EwebCache User's Guide ver. 1.80

EwebCache User Guide .

 

  • Introduction
  • Installation
  • Quick_Start
  • Scan_Cache
  • Save_Pages
  • Scan_Favorites
  • Find_in_Cache
  • Options
  • Open_Cookies
  • Registration
  • Legal
  • Revisions
  • Troubles
  • Upgrades
  • Index
  • INTRODUCTION

    Description and purpose

    The Internet provides a huge selection of web sites for "surfers". These sites contain pages brimming with rich graphical content and informative text. Internet Explorer's File | Save provides a way to save a page in the computer for later viewing - unfortunately it doesn't always save all the graphics that would add much more enjoyment to our off-line cache browsing.
    EwebCache to the rescue!... Making use of a little known or understood Internet Explorer resource called the cache, EwebCache recaptures both the text and graphics and saves them in a way that permits Internet Explorer to revisit the web site off-line and at your convenience. Click a link and then navigate the Web site reliving the excitement, saving pages or making bookmarks (Favorites).

    EwebCache can be used with Internet Explorer ver. 4.x, 5.x or 6.x as a utility for off-line (cache) browsing. When Scan Cache is activated it will make CACHE.HTM Web page. This page is the sorted list of all http, gopher and ftp addresses of files which exist in the local cache.

    While Internet Explorer saves and displays only the last 10 addresses, the number of addresses EwebCache displays is unlimited. The CACHE.HTM list may also be used while surfing on-line (when connected to the Internet).

    While CACHE.HTM is just an index of what is currently in cache, complete pages (with pictures) may be saved permanently on local disk. Once saved, pages may be copied to another disk/ diskette/ computer. This is done with the EwebCache Go | Save pages function.

    How the cache works?
    When surfing Internet Explorer stores copies of all the pages and their contents in a special Cache directory on your hard drive. Internet Explorer's cache contents are not permanent. When the size of the cache becomes bigger than its set limit, Internet Explorer erases the oldest files. This happens normally when closing Internet Explorer but can also happen while surfing. So to see all pages that exist in cache, try using EwebCache. Pages which are still in Internet Explorer's cache, using EwebCache's Save pages feature can be permanently saved allowing you to view them again at your convenience.

    Other uses of EwebCache include filtering of Favorites (bookmarks) and making it printable with visible addresses.

    EwebCache has 3 menus: Go, Options and Help. Functions Scan Cache, Find in Cache,  Scan Favorites and Save pages may be accessed through the Go menu or using the first 4 buttons on the main screen while Open Cookies is accessed from the menu only.

    Options apply to all 3 main functions. Functions are independent and there is no particular order in which they must be used.

    QUICK START

    OK ! - you are anxious to see EwebCache in action. First open EwebCache. It is best to use it after on-line surfing.

    Click Scan Cache button to produce a list (cache index) of the sites that you can revisit in Internet Explorer's cache. Click Yes on the result dialogue box. Now you may browse your cache using the Html list (whether connected to the Internet or not). Internet Explorer should be in offline mode to surf from cache (menu File/Work Offline).

    Note:
    There are two ways to investigate cache:
    1) by clicking on a list appearing within the EwebCache main window (right-click for menu)
    2) by browsing output file CACHE.HTM within the browser. This file may be automatically loaded into the browser if General option Auto browse is checked.
    3) Since some versions of Internet Explorer do not refresh the cache index even when closing Internet Explorer, it might be necessary to reboot the computer to see the latest surf session.

    If you wish to save pages from a site,  click Go then  Save Pages and write the URL address of that site (or mark desired address on a Cache list and right-click to Save pages.  (Pages with their content will be permanently saved in the specified directory.)

    When you want to use Internet Explorer on-line again use Explorer menu File/ Work Offline, or you can do it through EwebCache Go | Run Internet Explorer (F5).

    You can use Find in Cache feature to get only those pages with specific content (words).

    For further help press the F1 key on any dialog or use the Help menu.

    That's it .. have fun!

    Do read the following sections at a later time to insure that you are fully aware of EwebCache's many features:

    How to Scan Cache  ,  Find in CacheSave Pages  , Scan Favorites  ,  Open Cookies  ,  Use Options

    INSTALLATION GUIDE

    Hardware and other requirements

    IBM-PC 486 or better running Windows 95 /98 /XP /2000, VGA card with 256 or more colors.
    Program uses less than 550 Kbytes of hard disk space and works with Internet Explorer ver. 4.x - 6.x.

