 |
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. |
- Copy the DreamLight NetLab.dcr movie file into the Xtras folder within
the Director folder.
- Open the movie that you are authoring in Director.
- Open DreamLight NetLab under the Xtras menu.
- Open the movie that you are authoring in Director.
- 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
- Copy the DreamLight NetLab.dcr file to the same folder as your projector.
- 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.
- Dont forget to remove DreamLight NetLab before releasing your
product.
- Simply drag the DreamLight NetLab.dcr to an open web browser window.
 |
The DreamLight
NetLab proxy controls enable you to test accessing your media through
Lingos HTTP ProxyServer() command. You can activate and deactivate the
proxy to test for differences accessing your media directly verses through
your proxy.
|
Name |
Lingo/Comments |
Proxy IP or Address |
Enter your proxy servers IP number
or address |
Port |
Enter your proxy port number |
On/Off |
Click to activate/deactivate the
ProxyServer() |
Proxy: |
Shows the current setting of the
ProxyServer() |
 |
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 browsers
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 Directors cache |
|
 |
The DreamLight NetLab network operation controls enable you to test various
media URLs 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 . |
|

|
|
 |
 |
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 |
|

|
|
 |
 |
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 |
|
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..
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.
DreamLights 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
DreamLight
Interactive
Releases New ScreamerNet UB Launcher
DLI_SNUB-Launcher™ is
an XCode Aqua GUI front end to interactively configure and
launch multiple LightWave
9.3-9.6 ScreamerNet UB instances for standalone, batch
and network rendering. Download
your copy today!
Created by the author of Mastering
LightWave ScreamerNet Rendering for Mac OS X, Michael Scaramozzino
- LightWave
3D Artist Profile.
|