OS/2 Shareware BBS: 35 Internet/35-Internet.zip/jstreet.zip/readme

Text File | 1998-12-28 | 35KB | 598 lines

First-time installation...............................................Line 23
Running the program........................................................90
More about running the program............................................241
The JIT (just in time) compiler...........................................272
Upgrading from "Release One" (build 98.3.5) or an earlier beta............296
Upgrading from any version later than "Release One".......................340
Moving a J Street Mailer installation from HPFS to FAT....................347
Communicating with us.....................................................451
Known problems............................................................473
Problems in all Java VMs we've tested.....................................509
Problems with third-party components......................................578



First-time installation
=======================
1. You must have the Java Virtual Machine for your operating system installed;
preferably version 1.1.4 at least. The program will not work with 1.0x. The
current versions for Windows 95/NT 4.0 and Solaris are available at
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/jre/index.html. The OS/2 Java VM is
available through the Java JDK link at
http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/swchoice/. Sun's site usually has a page
which lists links to all the known ports for all the known operating systems,
but the last dozen times I've visited that page it contained only a notice that
it was being updated and would be available shortly, and now I can't find the
page at all.

   In Windows 95 and NT, if you use Sun's Win32 1.1.6 VM, please turn off the
   JIT (just in time compiler) if you encounter any problems with it.
   Instructions for doing this can be found below, in the section about the JIT.
   With the JIT turned off, the Win32 1.1.6 VM is definitely preferable to the
   earlier versions, due to some problems in the older ones which had important
   effects on the J Street Mailer. We're told that a new version of the JIT is
   now available, which corrects the problems that were in the first Win32 1.1.6
   JIT.

   In OS/2, please use version 1.1.4, build 19980304, or later. This build
   corrects some serious problems in the 19971121 and 19980121 builds that
   affected the J Street Mailer. The package which will update an earlier 1.1.4
   build to this level is available at
   ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/software/java/fixes/os2/11 and
   ftp://ftp.hursley.ibm.com/pub/java/fixes/os2/11. Please note that if you
   downloaded the entire Java 1.1.4 package from any IBM site, what you got was
   the 19971121 build, not the current one with the fixes. You need to apply the
   current fixes (about 5 megabytes) on top of the main installation (about 28
   megs).

   IBM's 1.1.6 version, dated 6/5/98 and released 6/19/98, also corrects some
   very important problems that affected the J Street Mailer. The latest IBM
   version is available as separate packages for the JRE and the JDK, so you
   don't have to download the entire 30 megs even if you don't need the JDK, the
   way you had to do with IBM's 1.1.4.

For the descriptions of the known problems in various Java VM versions that
affect this program, please see http://www.innoval.com/javaproblems.txt. It will
be very helpful to you, to know what problems you can expect.

2. Create a directory.

   In OS/2, it is recommended that you use an HPFS partition, unless you want to
   be able to share the installation between OS/2 and some other operating
   system that can read FAT but can't read HPFS. If you choose to install this
   program on a FAT partition, your accounts, folders, address books, drafts,
   templates, etc., will be limited to names which comply with the 8.3 character
   FAT filename limitation.

3. Unzip the .ZIP file into that directory. Be sure you're using an unzip
program which extracts subdirectories and case sensitive filenames just as they
are inside the .ZIP file. You should end up with a few files in the directory in
which you unzipped, and a "doc" subdirectory, below that directory, which
contains two files with mixed case names: Contents.htm and Index.htm, as well as
several files with all-lowercase names. (If you're installing on a FAT [as
opposed to VFAT] partition, their names will all be uppercase instead, but
that's fine since FAT is not a case-sensitive file system.)

   If you unzip under Windows 95 or NT, and you are going to use the short
   filename mode (for compatibility with OS/2, etc.), you will have to rename
   HotJavaBean.jar to HOTJAVAB.JAR. If you unzip into a FAT partition under
   OS/2, your unzip program will have already given it that name so you won't
   have to worry about it.

