11. Tools

11.1 About Internet tools

Several tools are included with the ANT Internet Suite, which should help to make life on-line easier for you.

General utilities

These are:

• !Ping, a simple utility for testing your connection.
• !Upgrade, for installing upgrade files downloaded from the ANT web site.
• !Time, for checking the time on the local computer and resetting it from accurate clocks on the Internet.

Trouble-shooting utilities

Some additional utilities are included to help resolve particular problems. Most users will never need to use these utilities which provide a simple front-end to standard UNIX diagnostic tools. Although a simple description of these utilities is included here, you should consult UNIX documentation for fuller information about these commands:

• !Ping+, a connection-testing utility with additional features.
• !Resolver, for finding details of Internet hosts.
• !TrceRoute, for checking the route Internet traffic takes to get from your computer to other computers.

Search utilities

Four utilities help you search the Internet in a variety of ways:

• !Finger lets you look up information about users on a remote host computer. It is sometimes used (by the Demon Internet service provider and others) to provide information to users and visitors to a site.
• !WhoIs provides a similar service to !Finger for US military sites.
• !Host finds the IP numerical address of a named computer.
• !Archie searches a database of all major FTP sites for the specified software.

Other utilities

Other tools supplied with the ANT Internet Suite include !SerTest, which checks the serial port of your computer and communication between your computer and modem. Instructions for using these utilities are provided as online text files.

11.2 !Ping

Ping is a vital utility for testing connections on your network and beyond. You can use Ping to help test your Internet Suite connection when you first install the software.

You can use Ping at any time to check problems you are having with your Internet connection.

Loading !Ping

To load !Ping:

1. Double-click the folder icon Tools in the Internet Suite Panel.
2. Double-click on the Ping icon in the Internet Tools window.
3. The Ping network test window will open.

Using !Ping

To use !Ping:

1. 1 Type in the name of the host you want to test your connection to, for example:
   ns.demon.co.uk
   Note that you need to type in the full machine name, not just the domain name. You can also type in an IP number, in the form:
   158.152.1.193
2. A series of messages will appear in the Status box, showing that the name given has been resolved and the remote host has been located.
3. If the connection is OK, the time taken for the round trip is shown:

• Use !Ping+ for more control over details of Ping.

11.3 !Upgrade

Use !Upgrade to add upgrade files downloaded from the RISCOS web site to your copy of the Internet Suite. If you have registered your copy of the Internet Suite and provided your email address, you will automatically be notified by mail when upgrade files become available.

• You can also access the upgrades page directly from the !Upgrade dialogue box, if you are online or have demand-dialling enabled, by clicking List upgrades on Web.

Before using !Upgrade you should go to the appropriate RISCOS web page and download the upgrade file:

1. Click on the link to the file you want.
2. Drag the file icon to a suitable filer window where it can be saved.

Note that all accesses are recorded and only registered Suite users using Fresco may retrieve upgrade files.

Using !Upgrade

To use !Upgrade:

1. Open the Internet Tools folder from the Internet Suite applications panel and double-click on !Upgrade:
2. Type your serial number into the Serial No box.
3. Drag the upgrade file icon to the drop icon (the large downward-pointing arrow). The file name will be shown in the Upgrade file box.
4. Click Continue.
5. !Upgrade will install the upgrade in the Internet Suite stored at the location in the Path box.
6. When you see a message announcing that the upgrade has been installed successfully, you can either:
7. Install further upgrade files. Click Continue and drag in the next file.
8. Quit !Upgrade. Click the Quit button.
9. Quit all open Internet Suite programs including the Internet icon and then reset the computer. When you restart the Internet Suite the new programs will be used.

11.4 Network time

The network time utility resets your computer's time by using the correct time in Greenwich Mean Time as fetched from the chosen server.

You should choose the server closest to you, ie a machine at your service provider (dial-up connections) or on your local network (network connections). Consult your service provider or network manager. If, after choosing Set time, your computer's local time is not correct, check your local time setting in !Alarm.

