Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d19/lanuti15.arc/LANUTILS.DOC

Text File | 1989-11-06 | 24KB | 578 lines

              SoftMagic LANutils Version 1.5 (11/89)

      A collection of useful utility programs for LANtastic


               All programs and documentation are
     Copyright 1989 by SoftMagic, Inc.  All rights reserved.


                         SoftMagic, Inc.
                    1155 S. Telshor, Suite 204
                      Las Cruces NM,  88001
                          [phone]


                       --- INTRODUCTION ---

I'll take LANtastic over the networks that come in expensive, big
red  boxes  any day. (Priced by the pound, perhaps? /jm)  It's
fast , flexible, easy to  install, and easy  on  system resources.
It can be a bit tricky to set up a turnkey LANtastic network for
novice users, though.  Not every user  on an  office network needs
or  even  wants to use  the tremendous amount  of control that
LANtastic  gives over every aspect  of operation. Managing the
details of  print and  mail queueing, server selection, printer
selection  etc. is a frightening, unfamiliar  job for someone who
just wants to run their WordStar or Lotus 123. What is needed,
then is a  way  to minimize  what users  need to know about the
operation  of  the network in order to get their own computer to
cooperate.

At SoftMagic, we develop network software that is then sold with
systems by our sister VAR, Business Networks of America. We've set
up quite a few LANtastic systems and we run LANtastic in our own
office.  The SoftMagic LANutils are tools that we've developed to
make our job and hopefully yours too, a little bit easier. The
programs in the LANutils package are:

        LOGIN     - allows you to log in to multiple servers
                    with a single command. Adds system and
                    user "login script" capability.

        LOGOUT    - log out of one or more servers with a single
                    command.

        WAITFOR   - pause until a given set of servers are online.

        FASTNET   - processes entire files of "NET" commands at
                    once, at .

        MESSAGE   - a TSR message handler. Causes "NET SEND"
                    messages to pop up at the bottom of your
                    screen.

        MSET     - allows you to set variables in DOS's "master"
                   environment from login script files and other
                   programs run from secondary command shells.

        REBOOT   - causes your computer to reboot as though
                   Ctrl-Alt-Del had been pressed.

        USERLIST  - gives you a neatly organized list of who's
                    logged in to what server.


            --- HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ---

To use the LANutils, you must have a PC, AT, PS/2 or compatible
computer running MS or PC-DOS 3.1 or greater and the LANtastic
Network Operating System (LANOS) version 2.53 or greater.

Special Note for 4DOS users:

If you need to change environment variables from your login
scripts, you must start 4DOS using the /M command line option to
specifiy environment size instead of the normal /E. For example,

SHELL=C:\4DOS.COM /S:B /M:512 /P

The /M option keeps 4DOS from swapping the master environment out
of memory every time it loads a program.


                --- LICENSING AND REGISTRATION ---

We're distributing this edition of the SoftMagic LANutils as
shareware. By now, you probably know that this means you get to
try out the software for up to 30 days  to see if you like it.

When you decide that you like the software, you can get a
registered copy of the latest version on disk, complete with a
more extensive, printed manual for only $25.  The registered
version, of course, runs more "quietly" -- without any shareware
messages or beeps.  We always try to put a few extra "goodies" in
the registered versions, too. See the file ORDER.DOC, included in
LANUTILS.ZIP, for an order form when you're ready to order your
copy.

You may use, copy and distribute this shareware edition of the
SoftMagic LANutils FOR NONCOMMERCIAL USE ONLY if:

        No fee is charged for use, copying or distribution

        The programs and documentation are not modified in any way

        You distribute only complete, archived (LANUTILS.ZIP) copies
        of the LANutils package.

We offer commercial distribution licenses for both the shareware
and the registered versions as well as a dealer/VAR program for
authorized LANtastic dealers. Contact us at [phone] (9am
to 5:30pm MST) for details.

Of  course if you have any comments or suggestions for  additions
or  improvements  please give me (Jon Marbry) a call at the above
number, or leave me a message on Artisoft's BBS or on BIX (jmarbry).

Due to the surprising number of calls we've been getting every day
on this package, we can only promise technical support to registered
users.

                  *** DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY ***

THESE PROGRAMS ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS BASIS. SOFTMAGIC, INC. AND
BUSINESS NETWORKS OF AMERICA MAKE NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
AS TO PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR  FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL SOFTMAGIC, INC. OR BUSINESS NETWORKS OF
AMERICA BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF USE, LOST REVENUE, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR
SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF SOFTMAGIC, INC. OR AN AGENT OF SOFTMAGIC,
INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO
EVENT SHALL SOFTMAGIC, INC.'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED
THE PRICE PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE
CLAIM.

