Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Introduction

#### What is it?

RacerNet is a Hosts file manager. It makes the powerful capabilities of the Hosts file easy to use.

#### Why would I want to use it?

When you type "www.frugalsoft.com" into your browser's address bar, your computer translates that name into a series of numbers, which uniquely identifies the server "www.frugalsoft.com". To do this, your computer must communicate, over your internet connection, with a Domain Name Server (DNS), a separate computer that maintains a list of readable names and their numerical counterparts. After getting the numerical address once, your computer doesn't have to ask the DNS again. However, everytime you type in a new address, or connect to a new FTP server, your computer must ask the DNS for the numerical address.

RacerNet accelerates this process by maintaining it's own list of names and addresses, in the "Hosts" file. This file is used by your computer to get the address of a name without having to contact the DNS, thereby saving you a few ( or more ) seconds each time.

#### What are some of it's features?

RacerNet can be run one of two ways. In batch, or non-interactive, mode, RacerNet will read your Hosts file, verify that each name and address in the Hosts file is valid, then save the Hosts file and tell you that it's done.

In interactive mode, RacerNet presents a list of the entries in your Hosts file. You can change entries, delete entries, verify entries, and add new ones. You can add new ones by simply typing them in, or you can import names from a variety of sources, including Netscape, IBM WebExplorer, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Web Navigator, VxFTP, Opera, FTP Browser and NetLookout.

Also, RacerNet can be instructed to "mirror" your hosts file to other directories. So, if you run multiple operating systems, you can maintain any number of Hosts file from one easy to use interface.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Installation

- OS/2 - Change to the directory that you extracted rneto1**.zip into, and type "install".
- Windows - Change to the directory that you extracted rnetw1**.zip into, and type "setup".

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### The Main Window

The main window displays the list of host names from your Hosts file. It can also display their numerical addresses, any aliases you have set up for that host, and any comments you might add.

Above the Hosts list is the host entry field and add button. To add a new host, just type the host name into the "Host:" field, and press "Add!". You can paste URL's in the entry field and RacerNet will parse them to get the host name.

Above the host entry field is the toolbar. The buttons on the toolbar invoke the commands, from left to right, "Add Entry", "Change Entry", "Remove Selected", "Verify Selected" and "Verify All". The "Remove Selected" and "Verify Selected" will remove and verify, respectively, any host names you have highlighted in the Hosts list.

To show or hide the toolbar, select "Display | Show Toolbar" from the pull-down menu. To display the toolbar buttons as icons and text, text only or icons only, select "Display | Toolbar Buttons" from the pull-down menu, then make your selection from the sub-menu that displays.

You can select which columns to display in the hosts list. The "Host" column always displays, but you can show or hide the "Status", "Address", "Aliases" and "Comments" columns. To show or hide a particular column, select "Display | Columns" from the pull-down menu, then make your selection from the sub-menu that displays.

You can sort the list of hosts by their names, their addresses, their aliases or their comments. To sort the list by a particular attribute, select "Display | Sort By" from the pull-down menu, then make your selection from the sub-menu that displays.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Adding An Entry

To add a new entry, select the "Add Entry" button from the toolbar, or select "Edit | Add" from the pull-down menu, or right-click on the Host list and select "Add".

This will display the "Add Entry" dialog.

Enter the host name you want to add to the Hosts list. Or, enter the address of the host. As you see in the picture, the "OK" button is disabled. You must enter either a host name or an address, then press the "Verify" button before the host can be added to the Hosts list. Any time you change either the host name or the address, the "OK" button will again be disabled until you press "Verify".

You can also enter aliases and comments in this dialog. Aliases are other names that the host will be known by. Once an alias has been added to your Hosts file, you may use that alias anywhere you used the full hostname before. So, if you set up an alias of "Frugal" for "www.frugalsoft.com", the next time you want to visit FrugalSoft's home page with your browser, just type "Frugal" in the "Location" entry field. Comments are simply that, comments that you can use to remind you of something, or whatever.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Changing An Entry

To change an entry, select the "Change Entry" button from the toolbar, or select "Edit | Change" from the pull-down menu, or right-click on the entry you want to change and select "Change".