To use Network Time:

1. Double-click on the Network Time icon in the Tools folder and go on-line.
2. A Network time window will open.
3. Type in the name of the server you want to access, for example a server at your service provider:
   news.demon.co.uk
4. Click either of:
   Get time. The utility will fetch and display the local time and GMT time according to the server requested
   Set time. This will set your computer's clock to the time at the Time server.
5. If your computer shows the wrong time, check your RISC OS time zone using !Alarm.

11.5 !Ping+

!Ping+ provides a more configurable network and connection testing utility than !Ping. In addition to letting you set a host to test your connection, you can specify the number of packets used and their size, the connection route and the amount of information reported.

Using !Ping+

To use Ping+:

1. Click Select on the Ping+ icon on the icon bar.
2. The Ping+ dialogue box will open:
3. Type the name of the host you want to ping in the Host box.
4. Tick the Count option if you want to specify the number of packets and their size.
5. Set the number and size of packets.
6. If you are on a network and are checking your connection to another computer on the same physical network, you can tick the Direct connection option.
7. If you are using a dial-up connection choosing this option will stop Ping+ from working.
8. Tick the option for Verbose output if required.
9. Click Run.

A text window will open listing Ping+ activity:

Saving Ping+ output

To save the contents of the Ping+ window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the Ping+ menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.6 Resolver

The Resolver gives you the numerical address of an Internet host name, along with other details of the host if requested. For the requested host or hosts you can find out:

• the host's numerical address.
• the name server and mail exchanger used by the host.
• the real host name (it may be known as one or more alternative names or aliases, for example where one server provides several Internet services).

Resolver is most useful for checking that your domain name service is working correctly and for troubleshooting problems with your Internet connection. A full description of this command is beyond the scope of this user guide.

• !Host provides a simpler version of the same information and you may prefer to use it.

For further information on Resolver, choose Help from the Resolver menu. This displays a text file describing the purpose and use of each option, as well as details on running the utility from the command line.

• Note that not all Internet hosts will return valid information to a retriever request. You may see an error message returned, particularly from small domains or private computers.

To run !Resolver:

1. Click Select on the Resolver icon on the icon bar. The Resolver window will open:
2. Choose whether to resolve a single host name or list all the names in a domain.
3. Enter the domain or hostname
4. Choose the options required:

• No server timeout means that the resolver will wait forever for a reply (useful for very slow servers).
• No recursive requests means that only the details held on the named server will be checked.
• Verbose mode outputs more information.
• Show transactions gives more information about the progress of the Resolver request.

   5. You can select which Resover information to display. Click the Query types button to display an additional section of the dialogue box:

• Click Show all fields to retrieve all information.
• Click Name server to retrieve the Name server details.
• Click Mail exchanger to retrieve the mail exchanger details.
• Click Real host name to retrieve the real host name.
• Click Start of authority to retrieve details of a domain server's authority records.
• Click Domain name pointer to retrieve the real machine this name points to.

   6. Once you have chosen the required options click Run. A Resolver window will open and the requested information will be returned:

Saving Resolver output

To save the contents of the Resolver window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the Resolver menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.7 TraceRoute

!TrceRoute implements the UNIX traceroute command. traceroute is used to find out the route Internet traffic travels between two computers. If you find that your connection to a particular site is very slow, it may be worth using !TrceRoute to see the route data between that computer and yours takes.

A full description of this command is beyond the scope of this user guide.

Using TraceRoute

To use !TrceRoute:

1. Double-click on the !TrceRoute icon in the Internet Tools folder, then click Select on the TraceRoute icon on the icon bar.
2. Type the name or numerical address of the computer you want to reach into the Host box.
3. Tick Count to set the number of packets and their size, if required. The default if you leave Count unticked is one packet.
4. Tick Verbose output for more detailed output.
5. Click Run.

A window will open showing each computer through which your test data travels, and the time taken for each `hop' between computers:

Saving TraceRoute output

To save the contents of the TraceRoute window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the TraceRoute menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.8 !Finger

Use Finger to find out details of users currently logged into a server. You can get a list of all the current users of a server or find out whether a particular user is currently logged in.

