s!mpL3 LAN Messenger

[jaberwacky]

I sure will.  It'll have to wait a while though.  I'll keep in touch.

[jaberwacky]

I hid it and then unhid it and nothing happens.  Well, the window does hide and show but that's it.

[AoRaToS]

I hid it and then unhid it and nothing happens. Well, the window does hide and show but that's it.

I'm looking into this to see what might be causing it. Are you using any other AutoIt created apps at the same time? When you double-click the username, does the main window lose focus?

Edited March 30, 2015 by AoRaToS

[jaberwacky]

No to the first question.  And the second will have to wait a bit though.

[Simonozspray]

Hi AoRaToS

I've discovered your LAN Messenger and I love it. We have 5 computers connected. However, the 6th cannot connect to the network and comes up with an error:

"---------------------------

AutoIt Error

---------------------------

Line 5330 (File "C:UsersPennyDownloadsS!mpl3 LAN_Messenger.exe"):

 

Error: Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts or subscript dimension range exceeded.

---------------------------

OK

---------------------------"

The firewall has allowed LAN Messenger. Is there another setting somewhere?

Also, I tried to create an account on your webpage (http://www.simpl3.gr/) but there was a ReCaptcha error:

"ReCaptcha plugin needs a public key to be set in its parameters. please contact a site administrator".

Thanks

[AoRaToS]

Hi AoRaToS

I've discovered your LAN Messenger and I love it. We have 5 computers connected. However, the 6th cannot connect to the network and comes up with an error:

"---------------------------

AutoIt Error

---------------------------

Line 5330 (File "C:UsersPennyDownloadsS!mpl3 LAN_Messenger.exe"):

Error: Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts or subscript dimension range exceeded.

---------------------------

OK

---------------------------"

The firewall has allowed LAN Messenger. Is there another setting somewhere?

Also, I tried to create an account on your webpage (http://www.simpl3.gr/) but there was a ReCaptcha error:

"ReCaptcha plugin needs a public key to be set in its parameters. please contact a site administrator".

Thanks

Hello Simonozspray,

I will look into the website issue later today. Can you give me more information about the messenger crash? Does the application run normally until you click Connect? Does it crash when you click connect or later? Have you tried downloading a new copy of the exe?

[Simonozspray]

Thanks for the rapid response!
I've loaded the .exe file and it does not crash, but it cannot see any of the other computers. The others on the network can see each other without problems (this is a new computer and the others have been here for a while). There may be something wrong with the program as initially I could not get it to save the "Connect on Startup" tick box request, but eventually that worked when I ticked "Start in Hidden", saved this with the startup box also checked, then unchecked the hidden box. I've tried re-downloading the .exe file but it does not help.

Otherwise you have a really great messenger program here, has been working well for several months on the other computers.

Cheers

Simon

[AoRaToS]

Thanks for the rapid response!

I've loaded the .exe file and it does not crash, but it cannot see any of the other computers. The others on the network can see each other without problems (this is a new computer and the others have been here for a while). There may be something wrong with the program as initially I could not get it to save the "Connect on Startup" tick box request, but eventually that worked when I ticked "Start in Hidden", saved this with the startup box also checked, then unchecked the hidden box. I've tried re-downloading the .exe file but it does not help.

Otherwise you have a really great messenger program here, has been working well for several months on the other computers.

Cheers

Simon

I apologise in advance for the long post

Just to make sure I understand correctly,

The crash above happened once and after you downloaded the .exe again it doesn't crash anymore, right?

The other issue was with "Connect on startup" not being saved. This was fixed when you chose a different setting and saved.

There was an older version that had an issue with some of the settings but I remember fixing it. I have checked the code for the latest version and it seems to be ok.

Is the user account an Administrator? What Windows version are you running?

The preferences are stored in an .ini file in the local App Data folder. It's possible that this file somehow got corrupted. It's also possible that the issue is caused due to permission issues when trying to write to that file but that doesn't explain how it worked for another setting since they are both in the same file.

I will look into adding more error checking when saving the preferences so this can be isolated more easily in the future.

About the main issue which is not being able to see the other computers I will need to ask a few more questions.

Are you using version 2.9.8.6 on all computers?

I can rule out the problem being with s!mpL3 LAN Messenger as it works on the other 5 computers and I have tested it with more than 15 computers at the same time.

That leaves another 3 main causes so I will ask questions for each of them.