                        --- SHAREWARE ---

Got a minute to listen to a lecture? Good! I'll try and keep it
brief.  IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THE FUTURE OF THE SOFTWARE
INDUSTRY THAT YOU SUPPORT SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTION. There are many
reasons, here are a few that come immediately to mind:

Reason 1: It costs too much to distribute products through the
          normal channels for products with a specialized
          audience to ever break in.

          A friend of mine who is an account rep for a major
          distributor told me last month that "you can't launch a
          new program for less than a quarter million anymore."
          That's just packaging and advertising! You've got
          to convince the public and your dealers that they
          can't live without your product so that you can sell
          those thousands of units a month needed to break even.

          Shareware does two wonderful things that make spending
          all that money unneccessary.  It provides a very
          inexpensive mechanism for international distribution --
          the public bulletin board -- so that millions of users
          have access to new software, and it allows the user
          to thoroughly test the software before buying it.

Reason 2: Computer resellers can't afford to stock new, unknown
          software products for specialized markets.

          I know, I've been there. When margins are as tight
          as they are now, you've got to keep that inventory
          moving. Even with a good stock balancing plan, it's
          hard to bring yourself to risk limited inventory funds
          and shelf space on a new product when you KNOW you
          can sell 10 more copies of WordPerfect.

          Shareware gives you, the user, the opportunity to
          evaluate (and possibly purchase) quality software that
          you might never see at a computer store.

Reason 3: Shareware distribution rewards small companies that
          are spending their time and money creating new and
          useful products. That's important! Some this
          industry's biggest, best equipped companies are
          now opting to use litigation instead of innovation
          to protect their products and markets.

          Back in ECON 351, I learned that this trend is typical
          of maturing industries in which economic profits are
          being squeezed out. Litigation forces companies without
          BIG capital reserves out of the industry and raises
          barriers to entry.

          The software industry is still young enough that your
          actions as a user and purchaser can make a difference in
          the attitude of the software industry. Purchasing
          quality shareware products is a great way to "vote with
          your pocketbook" against the legal squabbling that is
          threatening creative freedom and diversity in PC
          software.

Whew! Enough said.  Now I'll get down from my soapbox and give you
the details about each program in the LANutils package.


                         --- LOGIN ---

The LOGIN utility allows you to log onto multiple servers with  a
single command.  LOGIN is really handy for setting up boot disks
on floppy-only workstations, since you don't have the overhead of
loading NET over and over for each login.

In addition, LOGIN provides a "login script" both for servers and
for  individual  users.  LOGIN  will  automatically  redirect   a
specified  drive to the server's network directory and execute  a
batch file keyed to the user's name.
The syntax for LOGIN is:

LOGIN <server list> <user id list> <password list> [/OPTIONS]

The  server  list is a list of file servers to  be  logged  into,
separated by commas.  The list is processed sequentially, left to
right.  An  asterisk  (*)  in the server  list  field  means  all
currently available (but not logged in) servers.

The  user id list is a list of user ids, one to a server.   Again
the  list  is scanned from left to right.  If  more  servers  are
specified  that  ids, the id list will be reused  in  a  circular
fashion.   This  makes  it easy for you to  log  in  to  multiple
servers under the same user id.

The  password list works the same way as the user id list.  If  a
question mark (?) is entered as the password for a server,  LOGIN
will  prompt the user for the password at an  appropriate  point.
The  password  list  will also be recycled if  more  servers  and
userids  are  specified than passwords.  If you've got  the  same
user ID and password on all the servers on your net, you can  log
in everywhere with the command.

LOGIN * USERNAME ?

LOGIN  will ask you once for your password, then it will log  you
on to all the available servers on the net.

If  you  omit  any  of the  parameters,  LOGIN  will  prompt  you
accordingly. For example, the command

LOGIN

results  in the following exchange: (Text in all caps entered  by
user)

Server: SERVER1,SERVER2
Userid: MANAGER
Password: PASS  (Not really a good idea for a password, of course!)


                      COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

/NODUPLICATES

LOGIN's default behavior on encountering a duplicate login  error
is to log the user out of that server and retry the login without
saying anything to the user.

If  the /NODUPLICATES option is specified, attempts to log in  to
the same server more than once will be reported as errors.

/NOSCRIPT

The /NOSCRIPT option allows you to log in without invoking either
the system or user login script facilities.  This option is  only
necessary  when the specified servers HAVE login scripts and  you
want to bypass them.  LOGIN is smart enough not to try to execute
login scripts on servers that don't have them set up.

/SUPPRESS

The  /SUPPRESS option prevents LOGIN from displaying ANY  warning
or  error messages.  If an error does occur however,  LOGIN  will
still terminate with a non-zero return code, so your batch  files
can detect any problems.

