Version 2.11

• Known Problems
• Changes in This Version
• Downloadable Packages
• Installing the Full Version
• Applying the Upgrade Patch

Known Problems

There remains a keyboard focus problem when using the VolanoChat applet with Oracle Java 7 on Mac OS X and the Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

When you launch the applet and the main applet window opens, it is difficult to assign the keyboard focus to the user name text field with the mouse. One simple work-around is to click somewhere else after the applet window appears, such as the Web browser window or the desktop, and then click back to the applet text field. This technique of forcing the keyboard focus elsewhere and then back to the applet solves the problem, and the applet works normally afterwards.

A permanent solution to this problem will be provided in the next update.

Changes in This Version

Version 2.11 includes the changes listed below:

• This version works around the bug in Oracle Java 7 on Mac OS X that disables the enter and return keys in the text fields of the applets.

• The default values for three applet properties are modified to reflect the new method used to receive key codes in the applet text fields. The applet properties and their new default values are:

  key.ignore.ctrl=V
  key.ignore.meta=V
  key.ignore.shift=\u009b
  

  The key codes represent the new way to disable the Ctrl-V, Command-V, and Shift-Insert keyboard shortcuts for pasting text into the text fields. If you disable these keyboard shortcuts or any others, you should update your applet property files to reflect the new key codes. The applet properties are found in the files:

  webapps/ROOT/vcclient/dutch.txt, english.txt, ..., spanish.txt
  

• The applet archives are provided in new formats allowing for greater compression and much smaller download sizes, shown below in kilobytes for each of the three archive formats:

  Applet	.jar (kB)	.jar.gz (kB)	.jar.pack.gz (kB)
  VolanoChat	87	65	27
  MyVolanoChat	77	57	25
  WebVolanoChat	60	44	20

  The former .cab and .zip archives and normal Java .class files found in previous versions are removed, as all Java Plug-ins available today support the single .jar Java archive format for applets.

• All of the VOLANO chat server and applet programs are built with the latest Java 7 Update 7 Development Kit (August 2012) but still remain backwards-compatible with older Java virtual machines.

  Specifically, the VOLANO chat server still requires only Java version 1.3 (May 2000) or later, while the VOLANO chat applets can still run in Java plug-ins going all the way back to version 1.1 (February 1997) or later.

Downloadable Packages

Download version 2.11 of the VOLANO chat software from the list below. The contents of the .zip and .tar.gz archives are identical except for the newline characters of the text files. The .zip archives contain text files with end-of-line markers for Windows systems (CR+LF), while the .tar.gz archives contain text files with end-of-line markers for Unix-like systems (LF).

Full version

volano-2.11.0.zip

the full version 2.11 package for Microsoft Windows operating systems.

volano-2.11.0.tar.gz

the full version 2.11 package for Unix-like operating systems such as GNU/Linux, Apple Mac OS X, Oracle Solaris, and FreeBSD.

Upgrade patch

patch-2.11.0.zip

the upgrade patch to version 2.11 from version 2.10 for Microsoft Windows operating systems.

patch-2.11.0.tar.gz

the upgrade patch to version 2.11 from version 2.10 for Unix-like operating systems such as GNU/Linux, Apple Mac OS X, Oracle Solaris, and FreeBSD.

MD5 message digests

md5sum-2.11.0.txt

the MD5 message digests for verifying the downloaded files using md5sum.

Installing the Full Version

Installing and running the full version of the VOLANO chat software involves four steps:

1. Download and unpack the archive file.
2. Get a trial license key for your server.
3. Start the VOLANO chat server.
4. Connect with the applet.

Follow the steps below depending on whether you are installing the VOLANO chat server on a Unix-like system or a Windows system.

Unix-like systems

To install the VOLANO chat software on a Unix-like system such as GNU/Linux, Apple Mac OS X, Oracle Solaris, and FreeBSD:

1. Download the volano-2.11.0.tar.gz file and unpack it with the command:

   tar -xf volano-2.11.0.tar.gz
   

2. Generate a trial license for the IP address of your server and replace the volano-2.11.0/conf/key.txt file with your generated license key.

3. Change to the VOLANO chat server directory and start the server with the commands:

   cd volano-2.11.0
   ./startup.sh
   

4. Go to the address http://localhost:8080/vcclient/ to connect with the applet on the same machine running the server. If you are connecting from another machine, replace localhost with the host name of the machine running the server.

Windows systems

To install the VOLANO chat software on a Windows system:

1. Download the volano-2.11.0.zip file. Right-click the file and select Extract All... from the context menu. Follow the instructions in the Extraction Wizard, selecting the folder where you want the volano-2.11.0 directory to be placed. Below is the setting to extract the VOLANO software to the C:\ drive.

   

2. Generate a trial license for the IP address of your server and replace the volano-2.11.0\conf\key.txt file with your generated license key.

3. Open the Command Prompt. Change to the VOLANO chat server directory and start the server with the commands:

   cd volano-2.11.0
   startup32
   

   The startup32 command starts the VOLANO chat server using the 32-bit Java 7 HotSpot Client VM. The startup64 command starts the VOLANO chat server using the 64-bit Java 7 HotSpot Server VM.

   See the documentation for details about starting the VOLANO chat server as a Windows Service to avoid the Command Prompt altogether.

4. Go to the address http://localhost:8080/vcclient/ to connect with the applet on the same machine running the server. If you are connecting from another machine, replace localhost with the host name of the machine running the server.