    Installation (Win 95/Win 98/NT/2000)

    EwebCache will not change your system settings in any way, so don't worry. First unzip distribution file ewcaXXX.zip to some temporary directory, say c:\temp. Then run the SETUP program. Click on Start Installation. When this is done, a new group appears on the desktop. To run the program, open the EwebCache group and double click on EwebCache. You may also click  the EwebCache icon on the desktop.

    In EwebCache, first click on Options then Configure. EwebCache must establish paths to the INDEX.DAT and IEXPLORE.EXE files  and also to the FAVORITES folder. The program will search the disks to find them. Answer Yes three times (when it finds the files you want to use). EwebCache is now ready to use.

    Notes:

    Uninstall

    To uninstall it just click on the Setup icon labeled UNINSTALL, then delete the EwCache directory if still there, after you have saved your localized pages to another place.

    2. USING THE PROGRAM TO SCAN CACHE

      Run EwebCache before you want to browse pages off-line. Click on the Scan Cache button and wait for the Result message. Click on Yes to run the browser, No to copy CACHE.HTM address to clipboard .

      Note:
      There are two ways to investigate the cache:
      1) by clicking on the cache list appearing within the EwebCache's main window. You can also click on a column caption to sort the list by Url/ page title/ date etc. or right-click for menu.
      2) by browsing output file CACHE.HTM within the browser. This file may be automatically loaded into the browser if General option  Auto browse is checked. If not, you can load it using menu Go| Browse cache index or by clicking on the first line in the cache list. These last two methods work only after the cache is scanned.

      If you did not run Internet Explorer from within EwebCache, then in Internet Explorer use File| Open file to view CACHE.HTM index file located in the EwCache directory or click on Internet Explorer's Location field and press Ctrl-V to paste the address from clipboard.

      Click on the desired address in the Html list. The desired page shows in a new browser window or in the old one, depending on EwebCache option: Options | Show | New window. If in a new window, you may move it so both the index and desired pages are visible. You may click further on colored (visited) addresses or choose another address in the index list.

      You may always return to CACHE.HTM file using the menu Back button and choosing : * Cache contents *.
      You can add CACHE.HTM file to favorites, to be able to access it later as any other location. The CACHE.HTM list can be sorted alphabetically by page addresses or by surfing date. It can be changed in Options | Sort dialog box. The list may also be filtered and all pictures/ media files listed.

    To avoid messages saying that a connection is not established (or modem dialing while browsing cache off-line), you should change browser option to:

    When you want to use the browser on-line again, restore this option to what it was before.

    Note: Work Offline is set automatically by EwebCache:
    - when you run the browser from Scan Cache Result dialog it will set it to Work Offline (good for off-line browsing),
    - when closing or using Go | Run Browser, EwebCache resets it to Work Online (good for on-line browsing).
    That all happens only  if General option  Set Offline is checked.

    Scan cache tips:


     

    USING THE PROGRAM TO FIND PAGES IN CACHE

      This is similar to Scan Cache and all considerations explained there are valid here. The difference is that here some specific text is given by user and only those pages containing this text will be listed. For example if you input words "New England", only pages having this text will be listed. Pages found this way may be also permanently saved in second step. Option List pictures does not apply for finding pages. Remember that program searches any text within the body of the page, so found word(s) might be visble text or part of the URL address or some code. If the word is not visible,  View Source menu command within Internet Explorer reveals where this word is.


     

    USING THE PROGRAM TO OPEN COOKIES

      Cookies are little text files with user information which some servers put in your computer. Sometimes the user is not even aware of it; so it is good to sometimes browse those files to see what is in it. When Go| Open cookies is activated, the window will show all the cookies. Double-clicking on each cookie opens it in text editor. You can also delete individual cookies by clicking on them and pressing the Del key.


     

    TROUBLESHOOTING AND LIMITATIONS

    Limitations

    If there are more than 10000 addresses extracted, or if the length of an address is longer than 250 characters then address checking for duplicates and address sorting is skipped (for those addresses). Those addresses appear on top of the listing.

    Troubleshooting

    Trouble #1 - WHAT IF IT DOES NOT WORK?

