Last Updated: 10/11/2007 =============================================================================== PSObserver, Version 2.0 =============================================================================== To upgrade, double-click on the installation file (obs20.exe) in the Explorer window, or choose "Run" from the Start Menu and then select the application. If you are upgrading the current version of PSObserver (2.0.0 to 2.0.1) simply install the application over your existing PSObserver and the previous version will be backed up in a sub-folder called 'BACKUP' (if the option to keep a backup is selected during the installation). If you are evaluating a new version of Observer 2.0 and you already have an existing copy of Observer 1.0 or older, please select a new directory during the installation. =============================================================================== Note: For more information on the latest features and how to implement specific scenarios please go to: www.peersoftware.com/support/pl_documents.asp =============================================================================== =============================================================================== 2.0.0 PSObserver - 10/11/2007 =============================================================================== New Features - Removed option where users can manually set the time between status checks (cycles). The users will only have to provide the cycles before displaying the “Pending” and “Failed” colors. The Cycle interval will be automatically adjusted based on the common denominator of the two color cycle settings. - Added a new "Cycles" column which represents the Status Check cycle count. Previously the content in the ‘Current Status’ column would show a dot for each cycle passed since the last successful status update received from PeerSync. The "Cycles" column replaces this methodology by using a simple counter that represents when the last status information was received. The “cycle” interval tells the Observer when to check the activity and status of the items listed in the PeerSync and PeerLock Activity Panels. After each cycle the Observer will update the color display of the items accordingly. A "cycle" is determined internally by the number of seconds before displaying the "Pending" and "Failed" colors. The Observer determines the greatest common denominator between these two values as the cycle value (with some exceptions). If the greatest common denominator equals the "Pending" value, the next common denominator of the "Pending" and "Failed" settings is used. By default the Cycle values is 15. The maximum allowed Cycle value is 300 seconds (or five minutes) and the minimum is 1 second. - Added the "Enable Repetitive Broadcast" setting which ties into the "Always Enable Activity Reporting" feature. When this option is checked the user will be able to "Enable Repetitive Broadcast" and specify the broadcast interval. This sets the cycle of how often the Observer will broadcast messages to all PeerSyncs and PeerLocks running within the designated domain to begin transmitting status information to the Observer. The default value is 10 seconds. - Added new default Activity Monitoring Options settings. The "Number of Seconds Before Displaying Pending Color" is now 30 seconds. The "Number of Seconds Before Displaying Failed Color" is not 60 seconds. These two default settings will set the Cycle value to 15 seconds. - Enhanced the "Enable..." and "Disable Activity Reporting" right-click menu items to apply to PeerLock instances that run on the same machine as the PeerSync instance that receives these commands. The "Enable..." and "Disable Activity Reporting" options are only available on the right-click of an item on the PeerSync Activity Panel, however they now also affect/apply to PeerLock entries from the same computer as the PeerSync item that receives the commands. When activity has been disabled for PeerSync and PeerLock, the PeerSync and PeerLock entries affected would change their status to 'Disabled' followed by the reason why the Observer stopped receiving the activity. Only minimal information would be retained in the Activity Panels for the 'Disabled' connections. - Added ability for PeerLock entries to change their status if the Observer has not received new updates from PeerLock for a given period of time. Possible status values: Disabled Pending Locked Not Responding - Added ability for PeerLock entries to change their status color as PeerSync items. The Active/Receiving (White), Pending (Yellow), Failed (Red), and Finished (Dark Gray) colors will apply to PeerLock items. Paused and Failed-Idle will only apply to PeerSync items. - Enhanced the Activity Monitoring Options to apply to PeerLock items in addition to PeerSync items. The "Number of Seconds Before Displaying Pending Color" and the "Number of Seconds Before Displaying Failed Color" settings now apply to PeerLock activity items as well. - Added a new Status Level column to the PeerSync and PeerLock Activity Panels. This column represents the status level of each PeerSync and PeerLock entry (-1 to 5). 0 = Finished 1 = Receiving 2 = Paused 3 = Pending 4 = Failed-Idle 5 = Failed -1 = Disabled or Unknown This will allow for easy column sorting based on status. By default this column is not shown. - Added/Improved logic for PeerSync and PeerLock items that have been Disabled (i.e. the "Disable Activity Reporting" option has been selected). It now correctly reflects the reason why status information is not received (i.e. the status now shows "Disabled - Right Click to Enable Activity Reporting"). Additionally, the color of the entry will remain the "Receiving" color (default is White) and the Status Level would change to -1. - Added ability to refresh all active PeerSync or PeerLock entries by hitting F5 on the keyboard provided that the PeerSync or PeerLock Activity Panels are in focus. - Added ability for the Observer to set the interval by which PeerSync transmits status information to the Observer. By default, PeerSync sends status info to the Observer every 3 seconds. To modify this value, right-click on the desired PeerSync item and select "Set Transmit Frequency". Note: For accurate status display set the Sent Frequency interval to be smaller then the interval used "Before Displaying the Pending color". - Added ability for the Observer to send a command to PeerLock to update the Send Frequency interval. By default, PeerLock sends status info to the Observer every 3 seconds. To modify this value, right-click on the desired PeerLock item and select "Set Transmit Frequency". - Improved the "Set Transmit Frequency" dialog. The dialog will now display the frequency interval of the current selection instead of the default interval. Only once this value is changed can the user hit OK. Otherwise they can Cancel or Close the dialog. - Added new limitation where we now