Netoscope is a simple and effective tool to monitor Internet services such as web, ftp, or mail servers. When a monitored service fails, Netoscope can notify you about it or even correct the problem if possible.
Each section has its own help screen. To obtain help about a specific section, open it then press the Help button.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Netoscope checks Internet type services periodically to make sure that they are running. When a service fails, Netoscope starts a custom notification procedure that may include visual, audio, and batch alerts.
First, go to the Options dialog and review the settings to make sure that they meet your needs. In particular, be sure to select an appropriate connection type.
To monitor a service, simply add an item to the list. You will be asked some information about the service so that Netoscope knows what kind of service it is and how to locate it. If you wish to monitor it manually, select the "Check" command from the "Service" menu. If you wish to monitor it continuously, check the item's checkbox, then select the "Start" command from the "Monitor" menu. While the service is running, this menu item toggles to "Stop".
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MAIN WINDOW USER INTERFACE COMPONENTS
Top section:
The upper portion of the window is a list of Internet service items to monitor. Each item occupies one row. Each row contains several columns of infomration about the item as described below:
- URL: The host name or IP address of the server running the targeted service.
- Port: The port of the service.
- Description: Optional information about the service.
- Freq.: How often (in minutes) the service should be checked.
- Attempts: <failed attempts>/<limit> <last attempt time and date>.
- Failures: <this session>/<cumulative> <last failure time and date>.
To sort items according to the data in a column, simply click on the corresponding column title. Clicking on the same title again reverses the sorting order.
Bottom section:
The lower portion of the window is a log window displaying application events.
Tool bar buttons:
The application has a toolbar located under the menu. It contains several buttons corresponding to menu items. The buttons depict commonly used menu items and are there for easier access. The function of each button is displayed when you position the cursor above it and leave it there for a few seconds. For more details about the usage of a button, please refer to the help material about its corresponding menu item.
Status bar:
The status bar is located at the bottom of the application window and contains panes reflecting status information about the software. The following items explain the meaning of each pane from left to right:
- Menu help. It is displayed when you browse through the menu.
- E/T: Number of enabled items (E) / Total number of items (T).
- Started/Stopped: Monitoring mode.
- Active/Inactive: Connection state.
- Networking...: Displayed while Netoscope communicates with the Internet.
MENU
A short explanation of each menu item is displayed in the status bar when you select it.
POINTING DEVICE (MOUSE) INTERFACE
Application window:
- Click the checkbox next to an item to enable or disable it.
- Click an item to select it.
- Double-click an item to invoke its properties window.
Application icon in the task bar (the system tray to be more precise):
- Right-click the icon to invoke the commands menu.
- Double-click the icon to toggle the visibility of the window.
