The Castanet^TM Tuner

How To... Help Topics

Contents

Find Transmitters
Subscribe to a Channel with the Tuner
Subscribe to a Channel with a Web Browser
Unsubscribe to a Channel
Remove a Channel
Resubscribe to an Unsubscribed Channel
Update a Channel
Start a Channel from the Tuner
Stop a Channel from the Tuner
Update the Tuner
Abort a Tuner Download
Learn When a Channel will be Updated
Limit Automatic Updates
Create a Windows Shortcut for a Channel
Prevent Channels from being added to the Windows Start Menu
Add a Channel to a Solaris Window Manager
Disconnect or Reconnect the Tuner
Start the Tuner without a User Interface (Windows)
Start the Tuner with a Java Console (Windows)

Topics

Find Transmitters

Try the following sources of transmitters:

• The tuner's Hot page is a list of channels chosen by Marimba; the list is updated with the tuner each week.
• The Marimba button on the tuner's Marimba page shows you the Marimba transmitter's channels.
• The Marimba Channels Web page is another source for channels.
• The Gamelan Java directory has a list of channels under the heading Related Technologies: Castanet Channels.
• The excite Channel Guide is a channel that describes other channels.

Subscribe to a Channel with the Tuner

1. Click the Listing tab.
2. If the channel's transmitter is not shown in the scrolling list or the drop-down list, type the transmitter's name in the text field, then press Return/Enter.

Note: If the transmitter does not listen to IP port 80, append a colon and the port number to the name, for example, "trans.havefun.com:5282".

Note: On the Solaris platform you can enter an IP address instead of a transmitter name.

3. If the transmitter is shown in the scrolling list, but the channel you are looking for isn't, select the transmitter, then click Refresh to update the transmitter's channel list.
4. Double-click the channel.

Subscribe to a Channel with a Web Browser

1. Visit the channel's transmitter's Web page. If the transmitter's name is trans.marimba.com, the URL to type into the Browser is http://trans.marimba.com.
2. Click the channel link.

Unsubscribe to a Channel

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Find the channel's transmitter and click its + if necessary to show its subscribed and unsubscribed channels.
3. Select the channel to be unsubscribed.
4. Choose Channel:Unsubscribe.

Note: unsubscribing removes the channel's code and content files but not data files it may have created (such as documents or preferences). If you re-subscribe, the data files are still available. To remove the data files as well, remove the channel.

Remove a Channel

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Find the channel's transmitter and click its + if necessary to list its subscribed and unsubscribed channels.
3. Select the channel to be removed.
4. Choose Channel:Remove (that is, choose Remove from the Channel menu).

Note: removing a channel destroys the channel entirely: its code, content, and any files you created with it.

Resubscribe to an Unsubscribed Channel

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Find the channel's transmitter and click it's + if necessary to list its subscribed and unsubscribed channels.
3. Double-click the channel.

Note: Any files you previously created with the channel are available after you resubscribe. Resubscribing downloads a fresh copy of the channel's code and content.

Update a Channel

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Select the channel entry.
3. Choose Channel:Update.

Note: Some channels respond to updates while they are running; others reflect updates the next time they are launched. Consult the channel's documentation for details.

Start a Channel from the Tuner

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Double-click the channel entry.

Stop a Channel from the Tuner

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Running channels have a Status of "running"; double-click the channel entry.

You can also stop a channel by clicking its Close box (X in upper right corner of window).

Update the Tuner

1. Quit running channels. (If you don't, the tuner will ask you if it can quit them for you.)
2. Choose Tuner:Update Tuner.

Note: The tuner is automatically updated weekly.

Abort a Tuner Download

1. Choose Tuner:Cancel Transfers or type Ctrl-c.

Learn When a Channel will be Updated

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Select the channel.
3. Choose Channel:Properties

Note: The Update Active value (never, 15 minutes, hourly, daily, weekly) specifies the update frequency for the channel when it's running. The Update Inactive value specifies how often the channel is to be updated when it's not running. Interpret these values as the frequencies requested by the channel developer. Values you provide on the Configure:Loading page can reduce the actual frequency of automatic channel updates.

Limit Automatic Updates

1. Click the Configure tab.
2. Click Loading.
3. Choose a value from the "Automatic updates can be made" drop-down list to limit the time of day during which automatic updates will be made. Choose "Never" to disable automatic updating.
4. Choose a value from the "Frequency of automatic updates" drop-down list to limit how often the tuner will check for updates.
5. Click Apply.

Note: A channel cannot be automatically updated more frequently than its developer requested (see the channel's Properties page). You can manually update it whenever you like, though updating a channel more often than its developer specified may not be fruitful.

Create a Windows Shortcut for a Channel

1. Click the Channels tab.
2. Select the channel.
3. Choose Channel:Create Shortcut.

Prevent Channels from being added to the Windows Start Menu

1. Click the Configure tab.
2. Click the Options tab.
3. Under Channel Options, uncheck "Add subscribed channels to Start menu".

Add a Channel to a Solaris Window Manager

1. Edit the file from which your window manager (Open Windows, Motif, etc.) reads user-specified menu items.
2. Use the following syntax to start the tuner and have it launch a channel:

installdir/castanet/tuner/bin/tuner -start transmitter channel

For example:

usr/local/castanet/tuner/bin/tuner -start www.marimba.com Crossword

If the channel name contains spaces, enclose the name in quotes.

 Disconnect or Reconnect the Tuner

A check mark on the Tuner:Enable Network menu item indicates that the network is enabled from the tuner's point of view. If there is no check mark, the tuner will not use the network. Choose the menu item when you disconnect your computer from the network, and when you reconnect it.

Start the Tuner without a User Interface (Windows)

1. Right click on the Windows taskbar, then choose Properties
2. In the Taskbar Properties panel that appears, click on the Start Menu Programs tab.
3. Click on the Advanced... button.
4. In the Explorer that appears, click on the Programs folder.
5. Double-click the Castanet Tuner folder.
6. Right click the Castanet Tuner item, then choose Properties.
7. In the Castanet Tuner Properties panel that appears, click the Shortcut tab.
8. Append -nowin to the Target file name. For example, if it is "C:\Marimba\Castanet Tuner\Tuner.exe", make it "C:\Marimba\Castanet Tuner\Tuner.exe" -nowin
9. Click OK. When you next start the tuner from the Start menu, a splash screen will appear for a moment, but no tuner user interface will appear. To see the tuner user interface, double-click its icon in the taskbar.

NOTE: If the tuner needs to update itself, it will display its user interface, whether or not it has been started with the -nowin option.

Start the Tuner with a Java Console (Windows)

1. Right click on the Windows taskbar, then choose Properties
2. In the Taskbar Properties panel that appears, click on the Start Menu Programs tab.
3. Click on the Advanced... button.
4. In the Explorer that appears, click on the Programs folder.
5. Double-click the Castanet Tuner folder.
6. Right click the Castanet Tuner item, then choose Properties.
7. In the Castanet Tuner Properties panel that appears, click the Shortcut tab.
8. Append -console to the Target file name. For example, if it is "C:\Marimba\Castanet Tuner\Tuner.exe", make it "C:\Marimba\Castanet Tuner\Tuner.exe" -console
9. Click OK. When you next start the tuner from the Start menu, a Java console window will also appear.