Introduction:

This is the second alpha distribution of VncMonitor.

VncMonitor is a 100% pure Java implementation of a
client for ORL's Virtual Network Computer see:
http://www.orl.co.uk/vnc/index.html

To make use of this software you will need to have
one or more machines running the VNC server, you can
download free servers for many platforms from the ORL
web site.
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Changes from the first alpha version

1/ VncMonitor does not poll servers for updates if
the window is minimised and only polls the server
currently being viewed. If an interactive window is
minimised then polling is suspended. This results
in a substantial decrease in network traffic.

2/ A screen refresh menu item has been added.

3/ Various tweaks have been applied to the code
to improve the consistency of the GUI. Scroll bar
handling should be noticeably better in this version.

4/ VNcMonitor now uses and implementation of the
standard Java Cryptography Extension rather than
the Acme DES module.
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Setting Up:

If you are reading this then you will have unzipped
the archive to a directory. You should have the
following files:

ReadMe.txt - this file
Licence.txt - the licence for the software
VncMonnitor.zip - the .class files for the program
vncmonitor.xml - a sample configuration file

To get started you will need to edit vncmonitor.xml.

The file is in XML and looks like this:

<?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes'?>
<Manifest>
<Connection Host='10.10.100.12' Password='password1' Port='5900"/>
<Connection Host='10.10.100.15' Password='password2' Port='5900"/>
<Connection Host='10.10.100.11' Password='password3' Port='5900"/>
</Manifest>

Each Connection element represents a server. The element
must have a Host and Password attribute. when the program
starts it will connect to each of these servers and
authenticate itself using the password.

You must, therefor edit this file to put in the host
addresses and passwords for your own system (you can use
DNS names instead of IP addresses).

NB: ALL THE TAGS IN THE FILE ARE CASE SENSITIVE

XML requires the following characters to be escaped:

&    ->    &amp;
<    ->    &lt;
>    ->    &gt;
'    ->    &apos;
"    ->    &quot;

NB the semicolon on the end of the escape is required.

You can have as many or as few host entries as you wish.

You should set the Port attribute up to specify the port
used to connect to the server.

E.g. if you normally type 10.10.100.10:3 to connect using
the standard viewer. Then you would put the following
line in the config file:

<Connection Host='10.10.100.10' Password='password3' Port='5903'/>
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Running:

java -cp ./VncMonitor.zip VncMonitor

will run the program if you have the Sun JVM 1.2 installed

If you have the Microsoft JVM installed you need to type

jview /cp ./VncMonitor.zip VncMonitor

For other versions of the JVM you need to edit your
CLASSPATH system variable to include the path of the
VncMonitor.zip file and then just type:

java VncMonitor

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Known Problems:

1/ Running under JDK 1.2 under Windows NT will cause
exceptions to be thrown. However the program will
continue to operate quite happily.

2/ Running under JDK 1.1.6 under Windows NT you will find
that pressing the return key will not make the window 
interactive you will need to use the menu entry.

3/ Running under JDK 1.1.7a under Intel Linux you will
find that backtab does not change the displayed screen.

4/ Error handling is execrable. Spend some extra
time getting the config. file right!
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What to do if:

Using Jview on 32 bit windows you find that the displayed window is very small

You need to upgrade to the latest Microsoft JVM from http://www.microsoft.com

---

The system fails to start with the following error:
java.lang.NullPointerException
        at uk/co/wilson/vnc/sun/ConnectionParametersFactory.hasMoreElements (Con
nectionParametersFactory.java)
        at uk/co/wilson/vnc/sun/VncMonitorImpl.main (VncMonitorImpl.java)
        at VncMonitor.main (VncMonitor.java)

ERROR: java.lang.NullPointerException

Your vncmonitor.xml file is not correctly formatted.
Check that the < and /> match, check that you have the right
number of quotes, check that you have escaped the special
characters properly. If all else fails email me the file and I'll take a look.
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Thanks to:

The members of the ORL mailing list for finding and
reporting problems so rapidly;)

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Bug Reports/Comments

send to vnc@wilson.co.uk