
Get Servers Lists	Refreshes the server list by querying the master servers.
Scan Servers	Pings servers in the list quickly but doesn’t collect timing statistics
Time Servers	Pings servers in the list more slowly and times the pings.
Ping Continouosly	Causes PingTool to scan or time servers repeatedly.
Stop Network Activity	Stops whatever PingTool is currently doing.
Apply Filter	Toggles the server filter on and off.
Reset Server Stats	Zeros out ping time statistics giving you a clean slate.
Find Player	Searches the server list for a player.
Find Next Player	Searches for a player again using the same search string.
Auto-Size Columns	Automatically adjusts the widths all columns.
Select Server Fields	Allows you to select what data to display in the server list.
Rearrange Columns	Allows you to change the order that the columns in the tables appear.
Options	Set various PingTool options.


View menu commands

The View menu offers the following commands:

Players Window	Shows or hides the players window.
Master Servers Window	Shows or hides the master servers window.
Server Variables Window	Shows or hides the server variables window.
Toolbar	Shows or hides the toolbar.
Status Bar	Shows or hides the status bar.


Help menu commands

The Help menu offers the following commands, which provide you assistance with this application:

Help Topics	Offers you an index to topics on which you can get help.
About	Displays the version number of this application.


Open Workspace command
Open Workspace command (File menu)

Use this command to open an existing PingTool workspace that you’ve previously saved.

Shortcuts

Keys:	CTRL+O


File Open dialog box

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

List Files of Type

Select the type of file you want to open:

Drives

Select the drive in which PingTool stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which PingTool stores the file that you want to open.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


Save Workspace command
Save Workspace command (File menu)

Use this command to save the active document to its current name and directory.  When you save a document for the first time, PingTool displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.  If you want to change the name and directory of an existing document before you save it, choose the Save As command.

Shortcuts

Keys:	CTRL+S


Save Workspace As command
Save Workspace As command (File menu)

Use this command to save and name the active document.  PingTool displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.

To save a document with its existing name and directory, use the Save command.


File Save As dialog box

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a document with a different name.  A filename can contain up to eight characters and an extension of up to three characters.  PingTool adds the extension you specify in the Save File As Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the document.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the document.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File 1, 2, 3, 4 command
1, 2, 3, 4 command (File menu)

Use the numbers and filenames listed at the bottom of the File menu to open the last four documents you closed.  Choose the number that corresponds with the document you want to open.


Exit command
Exit command (File menu)

Use this command to end your PingTool session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu.  PingTool prompts you to save documents with unsaved changes.

Shortcuts

Mouse:	Double-click the application's Control menu button.

Keys:	ALT+F4


View Toolbar command
Toolbar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in PingTool, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.

See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.


Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in PingTool,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

Click	To

Performs series of steps to find playable servers.

Refreshes the server list by querying the master servers.

Pings servers at the maximum rate.

Pings servers slow enough so that accurate ping time can be measured.

Toggles “Continuous Ping” mode.

Stops all network activity.

Applies the server filter.

Resets timing stats (e.g., avg ping) so you can start with a clean slate.

Automatically resizes all columns so that data isn’t obscured.

Searches the current server list for a player.

Shows / Hides the Master Servers window.

Shows / hides the Players window.

Shows / hides the Server variables window.

Opens the Options dialog.

Activates the context help system.


View Status Bar Command
Status Bar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.

See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the PingTool window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.

The right areas of the status bar indicate which of the following keys are latched down:

Indicator	Description

CAP	The Caps Lock key is latched down.

NUM	The Num Lock key is latched down.

SCRL	The Scroll Lock key is latched down.


Index command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help.  From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using PingTool and various types of reference information.

Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.


Using Help command (Help menu)

Use this command for instructions about using Help.


About command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the copyright notice and version number of your copy of PingTool.


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of PingTool.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the PingTool window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Title Bar

The title bar is located along the top of a window.  It contains the name of the application and document.