/HELP

/HELP displays a brief instruction summary and a list of  command
line options. If the /HELP option is specified, all other command
line input is ignored and no action (i.e. logging in) is taken.


                    THE LOGIN SCRIPT FACILITY

A  login script is simply a batch file to be executed whenever  a
user logs in to a server.  LOGIN supports two types of scripts, a
system  login  script,  executed by everyone who  logs  into  the
server,  and  a user specific login script, with commands  to  be
executed only when a particular user logs in.

With  the login script capability, when a user logs in,  you  can
set   his  PROMPT,  COMSPEC  and  other  environment   variables,
automatically configure a set of network devices for him, print a
welcoming message, display news bulletins, or even log him  right
back out.

LOGIN  expects  all  its login script files to  be  kept  in  the
server's  network directory, LANTASTI.NET (the \. device  in  the
NET  menu).  To create a system login script for a  server,  just
put  the  commands  you  want executed in  a  batch  file  called
$SYSTEM.BAT  in  the  network directory.  Similarly,  user  login
scripts are just batch files with the same names as their  users.
For example user BOB 's login script would be called BOB.BAT.

Login scripts can contain any command that you'd normally use  in
a batch file. The node name of the user's machine (the name given
in the REDIR command) is given to both the system and user script
files as the first parameter, %1, so that you can check it and do
different things for different stations (like changing COMSPEC on
floppy based stations to use a faster network disk). A couple  of
warnings, however: If you use external (disk based) commands,  be
sure that the user's computer has a path to them. It's easiest to
do  all your redirections first, set up proper paths,  then  call
external  commands.

To set environment variables from login scripts you must use the
included MSET utility. MSET works the same way as the DOS SET
command, but it modifies the master copy of the environment, no
matter how many levels deep in shells and menus you may be. For
example, to set the path in a login script, use the command

MSET PATH=F:\;F:\UTILITY;F:\LANTASTI

A  Brief  Technical  Note:  The login script  facility  works  by
temporarily  redirecting  drive B: on the user's station  to  the
server's  network directory. The redirection is always  cancelled
after the login script is done. I chose B: because most  machines
don't  need to use the B: floppy (even if they really  have  one)
during  bootup.   If  you normally redirect the  B:  drive  to  a
network  drive however, you will have to wait until  after  LOGIN
has executed to redirect it.


                        --- LOGOUT ---

LOGOUT allows you to log out of one or more servers with a single
command. Its syntax is

        LOGOUT <server list> [/HELP]

The server list is a list of servers separated by commas,  spaces
or plus signs.  An asterisk '*' is used to specify all  currently
active servers, so the command

        LOGOUT *

will log you out of all the servers that you are currently logged
into, as will simply entering the LOGOUT command with no arguments.

The  only available command line option is the /HELP option.   As
with  LOGIN, /HELP causes a brief instruction summary and a  list
of  available  options to be displayed. If  /HELP  is  specified,
LOGOUT  will take no other action -- it will not log you  out  of
any servers.


                        --- WAITFOR ---

OK, this is the situation -- you've set up a small office, with 6
or  7 computers connected by LANtastic.  They're turned off  each
night  after work and turned on in the morning.  It's  a  totally
turnkey system, so the network is started and everyone is  logged
in automatically.  So far so good.

Now  here's the problem.  There's no way you can turn 6 or 7  (or
10 or 12) computers on at exactly the same time.  Unless you  put
a

        PAUSE "Press any key when all the machines are ready..."

statement in the AUTOEXEC file, the automatic logins stand a good
chance of failing because of missed timing.

The solution?

        WAITFOR <list of servers> [/OPTIONS]

WAITFOR will cause the computer to pause until all the servers in
the given list are on line, or until the escape key is pressed or
optionally until a specified time-out interval is exceeded.


                      COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

/TIME=[1..999 seconds] (default: no timeout)

The  /TIME  option lets you set the maximum length of  time  that
WAITFOR will sit around and wait for all the specified servers to
come on line.  If /TIME is not set, WAITFOR will wait forever.

/HELP

/HELP displays a brief instruction summary and a list of  command
line options. If the /HELP option is specified, all other command
line input is ignored and no other action is taken.


                         --- FASTNET ---

Sometimes it seems to take forever for a batch file of "NET  USE"
commands  to  execute, especially on floppy  based  workstations.
The  poor computer not only has to execute the commands, it  also
has  to  reload  the 16K NET utility for  each  command.  FASTNET
speeds  things  up  by  processing a whole  file  full  of  "NET"
commands  at  once.  You can use the batch interpreter  to  debug
your  network setup, then when you're done, just use the name  of
your batch file as a parameter to FASTNET and see how much faster
it runs.