Running the program
===================
To execute a Java program, what you need to do is run your Java interpreter
(which is likely to be named JAVA.EXE or JRE.EXE), in such a way that it knows
where to find the files needed by the program, and also tell it the name of the
class (program) it should execute. In Windows 95 or NT, a command that will
perform these functions on many systems is this one:

jre.exe -cp d:\jstreet\innoval.jar;d:\jre115\bin; innoval.mailer.jstreet

The "-cp" parameter followed by the file/directory names sets the class path,
where the Java interpreter will look for the needed class files (so you need to
customize that command to fit the names of the directories where you have your J
Street Mailer and your Java VM installed). The "innoval.mailer.jstreet"
parameter is what tells the Java interpreter to execute the
innoval/mailer/jstreet class which is inside the innoval.jar file.

In OS/2, it is more likely to require two commands, such as these, to start the
program:

set classpath=d:\jstreet\innoval.jar;d:\java11\lib\classes.zip
java.exe innoval.mailer.jstreet

In this case, the "set classpath" command sets an environment variable which
java.exe will read in order to find out the names of the files/directories in
which it should look to find the class files (so again, you need to customize
that command for your system), and "innoval.mailer.jstreet" tells java.exe what
class file (which it will find inside innoval.jar) to execute.

The above suggestions should get you started. Here are more detailed
instructions:

1. ADD THE TWO .JAR FILES TO YOUR CLASS PATH. The way in which this is done
depends on the operating system you're using. Most operating systems have a
global configuration file which sets environment variables for all programs that
will be running under it. You can modify the class path there, but this can have
bad effects on other programs. For example, some versions of OS/2's Netscape
require Java 1.0.2 and cannot run with Java 1.1.4, but the J Street Mailer
requires 1.1.4, so the two programs will step on each other if you try to make a
global configuration that will support both of them.

So the best thing to do is leave your global class path the way it is, and
change it for the J Street Mailer ONLY IN THE SESSION IN WHICH you're going to
run the J Street Mailer.

In many operating systems, an environment variable is changed, for the current
session, at that session's command line, by typing a command like this:

SET CLASSPATH=D:\JSTREET\INNOVAL.JAR;D:\JAVA11\LIB\CLASSES.ZIP;

So that (or your operating system's equivalent of it) is one of two options for
setting your class path so that your Java interpreter will be able to find the
files that are in the innoval.jar file as well as its own files.

Or, many Java interpreters will let you modify the class path as part of the
command that starts the program. For example, the documentation for Sun's Win32
runtime environment's Java interpreter, JRE.EXE, says that it won't read the
CLASSPATH environment variable at all, so you have to specify its -cp parameter
in order to set your class path. (Sun's Win32 JAVA.EXE, on the other hand, uses
a -classpath parameter instead of -cp like JRE.EXE does, but other than that it
works the same way.) So the command you execute with JRE.EXE might be something
like this:

JRE.EXE -cp D:\JSTREET\INNOVAL.JAR;D:\JRE115\BIN; innoval.mailer.jstreet

The -cp parameter, and the string following it up until the next space
character, is what sets the class path, and the string "innoval.mailer.jstreet"
at the end is what tells JRE.EXE to execute the class which starts the J Street
Mailer program (see Step 2, below).

Be sure you put spaces in the places where spaces belong, but not anywhere else.
The string of pathnames that make up the class path must not have any spaces in
it, and there must be a space between the class path and the
"innoval.mailer.jstreet" parameter; otherwise JRE.EXE will not be able to
interpret your command correctly, since a space is what separates one parameter
from another.

So, regardless of what method you use to set your class path, what you need to
add to it is your copy of the J Street Mailer's innoval.jar file (not the
directory which contains it, but the .JAR file itself). Please note that the
examples given here are not examples of what your class path should look like
when you're done, but merely demonstrations of how you add the .JAR file to
whatever it is that you already have or need in your class path. The examples
may work on your system, but that is not necessarily the case. The examples need
to be customized according to the names of the directories where you have your J
Street Mailer installed and where you have your Java interpreter installed.