To move the window, drag the title bar.  Note: You can also move dialog boxes by dragging their title bars.

A title bar may contain the following elements:

Application Control-menu button

Document Control-menu button

Maximize button

Minimize button

Name of the application

Name of the document

Restore button


Scroll bars

Displayed at the right and bottom edges of the document window.  The scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.  You can use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the document.


Size command (System menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Drag the size bars at the corners or edges of the window.


Move command (Control menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F7


System Minimize Command
Minimize command (application Control menu)

Use this command to reduce the PingTool window to an icon.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the minimize icon [image] on the title bar.

Keys:	ALT+F9


Maximize command (System menu)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the maximize icon [image] on the title bar; or double-click the title bar.

Keys:	CTRL+F10 enlarges a document window.


Close command (Control menus)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single document, the Close command on the document Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.


Restore command (Control menu)

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Switch to command (application Control menu)

Use this command to display a list of all open applications.  Use this "Task List" to switch to or close an application on the list.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+ESC

Dialog Box Options

When you choose the Switch To command, you will be presented with a dialog box with the following options:

Task List

Select the application you want to switch to or close.

Switch To

Makes the selected application active.

End Task

Closes the selected application.

Cancel

Closes the Task List box.

Cascade

Arranges open applications so they overlap and you can see each title bar.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Tile

Arranges open applications into windows that do not overlap.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons of all minimized applications across the bottom of the screen.


Edit Find Command
Find command (Edit menu)


Find Dialog
Find dialog box


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.


Go! command
Go!  (PingTool menu)

The “Go!” feature performs all the steps necessary to provide you with an up to date list of servers running games that you’d be interested in joining.  When you click the “Go!” button PingTool performs the following steps:

1. 	Get Server Lists: this brings the server list up to date by querying the master servers.

2.	Turns off the filter: this makes all active servers appear in the server list so they can be scanned..

3.	Scans all servers: this pings all servers quickly to find out what’s happening.  This information can then be used to filter out servers that you’re not interested in.

4.	Applies Filter: now that the status of all servers is known, this lets PingTool disregard servers that you’re not interested in.

5.	Resets Server Statistics: when PingTool times the remaining servers it will be working with a clean slate.

6.	Times the servers: this pings all the servers that passed the filter obtaining a realistic ping time for each of them.

When PingTool is done performing these steps, you’ll be looking at a list of all servers that you’d be interested in playing on with all the information you’d need to choose one that looks like it would be the most fun.  You can then sort by ping time, map, number of players or whatever. Or you could time some servers again and see which servers have the best average ping time.  You can launch QuakeWorld for a particular server by double clicking on it.

Toolbar:


Get Server Lists command
Get Server Lists  (PingTool menu)

This command refreshed the server list by querying the master servers.

If there aren’t any master servers selected, all the master servers marked as “used” will be queried (i.e., those master servers that are set to “yes” in the “Use” column.)

If some of the master servers selected when you issue this command, only the selected ones will be queried.  This gives you manual control over what masters get queried.  See Selecting Rows for help on how to select masters.

Toolbar:


Selecting Rows

Some tables in PingTool allow you to “select” rows.   Then when you issue a command that normally is applied to the whole table, only the selected rows are used.  For example, if you want to ping only a few servers instead of the whole server list, you can select those servers and the click the Time-Servers button.

Not all tables in PingTool allow you to select rows: only those that have a “row-button” or “row-header” which appears as a blank button on the far left side of the table.  When rows are selected they are highlighted using the default windows colors for selection.

You can select a single row by doing a left click on the row’s row-button.  You can select a range of rows buy holding down the left mouse button over a row-button and then dragging up or down across the range of rows.  You can select multiple individual rows by holding down the [CTRL] key while left clicking on row-buttons.

You can deselect all rows by simply clicking anywhere in the table except on a row button.