• Some servers use Finger to provider additional information and text messages: a list of some of these is included in the help file for !Finger.
• Demon Internet users will be familiar with using finger to check the status of the Demon service, and also to check whether they have any new mail waiting to be downloaded.

Hotlist finger entries

If you need to finger a particular site often, you can set up a Hotlist entry for the site in the format:

finger://status@gate.demon.co.uk

Using !Finger

To use !Finger:

1. Double-click on !Finger in the Internet Tools folder.
2. Click Select on the Finger icon on the icon bar. The Finger dialogue box will open:
3. Choose the finger option you require:
4. Click Lookup `username@hostname' to find out whether a user is logged in. Enter their login name in the box.
5. Click List users on `hostname' to list all logged-in users. Enter the hostname in the box.
6. Click Verbose results for more information. This option can stop Finger from working with some servers.
7. Click Run. A text window will open and display the results of your request:

Saving Finger output

To save the contents of the Finger window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the Finger menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.9 !WhoIs

WhoIs provides a directory of users registered with the NIC: these are typically users of older US Internet installations and those within the .mil domain.

• It is unlikely that you will find this a useful way of finding any Internet users. Try the various Web-based services such as http://www.four11.com. A list of such services is provided in the SearchWeb file accessed from the Internet Tools folder.

To use !WhoIs:

1. Double-click on !WhoIs in the Internet Tools folder.
2. Click Select on the WhoIs icon on the icon bar. The WhoIs dialogue box will open:
3. Type the search term in the first box.
4. Type the whois server you wish to search in the second box.
5. Click Run. A short while later the WhoIs window will display the result of your search:

Saving WhoIs output

To save the contents of the WhoIs window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the WhoIs menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.10 !Archie

Archie provides a means of searching for files on FTP servers. A network of about a dozen Archie servers around the world maintain up-to-date records of the contents of the most accessed FTP servers.

You can use !Archie to find the most local or most recent version of a file you want.

1. Double-click on !Archie in the Internet Tools folder.
2. Click Select on the Archie icon on the icon bar. The Archie dialogue box will open:
3. Enter your search term in the Search box.
4. Enter the name of the Archie server you want to use in the Server box. UK based users should use archie.doc.ic.ac.uk: other users should use the server closest to them.
5. Enter the search options you require:

• Output as URLs produces an HTML file which can be used with Fresco or Hotlist.
• Sort files by date lists the most recent files found first.
• Max matches sets a limit of the specified number on the matches returned.
• Case sensitive string lets you specify a case sensitive search term.
• Case insensitive lets you specify a case insensitive search term.
• Regular expression lets you use a wildcard. See the Help file (accessed from the Archie icon bar menu) for details.
• Exact match returns only exact matches.

   6. Click Run. Archie will open a text window and the results of your search will eventually be displayed in it. This can take several minutes or longer.

Setting Archie priority

You can set the priority level which the Archie server gives to your task. In general this will not make much difference to the speed at which results are returned to you.

1. Click Menu inside the Archie dialogue box.
2. Choose Priority.
3. Enter a number between 1 (highest priority) and 30000 (lowest priority).
4. Your Archie search will be given the requested priority by the server.

11.11 !Host

!Host is a simple utility for displaying the IP address of a named host. It provides a much simpler version of the facilities provided by !Resolver.

!Host is useful for:

• testing that your Domain Name Service is working (that you can access a computer which knows the addresses of other computers on the Internet).
• other diagnostic purposes.

To use !Host:

1. Double-click on !Host in the Internet Tools folder.
2. Click Select on the Host icon on the icon bar.
3. Type in the name of a machine to find its address, for example:
   news.demon.co.uk
4. Click Run.

A window will open listing details of the Host including its numerical IP address. When all details have been received the title bar will change to include the word (Completed):

Saving Host output

To save the contents of the Host window:

1. Click Menu inside the window.
2. Choose Save from the Host menu.
3. Drag the Textfile icon into a filer window.

11.12 SearchWeb

This option links you to a page containing a list of Internet search facilities. 

Once you have accessed the page, click on any link to access the facility listed.