SeeConnect Help

Overview
Overview
Download
Installation
License Terms
About the author
Program Operation
Status Dialog
Mode Property Page
Colors Property Page
Appearance Property Page
Menu in System Tray
About Dialog
Other Information
Proxy Servers
Troubleshooting
Release History

Overview

SeeConnect provides a visual indication to occur on the desktop whenever an active RAS (Remote Access Service) connection exists. Many programs, such as Microsoft’s Dial-Up Networking, use RAS when dialing out to make a WAN connection to another computer, such as an internet connection.

SeeConnect can be configured so that the visual indication provided is either:

(a) changing the background desktop color (for example, from green to yellow)

from: [green screen]       to:[yellow screen]

and/or

(b) blinking a button in the taskbar  [taskbar button]or an icon in the system tray [toolbar].

If your desktop has wallpaper or some pattern, the background color of the desktop will not appear to change, but the captions for icons on the desktop will have a different background color.

SeeConnect can be run either on a standalone workstation or in client/server mode. When run in client/server mode, the SeeConnect server is normally run on a Windows system that is also running a proxy server. SeeConnect clients are then run on other Windows systems that gain WAN access through the proxy server.

Installation

SeeConnect is distributed in one self-installing executable. Just start the distributed executable running and answer the few questions asked. You will be asked for a directory in which to install the program and a folder name for a shortcut to start the program.  See Download for the installation program.

SeeConnect consists of only three files: the SeeConnect executable and two help files. It maintains your configuration information in the system registry under the local machine, software, skyland key.

License Terms

SeeConnect is Freeware, according to our definition of the term, since we can’t find any "formal" definition of the term.

Anyone can use SeeConnect for their personal use both at home and at work free of any charge. We’re happy that you find it useful. If you like the program, please send us an email. We’d like to know how many people use it and how widespread its usage becomes. If you don’t like the program, we’d also like to hear from you and find out why. Email to .

What we don’t include in our definition of Freeware, is the right for anyone to make money from our program. Thus if you sell or license a product or service, you can’t include SeeConnect as part of your product or service without our written (e.g. email) permission. We don’t mind it if your tell your customers about SeeConnect and they get a free copy on their own.

Status dialog

The status dialog is the main window that shows the state of any Remote Access Services (RAS) connection. Most Windows programs use RAS to connect to a Wide-Area Network, such as the internet. For example, Dial-up Networking uses RAS.

[status dialog]

The Title bar identifies whether SeeConnect is running standalone or a on a proxy server or client on a LAN.

The status dialog contains a list box that displays a list of active RAS connections. Under Windows 95, only one RAS connection is possible at a time.

If SeeConnect is running on a proxy server, text in upper right corner of the list box indicates how many clients are connected to the SeeConnect server.

If SeeConnect is running as a client, the list box may contain a message indicating that no active SeeConnect server has been found.

A properties button displays a property sheet for configuration. The three property pages contained on the property sheet are Mode, Colors, and Appearance.

A close button closes the status dialog. If on the Appearance property sheet SeeConnect is configured to display in the system tray, closing the status dialog does not exit SeeConnect. In this case exit SeeConnect by right mouse button clicking on SeeConnect icon in system tray and choosing the Exit option.

Mode property page

The mode property page is where you set how SeeConnect operates: standalone, on a proxy server, or on a client of a proxy server.

[mode property page]

Standalone operation is the simplest mode. This is the mode which you should use if you computer is not connected to a LAN and makes its own WAN connection, such as with a modem.

Server operation is to be used on computers which as a proxy WAN servers for other computers on a LAN. There are several proxy server programs available, such as WinGate.

Client operation is to be used on computers which make their WAN connections through a proxy WAN server.

A SeeConnect server notifies all of its active clients of the status of any existing WAN connection on the server computer. This allows each client to see if there is an active WAN connection on the server.

A SeeConnect server and its clients need to agree on which TCP/IP socket to communicate information. Both the server and all clients that use it, must be configured to use the same socket number. In addition the clients must be configured to identify the server, either by its ethernet address (e.g. 192.168.0.2) or, if host names are defined, the server’s name (e.g. skyland) .

Colors property page

The colors property page is where you choose how SeeConnect gives you a visual indication that an active RAS connection exists.