And if you want to be able to use the HotJava browser window instead of, or as
well as, the original browser component used by the J Street Mailer, then also
add the HotJavaBean.jar (or HOTJAVAB.JAR, on a FAT partition) to your class path
in the same way.

2. TO RUN THE PROGRAM, what you do is start your Java interpreter and tell it to
execute a class named "innoval.mailer.jstreet". Your Java interpreter may be
named JAVA.EXE or JRE.EXE, and there are other possible names for it in various
operating systems. Usually, the way to tell it what class to execute is by
simply specifying the class name as a parameter to the command which starts the
Java interpreter. So, for example, under OS/2, you would type this command at
the command line:

JAVA.EXE innoval.mailer.jstreet

If you want to have that command set the class path for you, as above, or if you
want to turn off the JIT, as explained below, you would place the parameters
which perform those services between the "JAVA.EXE" and the
"innoval.mailer.jstreet" portions of that command.

3a. BECAUSE YOU WON'T WANT TO TYPE SUCH COMPLICATED COMMANDS ALL THE TIME, you
will want to create a batch file or a Desktop object to execute them for you
automatically. The way in which you do these things also varies according to
what operating system you're using.

In Windows 95 or NT, you can click a blank spot on your Desktop with your right
mouse button, select New, and then Shortcut. The new shortcut's Properties
notebook will open automatically. Make sure you specify the directory in which
you've unzipped the J Street Mailer package, as the working directory from which
the shortcut should be executed! As for the command for the shortcut to execute,
that should be either the long command which starts your Java VM, sets the class
path, and tells the VM to execute the "innoval.mailer.jstreet" class; or it
should be the path and filename of a batch file you've created to execute that
command.

In OS/2, one way to create a Desktop object is to open your Templates folder,
and drag a Program template and drop it on your Desktop. The new program
object's Properties notebook will open automatically. On the Icon page, change
the Title. On the Program page, be sure you specify the directory in which
you've unzipped the J Street Mailer package, as the working directory from which
the program object will be executed. As for the command for the shortcut to
execute, that should be either your Java VM, or the path and filename of a batch
file you've created to execute the necessary commands for you. If you've
specified just the Java VM here, then in the Parameters field you'll need to
specify the rest of the command line: The part that sets your class path; the
part that turns off the JIT, if desired (see below); and especially the string
"innoval.mailer.jstreet" to tell the Java VM to execute that class. If you
specified a batch file instead of your Java VM in the first field, then you
probably don't need anything here in the Parameters field, since you probably
included all the necessary parameters inside the batch file you made.

3b. IF YOU EVER DO WANT TO RUN THE J STREET MAILER FROM THE COMMAND LINE
(manually, or via a batch file) rather than a Desktop object, don't forget that
you must execute the program from within the directory in which you've unzipped
the .ZIP file. That is, the directory which contains the .JAR file(s) and the
"doc" subdirectory. If you execute the program from different directories at
different times, it's going to be unable to find the online help and spell
checker files (which only exist wherever you unzipped them), as well as whatever
accounts you've previously created (which only exist under whatever directory
the program was running in at the time you created them); and it will create a
new image subdirectory and a new mailer subdirectory in each directory from
which you start it. So you want to always start it from the same directory, the
one with the spell checker files and the "doc" subdirectory.

More about running the program
==============================
If you use the short filename mode, for compatibility between Windows 95 or NT
on the VFAT file system and OS/2 on the FAT file system using the same
installation of the J Street Mailer, then remember when you're in Windows or NT,
when you create a folder, account, draft, address book, etc., to use a short
(8.3 character) name for the new object even though Windows would let you create
a file or directory with a longer name. Because otherwise, the new object's name
will be different under OS/2 from what it is under Windows. For example, if you
create a folder under Windows named "New Folder", its name under OS/2 will show
up as "NEWFOL~1" instead. So it might be less confusing for you, if you name it
NEW_FLDR under Windows so that its name will always be the same regardless of
what operating system you're running under at the moment.

