eDexter 1.2
Copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Pyrenean
All rights reserved.
<mailto:Pyrenean@Earthlink.net>

eDexter is free to individuals for personal non-commercial use.
Commercial users contact Pyrenean for licensing details. 


What is eDexter?
eDexter is a limited personal-web server which only operates on the localhost IP address, 127.0.0.1.   If you want to serve web pages to other machines do not use eDexter as eDexter does not support access by other IP addresses or computers. Even though limitation offers a certain amount of security, it is preferable to use a firewall along with eDexter . 

eDexter supplys only a limited set of gif images to your browser.

In its default mode of operation, eDexter sends a randomized sequence of images (one of: image.0.gif;  image.1.gif;  image.2.gif, image.3.gif; image.4.gif; or image.5.gif) to your browser regardless of the URL selected in the browser.  You may substitute your own images for the ones included in eDexter's distribution.  Note that web pages do not always display the images in the same size as that of the original.  You may direct eDexter not to use images.  In this case, eDexter displays a small transparent gif image.


Thanks to:
Gorrilla for managing the distribution and fielding many questions.
Rick who has been a big help. Rick supplied the gif images and suggested the start menu items introduced in this version (1.2).  Rick also identified a firewall configuration issue.  Kuddos to Rick!
Bob for running technical analysis and for great ideas also for identifying some items for future work.
Charlie for documentation hints, performance observations and usage notes.
All the people who use eDexter for their comments.
And, of course, Dexter - a good dog.


Modifications:
Version 1.2:
Changed version numbering scheme.
Added command line parameters.
Changed default start up to hide-on-start.
Enabled Hide menu at all times.
Start and Stop menu items now act as toggles. 
eDexter now offers Start menu shortcuts. You can now control eDexter while keeping eDexter's tray icon hidden.


Operation:
  Double clicking the tray icon toggles eDexter between Start mode and Stop mode.
  Start mode runs a personal web server on your computer.  Use a firewall such as ZoneAlarm to
  block port 80 to the internet.  Stop mode closes the web server.  

  Even though this version blocks port 80 to the outside world, continue to use a firewall such as
  ZoneAlarm to block the port to the internet. 

eDexter icons:
  Grayed dog biscuit - Stop mode
  White dog biscuit   - Start mode
  Blinking dog biscuit - Active
  No dog biscuit - Either hidden or not running.


Tray Menu Selections:
About eDexter...	-   Displays about box
Start			-   Starts personal web server.   Use this option after modifying hosts.
Stop                    -   Stops personal web server.  Use this option before modifying hosts.
Hide			-    Hides tray icon. This option is only for current session.
Hide on Start		-    Hides tray icon when starting eDexter.
Use Images		-    If selected, eDexter will serve gifs from it's program folder.  
                             If not selected, eDexter serves an internally stored transparent gif,
Exit                    -     Stops and exits eDexter.


Selected Start Menu Selections:
eDexter			- Starts eDexter
Exit eDexter		- Stops eDexter
Toggle Images		- Changes Use Images     



Start Menu items use some of the following Command-line parameters:
/a                        -   Displays about box
/h                        -   Toggles eDexter visibile mode for current session
/i                         -   Toggles images off and on
/q                        -   Stops and exits eDexter.

These parameters are only available at startup
/t                         -    Operates eDexter in transparency (No Images)  mode.  
/v                        -     Starts eDexter in visible mode. 


Known Issues:




Notes:

If you use a firewall, configure the firewall to disallow eDexter's access to the internet but to allow eDexter's access to the local machine.  Since eDexter only operates on your localhost IP-address of 127.0.0.1.  eDexter may operate even if your firewall disallows eDexter connections to your local machine.  If your firewall acts in this fashion, configure your firewall to disallow both local and internet connections.

eDexter's Start menu items correspond to different command-line parameters being passed to eDexter.  These options can be modified as needed.

You can verify eDexter's operation by using the command-line, netstat -an, this will show something similar to:
C:\>netstat -an
Active Connection
  Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State
  TCP    0.0.0.0:135             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:135             0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:1026           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:1028           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    0.0.0.0:1029           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    127.0.0.1:80           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING

You will also notice other connections to 127.0.0.1:80.  This indicates that eDexter is operating and serving properly.


To show eDexter's tray icon after hiding it:
    Run eDexter with the /h parameter or select the appropriate menu selection from eDexter's Start menu option.

Note: Command-line parameters override .ini file entries.
eDexter .ini file entries:
[Preferences]
HideOnStart=1
Visible=1                          -    Hides [0] or shows[1] eDexter for curent session
Images=1                        -     Uses filebased images[1] or internal image [0]



Version Modification History:
1.145:
Blocked port 80 to external internet connections.
Included Rick's Indicators as default images.
Added a "Use Images" option.
Corrected initial icon display on startup when "Hide on Start" is selected.
Added ability to handle requests that could result in Server not Found condition.

1.14:
Added Hide on Start menu option. 
Corrected Automatic Hide on start up behavior.
Corrected internal Version number. 
Abbreviated response header.
Reduced executable size. 

1.1.3:
Complete rewrite of underlying server code.
Reducted executable size.
Fixed port 80 hang on NT 4.0
Modified Taskbar icons.  No more dogs.
Added six 1-pixel transparent images that the program selects at random.  User can change as needed.
Corrected default menu item toggle.
Hide tray icon option added.
Now using eDexter.ini file in Widows system folder.

1.1.2 
    Beta of 1.1.3
    This corrected a memory leak in version 1.0.

1.0
  eDexter initial release

DIAGD
14 August 2000
Pyrenean