MacVNC 1.0

[Dair Grant]

Hi,

I'm posting this to let Mac users know about an alternative Mac VNC 
client. The main differences between this and the current ORL Mac viewer 
are:

 - Backspace key can be mapped to Delete, to allow log-ins
   into Windows servers from Macs that don't have a
   forward-delete key (e.g., some PowerBooks)

 - Backing store buffer now allocated from temporary memory,
   so the viewer only grabs memory when it needs it

 - Able to run without a backing store buffer (at reduced
   speed, but basically removes any memory requirements)

 - Full screen mode, which hides the menu bar and adjusts the
   resolution/depth of a local monitor to try and match the
   settings of the server's display

 - More control over connection settings (e.g., more control
   over 2nd/3rd mouse button mappings and mouse behaviour)

 - Bookmark files, for quick access to servers

 - Support for Navigation Services and the Appearance Manager

You can download the app, and the source, at 
<http://www.kagi.com/dair/vnc/>. Let me know if you find any problems - 
in particular I've not been able to test this with an X server, and so 
there may be issues there that I'm not aware of.



Something which might be of interest to viewers on other platforms is the 
idea of bookmark files.

These are just text files, laid out in the .ini file format, that capture 
all of the information necessary to restart a connection.

An example bookmark file looks like:

  -------------------------------
  [VNC]
  Host=portia
  Password=squiggle
  Display=0

  DisplayFullScreen=0
  DisplayShrinkToFit=0
  DisplayBuffer=1
  DisplayShare=0
  DisplayObserve=0
  DisplayDepth=0

  MouseHideLocal=0
  MouseScrollBorder=0
  MouseMiddle=Shift
  MouseRight=Command

  KeyboardReleaseModifiers=0
  KeyBoardBackspaceIsDelete=1

  EncodingRRE=1
  EncodingCoRRE=1
  EncodingHexTile=1
  EncodingCopyRect=1
  -------------------------------

Host, Password, and Display specify the host:display to connect to and 
password to use. The password is saved in plain-text, and the viewer will 
not save passwords to bookmark files. If you want the bookmark file to 
include a password, you have to add it yourself (and take responsibility 
for keeping the bookmark file somewhere secure).

The DisplayXXXX group control full screen mode, if the image should be 
scaled to fit the window, if the connection should be double-buffered, if 
the server should be shared, if the client should just observe the 
server, and the depth the client should connect at (8, 16 or 32 - with 0 
meaning "server depth", i.e., the depth returned by the server).

The MouseXXXX group control if the local cursor should be hidden when 
over the VNC window, if the window should scroll automatically when the 
mouse approaches the edges of the window, and the mappings for the Middle 
and Right mouse buttons (Shift, Control, Option or Command being the 4 
modifier keys available on the Mac).

The KeyboardXXXX group control if modifier keys should be released during 
a click, and if the backspace key should be mapped to forward delete.

The EncodingXXXX group control the encodings supported by the client. Raw 
encoding is always enabled, but the other 4 encodings can be toggled off 
as required.



If anyone wants to add support for these files to other viewers, and 
needs .ini file routines, there's some code (in MacVNC 
Source:Source:Non-GPL:IniFile:Inifile.cpp) in the source to this viewer 
which should be fairly portable.

I guess '.vnc' would be as good a file extension as any to use on 
platforms which use extensions to identify file types.

Also, other clients may need more/fewer fields: the above are just what's 
used on the Mac at the moment.



-dair

_______________________________________________________________
(Work)  mailto:dair "at" lightwork.co.uk  http://www.lightwork.com/
(!Work) mailto:dair "at" kagi.com         http://www.kagi.com/dair/


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