Network Tools

[Kreij]

It's up to you , my friend. I'll be happy to test anything you toss out there.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think I'll wait. It'll be hard to focus on finishing the feature set if I have to consantly go back to fix something. It's easier to handle all the fixing at once. XD

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm going to upload what I have so it can be tested. I'm going to take a longer break than expected from this project because of what transpired yesterday. In the mean time, I'd like to gather some things to be fixed.

Note: None of the menu items are coded yet in 2.0 beta.

 

[Kreij]

I'm going to upload what I have so it can be tested. I'm going to take a longer break than expected from this project because of what transpired yesterday. In the mean time, I'd like to gather some things to be fixed.

Note: None of the menu items are coded yet in 2.0 beta.

Did I miss something?

Pulled the beta. Incoming report soon

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It's personal.

 

[Kreij]

It's personal.

Okay, didn't mean to pry. The way you phrased it made it sound like something here on TPU or something to do with the program.

Suggestions (for after your extended time off) :
- Unanchor the PropertyGrid from the right side so it does not enlongate if you make the main Form wider.
- On TR Property Grid, move IPAddress property to the top like ping (Unless they have to be alphabetically arranged).
- When you fill in an address or domain in Ping, have it transfer when the TR tab is selected so you don't have to type it in again if you want to run a TR on the same address/DN, and vice versa.
- On IS, the description for ScanInterval is somewhat confusing. I thought it implied the number of seconds the program waited after completing a scan, before starting the scan again. I'm still not real clear on what it actually does mean.
- Code the menu functions.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

- Unanchor the PropertyGrid from the right side so it does not enlongate if you make the main Form wider.

It is a SplitContainer. I fixed the left panel so when you resize, it will stay put. You can still manually resize the left panel.

- On TR Property Grid, move IPAddress property to the top like ping (Unless they have to be alphabetically arranged).

They are arranged alphabetically. I just moved Hops and Packets to Optional because the default value (as with the lot of them) will work (it won't flat out fail without that value).

- When you fill in an address or domain in Ping, have it transfer when the TR tab is selected so you don't have to type it in again if you want to run a TR on the same address/DN, and vice versa.

I'm trying to find a solution for this but it won't be easy. They are designed to be completely independant of one another.

Edit: Think I got it working (currently it only syncrhonizes Ping and Trace Route but only if said target is not already busy.

- On IS, the description for ScanInterval is somewhat confusing. I thought it implied the number of seconds the program waited after completing a scan, before starting the scan again. I'm still not real clear on what it actually does mean.

What you think it means is what it means. I just had/have difficulty describing that one. I'll paraphrase how you described it because that is more clear than what I had.


Edit: I won't release beta 2 until a new feature is added which might be a while.

Edit: File -> Exit implemented. Edit -> Save to CSV implemented.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Beta 2 uploaded. Dns Resolve added with numerous other changes.

 

[oily_17]

Been away for the week and come back to see you have made some nice changes.

Just want to say thanks for your trouble and congrats on a great wee tool.

Just gave the beta a try out and all seems to be working well.
Just a small request, is it possible to have the tool remember if you have resized the Property/Main grid or changed any of the values (like setting GetWMIHostName till True).So that when it is shut down and restarted they remain the same.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm thinking about putting a "File -> Save Settings" option which is off by default. Once it is checked, you give the application permission to create an INI file in the same directory which will save all settings on close and load all previous settings on open. If you uncheck it, it will no longer use an INI file until checked again.

I'll probably add it sooner rather than later because it would help speed up testing.

 

[oily_17]

Cheers, that would be great

 

[Kreij]

Dang it, Ford. Everything works great, so I guess I'm going to have to start nit-picking.

Suggestions/Comments :
- You may want to set the Main Form's minimum size you can't squish the reults section out of existance. A good horizontal size seems to be if you select IS and reduce enough that you can still see all of the result columns (that size also makes all of the pick result boxes still visible. A good vertical minimum size seems to be when in IS you can still see all of the options.
- I like how the IPAddress property auto-fills when you click in it.
- Can you add a three option property in IS so you can choose the text style for the HostNames (default / upper case / lower case)?
- Maybe add a print results menu option?
- Code the help menu item

 

[FordGT90Concept]

- You may want to set the Main Form's minimum size you can't squish the reults section out of existance. A good horizontal size seems to be if you select IS and reduce enough that you can still see all of the result columns (that size also makes all of the pick result boxes still visible. A good vertical minimum size seems to be when in IS you can still see all of the options.

Done.

- I like how the IPAddress property auto-fills when you click in it.

Currently, only Ping, Trace Route, and DNS Resolve autofill (because their values are cross-compatible).

Edit: Improved how this works internally (much fewer handles and easier to code).

- Can you add a three option property in IS so you can choose the text style for the HostNames (default / upper case / lower case)?

Done.

- Maybe add a print results menu option?

Printing in .NET is a PITA so we'll see.

- Code the help menu item

Meh.


Edit: Still working on saving/loading settings...

 

[lemonadesoda]

Nettool2 should be called nettool2.exe not nettool.exe or it will overwrite the console edition. Two excellent versions of the utility, two filenames needed.

 

[Kreij]

Not if you put them in different directories.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Once nettool 2 is done, nettool 1 will be no more. The difference between them is the version number (Properties -> Version tab).