1) Settings

There is an "Encryption" setting is the Security section of Preferences, by default there is a code stored which could be the issue. If you haven't changed that setting it should be ok. All computers should have the same code there so if you've changed it on the other computers you should change it on this one as well.

If all the other computers have the default code I would suggest to do the following:

go to Preferences

choose the Maintenance tab (on the right, with the tools icon)

select the 2 top check boxes

click Remove

click Yes

Close the application, start the application again and follow the initial setup steps and see if it works.

2) Network configuration

Is the computer on the same subnet as the others?

What is the IP address of the computer having the issue? What are the IP addresses of the other computers?

Do the other computers see the computer that has the issue in their list? If you click refresh a few times?

3) Security software

I have come across multiple issues caused by security software. In one case, even with a rule in place to allow traffic it wasn't working. The software was uninstalled and it started working but re-installing the software brought the issue back. The computer was formatted for other reasons and was setup exactly the same and the issue was gone. The firewall configuration must have been corrupted.

I'm not saying you should format your computer or remove your security software of course, just to keep an open mind on what the cause of the issue might be

FYI, the only version I no longer test on is Windows Vista. I test on Windows 7, Windows 8.1 primarily and also have Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Edited March 31, 2015 by AoRaToS

[AoRaToS]

Fixed the captcha issue on the registration form of the website.

[Simonozspray]

Thanks for all your help.

I found out the new computer had a different version to all the others, so I gradually replaced the others. Every time I replaced an older version it became visible on the new one (ant the others using that version) so that was obviously the problem. However, when the next one went online the other new ones all got the error mentioned above ("AutoIt Error; Line 5330 (File "C:UsersPennyDownloadsS!mpl3 LAN_Messenger.exe"):;

Error: Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts or subscript dimension range exceeded." Semi-colons used instead of line breaks)). Interestingly, once I had all the computers online the errors ceased.

Next problem was the windows startup. Some computers accept the check box to be ticked, some don't but will accept it after "hidden" box is ticked (removed later), and one won't accept it ever no matter what I do. All run Win7, and I used exactly the same .exe file on all computers (copied over the network). All run AVG, and I allow the file in Windows Firewall. Anyway, I think I've resolved the issue by putting the .exe file in the Windows Startup folder. We'll see.

[AoRaToS]

Hello Simon,

The reason you were getting that error was indeed because of the older version running on the same network. I changed the way the newer version communicates so "|" characters are no longer removed as in older versions. I can fix this bug in an update so it doesn't cause a crash in the future.

Regarding the other issue, you previously said the "Connect on startup" option doesn't work but instead you meant the "Start with Windows" setting. That specific setting is different than the others because it writes to the Windows registry. It's possible that the user account doesn't have rights to do so. You can try running the application as administrator by right clicking it and choosing the option, then test the setting and see if it is stored correctly.

I will also review the code for that setting to see if there's something wrong since it saves when you choose the "hidden" setting. (I looked only at the other setting yesterday)

By the way if you go to Help -> About you can "Check for updates" or use the setting to do so at startup. (If the other computers have an internet connection)

Edited April 1, 2015 by AoRaToS

[AoRaToS]

I'm working on a few new features and bug fixes, part of the current change log:

- Changed to rich edit with URL detection

- Windows 10 notifications

- Disconnect will trigger when your computer goes to sleep/suspend mode, will re-connect when awake

- Various optimizations and bug fixes (resizable  conversation windows and more...)

 

New version to be released soon

[AoRaToS]

s!mpL3 LAN Messenger version 2.9.8.7 - [26/09/2015]

1. Made conversation windows resizable.

2. Changed the standard edit control for received messages to a rich edit control with URL detection. Clicking a link will open the webpage in your default browser.

3. Removed multiple message boxes showing up when connection changes were detected. All information will appear in one message box.

4. Added computer Sleep/Suspend detection. If your computer goes to sleep and s!mpL3 LAN Messenger is connected, it will now disconnect and when your computer wakes up, it will connect again.

5. Fixed a bug with "Hide in tray" not showing the password input and directly making windows appear when the "Password lock" option was enabled.

6. Added more error checking when sending/receiving files.

7. Changed File Transfer GUI size and added "Open Containing Folder" button to it when a file is received.

8. Added Windows 10 support and notifications.

9. Optimized internal communication mechanism.

10. Various other bug fixes and optimizations.

[AoRaToS]

s!mpL3 LAN Messenger version 2.9.8.8 - [30/09/2015]

1. Removed some test code that could cause message boxes to pop up for Windows versions prior to Windows 10.

Edited September 30, 2015 by AoRaToS

[AoRaToS]

Hello all,

If anyone wishes to translate s!mpL3 LAN Messenger to their language, please use the file below and send it back to me!