[colors property page]

One option is to blink the SeeConnect icon in the taskbar when there is an active connection.

The second option is to change the desktop color. It lets you select a color to which the desktop color is changed when there is an active connection. This option works best if you have chosen a solid color for your desktop color. The property page shows you the color you have chosen for your desktop color and gives you a field in which you can select the color to make the desktop when there is an active connection. Select the Change Color button to select a color.

If your desktop has wallpaper or some pattern, the background color of the desktop will not appear to change, but the captions for icons on the desktop will have a different background color.

You can choose either or both of these options. It doesn’t make much sense to use SeeConnect when neither of these options are checked, except possible on a SeeConnect server.

Appearance property page

The appearance property page is where you set SeeConnect’s appearance of the screen, either as a normal window or as an item in the system tray.

[appearance property page]

If you display SeeConnect as a normal window, it will always have a button in the taskbar when it is executing. You exit SeeConnect in the normal manner, such as clicking on the Close button in the status dialog.

If you display SeeConnect in the system tray, the SeeConnect icon will be displayed in the system tray when it is executing. You will also see a SeeConnect button in the taskbar when the status dialog is being displayed. To exit the application, you need to right button mouse click on the SeeConnect icon in the system tray and then select the Exit menu item. Selecting the Close button in the status dialog just closes the status dialog window, it does not exit the application.

Menu in system tray

The menu in the system tray contains the following items:

[menu]

Status: displays the status dialog

Properties: displays the properties dialog

About: displays the about box dialog

Exit: causes SeeConnect to close and terminate execution.

About dialog

The about dialog contains the version of SeeConnect that you are running, copyright information, and contact information.

Proxy Servers

There are several proxy servers available for Windows. When using SeeConnect with a proxy server, it is suggested that you first get the proxy server working and then install and use SeeConnect. SeeConnect has no interaction with the proxy server. It only determines if RAS on the server has any active connections. Thus a SeeConnect client can indicate that there is an active connection but the client may not be able to access the WAN because the proxy server is incorrectly setup. Here is a list of proxy servers that at least one person has reported using in conjunction with SeeConnect. For any and all questions related to using a proxy server, please contact the supplier of your proxy server.

WinGate

Troubleshooting

Computers on which SeeConnect runs in standalone or server configuration must have RAS installed. If you have Dial-Up Networking installed, then RAS is installed.

Computers on which SeeConnect runs in server or client mode must have TCP/IP installed and have proper TCP/IP configuration. If you can ping the client from the server, and vice-versa, you have sufficient TCP/IP connectivity. The next item to check is that both the client and server are configured to use the same socket number and that you have no other applications running that use that socket number. We don’t know of any easy way to do this, so in our shop we choose socket number 1728 randomly and it works for us.

If you try to use a host name instead of an IP address to identify the server and it does not work, you may need to create a LMHOSTS file. See the Windows 95 Resource Kit, Appendix G for information on LMHOSTS file.

If you have a problem using SeeConnect and want to report it to us, email us at . Include enough details so that we can reproduce the problem in our lab or can understand the problem well enough to formulate a hypothesis as to what may have caused the problem. Without such information, all we can do is sympathize with your situation.

Release History

This section contains a summary of the major enhancements and problem fixes in each release of SeeConnect.

Version 1.00 - January 2, 1998

Fix to solve invalid page fault (137:004046b0) that infrequently occurred when exiting program.

Changed registry key from "Busam" to "Skyland".

Improved install process.

Version 1.0, Beta 1 - December 1, 1997

First release of SeeConnect.

Download

SeeCo100.exe (Full Install of SeeConnect, Version 1.00, 2-Jan-98, about 700kb)

SeeCo100.zip (Contains the three files needed to manually install SeeConnect, Version 1.00, about 200kb)  This zip file includes the same program files as the full install version.  To install, unzip this file to a directory; double click on SeeConnect.exe to run.  Create your own program folder and shortcuts manually, if desired.  If removing from your system, also delete the registry entries mentioned in the Installation section.

About the author

Vincent A. Busam, dba Skyland Systems. For information on GUI-related consulting services see our web page at  http://www.busam.com/skyland.

SeeConnect related email to:

SeeConnect download site: http://www.busam.com/skyland/seeconnect