Please keep an eye on the command line window in which JAVA.EXE or JRE.EXE (or
whatever your Java VM is) is running. Java runtime error messages (called
"exceptions") will appear here, and are very useful in diagnosing problems. If
you see an error here (or anywhere else within the program), try to tell us as
much as you can about exactly what you did within the program in order to cause
it. If you run the program from a Desktop object, this window will probably
close when you exit the program, so that you can't read any last exceptions that
might have appeared in the window. Most operating systems which have Desktop
objects, have a setting in those objects such as "close window on exit", which
you can turn off so that the window will stay open until you explicitly close
it, so that you can read final status or error messages.

If the program ever hangs, such that it ignores your attempt to close it, you
can close the JAVA.EXE/JRE.EXE window instead, which closes the Java virtual
machine and therefore closes the program as well. So you don't have to reboot
your computer in order to get rid of the hung program.

The JIT (just in time) compiler
===============================
If you're running Sun's Win32 VM version 1.1.7, or any recent version of OS/2
VM, then by default you have a JIT (just in time compiler), and the Java
programs you use are compiled before they're executed. This means (among other
things) that the exception messages you'll see in the command line window will
say "Compiled Code" instead of specifying the line number of the instruction in
which the error occurred. If you execute the program without the JIT, instead,
and try to reproduce the error, then this time it will tell you the line number
so that you can report it to us along with the rest of the information you can
give us about the problem. To turn off the JIT in Sun's Win32 VM 1.1.6 or IBM's
OS/2 VM 1.1.6, add the "-nojit" parameter between the command that starts the VM
and the parameter which specifies the class to be executed. For example:

java.exe -nojit innoval.mailer.jstreet

For OS/2 1.1.4, you use a different parameter instead of -nojit:

java.exe -Djava.compiler=none innoval.mailer.jstreet

If you're using a -cp or -classpath parameter as well, it makes no difference
whether you put -nojit (or -Djava.compiler=none) before or after that, as long
as you don't put it between -cp/-classpath and the rest of the classpath string.

Upgrading from "Release One" (build 98.3.5) or an earlier beta
==============================================================
If you have not installed a beta version since "Release One" (98.3.5), nor
"Release Two" (98.5.2), and you want to move an OS/2 J Street Mailer
installation from an HPFS partition to a FAT partition in order to share data
with Windows 95 or NT, see the instructions later in this file for that purpose,
and also the paragraphs above under "First-time installation", Step 2, "Create a
directory".

The fact that we now support FAT partitions (without long filename support, as
opposed to VFAT partitions) affects you in the following ways, even if you do
not have any desire to take advantage of this new ability:

   You have "attachments" and "collection" subdirectories under your "mailer"
   directory, that the program is no longer going to use, so you can remove
   those.

   The HelpIndex.html and TableOfContents.html files in the "doc" subdirectory
   of the "mailer" directory can be deleted.

   You can delete all the files in the "image" subdirectory of your "mailer"
   subdirectory; the next time you try to run the program it will find that
   COMPOSTB.GIF doesn't exist so it will re-extract the ones it uses (now with
   short filenames) from the innoval.jar file.

   But if you have customized any of those *.gif files, you will want to save
   them elsewhere first, before you delete the "image" directory. Then run the
   program once so it will extract the new image files. And then use the table
   below (in the section about moving from HPFS to FAT) to copy your customized
   *.gif files from their old filenames to the filenames that the program uses
   now (the shorter names on the right, in that table below).

To install the new version, just keep a backup copy of your innoval.jar file and
unzip the new package into the same old directory while the program is not
running.

Unless you don't care to be able to try the HotJava browser window (a possible
replacement for the browser component that J Street has been using to this
point), add the HotJavaBean.jar file (or HOTJAVAB.JAR if you're installing on a
FAT partition) to your class path.

See the comments under "First-time installation", Step 1, above, about what
versions of Java VMs are recommended after Sun's and IBM's recent updates.

Upgrading from a beta version, 98.4.1 or later, or "Release Two"
================================================================
Just keep a backup copy of the innoval.jar file and then unzip the new package
into the same old directory while the program is not running. Please see the
comments under "First-time installation", Step 1, above, about what versions of
Java VMs are recommended after Sun's and IBM's recent updates.

