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 NetLookout - Version 2.24
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Table of Contents:

1. What is NetLookout?

2. How do I install it?

3. How do I use it?

4. How does it work?

5. Where do I send bug reports & suggestions?

6. Known bugs & what's planned?

7. Version History

8. How do I register?


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1. What is NetLookout?

NetLookout is an internet notifier.  It will watch Web, FTP and
Gopher sites, and tell you if they have changed.  A "Lookout" is
also known as a "bot", an "agent" or an "informant".  In this
document, we refer to them as "Lookout"s.

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2. How do I install it?


Please note:  The OS/2 and Windows versions of NetLookout can
peacefully co-exist in the same directory.  They will share data
and cache files.  Just specify the same installation directory
for both platforms.


For OS/2:

The file nlookxxx.zip should unzip into several files.

Just unzip nlookxxx.zip into a directory, then type "install".


For Windows:

If the distribution is in a .zip file, unzip that file into
a temporary directory.  If it came in an .exe file, move that
file to a temporary directory and run it.
After that, change to the temporary directory and type "setup".


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3. How do I use it?


Start by running netlook.exe.  Program settings are saved in lk.ini,
and information about the various sites is stored in lookout.dat.

To run NetLookout in "batch" or "unattended" mode, add the "/batch"
parameter after "netlook".  This causes NetLookout to run minimized,
check all of the sites in it's list, then exit.  To have NetLookout
write the results to a text file, add the "/text <text file name>"
parameter to the command line, and replace "<text file name>" with the
full path to the text file you want created.  To have NetLookout write
the results to an HTML file, add the "/html <html file name>" parameter
to the command line, and replace "<html file name>" with the full path
to the HTML file you want created.  To have NetLookout notify you that
it's finished by playing a WAV file, instead of displaying a message box,
add the "/wav <wav file name>" parameter to the command line, and replace
"<wav file name>" with the full path of the WAV file you want played.

Here is a sample command line using all of the above switches:

netlook.exe /batch /text c:\output.txt /html d:\netscape\home.htm /wav i:\sounds\groovy.wav


The main window of NetLookout contains a "details" view, where information
about each Lookout is displayed and updated.  You can right-click
on a Lookout's line to display a popup menu, with choices of actions
to perform on that Lookout.  Here's a list of what you can do:

	Create - create a new Web, FTP or Gopher Lookout
	Edit - change the settings and parameters for a Lookout
	Delete - self-explanatory
	Check - have the Lookout check right now if the site has been changed
	Reset - change the Lookout's status to "Idle"
	Start watching - if the selected Lookout is suspended, start watching it
	Stop watching - stop checking the selected Lookout

If the selected Lookout watches an FTP site, you also get the choice:

	Details - if an FTP site has changed, this will display a
	dialog that lists what files have been added, removed or changed.

To create a new Lookout, select "Lookout|New|Web", or "FTP" or "Gopher".
Most of the fields on the Create & Edit dialogs are obvious.  Here are
the not-so-obvious ones:

	Gopher:
		Selection string - the selection string of the Gopher item
		you want to watch.  If left blank, will default to a new-line,
		which is the Gopher default.

	Web:
		URL - the "Universal Resource Locator(?)".  Basically,
		this is what you see in the URL field on a browser.
		More... - displays another dialog, where you can enter words
		and strings that the program will ignore when comparing two HTML
		files to see if a site has changed.

	FTP:
		Directory - defaults to "/".
		More... - displays another dialog, where you can enter file names
		and parts of file names that the program will ignore when checking
		if an FTP site has changed.  "index" is a good one to add here.


Select "Settings|Program settings..." to bring up the settings notebook.  Web, FTP
and Gopher each have a notebook page where you can select and enter the client program
used to "view" a Lookout.  Also, there is a field to format the command line of the
client program.

For FTP Lookouts, place the following in the "FTP Client Parameters"
field in the order your FTP client needs them:  %host %user %password %port %dir %desc

Web Lookouts only recognize two parameters:  %URL %desc

Gopher Lookouts recognize %host, %port, %selector and %desc

For example, if you want to use the IBM WebExplorer as your Web client, and you normally
start it from the command line with the "-q -t 6" options, in the "Web Client Parameters"
field, you would enter "%URI -q -t 6".

For another example, if you use VXFTP for your FTP client, you could enter the following
command line in "FTP Client Parameters":  "%host %user %password %dir".

If a client program that you select is not in your PATH, you must enter the full path to
the program in the "Client" entry field.

The %desc parameter outputs the description of this Lookout to the specified program.

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4.  How does it work?


Each Lookout has a thread that does the checking.  Every 60 seconds, the main thread goes
through the list of Lookouts, and sees if it's time for any of them to be checked.  If it
is, that Lookout's thread is signalled, and it does the checking.

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5.  Where do I send bug reports & suggestions?


Obviously, I need bug reports.  But, I am very interested in any ideas you have for improving
the performance and usability of this program.  If you have any problems, suggestions or
enhancements, please send them to:

	ckennedy@frugalsoft.com

Also, use NetLookout to watch the NetLookout for OS/2 home page, at

	http://www.frugalsoft.com/lookout


***NOTE***
This distribution DOES NOT contain a lookout.dat file with the information for this site.
Users didn't like the fact that their previous lookout.dat file was getting overwritten.



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6.  Known bugs & what's planned?


Known bugs?
- Occasionally, an FTP Lookout will get stuck waiting on a directory listing.  The site will say "Checking...",
and the program will become sluggish.  Close the program and restart.  I'm working on this one very hard!
*** This should be fixed.  If you see this, please let me know. ***

What's not implemented yet?

*POSTPONED - Applying temporary overrides permanently, on the "Global Overrides" page of the settings notebook.