This will display the "Change Entry" dialog.

This dialog behaves almost exactly like the Add Entry dialog, with one difference. When the "Change Entry" dialog is displayed, the "OK" button is enabled. This happens because the host has already been verified. If you change either the host name or the address, the "OK" button will be disabled until you press "Verify".

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Removing Entries

To remove an entry or entries, select the entry or entries you want removed from the Hosts list, then select the "Remove Selected" button from the toolbar, or select "Edit | Remove" from the pull-down menu, or right-click on one of the selected hosts and select "Remove".

A message box will display, asking you to confirm the removal. Select "Yes" to remove the selected entry or entries, or select "No" to cancel the removal.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Importing Host Names

In addition to adding entries with the Add Entry dialog, you can also add entries by importing them from other programs. Select "File | Import" from the pull-down menu.

This will display the "Import" dialog.

To import entries from other programs, follow these steps:

1. From the top combo box, select the program you are importing from.
2. If you know the full path to the bookmark or initialization file, enter it in the "Select path to bookmark file" entry field. If you do not know the full path, select "Browse..." and browse to the correct directory.
3. When the full path to the bookmark or initialization file is displayed, select the "Import file to list below" button. This will populate the list box with all of the hosts found in the bookmark or initialization file.
4. Select those hosts you want to import to RacerNet. If you want to import all of them, select the "Select All" button.
5. When you have selected the entries you want, select the "Add Selections Now" button. This will add the highlighted entries to the main Hosts list in the RacerNet window.

You may repeat these steps, without leaving the import dialog, by first selecting the "Clear List" button, then starting at step #1.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Mirroring Your Hosts File

RacerNet allows you to maintain multiple copies of your Hosts file. If you use multiple operating systems, you can manage all of your Hosts files from RacerNet, without worrying about "synching up" the Hosts files among your various platforms.

To add a new mirror, select "File | Mirror To Other Directories" from the pull-down menu. A standard "Save As" dialog is displayed, and you can select the directory and name of the mirrored Hosts file. After you do this, any time you make a change to your Hosts file through RacerNet, the changes are also made to all of the mirror files that you have set up.

To edit the list of mirror files, select "File | Edit Mirrors" from the pull-down menu.

This will display the "Mirror Hosts File" dialog.

Any mirror files that you have already set up will be displayed in the list box. To add a new mirror, either enter the full path to the new Hosts file, or select "Browse...". After you have entered the full path, select the "Add" button. To remove a mirror, highlight that file in the list box and select the "Remove" button.

Another way to add a mirror file is to select "File | Save As" from the pull-down menu. After you have selected the path and name of the file, you will see a message box asking "Do you want to add this file name to the list of mirrors?". If you select "Yes", your Hosts file will be mirrrored to the selected file name. If you select "No", the file name will not be added to your list of mirrors.

Introduction | Installation | The Main Window | Adding An Entry | Changing An Entry | Removing Entries | Importing Host Names | Mirroring Your Hosts File | Running RacerNet Unattended

### Running RacerNet Unattended

RacerNet can be run in an unattended, or "batch", mode. When run in this mode, RacerNet will verify all of the names and addresses in your Hosts file, then tell you when it is finished. To run RacerNet in this mode, pass RacerNet the command line parameter "/batch". If that is the only parameter you pass RacerNet, it will display a message box when it is finished verifying your Hosts file. You can tell RacerNet to play a WAV file when finished instead of displaying the message box. To do this, in addition to the "/batch" parameter, add a parameter "/wav ", and replace "" with the full path of the WAV file you want played.

Here is a sample command line that runs RacerNet in batch mode, and plays a WAV file when complete:

    rcneto.exe /batch /wav i:\sounds\groovy.wav

If you are running the windows version, substitute "rcnetw.exe" for "rcneto.exe"