home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
ftp.hypersurf.com
/
ftp.hypersurf.com.tar
/
ftp.hypersurf.com
/
pub
/
mac
/
chat
/
PalaceUserPPC.hqx
/
PalaceInstall_PPC_3.0.1
/
Read Me
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1999-02-18
|
11KB
|
295 lines
=======================================
The Palace¬
Macintosh Client v3.0.1 Release Notes
February 1999
=======================================
Contents
============
System Requirements
Installation
What's new?
Bookmarks Menu
InternetConfig Support
MIDI support via InternetConfig
Modified Connection Dialog
Corrupt prop reporting
Out of Memory Errors
Firewalls
Contact Information
System Requirements
====================
Minimum:
System 7.1+
5 MB of available RAM
Connection to the Internet
256 colors (8 bit)
640x480+ support
Recommended:
Minimum plus
System 7.6.1 or later
6 MB of available RAM or greater
1024x768 screen resolution or greater
QuickTime 3.0 or greater
Installation
=============
Upgrading from a previous version:
- Run The Palace installer.
- Select Custom install and choose Upgrade.
- Select the location of the folder to install to and verify the installed folder
name. You may need to change the name of the install folder in the dialog.
- Select OK and the installer will upgrade The Palace installation for you.
- The installer will upgrade only the necessary files.
Your props, preferences and Cyborg.ipt file will be untouched.
We recommend you move your Palace Preferences and Palace Registration file from
System Folder:Preferences to The Palace folder if they are not already located there.
Full Install: Double Click the installer and select the location for the new
The Palace Folder.
InternetConfig v2.0.2 is installed. Refer to it's included documentation for setup
instructions. Additional instructions specific to use with The Palace are available
in the documentation available at:
http://www.thepalace.com/support/manuals/mac/Output/macclientTOC.html
What's new?
============
- Fixed crash some users experienced when opening windows
- Fixed a hang on failed connection attempts
- Prop Picker window is resizable
- Window positions are saved and used switching to and from Full Screen mode
- Connection dialog now takes host/port in same field
- Macro Menu is now called Avatars to accurately reflect it's purpose
- Bookmarks menu added
- InternetConfig now fully supported
- Memory leaks plugged, improving stability with stock RAM allocation
- Clicking on splash screen will log on to top palace in Connection dialog
- Support for announcements and advertisements
- PalacePresents updated to work with The Palace for Macintosh v3.0 and later
Bookmarks
============
By default, the Palace bookmarks file is installed in The Palace folder. Should
this file be lost for some reason, the program will create an empty file in
System Folder:Preferences. It can be moved to The Palace application folder
(like The Palace Preferences file). This is recommended for easy access to the
file and to allow different users to use different bookmarks/preferences with
different The Palace folders.
You can save a bookmark when you are connected to a server. Select Save Bookmark
from the Bookmarks menu. That server's connection information will be saved and
available with the bookmarks menu.
While it is possible to edit The Palace Bookmarks file, it is not recommended.
The file format is name,tab and the fully qualified URL of the server (including
port). The file must end on an empty line (return after your last entry).
Examples:
My Favorite Palace palace://palace.coolplace.com:9998
My Home Page http://www.mywebsite.com/neatstuff/start.html
InternetConfig
===============
The Palace for Macintosh v3.0 fully supports InternetConfig. This will
intercept URLs and pass them to the appropriate helper application, such as
Internet Explorer for a web page if you chose IE as your web browser in the
InternetConfig setup. It will also call helper applications for files such
as .mid. This feature brings a great deal of power to the Macintosh client.
We only touch on a few examples here.
InternetConfig is a public domain application and was not developed by
The Palace¬, Inc. More information about InternetConfig can be found at:
http://www.quinn.echidna.id.au/Quinn/Config/
-or-
http://www.stairways.com/ic/
Many applications support InternetConfig and the latest release (2.0.2 as of
this writing) is compatible with MacOS 8.5.1.
MIDI Support
===============
You can set up InternetConfig to have .mid and .midi files routed
to an application such as SoundApp. Then, you can type ")titanic.mid" and
if it is in your Media folder, it will play in SoundApp. You can also use
the SOUND command to retrieve and/or play files in this manner. This can
be done via room scripts or command line (/"titanic.mid" SOUND).
More information on SoundApp can be found at:
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~franke/SoundApp/
The MMMMM plugin (developed by Ken Marks) should still function, although the
client does not recognize the MMMMM script style. Should you desire to continue
to use that format, you will need to leave the MMMMM plugin and accessories
installed.
The features in this revision bring the compatibility between the Macintosh
and PC client almost even. MIDIPLAY and MIDISTOP iptscrae commands are not
recognized by this revision.