Scan Servers command
Scan Servers  (PingTool menu)

This command pings servers using the Scan Servers Options.  The intent is to find out what’s happening on a bunch of servers as quickly as possible.  It does this by querying as many servers concurrently as your internet connection can handle.   This is useful when you want to query a large number of servers to find out things like what mods they’re running, what levels and how many players are on.  Since ping times are not accurate when scanning servers, timing data is not collected.

If there are no servers selected when you issue this command, all servers in the visible list are pinged.  Note that if the filter is applied when you issue this command, only the servers that are currently passing the filter are pinged.  To query all known servers you first have to turn off the filter.

If there are some servers selected in the server list, only the selected servers are pinged.  This gives you manual control over what servers get pinged.   See Selecting Rows for help on how to select servers.

Toolbar:


Time Servers command
Time Servers  (PingTool menu)

This command pings servers using the Time Servers Options.  You use this command when you want to find out which servers have the best ping time from your computer.  In order to get accurate timings you have to configure PingTool to query only a few servers at a time.  You probably only want to time servers after you’ve scanned them and filtered out the ones you’re not interested in.

If there are no servers selected, all servers in the visible list are queried.  Note that if the filter is applied when you issue this command, only the servers that are currently passing the filter are pinged.

If there are some servers selected in the server list, only the selected servers are queried.  This gives you manual control over what servers get pinged.  After you’ve scanned and filtered the server list, you may want to re-ping the top few candidates by selecting them and then clicking Time Servers.  The “avg ping” column will tell you which ones are the absolute fastest.

Toolbar:


Stop Network Activity command
Stop Network Activity  (PingTool menu)

Issue this command to stop PingTool from pinging whatever it’s currently pinging.  PingTool will remain in an idle state until you tell it to do something else.

Toolbar:


Apply Filter Command
Apply Filter  (PingTool menu)

This command allows you to toggle the server filter on and off.  See Filter Options for help on setting up the filter.

Toolbar:


Reset Server Stats command
Reset Server Stats  (PingTool menu)

This command resets server statistics previously collected by PingTool.  This is useful if you want to discard statistics that are outdated or no longer relevant.  It gives you a “clean slate” before refreshing servers.

The following server fields get reset:  Time Out %, Time Outs, Num Pings, Ave Ping

Toolbar:


Auto Size Columns command
Auto-Size Columns  (PingTool menu)

This command causes PingTool to automatically adjust the widths of all the columns so that they are just wide enough to display the widest value.

Toolbar:


Select Server Fields command
Select Server Fields  (PingTool menu)

This command allows you to select what server fields appear in the server list.   If you add new fields to the table they will be added to the right hand side.  Once added you can rearrange the columns to your liking using the Rearrange Columns feature.


Rearrange Columns command
Rearrange Columns  (PingTool menu)

You may decide that you’d like to change the order of the columns in the various PingTool tables.  For example you want to have the columns that are most important appear to the left of the less important ones so that you don’t have to scroll right to see them.

When this item has a check mark next to it PingTool is in “rearrange columns” mode.  In “rearrange columns” mode, clicking on a column header “selects” the column instead of sorting the table by that column.  Once a column is selected, you can move it to a new position by dragging the header to a new location.  As you drag you’ll see a vertical dotted line representing the place where the column will be move to.  Releasing the mouse button will move the selected columns to the new position.


Options command
Options  (PingTool menu)

This command activates the options dialog:

Time Servers	Setting used when timing servers.
Scan Servers	Setting used when scanning servers.
Launching QW	The command line used to launch the QuakeWorld client.
Filter	Filter settings.

Toolbar:


Show Players command
Show Players  (View menu)

This shows / hides the players window.

Toolbar:


Show Masters command
Show Master Servers  (View menu)

This shows / hides the master servers window.

Toolbar:


Time Servers options
Time Servers   (Options dialog)

These settings are used when PingTool is timimg servers .

