Utility: LANegram - NET SEND Replacement 2

[1DMF]

Hi,

I've been using this utility for quite a while now and in general it works great apart from one small niggle.

If someone is typing and they receive a message, their typing dismisses the message before they get to see it.

It seem pressing any key is the same as clicking the OK button, any idea how i can make them have to click the OK beofre the message vanishes?

Cheers,
1DMF

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[dilettante]

Hmm, after testing with LANegram in /simple mode I see what you mean.

Funny thing, with over 800 downloads of the free binary MSI package and 30 paid customization requests I have never had this pointed out before. Or if I have, I completely misunderstood the issue. Sheesh!

I am considering a small update to make a version 3.2 of the product. This would only change the /simple popup dialog button from an Ok button to a Cancel button. The change would mean users must either click on the button or press the Escape key to dismiss the dialog. All other keystrokes (besides the Ctrl-X "exit program") would be silently discarded.

That should address the issue for most users the vast majority of time without getting into trouble with the Accessibility Police who need applications to work for mouseless and screen-reader users.

Could this resolve the problem for you?

I looked at making all other keystrokes "ding the bell" but that seemed really annoying in testing.

 

[dilettante]

Link to the version 3.2 MSI and source can be found at Utility: LANegram - NET SEND Replacement.

I hope this works for you.

 

[dilettante]

Please note: if 3.1 is already installed you must uninstall it before using the 3.2 MSI.

 

[dilettante]

Posted a new 3.2 MSI with the ProductCode updated to permit you to simply install over 3.1 without uninstalling first.

 

[1DMF]

Thanks dilenttante,

Great program and thanks for making this alteration.

Regards,
1DMF

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[1DMF]

unfortuantely it seems it didnt' work, the MSI installer has not replaced the 3.1 version?

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[dilettante]

Hmm, I retest on a clean box, installing first 3.1 then 3.2 over it.

 

[dilettante]

Ok, I retested on a clean XP and a clean Windows 7 box.

In both cases installing 3.1 and then 3.2 over it without uninstalling 3.1 left me with 3.2 installed and running after reboot/startup.

Uninstalling 3.2 left 3.1 "broken" but a repair install on it got it running again (next restart or manual run from Startup folder).

After that installing 3.2 and restarting ran 3.2 as expected.

I'm not sure what else should be changed, isn't this what you'd expect? You can always do a complete uninstall first though.

 

[1DMF]

Well after a reboot it is now 3.2 but now it doesn't work properly and I am getting 'sys tray' ballons instead of pop-up messages that need clearing.

I also ensured I used

msiexec /i \\hlpserver\programs\lanmsg\LANegram3-2.msi startargs="/simple"

when installing.

I guess I need to unistall and reinstall the whole thing again , I'll let you know how I get on.

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[1DMF]

Thanks dilenttante,

I can confirm that it did not replace the existing program as when I went to 'Programs & Features' to remove it there were two
versions installed.

Manually uninstalling them both and rerunning the 3.2 install then worked correctly.

Though pressing the enter/return key still clears the message as you type, so this version hasn't fully resolved the issue.

Also, any chance the pc could beep or donk (system alert) to give the user an indication that what they are typing isn't being registered as not everyone looks at their screen as they type, and they could be half way through a paragraph before they realised nothing they typed has come out.

Many thanks,
1DMF.



"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

Google Rank Extractor -> Perl beta with FusionCharts

 

[dilettante]

Hmm, I had done that during testing and it seemed really annoying. I guess I can see what you mean though.

I have somebody making the change and addressing the "install over old" issue. However this will probably mean an existing 3.2 would need to be manually uninstalled yet since the package had the old set of versions and Product/UpgradeCodes. After thet smooth sailing I hope.

When I check it over myself I'll get it posted. Should be soon.

 

[dilettante]

Sorry, got wrapped up in some other issues here.

Small update (3.2.0.1) posted as "3.2a" now. You can find it by using the link in post #3 above.

 

[1DMF]

Hi dilettante,

Thanks for the update, I can confirm the following...

1. The updater doesn't work, it once again leaves two installations, so you have to uninstall both and install again from scratch.

2. The 'cancel' button is working grand and now eiother 'esc' or 'cancel' must be pressed - nice one!

3. The system alert only works if you have speakers and sound card by the looks of things, I was hoping the PC speaker would beep as not all staff have soundcards and/or speakers!

And even though I have soundcard and speakers I disable them as you cannot trust some webpages to not blare unwanted music or auto-play embeded video!

Again thanks for the great app, it really is usefull and helps me do my job on a daily basis.

The staff like it too as they can secretly send each other messages, but that's not the purpose I intended it to be used for!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

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[dilettante]

I'll dig into the updating issues when we get another project here wrapped up.

Glad it is useful for you. The biggest issue we get feedback on is about revamping the user interface. People seem to want it to look like a Twitter feed or something. Others want a unified program without a command-line Send.

However it was just meant as a quick and dirty alternative to the old Messenger Service and Net Send. For anything more sophisticated there are lots of software products out there.

 

[1DMF]

I agree, it does exactly what it says on the tin, replace net send.

Nice Job

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

MIME::Lite TLS Email Encryption - Perl v0.02 beta

 

[1DMF]

I'm getting reports from members of staff that since installing this new version they are not getting any messages?

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

MIME::Lite TLS Email Encryption - Perl v0.02 beta

 

[dilettante]

I just retested it and I don't have any trouble.

File/Print Sharing must be allowed through the firewall and the communicating systems must be in the same domain/workgroup. The traffic must also be routed across your network as well of course. Some routers don't forward broadcasts, but normally routers connecting internal segments (not acting as Internet gateways) do.

The newer versions didn't have any changes to the communication logic, only some UI changes.

You may need to run some sort of packet sniffer to diagnose things any further.

 

[1DMF]

Yeah we had a DHCP issue and many machines had multiple IP's assigned, would this be the reason they weren't all getting the message?

How does the program message the machine is it via IP?



"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"

MIME::Lite TLS Email Encryption - Perl v0.02 beta

 

[dilettante]

The messages are sent as Mailslot broadcasts much as those of Net Send. This means they can travel over IP, IPX/SPX, or NetBeui... and if multiple protocols are active multiple copies may be received. The traffic uses the paths used by File and Printer Sharing, so any firewlls involved must allow that through when IP is being used to carry Microsoft Networking traffic.