Which reminds me...I need icons.

 

[Kreij]

I'm going to keep all of the version from 1.45 on, so when one day you become famous for NetTools I can sell them as collectable versions on e-bay

I was thinking of that earlier today but forgot to mention the icons.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Once nettool 2 is done, nettool 1 will be no more.

(quickly grabs and archives a copy of 1.70)

 

[FordGT90Concept]

(quickly grabs and archives a copy of 1.70)

That mean you don't like the beta?


Beta 3 uploaded. Lots of changes, most important being saving/loading settings (File -> Save Settings).

 

[Kreij]

Intranet scan is about 1 second slower on 2b3 than on 1.7
Not that I care, just giving you testing data.

IS on 2b3 is not sorting by IP address (should it be?).

Help menu item not working

More testing in a little while ... wife says it's dinner time

 

[Kreij]

More testing results on the GUI ...

These are not suggestions, but more of a "is this the way you want it to work?" kind of thing...

- When the "Hide" button is clicked, the description of the test still states "Fill in the form to the left and click on "Start"", Even though the form and start button are no longer visible.
- The Hide/Show button is not a "global" type of setting. It does not persist from tab to tab. You have to click hide for each test.

Oops, what was that?:
- If ping is started with no IP Address, the IP address reports "Object reference not set to an instance of an object", four times for IP Address in results.
- If TR is started with no IP address it gives me "fe80::1cfa:c0f:f5f5:f59a" for IP address in results.
- If DNS resolve is run without IP Address, it gives me 4 lines of stuff similar to last bullet point(sorry can't copy and past out of the result window. See Suggestion #2)

Suggestions:
- The column name "Id" does not impart the meaning of the number. For Ping it means packet, for TR it means hop, etc.
- Implement "Copy to Clipboard" by right clicking in result window.
- Icons are ugly

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Intranet scan is about 1 second slower on 2b3 than on 1.7
Not that I care, just giving you testing data.

The only change to that code was adding the upper/lower case code which shouldn't have much impact at all on performance.

IS on 2b3 is not sorting by IP address (should it be?).

They appear in the order a response was received. If you want to sort by IP Address, just click on the IP Address column header.

Help menu item not working

If it was, I'd be concerned.

- When the "Hide" button is clicked, the description of the test still states "Fill in the form to the left and click on "Start"", Even though the form and start button are no longer visible.
- The Hide/Show button is not a "global" type of setting. It does not persist from tab to tab. You have to click hide for each test.

I'm thinking about removing that button because it isn't very useful (only really useful on looping Intranet Scan w/ low resolution monitor).

- If ping is started with no IP Address, the IP address reports "Object reference not set to an instance of an object", four times for IP Address in results.

What are the other settings? I haven't been able to reproduce that one.

- If TR is started with no IP address it gives me "fe80::1cfa:c0f:f5f5:f59a" for IP address in results.

- If DNS resolve is run without IP Address, it gives me 4 lines of stuff similar to last bullet point(sorry can't copy and past out of the result window. See Suggestion #2)

It uses the first address it finds for the local machine when none is given. That is true for DNS Resolve, Trace Route, and Ping.

- The column name "Id" does not impart the meaning of the number. For Ping it means packet, for TR it means hop, etc.

Id = unique identifier for that row. It is provided in order to sort by the order in which they were added. For example, if you sort by time on Trace Route or Ping, the Id column allows you to put them back in order for when they were received.

- Implement "Copy to Clipboard" by right clicking in result window.

I am planning to create a Save to Text Document which could also be copied to the clipboard. That will take a lot of work to add though so it will be some time.

- Icons are ugly

I haven't been inspired to make any icons yet.

 

[Kreij]

The only change to that code was adding the upper/lower case code which shouldn't have much impact at all on performance.

All is good, just reporting boss.

They appear in the order a response was received. If you want to sort by IP Address, just click on the IP Address column header.

Fair enough, that's how I do it in my apps too.

If it was, I'd be concerned.

That caught me off guard. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Kreij]

I'm thinking about removing that button because it isn't very useful (only really useful on looping Intranet Scan w/ low resolution monitor).

I agree.

What are the other settings? I haven't been able to reproduce that one.

default on application start up.

It uses the first address it finds for the local machine when none is given. That is true for DNS Resolve, Trace Route, and Ping.

Maybe a message somewhere to report that? You could add a status bar to the form.

Id = unique identifier for that row. It is provided in order to sort by the order in which they were added. For example, if you sort by time on Trace Route or Ping, the Id column allows you to put them back in order for when they were received.

That I understand. Should the columns name (not function) change to reflect the test?

I am planning to create a Save to Text Document which could also be copied to the clipboard. That will take a lot of work to add though so it will be some time.

I am not sure a save to document would be that useful, as different people would want it in different formats (word, pdf, etc.). Why not copy to clipboard and let them paste it into whatever they want?

I haven't been inspired to make any icons yet.

That is always the last thing I do too. Any thoughts on what you want the icons to look like?

Btw, for a couple of years I built and did s/w QA on MRI scanners for GE. People's lives depended on the s/w working as it should. I apply the same rules to testing your app.

 

[Kreij]

No Address Ping ...