•	Number Of Simultaneous Pings:  The maximum number of queries pending at any given time.

•	Number Of Retries:  If a ping times out, the number of times to retry the query.

•	Milleseconds before ping times out:  How long PingTool should wait before it assumes that the server isn’t going to respond.

The the most important setting is the Number of Simultaneous Pings.  It’s important to keep this number relatively low, especially for modem users.  If you set ths to 1, only one server gets pinged at a time.  This will yield the most accurate ping times, however it will also take a relatively long time to ping many servers.  If this value is set to high too many server responses will arrive at ISP at the same time and will have to “wait in line” before getting squeezed through your modem.  Ping times will become inflated.

0	A value of 3 or 4 is a good compromise.  The lower the number the more accurate the ping times will be.  The higher the number the faster it will refresh the server list, but the less accureate the ping times will be.


Scan Servers options
Scan Servers   (Options dialog)

These settings are used when PingTool is scanning servers .

•	Number Of Simultaneous Pings:  The maximum number of queries pending at any given time.

•	Number Of Retries:  If a ping times out, the number of times to retry the query.

•	Milleseconds before ping times out:  How long PingTool should wait before it assumes that the server isn’t going to respond.

0	You should set the “Number of Simultaneous Pings” just high enough so that server responses are coming in as fast as your internet connection can handle them.  Setting this value too high will cause PingTool to ping too many servers at the same time.  Server responses will get queued up on your ISP side of the link waiting for their turn to be sent through your modem connection and ping times will become greatly inflated.  If while scanning servers you notice that almost all the servers are timing out, you should lower this value.

1	A good way to adjust this value is to watch the status bar as you scan servers, taking note of the # of servers per second.  You should experiment by increase the “Number of Simultaneous Pings.”  If you see a gain in the number of servers processed per second, try increasing Number of Simultaneous Pings again.  Keep increasing it until you no longer see a gain.  Then you’ll know you’re at the limit of what your modem can handle.

2	You may also notice that during “prime time” internet hours your ISP won’t be able to give you as many servers per second as during non peak hours.

3	It may also be usefull to use a data rate monitoring tool while adjusting the number Number of Simultaneous Pings.  For example, under WinNT you can use Performance Monitor.  Under Win 95 you can use SysMon, but you’ll have to install the “Dial Up Networking 1.2” patch available for free from Microsoft.


Launching Quake options
Launching QW  (Options dialog)

This is the command line PingTool will use when launching your QuakeWorld client.  Since PingTool isn’t a “Quake World Front End” like QSpy is, you’ll have to configure everything yourself in a configuration script.

•	Quake Sub-Directory:  This is the location on your hard drive where your Quake files are.  Typically this is something like C:\QUAKE.

•	QuakeWorld command line:  This is the command line used to launch the QuakeWorld client. (QWCL or GLQWCL).


Filter options
Filter   (Options dialog)

This lets you configure the criteria used to filter out unwanted servers.


How To Launch QuakeWorld

After you’ve decided on a server that you’d like to join, simply double click on it in the server list.  PingTool will use the command line configured in the options dialog to launch you QuakeWorld client.


How To Rearrange Windows

Except for the Server List, all windows in PingTool can be hidden if you don’t want them cluttering up your screen.  You can also resize them with the splitter bars.  They can also be “floated” or “docked” in different positions. This creates a highly customizable workspace.

To float and re-dock a window, you have to “grab” the window by the thin border just inside the splitter bar.  Note the position of the mouse cursor below::

0	As you drag the window you will see on outline of where the window will be when you release the mouse button.  To “dock” the window on a different edge, drag the mouse pointer to that edge and then release the button.  Once the window is docked you can resize it using the splitter bar.


Players Window

This window displays player information for the current server.  It contains the following fields:

Name:	The name of the player.

Skin:	The filename of the skin the player’s using.

Frags:	The number of frags or points the player has.