Thanks

English.ini

[AoRaToS]

I have received a few messages regarding how file transfer works and how I managed to get multiple simultaneous file transfers to work. Since this is the Example forum I decided to explain how it works here and maybe answer a few questions along the way.

My first issue when thinking of adding file transfers was that I would have to initiate a file transfer and have the main functions pause while the file was sent/received. I didn't like that idea so I looked into ways to work around it. I decided I would work on that problem after I was able to consistently send/receive files successfully so I worked on a simple script that would send and receive a file using the examples from AutoIt Help. After a few tries I got it to work the way I wanted it so I went back to the first problem.

I thought that the best way to work around the issue was to have my main program run a secondary program that would handle the file transfer, this way I would not have to pause the main program while the transfer takes place. I could have a "Sender" program run on one end and a "Receiver" program run on the other and make it work. Then I thought it would be better to have just one program with both functions inside and run the correct one for the action chosen. I started working on this idea and soon came across the first issue, I would need to pass information from the main program to the secondary program. After lots of thinking and searching I remembered something I had tried in the past using Run() so I tested it out.

This was the code I started working on to pass information from the main program to the other:

$iPID = Run('"' & @AutoItExe & '" /AutoIt3ExecuteScript "' & @DesktopDir & '\runtest.au3"' & ' ' & '1' & ' ' & 'help', "", @SW_HIDE)

(I ran into issues with quotes " ' " " ' " and opened a thread for help, I was given some great advise to use ConsoleWrite() instead of Run() to test the quotes)

and the other program: (runtest.au3 in this example)

If $CmdLine[1] = 1 Then
    MsgBox(0,"", "Hello")
ElseIf $CmdLine[1] = 2 Then
    MsgBox(0,"", $CmdLine[2])
Else
    MsgBox(0,"", "World")
EndIf

Changing the number 1 in the first script to 2 or anything else shows how the information is passed to the other.

I used this to start the secondary program in "Sender" or "Receiver" mode. So basically file transfer is based on the examples from the AutoIt Help file and I got multiple file transfers working the way I described above. There is a lot more happening in the background because having multiple programs running and each of them having a GUI showing the progress is another issue altogether, if anyone is interested in that, let me know.

Of course, the help from these forums is invaluable and without it every issue would be a lot harder to resolve.

[AoRaToS]

Hello everyone,

Any feature suggestions? Something you'd like to see in a new version?

[BatMan22]

Any chance you would be willing to release source code? I would love to replace what we use now with this.. (WinMessenger). Sent you a message.

[AoRaToS]

Soon I will post an updated version with a few fixes as well as some new features including:

- Added the ability to Block/Unblock users

- Added a right click context menu in the message viewer to select all or copy text

- Made message windows resizable and now their position and size is also saved and restored after closing them or quitting the application.

[AoRaToS]

s!mpL3 LAN Messenger 2.9.8.9 - [28/05/2019]

    1. Created a Block/Unblock mechanism. Added a Block option to the right click context menu of the TreeView which blocks the user you've chosen. Using the menu bar you can view the blocked users and unblock them. Blocked users will be removed from your list and you will be removed from theirs.

    2. Added a context menu in the main edit control of conversation windows with the options: "Select All" (enabled if there is text and is not already all selected) and "Copy" (if there is text selected), since these were not available after changing to a Rich Edit control.

    3. Added an Auto-Update feature. When this is turned on (which requires checking for updates on s!mpL3 LAN Messenger startup) and an update is found, it will proceed automatically without any prompts. This also allows for "Start Hidden" (as long as either the tray icon or the hotkey is set) to be enabled at the same time and all prompts of the update are suppressed.

    4. Added a LAN Update feature. When this feature is turned on, if another user connects to the same LAN as you and is running a newer version of s!mpL3 LAN Messenger, you will be prompted to update to that version. This allows for updating even when computers on a network do not have internet access. If you decline the update, you won't be informed again until you restart the application. The option can be turned off from Edit->Preferences->General->LAN Update.

    5. Conversation window positions are now saved so they open where they were left the last time. You can reset their position by going to Edit->Preferences->Maintenance and clicking the related option.

    6. Fixed a lot of small bugs.

Edited June 13, 2019 by AoRaToS
removed links to older version 2.9.8.9