Applying the Upgrade Patch

Applying the upgrade patch to an existing VOLANO chat server version 2.10 installation involves five steps:

1. Stop the VOLANO chat server.
2. Save a backup copy of the version 2.10 code.
3. Download and unpack the archive file.
4. Start the VOLANO chat server.
5. Connect with the applet.

Follow the steps below depending on whether you are applying the upgrade patch on a Unix-like system or a Windows system.

Unix-like systems

To apply the patch to VOLANO chat server version 2.10 on a Unix-like system such as GNU/Linux, Apple Mac OS X, Oracle Solaris, and FreeBSD:

1. Stop the VOLANO chat server.

2. Save a backup copy of the version 2.10 code for recovery purposes by renaming the following JAR file and two directories:

   Server JAR file:
       volano-2.10.0/lib/volano-chat-server.jar
           ==> volano-chat-server.jar.old
   Servlet directory:
       volano-2.10.0/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/classes
           ==> classes.old
   Applet directory:
       volano-2.10.0/webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano
           ==> volano.old
   

3. Download the patch-2.11.0.tar.gz file and unpack it into the existing VOLANO chat server version 2.10 installation directory.

   cd volano-2.10.0
   tar -xmf patch-2.11.0.tar.gz
   

   The -m option updates the modification times of the extracted files to the current time so Web site visitors will be sure to pick up the new applet files instead of the old ones in their browser and Java Plug-in caches.

   The patch archive installs the following files into the current directory where you unpack it:

   lib/volano-chat-server.jar
   webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/lib/volano-chat-servlets.jar
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/Agent.class
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/MyVolanoChat.jar
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/MyVolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/MyVolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/VolanoChat.jar
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/VolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/VolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/WebVolanoChat.jar
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/WebVolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps/ROOT/vcclient/COM/volano/WebVolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   

   Note: If you moved the public vcclient directory to your Web server root directory, you'll need to copy the new applet files there.

4. Change to the VOLANO chat server directory and start the server with the commands:

   cd volano-2.10.0
   ./startup.sh
   

   You should see messages like the following:

   java version "1.6.0_24"
   OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.11.4) (6b24-1.11.4-1ubuntu0.12.04.1)
   OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.0-b12, mixed mode)
   VOLANO(TM) Chat Server Version 2.11.0
   Copyright (c) 1996-2012 Volano Software
   Loading server properties from "/home/volano/volano-2.10.0/conf/properties.txt".
   www.example.com:8000 (192.168.1.1:8000) VolanoChatPro - unlimited connections.
   Apache Tomcat/4.1.40
   

   Note the updated version number (2.11.0) and copyright date (2012).

5. Go to the address http://localhost:8080/vcclient/ to connect with the applet on the same machine running the server. If you are connecting from another machine, replace localhost with the host name of the machine running the server.

Windows systems

To apply the patch to VOLANO chat server version 2.10 on a Windows system:

1. Stop the VOLANO chat server.

2. Save a backup copy of the version 2.10 code for recovery purposes by renaming the following JAR file and two directories:

   Server JAR file:
       volano-2.10.0\lib\volano-chat-server.jar
           ==> volano-chat-server.jar.old
   Servlet directory:
       volano-2.10.0\webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\classes
           ==> classes.old
   Applet directory:
       volano-2.10.0\webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano
           ==> volano.old
   

3. Download the patch-2.11.0.zip file. Right-click the file and select Extract All... from the context menu. Follow the instructions in the Extraction Wizard, selecting the VOLANO chat server version 2.10 folder where you want the patch applied. Below is the setting to extract the patch to the folder at the location C:\volano-2.10.0.

   

   If you use a command-line unzip program to extract the files instead of the Windows Extraction Wizard, add the -DD command option. The -DD option of many unzip programs suppresses the timestamp restoration for all extracted files and directories, setting the timestamps to the current time. With current timestamps, your Web site visitors will be sure to pick up the new applet files instead of the old ones in their browser and Java Plug-in caches.

   The patch archive installs the following files into the folder where you unpack it:

   lib\volano-chat-server.jar
   webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\lib\volano-chat-servlets.jar
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\Agent.class
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\MyVolanoChat.jar
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\MyVolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\MyVolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\VolanoChat.jar
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\VolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\VolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\WebVolanoChat.jar
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\WebVolanoChat.jar.gz
   webapps\ROOT\vcclient\COM\volano\WebVolanoChat.jar.pack.gz
   

   Note: If you moved the public vcclient directory to your Web server root directory, you'll need to copy the new applet files there.

4. Open the Command Prompt. Change to the VOLANO chat server directory and start the server with the commands:

   cd volano-2.10.0
   startup
   

   You should see messages like the following:

   java version "1.7.0_09"
   Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_09-b05)
   Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.5-b02, mixed mode)
   VOLANO(TM) Chat Server Version 2.11.0
   Copyright (c) 1996-2012 Volano Software
   Loading server properties from "C:\volano-2.10.0\conf\properties.txt".
   www.example.com:8000 (192.168.1.1:8000) VolanoChatPro - unlimited connections.
   Apache Tomcat/4.1.40
   

   Note the updated version number (2.11.0) and copyright date (2012).

5. Go to the address http://localhost:8080/vcclient/ to connect with the applet on the same machine running the server. If you are connecting from another machine, replace localhost with the host name of the machine running the server.