    Trouble #2 - IT WORKS BUT THERE ARE ADDRESSES IN CACHE.HTM WHICH SEEM NOT TO EXIST IN LOCAL CACHE ?

    Trouble #3 - IT WORKS BUT SOME SURFED ADDRESSES DO NOT APPEAR IN CACHE.HTM ?

    Trouble #4 - MODEM ALWAYS TRY TO DIAL INTERNET WHEN SURFING OFF-LINE?


    USING THE PROGRAM TO SCAN FAVORITES

    Internet Explorer keep bookmark files in the folder FAVORITES in the form of many small files.

    Menu Go | Scan Favorites enables filtering of favorites and also it can make bookmarks printable with visible addresses. This function collects all favorites in a single index file FAVORITE.HTM  in EwCache directory. You may send this page to a friend or copy it to another computer to get access to your favorite links.. FAVORITE.HTM file may be viewed by:

    1) using Internet Explorer menu File | Open| Browse file or print by File | Print.
    2) using EwebCache [Output lists] button and clicking on FAVORITE.HTM.
    3) same may be done using EwebCache menu Go| Browse favorites (it works only after favorites are scanned).
    4) This file may be automatically loaded into browser if General option  Auto browse is checked.

    All options apply to Scan Favorites except Server separation, New window and Sort.
     

    USING THE PROGRAM TO SAVE PAGES

    As you know, cache contents is of temporary nature. If one wants to save page(s) permanently, selected pages and its pictures must be copied into a separate directory and then addresses on those pages must be changed (localized) to point to local files instead of remote sites. EwebCache's Save pages command performs both tasks.

    PREPARE TO SAVE PAGES....

    Use Go | Save Pages to save complete pages. Type the address of the page you want to save or only the server address if you want all pages from this server to be saved. Any unique part of the address may be entered. If you don't know an exact address, or what is available, first use EwebCache to Scan cache. Thereafter you have 2 options:

    For example:

    Assume the web site (server) name is http://www.mapworld.com

    and the pages you viewed were:

    Note: a comma is used to separate entries. Number of entries is not limited but total length of addresses is 250 characters.

    A shortcut address which will save EVERYTHING in the cache is '/ ' (without the quote marks). Check free disk space first.

    Next type-in the name of the local directory to be used to copy those files. By default pages are saved in C:\Program files\EwCache\LOCAL.H directory (if Local directory field is empty). If this directory exists and is not empty, the user will be asked if he wishes to delete existing files or to use it as is. If the old files had index _INDEX0a.HTM and files are not deleted, the new index will be _INDEX0b.HTM. The new index will also list old indexes for easy browsing. It is recommended that a large number of files not be put in a single directory (more than 1000): because saving will take longer and there may be problems with naming local files or the DOS file system.

    There are additional Save settings:

    Before saving files (by pressing Do It! button) you might want to alter the appearance and contents of the _INDEX0?.HTM file which will be found in the Localization directory. Do this by changing Options | Filter and Options | Show.

    VIEWING SAVED PAGES...

    Saved pages index appear in browser when you answer Yes on Result dialog box. To view ALL previously saved pages in all sub directories of the EwebCache directory use EwebCache menu: Go | Browse Saved Pages. This pages will be listed in SAVED.HTM list.
    You have 3 ways to investigate saved pages:
    1) by double-clicking the SAVED.HTM list appearing within the EwebCache [Output lists] window. In that list you can also click on a column caption to sort list by Url/ page title/ date etc.
    2) by clicking on a directory (*.H) where saved files are located (EwebCache [Output lists] window)
    3) by browsing output file _INDEX0?.HTM within the browser. This file may be automatically loaded into the browser if General option  Auto browse is checked.

    SAVING REMARKS


    Copy files function

    If you want to copy several lines (files) from Cache ListView you can do it more quickly using menu Go/ List Cache copy (or clicking right mouse button to get pop-up menu in Cache ListView). Files will be copied from cache to COPY.H directory. Keep in mind that saving pages as is done with the [Save Pages] button produces localized pages with adjusted local addresses and all page items (pictures, links, etc.), while the ListCache copy command produces a simple physical copy of remote Html or picture file(s). Copy URL function copies selected address from Cache ListView to the clipboard.