require the interval used "Before Displaying the Failed Color" to be equal to or larger then the interval used "Before Displaying the Pending Color". If the 'Failed' color interval is smaller then the 'Pending' interval, we set the 'Failed' interval to be equal to the 'Pending' interval. - Added a new maximum limit of 86400 seconds (24 hrs) for the interval "Before Displaying the [Pending]/[Failed] colors". - Enhanced Logging to include PeerLock activity. - Added a maximum limit of 300 seconds for the "Send Repetitive Broadcasts" interval. The default value is 10 seconds. - Added ability to manually “Add” or “Remove” a machine or domain from the “Settings” -> “Domain List” dialog. If the PSObserver is having problems receiving status information from PeerSyncs and PeerLocks running on the domain or across the VPN, open the “Domain List” dialog, right-click and select "Add New Item". Enter the name of the machine where PeerSync and PeerLock reside. Interface - Ability to receive PeerLock status information and display it in a separate table similar to the display available in PeerLock when running in an application mode. - Added "Locked" and "Released" PeerLock activity panel Tabs to maintain separate listings of locked or released files similar to the PeerLock application. - Added ability to show/hide, resize, reposition, and sort all PeerLock and PeerSync table columns. Each column size and index will be saved in the PSOBDEF.CFG file to be loaded each time the Observer is restarted. - Enhanced the Tab View activity panel. Added ability to reposition, resize, sort, and hide/show PeerSync columns that are in the Tab View. The position and index of columns can now be saved and stored in the PSOBDEF.CFG file. Each tab can be uniquely arranged and stored out. - Added logic to determine when the PeerLock panel should be shown by default. Unless the user manually enables or disables the PeerLock Activity Panel, the Observer will try to determine if PeerLock has been installed on the local machine or if is running on the network, and to automatically show the PeerLock Activity Panel. - Added divider between the PeerSync and PeerLock Activity Panels to allow for easy adjustment of panel heights. - Added ability to show/hide the PeerSync and PeerLock Activity Panels from the View -> Show PeerSync Activity Panel menu item. Either the PeerSync or PeerLock Activity Panels must be shown. Both Panels may not be disabled at the same time. - Restructured the View menu to distinguish between PeerSync, PeerLock, and common Observer settings. - Renamed Options dialog components to distinguish between settings that apply to PeerSync or PeerLock items/activities. - Renamed the "Sort List: Failed on Top" menu item to "Auto Sort Tables by Status Level" to better reflect the new and improved auto sorting mechanism where we now sort based on the "Status Level" column instead of colors. The "Auto Sort Tables by Status Level" setting applies to both PeerSync and PeerLock activities. - Added keyboard shortcuts for each of the options available in the Settings dialog. Other Miscellaneous Enhancements/Improvements/Changes - Fixed issue where the status color of a PeerSync entry would turn 'Yellow' each time the Cycle reached the interval set "Before Displaying the Pending Color". - Fixed issue where the Cycle value would be greater then the allowed maximum of 300 seconds (or five minutes). - Fixed an issue where each time the 'Pending' color cycle value reached the Observer Cycle value, the status color for each entry would change to Pending (Yellow). The Observer will now make sure that the Pending Color value does not equal the Observer Cycle value. If they do, we take the next common denominator of the Pending and Failed colors. - Fixed issue where the "Enable..." or "Disable Activity Reporting" PeerSync right-click activity pop-up menu items would not function properly when selected and items would not be disabled. - Fixed issue where the Cycles would continue incrementing once a PeerSync item has been Disabled (i.e. selecting the "Disable Activity Reporting" option). - Fixed issue where the "Scan for Available Domains" setting was not working properly. By default, it will now only scan and enable the current domain for running PeerSync and PeerLock instances. Other domains found will be listed but not enabled by default. - Fixed issue when turning on "Always Enable Activity Reporting" setting did not enable items that were disabled. The issue also was not working when using Tab mode. - Fixed an issue when the "Send Repetitive Broadcasts" period came around the PeerSync status would change to 'Not connected'. - Fixed issue where a status color change would not span the entire row. - Fixed/Improved issue where the "Sort List: Failed on Top" menu option would not work properly and on occasion only sort PeerSync items when one would enter the 'Failed' state. Items that failed would be brought to the top of the list, while 'Active' connections were at the bottom with no order in-between. All items will now be sorted at all levels based on the new 'Status Level' column. The "Auto Sort Tables by Status Level" setting applies to both PeerSync and PeerLock activities. - The maximum allowed Transmit Frequency interval is now 300 seconds instead of 360 seconds. - Fixed issue where if a PeerSync item had a long Transmit Frequency interval (i.e. 300 seconds), the user would not be able to reset it to a smaller interval. - Provide ability to manually add a machine name for the Observer to broadcast to directly (in order for running PeerSync and PeerLock instances to begin transmitting status information to the Observer). This ability comes in handy when the Observer is having problems receiving status information from PeerSync and PeerLocks running on the domain or across the VPN. =============================================================================== The proprietor of PSObserver is: Peer Software, Inc. 4155 Veterans Highway Suite 12 Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 Phone Number: (631) 979-1770 Fax Number: (631) 979-1870 Email: support@peersoftware.com Copyright © 1993-2007 Peer Software, Inc. PeerSync, PeerLock, PeerLink, PeerDRS, File-N-Sync, Save-N-Sync, Detect-N-Lock, PSObserver, Peer Scheduler and Peer-ISR are registered trademarks of Peer Software, Inc. 1993-2007 Peer Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Powered by OmniPeer Technology Trademark 2006 Composite Ideas, LLC All Rights Reserved. =============================================================================== Peer Software supports try-before-you-buy downloadable software to allow you to make an informed decision prior to purchasing. We hope our products suit your needs and we are interested in hearing any comments, ideas and/or recommendations you may have for our products. ===============================================================================