Moving a J Street Mailer installation from HPFS to FAT
======================================================
If you already have a J Street Mailer installation on HPFS and want to move it
to FAT so that you can share it with Windows 95 or NT, you need to do four
things: Unzip the new version into your existing directory; Rename the files in
your HPFS installation that need to be changed (see the list below); Copy the
whole J Street Mailer installation from the HPFS drive to the FAT drive and
change your class path accordingly, as well as the working directory in whatever
batch file or Desktop object you use to start the program; Modify your new FAT
installation's mailer\jstreet.ini file to add the line:

Registration<~>LongFileNames=false

to the end of it (using any plain ASCII text editor). The opposite procedure may
work if you later want to return your installation to the HPFS drive and go back
to the "Release One" (98.3.5) version of the program or an earlier beta, but we
have not tested that procedure.

   Existing long filenames             New short names
   =======================             ===============
      In the mailer directory:
   jstreethelp.ini                     JSTRHELP.INI
   Account.Index                       ACCOUNT.IDX
      (If you have an account name which is too long or has invalid filename
      characters for a FAT partition, rename the directory and edit the
      ACCOUNT.IDX entry to match, using any plain ASCII text editor.)
   templates (subdirectory)            TEMPLATE
   In the mailer\templates subdirectory:
   *.Template                          *.TPL
   In the mailer\drafts\* subdirectories:
   *.Draft                             *.DRA
   In the mailer directory and also in each account's subdirectory:
   *.AddressBook.html                  *.ABH
   Custom.Keystrokes                   CUSTOM.KYS
   In each account's subdirectory, just below mailer\maildata:
   Print Queue (subdirectory)          PRINTQ
   Transaction.Log                     TRANS.LOG
   Last15.List                         LAST15.LST
   Account.Settings                    ACCOUNT.SET
   toolbar.profile                     TOOLBAR.PRO
   compbar.profile                     COMPBAR.PRO
   compbarp.profile                    COMPBARP.PRO
   virtbar.profile                     VIRTBAR.PRO
   Remote.Folder.Index                 REMOTEF.IDX
      (If you have a folder name which is too long or has invalid filename
      characters for a FAT partition, rename the directory and, if it's a remote
      folder, then also edit its REMOTEF.IDX entry to match, using any plain
      ASCII text editor.)

If you have renamed an account or folder because of the above instructions, then
you will need to update any "Sent folder" settings and filters which refer to
any renamed accounts or folders, after you start running the program from the
new installation on the FAT partition!

If you have customized any of the *.gif files in your mailer\image subdirectory,
you will need to copy your old customized files from your HPFS partition's
mailer\image directory to the new filename in the FAT partition's mailer\image
directory, after you have run the program on the FAT parititon one time, so that
it has created the image directory and its new contents. Here are the image
files' names, old and new:

   Attachments.gif                     ATTACH.GIF
   calgif.gif                          CALGIF.GIF
   closedenvelope.gif                  CLOSENV.GIF
   composetoolbar.gif                  COMPOSTB.GIF
   files_closed_sel.gif                FILESCSE.GIF
   files_open.gif                      FILESOPE.GIF
   files_open_sel.gif                  FILESOSE.GIF
   file_closed.gif                     FILECLOS.GIF
   file_closed_sel.gif                 FILECSEL.GIF
   files_closed.gif                    FILESCLO.GIF
   flagblack.gif                       FLAGBLAC.GIF
   flagblue.gif                        FLAGBLUE.GIF
   flaggreen.gif                       FLAGGREE.GIF
   flagreg.gif                         FLAGRED.GIF
   flagyellow.gif                      FLAGYELL.GIF
   helptoolbar.gif                     HELPBAR.GIF
   logo.gif                            LOGO.GIF
   note_ind_attach.gif                 NOTEATT.GIF
   note_ind_both.gif                   NOTEBOTH.GIF
   note_ind_sticky.gif                 NOTESTIC.GIF
   openedenvelope.gif                  OPENENV.GIF
   previewmark.gif                     PREMARK.GIF
   stickyoff.gif                       STICKOFF.GIF
   stickyon.gif                        STICKON.GIF
   toolbar1.gif                        TOOLBAR1.GIF

Three files in the old image directory, jstreet.gif, file_open.gif, and
file_open_sel.gif, are not used by recent versions of the program, and can be
discarded.