In order to provide and script MIDI for The Palace users on both Macintosh and PC,
we recommend that you provide an archive for users to download. The current
version of the PC client (3.4.1) is incapable of downloading MIDI files with
a .mid extension. To script a single command that works for both Mac and PC,
either ")filename.mid" SAY or "filename.mid" SOUND will work. Users of either
platform may just type )filename.mid to play a midi, just like with any normal
sound file. This provides an almost seamless integration between the two
platforms.
MIDI files are only one new type that The Palace can now utilize due to the
addition of InternetConfig support. MP3 files, RealAudio¬, QuickTime¬ movies and
many more can now be used in The Palace for Macintosh v3.0.
Connection Dialog
==================
The connection dialog has been changed and the entry field for the port has
been eliminated. The port should now be part of the hostname you enter, such
as: palace.thepalace.com:9998
In that example, 9998 is the port number. This change was made to conform to
how people normally mention a site's address.
Corrupt Prop Reporting
=======================
You may get a log message indicating a prop is corrupt and will not be accepted
by the server. This is not a bug. The server has rejected your prop because
the prop data failed to pass a data integrity check. This new Macintosh client
now responds to these server rejections by informing you.
Unfortunately, there are alot of corrupt props out on the net and you could have
many in your prop bag. The best way to deal with this is to delete the affected
prop(s). There are other, more unreliable methods of handling this in an attempt
to save a corrupt prop. You can rename the prop or edit one pixel of that prop.
You can copy the prop in the prop editor and paste that into a NEW prop.
Depending on the extent of corruption, these other options may or may not work
for you.
Other users will not be able to see a corrupted prop, unless they have seen
the prop previously prior to it becoming corrupted (meaning it is cached).
The intent of these checks is to reduce prop corruption and propagation amongst
The Palace users. You should not let the red log messages alarm you.
Out of Memory Errors
=====================
Users in heavy prop traffic areas or viewing large prop files used to occasionally
experience an out of memory (Type 25) error. This was due to a memory leak in the
prop management code. Virtually all of these leaks have been fixed. You can
now happily click through HUGE prop files without crashing due to memory errors. It
should no longer be necessary to increase the RAM allocated to The Palace application
to compensate for this old problem. The only reason to increase the RAM allocation
to The Palace client to to allow large WAVE files to play (over 2 megs in size) or
to handle rooms with multiple large spot pictures.
Behind a Firewall?
===================
If your computer is running on a corporate LAN inside a firewall, you might not
be able to connect to The Palace sites outside the LAN unless your network
administrator changes the firewall configuration. This section describes the
necessary firewall changes.
If you have problems connecting, show this section to your network administrator.
Two firewall changes are necessary to allow The Palace users inside the firewall
to connect to servers outside:
1. Permit TCP/IP connections on a particular port (usually 9998).
2. Permit incoming packets on that same port over established connections.
Descriptions follow.
Permitting TCP/IP Connections over a Port
The Palace software uses TCP/IP to establish a reliable connection to a The Palace¬
server that is listening on a particular port. When you use the software to
connect, you specify the name of the server (such as thepalace.com) and the
port (usually 9998). The port can vary from server to server, but most use the
default port of 9998. The software then sends a TCP/IP connection established
message over that port to the server.
However, firewalls often prevent communication over all but a few well-known
ports. Therefore, to allow The Palace software to make contact with servers, the
network administrator must configure the firewall to permit internal workstations
to establish TCP/IP connections on the specific port (usually 9998).
Permitting Incoming Packets Over the Same Port
Once The Palace software establishes a connection to the server, the software
and server send packets back and forth over The Palace port (again, usually 9998).
However, firewalls often prevent incoming packets from other than well-known
ports. Therefore, the network administrator must configure the firewall to
permit incoming packets over the specific port (usually 9998) on established
connections.
The key to permitting incoming packets is that the firewall should not allow
them except when the connection has already been established by an internal
workstation. This minimizes the security risk of hackers trying to break into the
LAN, because someone inside must establish the connection first.
In addition, the firewall must be configured to allow outgoing packets over the
specific port on established connections. However, this usually happens as a
result of permitting TCP/IP connections over the port.
NOTE: In LANs where workstations are not directly connected to the firewall but
instead are connected to a proxy, the network administrator might need to perform
additional configuration steps to allow packets through on these ports.
Contact Information
====================
The Palace, Inc.
10101 N. DeAnza Blvd.
Suite 100
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: (408) 342-9500
Fax: (408) 777-9200
http://www.thepalace.com
Technical Support
==================
If you have technical support questions, or if you want
to browse the FAQs or online manuals, post questions to
The Palace discussion groups, or send feedback about the
product, point your web browser to:
http://www.thepalace.com/support/