Connect:	The number of minutes the player’s been connected on the current map.

Ping:	The player’s ping time.

Shirt:	The shirt color of the player (sorry, no WYSIWYG preview in PingTime yet!).

Pants:	The shirt color of the player.

You can show or hide this window using the Show Players Window command.

You Re-dock this window to different positions in the PingTool workspace (see How To Rearrange Windows ).

You can re-arrange the order of the columns with the Rearrange Columns command.


Master Servers Window

This window displays the Master Servers list.  These servers are imported from the MASTER.DAT file the first time you start PingTool.

It has the following fields:

•	Use:  This is a column of buttons that allow you to “turn off” a master.  When a master server is in use, it’s QuakeWorld servers are included in the server list.  Also, the master server gets queried when you do a “Get Server Lists” command from the PingTool menu.

•	Master IP:  This is the internet address of the master server.

•	Name:  The name the master is commonly referred as.

•	Num Servers:  The number of servers in this master’s server list.

•	Last updated:  The time the last server list was received from the master.

You can show or hide this window using the Show Master Server command.

You Re-dock this window to different positions in the PingTool workspace (see How To Rearrange Windows ).

You can re-arrange the order of the columns with the Rearrange Columns command.


Server List

This window displays the current list of servers.

You can sort by any column by clicking on its header.  You can reverse the direction of the sort by clicking on the same column header again.  You’ll know which column is the current sort column because the text in the header is underlined.

You can add or remove columns to this table with Select Server Fields.

You can re-arrange the order of the columns with the Rearrange Columns command.


Getting Started

First you should review the PingTool options via the Options command. The defaults for Time Servers and Scan Servers should work well for you if you’re a modem user.  However you should double check the Launching QW options and the Filter options.

You should also tell PingTool what master servers you plan to use by clicking the Use buttons in the Master Window .  (E. g., if you live in North America, you probably won’t want to use Australia’s master).

When you’ve got everything configured, just click [image] and get ready to frag.


Pinging Just A Few Servers

If there’s nothing “selected” in the server list, PingTool will ping the entire server list.  To ping just a few servers instead of the entire server list, simply select the ones you want to ping and either click Time Servers or Scan Servers.  Only the selected servers will be pinged.


Find Player command
Find Player (PingTool menu)

The Find Players command lets you search for a player in the current server list.  PingTool will display the Find Player Dialog allowing you to type in or choose the player name you want to search for.  PingTool will then search the server list starting at the top.  If a player name is found that contains the search string you’ve entered PingTool will scroll to that server in the Server List.

Note that PingTool will only search servers in the current server list.  If the filter is currently applied, only servers that currently pass the filter are searched.

If the search string you’ve entered doesn’t match any players and the filter is applied, PingTool will ask you if you’d like to search again with the filter turned off.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+F


Find Next Player

The Find Next Player command lets you search the server list again for a player.  It uses the same search string that you used last time you searched.  This is useful if you want to search repeatedly using the same search string.

Shortcuts

Keys:	F3


Find Players dialog
Find Player Dialog

You activate this dialog with a Find Player command.

The Find Player dialog lets you enter a search string when searching the server list for players.  You can either type in a search string or choose a recently used search string from the drop down list box (by clicking the down arrow on the right).


Ping Continuously

This command allows you to toggle the Ping Continuously mode on and off.  When activated, this option will cause PingTool to repeat it’s last server ping operation over and over.  This can be usefull, for example, to monitor one or more servers over a period of time.  Another example is to do a “Time Servers” command with “Ping Continuously” activated.  This averages ping times over an extended period allowing you to determine very accurate ping times averages.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


Show Server Variables window

This command shows / hides the server variables window.

Toolbar:


Server Variables Window

This window displays all server variables for the current server.

You can show or hide this window using the Show Servers Variables Window command.

You Re-dock this window to different positions in the PingTool workspace (see How To Rearrange Windows ).