These are general instructions for using the file sharing features of the Java 1.1 Chat Client/Server. File sharing can be accessed from the application version of the Chat Client or from a standalone application program. From the Chat Client, a File Sharing menu item on the Client menu brings up a File Sharing window; this allows you to chat while you download files. The standalone program can be started by running the share.bat script; it brings up the same window that is brought up from the Chat Client.
The standalone File Sharing client can either connect to the Chat Server, or it can run without it. To run it without the server, just leave the Remote Host Name field blank on the File Share Client Login Dialog. If connected to the server, all of the users that have file sharing enabled will show up in the User List. Any of them can be selected to look at the file directories that they have exposed for sharing. With or without the server, peer connecting is allowed via the Peer Connect dialog, which allows you to enter an IP address (or a name, if it can be resolved into an IP address) and a name to identify yourself to the peer. Even when the user is selected from the user list, the file sharing connection is peer-to-peer.
Currently, the File Sharing window supports the following features:
The port, maximum number of incoming connections, and exposed directories are set from the Options Dialog menu item on the File Share menu. The Resumable downloads are managed from the Resumable Dialog menu item on the File Share menu. If any directories are exposed and the port for your File Sharing Server is not 0, then the File Sharing Server is automatically enabled. By default, any download that is started, but does not complete, is resumable.
In addition, there are two Search functions that are not yet implemented. One on the main File Sharing window will be able to search the exposed directories of all of the Users that you see in your User List. The other one is accessible when you connect to a user. It allows you to search the exposed directories of that particular user.
If you have any questions, please direct them to
software@lpsci.com