DreamLight® NetLab™ is a network communications testing utility for multimedia developers and web designers. It works with Macromedia Director or with Shockwave in Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. I created this utility to facilitate the development of Quipples, The Internet game show of satirical riddles. I needed a utility that could help me rapidly track down and overcome problems I encountered while designing and programming the extensive network functionality of Quipples. DreamLight NetLab enabled me to isolate and circumvent a D7 ProxyServer() bug that was causing me quite a bit of trouble. It provides a controlled lab environment from which you can test accessing your on-line media from Lingo. DreamLight NetLab helped me so much, that I knew it could be extremely useful to other multimedia developers as well. So I bundled all the network utility functions into a single MIAW (Movie-In-A-Window) and thus created DreamLight NetLab.   NOTE: Please include a valid email address so that we may email you the registration information.

Enjoy, Michael Scaramozzino President and Creative Director

Director Tips & Tricks

Contents

• Introduction
• Installation
  • Installation for Director Authoring
  • Installation for Use Within Running Projectors
  • Using with Shockwave on the Web
• Proxy Controls
• Cache Controls
• Network Operation Controls
• Status Bar
• Network Results.
• History
• Restrictions

Installation

Installation for Use During Director Authoring

1. Copy the DreamLight NetLab.dcr movie file into the Xtras folder within the Director folder.
2. Open the movie that you are authoring in Director.
3. Open DreamLight NetLab under the Xtras menu.

Installation for Use Within a Running Projector

1. Open the movie that you are authoring in Director.
2. Include the following code in your movie to allow opening of DreamLight NetLab from within your projector.

   on keyDown
      global gTestMode 
      -- set gTestMode to true in the startmovie handler 
      -- during your test and development phase.
   
      if gTestMode then
         if the commandDown AND the key = "N" then
           open window "DreamLight NetLab"
         end if
      end if
   end keyDown
   

3. Copy the DreamLight NetLab.dcr file to the same folder as your projector.
4. When the projector is running, hit command-N or control-N. If the NetLab has been renamed, or it is in another folder, you will get a standard file dialog and can locate the NetLab that way.
5. Don’t forget to remove DreamLight NetLab before releasing your product.

Using with Shockwave on the Web.

1. Simply drag the DreamLight NetLab.dcr to an open web browser window.

Proxy Controls

The DreamLight NetLab proxy controls enable you to test accessing your media through Lingo’s HTTP ProxyServer() command. You can activate and deactivate the proxy to test for differences accessing your media directly verses through your proxy.

Cache Controls

	The DreamLight NetLab cache controls enable you to test the impact of various cache settings when accessing your on-line media. The cache controls have no effect when run under Shockwave in a browser in which case the browser’s cache settings override these settings.
Name Lingo/Comments Cache Size Enter your desired Director cache size in kilobytes. CacheDocVerify Clicking toggles between #once and #always. ClearCache Click to clear Director’s cache

Network Operation Controls

The DreamLight NetLab network operation controls enable you to test various media URL’s with various Lingo network commands. Name Lingo/Comments Remote URL Enter the URL you wish to test beginning with “http://” PreloadNetThing Click to perform a Lingo preloadNetThing() on the specified URL. DownloadNetThing Click to perform a Lingo downloadNetThing() on the specified URL. GetNetText Click to perform a Lingo getNetText() on the specified URL. NetAbort Click to abort the current network operation .

Status Bar

The DreamLight NetLab status bar provides real-time progress information about the current network operation. RAM readouts are translated into B-Bytes, K-Kilobytes, M-Megabytes, G-Gigabytes or T-Terabytes. Time readouts are translated into T-Ticks, S-Seconds:Ticks, M-Minutes:Seconds:Ticks, H-Hours:Minutes:Seconds, D-Days:Hours:Minutes. Name Lingo/Comments NetID The NetID of the current network operation State The state of the current network operation NetDone The current value of NetDone( NetID ) StallTime Amount of time since bytesSoFar last changed Thermometer Fills up to show bytesSoFar/bytesTotal 0000 K bytesSoFar of 0000 K bytesTotal @ 0000 B/Sec download rate: bytesSoFar/ElapsedTime Elapsed Elapsed time Remaining Estimated remaining time

Network Results

The DreamLight NetLab network results show the results of the latest network operation. The image above shows the result of using getNetText to retrieve a web page. Name Lingo/Comments NetMIME Shows the MIME type of the media from the last completed operation Results Shows the text returned by getNetText or the local path for an item downloaded with downloadNetThing

History

Version 1.11 updated in Director 7.0.2: 7/21/00

• Streamlined the MIAW window handling.
• Adjusted for cross platform distribution.
• Prepared for distribution.
• Added a DreamLight NetLab page to the DreamLight WebShop

Version 1.1 updated in Director 7.0.2: 3/04/00

• Consolidated informational fields
• Streamlined interface

Version 1.0 written in Director 7.0.2: 2/26/00

Created during a week-long debugging session tracking down and hacking around a Director 7 ProxyServer() bug that surfaced during the development of the extensive network functionality of Quipples: The Internet game show of satirical riddles..

Restrictions

TM & (C) Copyright 2000-2001 DreamLight Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

DreamLight NetLab is exclusively intended for use by the original purchaser and is non transferable. By downloading DreamLight NetLab you are agreeing to these restrictions.

DreamLight(R) NetLab(TM) is a commercial utility. It is not in the public domain. It remains the property of DreamLight Incorporated. It may not be distributed, redistributed, posted for downloads, sold, used as an inducement to purchase any other items, bundled with any other items or altered in any way without the express written consent of DreamLight Incorporated.

DreamLight NetLab is provided as-is. Use at your own risk. DreamLight makes no warranties whatsoever regarding this item or its use in any way. DreamLight’s liability is limited exclusively to a refund of your DreamLight NetLab license fee.

DreamLight is a registered trademark of DreamLight Incorporated.
DreamLight NetLab is a trademark of DreamLight Incorporated.

Created by Michael Scaramozzino

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