This message is to announce the availability of a new version (0.9) of
the beta-test Gopher server implementation (called "GOPHERS", pronounced
"gopher-ess") for Windows NT. This software allows a Windows NT machine
to serve information using the Gopher document delivery system.
GOPHERS version 0.9 is a "Classic" Gopher protocol server which runs as
a Windows NT "Service". Executables for Intel-based systems, MIPS systems
and DEC Aplha systems are available.
This version is mostly a bug-fix release. Please report any remaining
bugs ASAP, because we plan to make the 1.0 release in early September.
The server may be FTP'd from emwac.ed.ac.uk in the directory pub/gophers.
There are three ZIP files - one for Intel-based systems, one for MIPS-based
systems, and one for Alpha-based systems. Be sure you download the right
one for your processor.
You may also want to download the WAISTOOL toolkit for building and searching
WAIS databases from the pub/waistool directory.
New features in 0.9
===================
* Server going down and starting up is now recorded in the Application Event
Log.
* On-line help for control panel applet now provided.
* Bug fixed: log file now closed correctly when the service terminates.
Features
========
* "Classic Gopher" protocol server.
* Runs as a Windows NT "Service", so that it keeps going even
when there's no-one logged in to the machine.
* Handles multiple simultaneous connections using multiple threads.
* WAIS database searching capability added. You need the WAISTOOL toolkit
for Windows NT (also available from EMWAC) for this.
* File extension -> Gopher type mapping is configurable.
* Caching implemented.
* "UNIX compatability mode" for those familiar with UNIX gopher servers.
* Mechanism for hiding files in Gopher directory tree.
* Mechanism for specifying alternate host name for use in Gopher menus.
* Available for DEC Alpha, MIPS and Intel architectures.
* Gopher transaction log written to text file. New file created every
day. Log file location is configurable.
* Logs errors using the Windows NT Event Logger.
* Configuration through the Control Panel, with configuration
information stored in the Registry.
* Uses memory-mapped file I/O for improved performance.
* Special -ipaddress option to help identify mis-configured TCP/IP software.
* If there is more than one network interface in the machine, GOPHERS will listen
for incoming connections on all interfaces. (I would be obliged if someone
can test this feature for me - I don't have access to such a machine.)
This server has been produced as part of the European Microsoft
Windows NT Academic Centre (EMWAC) project. EMWAC has been set up to
support and act as a focus for Windows NT within European academia.
It is sponsored by Datalink Computers, Digital, Microsoft, Research
Machines, Sequent and the University of Edinburgh.
Acknowlegements to Silicon Graphics for providing a machine for the MIPS
port.
An HTTP server and a WAIS server for Windows NT are also available
for beta test, available from the same site as above.