Before you copy the HPFS installation to the FAT drive, you will want to remove
your mailer\attachments and mailer\collection subdirectories from your mailer
directory, and remove the image subdirectory from your jstreet (or whatever
yours is named) directory (after copying any customized image files you have, to
a safe location). And delete TableOfContents.html and HelpIndex.html from the
doc subdirectory of your jstreet directory. After following all of these
instructions so far, you should no longer have any files or directories under
your jstreet directory that have invalid FAT filename characters or names that
are too long for a FAT partition (other than temp files such as
$$temp$$.$$temp$$(1) or auto.save.file which you can delete), so you can copy
the whole jstreet directory tree to a new jstreet directory tree on the FAT
partition.


Known problems
==============

BUBBLE HELP STEALS FOCUS: When the toolbar's bubble help comes up, it often
steals focus away from whatever is supposed to have focus; whether that be
another window in the program, even modal dialogs (which the operating system is
never supposed to allow anything else in front of!), or even another program
entirely. When the bubble help comes to the foreground, it brings along the
toolbar to which it belongs, which also brings along the window in which it
resides. This all has the effect of making the window you're trying to work in
go to the background, behind the J Street Mailer window. However, you can now
turn off the bubble help if you don't want it, which is a way of getting around
this problem.

CORRUPTION OF BROWSER WINDOW (HTML STYLE): You may occasionally encounter a
message which shows up with (for example) all bold text instead of just the
header tags being bold; or some of the lines of text starting at the right
margin and wrapping around instead of starting at the left margin. If you view a
different message and come back to this one, it will be fine then.

AUTOSAVE FILE IN OUTBOX MESSAGES: If you edit a message in the OUTBOX folder, to
modify it before sending, and your computer happens to crash after a minute has
elapsed so that an autosave file had been created, then the next time you open
the compose window, the program will let you restore the autosave file and
finish your work on that message. The problem is that when you leave the compose
window and your new message is saved to the OUTBOX folder, the original message
is still there as well. If you don't remember to delete it before sending your
outbound messages, then you'll be sending the one you meant to send and also the
one you meant to replace with the previous one.

Problems in all Java VMs we've tested
=====================================
NO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: The Date: header of outgoing messages has the correct
time, but the time zone says EST instead of EDT, etc., even though the operating
system does report that daylight savings time is in effect.

SAVING OVER EXISTING FILES: When saving files such as templates and drafts, the
program does not prompt for confirmation before overwriting existing files if
you choose a filename you already have. Because Windows 95's file dialog
automatically does so, all by itself, which means that if the program did too,
all Windows 95 users would be asked the same question twice.

MODAL PRINT DIALOG GETS LOST: Print dialog is modal, but it can go to the
background. This is a contradiction in terms; no operating system should allow
any application window to come in front of the application's own modal dialog.
The problem is that when a modal dialog goes to the background where the user
may not be able to find it, it looks as if the application is hung, since the
application cannot respond to anything until the modal dialog has been taken
care of and the user can't take care of it if he can't find it, especially if he
doesn't even realize that the application is trying to display a modal dialog
and waiting for his response to it. Workaround: Most of the time, if you bring
another application to the foreground and then bring J Street back to the
foreground, the modal dialog will be back in front again. Also, under Windows 95
at least, Alt-Tab will let you bring such a dialog to the foreground if you
first switch to a different application so that J Street is not in the
foreground anymore. There's a change in this symptom under both Sun's Win32 Java
1.1.6 VM and OS/2's Java 1.1.6 VM: Not only does the dialog go to the background
if you click on the J Street window behind it, but the J Street window doesn't
repaint itself at all while the dialog is up. So whatever application windows
you move in front of the J Street window, will leave their imprints there in the
midst of the J Street window, until you close the print dialog so that the J
Street window gets repainted. In fact, the print dialog itself is one of the
things that leaves its imprint, so if you're not careful, you can think that
you're still seeing the print dialog in front (and sit there clicking on it to
no avail), even though it's in the background now.