FASTNET handles the following NET commands, exactly as  described
in your LANtastic documentation:

NET USE D: \\Server_name
NET USE D: \\Server_name\Path\...\Path
NET USE LPTn: \\Server_name\@Device
NET UNUSE D:
NET CLOCK \\Server_name
NET LPT [COMBINE,FLUSH,SEPARATE]
NET LPT TIMEOUT t
NET QUEUE [START,STOP,HALT,PAUSE,SINGLE,RESTART] \\Server_name

If  FASTNET doesn't directly support a command (such as NET  SHOW
or NET POSTBOX or other batch commands) it will pass it on to the
command  processor.   In  this way, FASTNET can  handle  all  NET
commands  and  all  batch file commands  except  those  involving
branching  within  the  batch file  and  changes  to  environment
variables.  If  an error occurs, FASTNET returns the  same  error
messages that NET does, and returns with a non zero error code.

FASTNET's syntax is:

        FASTNET <file name> [/OPTIONS]

The filename can be any valid DOS file name. If no extension is
given, an extension of .BAT is assumed.


                      COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
/STOP

Normally, if an error occurs, FASTNET will report it and continue
processing.   If you use the /STOP option, however, FASTNET  will
immediately terminate with an appropriate return code if any kind
of error occurs.

/SUPPRESS

The /SUPPRESS option prevents FASTNET from displaying ANY warning
or error messages.  If an error does occur however, FASTNET  will
still terminate with a non-zero return code, so your batch  files
can detect any problems.

/HELP

/HELP displays a brief instruction summary and a list of  command
line options. If the /HELP option is specified, all other command
line input is ignored and no other action is taken.


                        --- MESSAGE ---

The MESSAGE utility is a 1.5K memory resident program that causes
messages sent to your machine  with  "NET  SEND" to pop up on the
bottom  lines  of  your screen. When a message pops up, you can
read it at your leisure, then return to your program by pressing
escape. MESSAGE will pop up over most text mode programs. If it
can't come up immediately, no problem.  It will save the message
and display it as soon as you return to text mode -- even if you
pop up another memory resident program (like SideKick Plus) over
a graphics program.

To install the MESSAGE utility, enter the command

        MESSAGE

The computer will display the installation message


SoftMagic Resident Message Handler Version 1.5 for LANtastic
  Copyright 1989 by SoftMagic, Inc.  All rights reserved.
        LANtastic is a trademark of Artisoft, Inc.

MESSAGE has no parameters or command line  options and it's
smart enough not to let you install more than one copy at
a time.


                          --- REBOOT ---

REBOOT is a small program that causes your computer to execute
a "hard" reboot -- a restart that clears everything out of memory
and runs your computer's power-on diagnostics.

It can be handy for all sorts of things, from providing a foolproof
way of resetting communications hardware from a batch file to
keeping people out of places where they don't belong. I've even
got the habit of typing REBOOT instead of Ctrl-Alt-Del whenever
I need to reboot my machine.

To use REBOOT, simply enter

REBOOT

at the DOS command line or in a batch file.  There are no options
or command line parameters. You wanna reboot, you gotta reboot!


                           --- MSET ---

The MSET utility allows you to set or change variables in the
"master copy" of the environment -- the one that belongs to the
command processor that was loaded when your computer was first
started.  You use MSET exactly the same way you would use the
SET command:

        MSET <variablename>=<value>

For example, to set the variable MONITOR to CGA, you would issue
the command

        MSET MONITOR=CGA

MSET is provided with the LANutils specifically so that you can
set master environment variables from login scripts run by the
LOGIN command.  Just substitute MSET for SET in all your login
scripts and the "right" copy of the environment will be altered.

                         --- USERLIST ---

I wrote this one after working on a network in a large office -- I
wanted to send someone a message but I didn't know where they were
logged on. So off I went, through the NET menus, checking the
"Display System Activity on Server" screen for all the various
servers that I was logged into.  "There must be an easier way", I
thought.

USERLIST makes it easy to find people on the network.  It tells
you who's using what machine and who's logged into which servers.
For example, the userlist for our office network as I write looks
like this:

        Users on server JON:
          JON on machine JEARL
          JON on machine JON
          CAROLYN on machine CAROLYN
        (3 users)

        Users on server CAROLYN:
          CAROLYN on machine CAROLYN
          JON on machine JEARL
          JON on machine JON
        (3 users)

        Users on server JEARL:
          JON on machine JEARL
          JON on machine JON
        (2 users)

As you can see, there are a few of us still here at midnight.
To get a user list, type

        USERLIST <server list> [/HELP]

The  only available command line option is the /HELP option.   As
with the rest of the LANutils, /HELP causes a brief instruction
summary and a  list of  available  options to be displayed. If
/HELP  is  specified, USERLIST will take no other action.