This page details the changes which have been made to Netplex. A version number indicates a released version.
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<A NAME="011"><H2>0.11</H2></A>
<BR><B>08 Nov 1996</B>
<LI>Docs: New icon bar graphic for the icon bar page; Corrections; Reorganisations.
<BR><B>04 Nov 1996</B>
<LI>connection_verifyall and the socket timeout code merged together into communication_breakdown. ;-)
<LI>The timeout code also now only times out when the client is sending something - so the server can now take as long as it likes. :-)
<LI>Docs: The buttonbar at the bottom of the pages has been replaced with (up to) three arrow buttons. Also, the index page Netplex graphic has been re-done as it looked distinctly un-curved in places.
<BR><B>02 Nov 1996</B>
<LI>The default CGI directory name ('cgi-bin') can now be changed by altering the Messages file.
<BR><B>01 Nov 1996</B>
<LI>Removed the RISC OS/v.vv bit from the Server: id string, until I can find a decent way of finding out the machine's OS version.
<BR><B>30 Oct 1996</B>
<LI>The default filename for realm configuration ('realms') can now be changed by editing the Messages file. Likewise, the timeout period and the maximum number of realms can be altered.
<LI>The template HTML for the server reports is now contained in the Messages file and can be altered. Bear in mind that each line must not exceed 255 characters after the substitutions have been made.
<LI>Now checks PUT requests to existing files for Write-permisson, which would have previously failed on CD-ROMs and other read-only devices.
<LI>Error reporting rationalised - changes to the log messages, of which there are now fewer.
<LI>Known-but-not-acted-on requests weren't being faulted, and ended up trapped in readheader. They are now reported as <I>Not Implemented</I>.
<LI>Tried doing some nasty things to Netplex to see what would happen, one was dumping binary files into FreeTerms' window (I do about half of Netplex's testing by opening a telnet session to the server's port and typing in requests). Found that yet again method_fromstring is pants and wasn't faulting empty lines. It now should be a lot better at faulting bad requests.
<LI>Changed the end-of-header code such that empty first lines will be correctly decoded rather than dropping straight into the client_request despatcher, which is what was happening.
<BR><B>26 Oct 1996</B>
<LI>Added code to check for Locked files; applies only to PUT and DELETE methods. PUT to a locked file now returns a Forbidden report. DELETE on a locked file now returns a Method Not Allowed report.
<LI>Reversed the order of the logs on the page, so that the most recent changes appear at the top.
<BR><B>25 Oct 1996</B>
<LI>Continued the de-structurising.
<LI>When an unanticipated error occurs Netplex will now automatically send an <I>Internal Server Error</I> report to the client and close the connection. This aids the server's stability greatly as serious errors (for example, Address exceptions) do not get a chance to endlessly repeat until the server self-terminates.
<LI>Replaced the line which closes the connection if the first line from the client is invalid or contains an unknown method.
<BR><B>24 Oct 1996</B>
<LI>Netplex has now had time to prove itself and bug reports have been virtually non-existant. For these reasons Netplex is now out of beta testing.
<LI>I went through the code and replaced a lot of the nice structured code with lots of hacky early routine exits. I did this because hacky-exits are often at least twice as fast.
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<H2>Thanks</H2>
<P>Thanks are due to :</P>
<UL>
<LI>Thom Stuart (th0m) - it was upon thom's original suggestion that I wrote Netplex - he was complaining that DeltaNet didn't do POST :-)
<LI>Justin Fletcher (Gerph) - for InetServices, WebSize, spotting bugs and constructive criticism
<LI>Jon Ribbens (Salmon) - for the excellent SysLog
<LI>Joe Oldak - for helpful comments and suggestions
<LI>Dave Lomax (DaveyBabe) - for help with testing, and finding a bug in cgi-bin.dir
<LI>Mark Hoyle (skeeve) - for running Netplex on his machine
<LI>Alex Howarth (zarni) - for complaining about having to load ArcWeb
<LI>Kaustav Bhattacharya (Kozzey) - for trying to run Netplex with Termite :-)
<LI>& the other #acorn and #argonet bods for, erm, stuff.
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<H2>and...</H2>
<P>The following have been instrumental in Netplex's development :</P>
<UL>
<LI>Dire Straits: Communiqué, Love Over Gold & Live at the BBC,