    OPTIONS

    All options apply to Scan Cache, Find in Cache, Scan Favorites and Save pages except Server separation and New window which do not apply to Scan Favorites, and Sorting options which applies to Scan Cache only. A note: changing of most options will take effect only for future actions (Scan, Find, Save).

    Filtering options

    Show options

    Sorting options

    Sorting options are used to change the order of lines which appear in CACHE.HTM list. Sorting may be:

    General options

    Save options is used to save settings of all the above options so the same settings will appear next time you run the program. If options are changed and not saved the program will ask you if you want to save options when you try to close EwebCache.

    Restore default options is used to return options to installed defaults.

    Load configuration/ Save configuration as is used to save/ restore specific configuration of EwebCache for specific purpose or for other EwebCache user. All Options and Configuration paths are saved/ restored.

    Configure option is used to change paths to IEXPLORE.EXE (to be able to run it), INDEX.DAT (file which contains cache information) and FAVORITES (folder with your bookmarks), as explained in the Installation section. This option is used on first run or when you install a new version of Internet Explorer or EwebCache.

    LEGAL

    This program is tested and believed to be free of bugs. There is however no guarantee that this program will perform expected duty, and that it will not harm your machine, data or user in any way.

    Mentioned hardware and software products are (c) of their producers. This program is SHAREWARE and requires payment to the author. Commercial use requires license by the author.

    You may re-distribute complete unmodified package to BBS, Internet, CD-ROM, providing:

    ORDER FORM - REGISTRATION

    This program is SHAREWARE and requires payment to the author. It is the full feature version and free to test for 1 month. After 1 month you will have to register to have full version or stop using it.

    Feel free to write me comments using e-mail or picture card.

    PRICE NEW USER : 15 US$ or equivalent in convertible currency.

    PRICE UPGRADE USER: 7 US$ or equivalent in convertible currency.

    Send filled registration form by mail together with one of:

    1. bankers check payable to the address below.
    2. send cash in opaque (non transparent) envelope  to the address below.
    3. Experience shows that personal checks (the kind you use in local stores) or bankers checks from the USA, Canada and European Union banks are accepted. (EuroChecks and postal checks are NOT accepted.)

    e-mail: davor.zorc@fsb.hr

    homepage: http://www.fsb.hr/~dzorc

    When you do this send e-mail and I will send you registration code as soon as I get e-mail. Money you send will be used for future program improvements. You get also free registered upgrades within at least 6 months. If you have some special situation regarding money you may also apply.

    To register:
    1) double click on ORDERFRM.TXT in EwebCache group.
    2) Fill this form, print it and send it by mail with your payment.
    3) Send me e-mail and you will soon receive Registration Name and Registration Code  which you may enter in EwebCache make unlimited registered copy. Once registered, the same menu item will show your name.

    <-------------------------- cut here order form -------------------------->

    ___________________________________________________________________

    Registration form for : EwebCache

    ___________________________________________________________________

    Name:____________________________ Address: ________________________

    City, State: ____________________________ Country: ________________

    Zip:__________________ e-mail: _______________________________

    Windows ver.:_____ Explorer ver.:______ EwebCache ver.:_1.80__

    Delivery: 3 1/2" diskette [ ] e-mail [ ] code only [ ]

    Included US$:_____________ cash [ ] check [ ] other [ ]

    Comments, suggestions for future updates, bugs, complaints:

    ___________________________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    Where did you get this file:

    ___________________________________________________________________

    <-------------------------- cut here order form -------------------------->
     


     

    UPGRADES

    Latest version may be found on SimTel repository:
    ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/webbrows/

    or using Web browser at: http://www.simtel.net or http://www.hotfiles.com and search for: EwebCache.

    There are many mirror sites of those archives around the world.

    Please visit EwebCache homepage : http://www.fsb.hr/~dzorc/ewcache.html
     

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    Many thanks to Peter Rader for his suggestions and help on making help file.

    I am grateful to my friend Leonardo Jelenkovic for much of what I know about computers.

    Thanks to Borland for finest program development tools on earth.

    I also want to thank many users from USA, Germany, Pakistan, Britain, Brazil, Spain, France, Canada, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Italy, Austria, Israel, Swiss, Macedonia, Netherlands, Philippines and other countries for their comments and support.


     

    REVISIONS HISTORY