MultiPing v0.1 (beta) available

MultiPing is a multi-host, multi-protocol, graphical ping utility written in Java.

Despite a bug in the new version of Java required by MultiPing (v1.5.x, still in beta), an initial rough-cut beta release has been posted. Currently, if you leave MultiPing running for long enough all the hosts will show a DOWN status because of this and you'll need to close and restart MultiPing. The bug has been fixed by Sun but not yet posted in a build.



Links
MultiPing Home Page
MultiPing Readme

Java Ping

The change list for Java 1.5.0 (still in beta) caught my eye, specifically, in the networking enhancements section. Looks like they've finally added the ability to "ping" a remote host and determine reachability. Apparently, the InetAddress.isReachable() method works using an ICMP echo or by attempting a TCP connection to the Echo service. Previously, you couldn't make use of an ICMP echo within Java because there was no support for creating RAW sockets. Granted, you could use exec() to run the ping command and then parse the output, but this just seems a bit kludgy.

I was hoping that this development would allow me to get MultiPing to a point where I could release something.

Well, as it turns out, there's a known bug in the current beta release. The InetAddress.isReachable() method method leaks sockets in windows (the code never closes the socket used in the operation).

So, after running MultiPing for awhile and periodically using this, the call starts failing as the OS refuses to create new sockets. Apparently, according to the bug report it messes up other networking functionality on the machine as well :-(

The bug report mentioned before indicates that this has been fixed in tiger-rc. Currently the latest posted snapshot (build 56) does not contain a fix.

Something to look forward to though...

TSDisp v1.10 available

TSDisp is a utility designed to work alongside TeamSpeak by providing a stay-on-top window which displays the name of the current speaker. See the below link to download.

TSDisp Home Page

This version fixes some crashing bugs as well as adds some optional logging features which can be enabled during compile time.

NOTE: TSDisp runs on Win98/2k/XP.

sbtray v1.16 available

sbtray is a utility which provides a graphic display of the state of the Shadowbane game, login, and patch servers via a windows tray icon. It pulls its data from the Chronicle of Strife web page as well as by attempting connections directly to the login and patch servers. See the below link to get the latest version.

sbtray Home Page

Screenshots below:

NOTE: sbtray runs on Win9x/2k/XP.