Site Searcher Documentation
Version 1.0
March 27, 1999
Copyright 1999 Zackware
Table Of Contents
THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.
Good computer software procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program.
Have you ever tried searching the web for a particular file, only to quit in frustration after wading through twenty web pages? Or, do you know of a web site that has a lot of great content, but you don’t want to take the time to download everything from that web site manually? Site Searcher was designed to solve these problems. Site Searcher will search web sites for the files you specify, automatically following links to other web sites. Files can be specified by extension, so it is possible to search for ZIP files, JPG files, or any other type of files. When Site Searcher finds a file, it can be downloaded automatically, or you can download it manually.
Site Searcher uses many features of Windows 95 (and above) to make this process as streamlined as possible. It is possible to be exploring 5 web sites and downloading 200 files at the same time, with no interruption to Site Searcher, or any other running applications.
We feel that you’ll find Site Searcher an indispensable tool for mining the web.
Site Searcher works by basically reading the code that makes up web pages. When you tell Site Searcher to "browse" a web page, it downloads the code that makes up that web page, and looks for two things. It first tries to find any references to a file. If it finds one, and the file matches all the criteria you set up in Options, that file is a candidate for download. The second thing that Site Searcher does, is search for references to other web pages. When it finds one, it looks at a different set of criteria to determine if that web page should be added to the list of valid web pages.
On the most basic level, Site Searcher will just add all the files and web pages it finds to a list that you can see in it’s window. You can then decide to either download the files, or browse the web pages that it finds. If you set up some of the more advanced features of Site Searcher, you can have it automatically follow the web pages it finds, and also automatically download the files it finds. You have a substantial amount of control over these aspects. You can specify how many sites to automatically explore, and you can specify exactly what kind of files you’d like to download.
Site Searcher Installation & Uninstallation
Site Searcher does not yet have a proper installer. As such, installation is slightly more complicated then the typical program. You should be familiar with unzipping files, and creating shortcuts in Windows.
Site Searcher is distributed in a ZIP file format. You must have a program that will allow you to "unzip" the distribution file. If you do not have one, we recommend WinZip, which is available at www.winzip.com.
To install Site Searcher, simply unzip the distribution file into the directory you wish Site Searcher to be installed into, for example "c:\ssearcher". After unzipping the distribution file, you will probably want to create a shortcut to it, or place it in your Start menu.
To uninstall Site Searcher, simply remove the Site Searcher executable file and/or directory. No registry entries are maintained, so it is as simple as that.
Here are a few words that this document will use that has special meaning for this application.
This is a screen shot of Site Searcher in action.
This screen is broken into two main areas or "panes". The left pane will hold a list of all web sites that have been found, and the right pane will show all files that have been found that match your criteria. These panes are described in detail below. What items show up in these panes are dependent on how you have many of Site Searchers options set up.
There is also a typical Windows menu bar, a toolbar, and a status bar. The menu bar and all it’s items will be discussed below. The toolbar has several buttons on it that act as shortcuts to many of the menu items. They will not be discussed in detail. Instead, refer to the menu item descriptions to learn what they do.
The status bar will display useful information about the progress of Site Searcher. Near the right side of the status bar are three small boxes that also convery status information. The first area will slowly fill up with as Site Searcher works. This allows you to see that Site Searcher is in fact doing something. The next box shows how many web sites Site Searcher is browsing. The last box shows how many files are being downloaded by Site Searcher.
Next, we go into more detail about the two main portions of the interface.
This area of the window show various information about the various sites that Site Searcher has or is searching. Any site listing that has a + in front of it can be expanded by left-clicking on the +, or by double clicking on the line itself. When you tell Site Searcher to explore a web site, it will add any other web sites that it finds underneath the original web site.
There are three possible icons that show up in front of the site name that represent the state of that site.
This site has not been browsed.
This site is currently being browsed.
This site has already been browsed.
It is also possible to bring up a context sensitive menu by right clicking on the list of sites. This menu has some of the same entries that the "Site" menu has. Those items are described below in the "Menu Bar" section.
If you double click on a site, Site Searcher will browse that site.
This area of the Site Searcher window shows information about files that have been found that match your file search criteria. It may also show the size of each file that it has found, but has not yet downloaded. It is possible to select files from the file list area for downloading. The normal Windows extended selection operations work in this window. You can "shift click" to select several sequential files, or use CTRL keys to select multiple non-sequential files.
The file size column of this pane may or may not be filled, depending on how you have your options set up. In some cases, it is not possible to find the size of a file before Site Searcher downloads it. In this case <Unknown> will show up in this column. Other times, Site Searcher may not try to determine the file size, and in this case this column will be blank. Otherwise, this column will show the number of bytes the file is in length.
It is also possible to bring up a context sensitive menu by right clicking in this area of the window. This menu has some of the same entries that the "File" menu has. Those items are described below in the "Menu Bar" section.
If you double click on a file, Site Searcher will add that file to the internal download list.
Site Searcher’s menu bar contains several sub menus that allow you to access the many features of Site Searcher. These menus will be discussed in the order that they show up in the Menu Bar. Note that many of these menu items can be accessed by right-clicking in various portions of the window, or by using the toolbar.
File Menu
This menu contains primarily items related with files that Site Searcher has found. These items are described below:
You can also specify if you only want to find one item in the file list, or all files that contain the text that you entered.
When you are done making your selections, press "OK" to do the search, or "Cancel" to abort.
If Site Searcher finds one or more files, it will automatically select them. Finding files this way is useful when used in conjunction with the "Download Selected" or "Remove Selected" menu items.
Site Menu:
This menu contains items relating to searching web sites. These items are described below:
You can either press "OK" to do the add the site to the site pane, or "Cancel" to abort.
Once you add a site to, it will automatically be browsed by Site Searcher. It will show up alphabetically in the list of top level sites.
View Menu:
This menu contains items related to viewing various areas of the user interface. These items are described below:
This window helps you control the many features of Site Searcher. Some of these options are a bit difficult to understand, but by learning how to use them, you will get the best results.
Local Site Options:
External Site Options:
File Options:
Miscellaneous Options:
OK: This saves all you option settings, and returns to the main window.
Cancel: This cancels any changes you may have made to the options, and returns to the main window.
Note: Any changes you make to the option screen become effective immediately after you hit OK. This can have serious repercussions if Site Searcher is currently downloading files or browsing sites.
Help Menu:
This menu contains one item: "About SiteSearcher". When this item is selected, a small window is displayed, showing various information about Site Searcher.
Any bug reports, questions, or comments should be e-mailed to:
You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the evaluation version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original evaluation version to anyone; and distribute the evaluation version of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made, without prior written permission of Zackware.
Distribution of Full Version
Distribution of the full release of Site Searcher is prohibited, except through authorized channels.