DOUBLECLICKING BLEEDS THROUGH: Doubleclicking on any window's system menu icon
to close it, seems to bleed through to activate whatever happens to be under
that spot on whatever window is behind the one you're closing. For example, if
your compose window's system menu icon is overlaying the Compose button on the
main window's toolbar, closing the compose window via the system menu icon will
also activate the Compose toolbar button, and the program will open the Compose
window right back up again, and you'll think that the program has lost its mind.

UNKNOWN HOST EXCEPTION: After receiving UnknownHostException error, the program
will never be able to reach that same server, until you exit and restart the
program. If the FIRST attempt at reaching a particular server, after restarting
the program, is while you're connected to the internet, so that the attempt is
successful, THEN another attempt while not connected will bring you a
NoRouteToHostException error instead. After this error, the next attempt while
connected to the internet will succeed. It is only when the FIRST attempt after
restarting the program, to reach a particular server, is while you're not
connected to the internet, that an UnknownHostException error is generated. Once
that happens, each further attempt will generate another UnknownHostException
error instead of a connection attempt, regardless of whether there's a perfectly
good internet connection at the time. As far as we can tell, there is nothing
that our programmers can be doing to cause this problem. It appears that Java
simply does not make any attempt (an OS/2 IPTRACE dump shows no TCP/IP traffic
whatsoever; NT's connect dialog doesn't come up at all, etc.) to reach a certain
server after it has already generated an UnknownHostException error for that
server. It is as if Java is deliberately keeping track of servers it couldn't
find on the first attempt, and neglects to attempt them again, as if it would be
a waste of your time for it to make that attempt.

==========
Please see http://www.innoval.com/javaproblems.txt for the details of known
problems in specific Java VM versions that affect the J Street Mailer.
==========

Problems with third-party components
====================================
Multicolumn List used for the list of messages in the top right panel of the
main J Street Mailer window and other message lists:

   Selecting an item with the right mouse button does not provide the program
   with any information about which item has been clicked on. The program has to
   try to calculate that itself, based on the pixel location of the mouse
   pointer. This method doesn't work terribly well: If you click near the top or
   bottom of an entry rather than near its center, the program might select the
   entry above or below the one you wanted. This effect is somewhat more
   pronounced under OS/2 than under Windows.

   Column data cannot contain commas, so the program has to show semicolons
   instead, wherever a comma appears in a subject line, To: field, etc. The data
   cannot display square brackets either, so the program also translates those
   to parentheses.

   The mouse pointer often does not turn into a double arrow on the borders
   between column headings, where you can change the width of the columns.

Tree used for the list of folders in the top left panel of the main J Street
Mailer window and other folder trees:

   There is no way to tell the tree to insert new entries into a certain part of
   the list, so new folders which you create will show at the bottom of the tree
   until such time as you close and reopen the account, instead of being
   inserted into the correct spot in the alphabetical list to begin with.

Browser used for displaying messages and online help pages:

   Sometimes this window simply fails to display the sticky note icon which
   belongs at the upper right corner. You can tell that the window does know
   that this icon is really there, because scrolling the window or putting it
   into the background and bringing it back to the foreground does make it show
   up.

   When used as a web browser after following a link from an HTML mail message,
   scrolling down the page is fine, but scrolling back up just wrecks the window
   entirely.

   This browser component does not provide a text cursor so there is no way to
   select text or copy it to the clipboard or anything like that. You must
   change to the text window style (top of the Message menu, or Ctrl-X while the
   browser window has focus) in order to select text. (And Ctrl-X again, while
   the text window has focus, to switch back to the browser.)

   Printing the online help: Bold words take up much less space than the browser
   anticipates, so they're surrounded by blank space. Blue highlighted links and
   italic words take up much more space than the browser anticipates, so they
   overlap the surrounding text. And lines are not wrapped, so text is lost off
   the right edge of the page.