What's planned?

- Folders, folders, folders!  I plan to implement an "Explorer" style main window, with
  folders on the left side, and groups of Lookouts on the right.
- Interface to BackTalk speech synthesizer *POSTPONED - can now launch ".cmd" files, like "spchstr.cmd"
- Import from Internet Adventurer and NetExtra
- Support dragging from the main window


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7. Version History


Version 2.24 - May 2, 1999

- All - fixed bug in importing from Netscape
- All - made settings dialog more pretty
- All - fixed problems with determining if a connection timed out


Version 2.23d - April 17, 1999

- All - fixed problems with watching Wit Capital's IPO page
- All - fixed some programming errors that may or may not have shown up as program crashes & lock-ups
- All - if an FTP site has an "Unknown error", it's status is now set to "Error"
- All - better detection when a connection times out & NetLookout doesn't get all of the page
- All - fixed problem with checking certain sites through a proxy, they would return "Doc not found"
- All - registration info is now saved when the OK button on the registration dialog is pressed


Version 2.23b - March 24, 1999

- All - fixed bug that caused false notifications for ETrade IPOCenter
- All - increased maximum length of text entry fields to 2048 characters
- All - allow monitoring of sites that have "|" in the URL
- All - decreased timer interval to 1 minute


Version 2.23 - March 4, 1999

- All - fixed a bug in the email notification.  Mail was not being sent to certain mail hosts.


Version 2.22 - March 3, 1999

- This is a full release that includes both 2.21a patches.


Version 2.21a - February 28, 1999

- All - remember email address when new site created
- All - default new Web sites to "Ignore all tags"
- All - add "quiet" mode to batch: /quiet


Version 2.21 - February 20, 1999

- All - added notification by email.
- All - added option to automatically check sites even when they changed the last time
- All - added option to save contents of the FTP Details window.


Version 2.20 - Februrary 15, 1999

- All - fixed some bugs with importing from Netscape
- All - added batch mode execution.  In batch or unattended mode,
        NetLookout will check all sites, then produce a text file
        or an HTML file listing what changed, what didn't, and which
        sites had problems.
        

Version 2.10 - December 14, 1998

- All - now supports password-protected URL's.  The browser will still
        ask you for user name and password if you double-click or "launch"
        the URL from NetLookout.  This is because not all browsers handle
        getting the user name and password passed to them.
- All - now handles '#' in a URL.  Will send browser to that anchor.


Version 2.09b - November 10, 1998

- All - fixed bug that would cause NetLookout to hang while checking
- All - fixed bug where setting a site to "Stop Watching", or "Inactive",
        would reduce the number of simultaneous connections each time that
        site was checked ( or attempted, anyhow ).


Version 2.09 - October 1, 1998

- All - fixed a huge bug.  If the settings allowed more than one
        connection, and connections started timing out, the program
        would crash.  This bug would show up if you had a less than
        fast connection to the internet.
- All - moved more processing off into separate threads.  This bug
        showed up as the main window "freezing" while checking sites.
- All - fixed a couple of bugs that occurred at startup.
- All - fixed importing from Opera 3.x
- All - added "View in new window" option to popup list, so you can
        open a new browser window if you want to.


Version 2.08 - July 28, 1998

- All - force browser to reload page from internet
- OS/2 - fixed problem with remembering fonts
- All - added multiple selection to main list
- All - removed 256 char restriction on URL's
- All - cleaned up pull-down menus and help file
- Win32 - fixed problem with upper/lower case in viewer command line


Version 2.06 - July 7, 1998

- Win32 version now gets default Web, FTP and Gopher viewers
  from the registry ( uses the default HTTP shell open command )
- fix problem with cache file names


Version 2.05 - July 6, 1998

- Welcome, Windows!  The Win32 version of NetLookout is now available.
- fixed some problems with the FTP code
- added jump to NetLookout home page from the help menu
- added help descriptions of status icons
- OS/2 - make it compatible with the Windows version
  ( values in the lookout.dat file )
- Windows - get IE bookmark location from registry


Version 2.04 - May 6, 1998

- changed distribution to be a small .exe and several .dll files
- fixed problems with importing from FTP Browser
- import from Microsoft Internet Explorer
- improved code for launching other programs, now VIO programs work.
  Also, if you run NetLookout from a command window, then launch
  a viewer program, then close NetLookout, the command window will
  come back, without having to close the viewer program.
- updated help file to describe how to launch ".cmd" files
- fixed problems with "Look for file" feature on FTP Lookouts
- improved memory management
- on changes, message boxes now display after beeps and .wav files
- reworked the threading model, so threads are only created when
  needed.  Should cut down on NetLookout's use of system resources.


Version 2.03

- user can now select max number of connections
- intro dialog displayed when data file is empty
- fixed problem with "Ignore all tags" selection
- fixed problem with saving timeout value


Version 2.02

- proxy support fixed
- pull-down menus & hot keys to copy/paste URLs to/from clipboard
- install script ( thanks Don Hawkinson - DH-Grep-PM )


Version 2.01

- change to .zip file - now only one .zip file, not two
- More improvements to the FTP code
- Option to ignore all HTML tags for Web Lookouts
- Option to not display the Settings dialog when creating a site
  by dropping a URL on the main window.


Version 2.00

- much improved user interface
- HTTP proxy support
- drag'n'drop support for creating Lookouts
- importing Lookouts from other OS/2 and Windows internet apps
- improved communication code

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8.  How do I register?


Please see the file "register.txt" included with this distribution.


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Chris Kennedy
May 2, 1999

Frugal Software
ckennedy@frugalsoft.com
http://www.frugalsoft.com/lookout
