dockapps/wmwifi/README

Copyright (c) 2006 Jess Mahan <jess@digitalssg.net>

-----------------
WmWiFi      0.6
-----------------

 It's been a long time since the last release. I know, I know, you've been
 jonesin' for the next iteration, but over the last year or so, we've had very
 little complaints and even fewer bug reports, so "if it aint broke don't
 fix it!".

 If your reading this, then you are probably running Window Maker, and have a
 Wifi (wireless) card installed on your Linux box.

 !!!! BE AWARE !!!!
 This is my first attempt at writing a Window Maker dockapp, so if this thing
 destroys your computer, kills your dog, or burns down your house, don't
 blame me for it. This is very experimental at the moment.

 This dockapp displays the signal strength, link level, noise level, and
 bitrate to your current access point. It also displays the current access
 point's name.

 I sincerely apologize for any inconveniences or problems with the this
 version, or previous versions of WmWiFi.

 Many thanks to the people that actually e-mailed me with bug reports, those
 bug reports have made this version possible. WmWiFi now works
 properly (i hope).

-----------------
Getting Help
-----------------

 If you need help, there is a mailing list at wmwifi@lists.digitalssg.net.

 Simply subscribe to it by sending a blank e-mail to
 wmwifi-subscribe@lists.digitalssg.net.

 When asking a question, please be sure to include the nature of your problem,
 and the output from the following commands:

 "cat /proc/net/wireless"
 "iwconfig"
 "head -10 /usr/include/linux/wireless.h | grep Version"

-----------------
Requirements
-----------------

 libXpm          http://freshmeat.net/projects/libxpm
 libdockapp      ftp://truffula.com/pub/libdockapp-0.4.tgz

 To compile this, you'll need libdockapp, libxpm, and all the X development
 libs. Chances are, if you have installed other dockapps, then you will have
 no problems compiling this.

 Linux Wireless Extensions.
 This program relys on the Wireless Extensions being enabled (and working) in
 the 2.4.X and 2.6.X kernel series. If you can "cat /proc/net/wireless", then
 this thing will probably work for you. If "cat /proc/net/wireless" returns
 nothing, then this dockapp wont work.


-----------------
Building
-----------------

 Yup, you guessed it...
 If you have met all the *requirements* then just do:
 ./configure; make; make install


-----------------
What's New
-----------------

 0.6 -
 Many thanks to Jeroen Nijhof <jnijhof@nijhofnet.nl> for his contribution
 of a patch for WmWifi.

 I decided to only use a couple of lines of code from Jeroen's patch, and
 implement the rest myself, so that it could better integrate with the
 "classic" wmwifi. I also wanted to make WmWifi a bit more flexible, whereas
 Jeroen's version was locked in to a specific look, and foreced the scrolling.

 WmWifi now features preset "themes", fully customizable colors (for making
 your own theme). We also now scroll the interface name and essid by default,
 but this can be turned off with the -s command line switch or by clicking the
 left mouse button (to retain our classic look and feel).

 The Backlight turns on when Signal Strength goes below 1%

-----------------
The "Look"
-----------------

 0.6 -
 We've got a new look, actually a few of them.
 You will most likely notice the differences from the old version and the
 new becuase the font's have changed and now the interface name and essid
 scroll across the top (which can be disabled).

 Many thanks to Jeroen Nijhof <jnijhof@nijhofnet.nl> for his contribution of
 a new theme and the scrolling interface and essid. I decided not to use
 all of his changes, but did use his fonts.xpm (becuase they are waaay nicer),
 and a couple lines of code.

 # wmwifi -tc          # classic theme (Default)
 # wmwifi -tn          # Jeroen Nijhof's theme
 # wmwifi -ts          # snow theme
 # wmwifi -lc <string> # back-light color
 # wmwifi -fg <string> # foreground color
 # wmwifi -bg <string> # background color
 # wmwifi -hi <string> # highlight color
 # wmwifi -mt <string> # midtone color
 # wmwifi -s           # turn scrolling text off

 <string> is an RGB color. for instance:
 # wmwifi -bg rgb:00/00/00 -fg rgb:ff/ff/ff -hi rgb:c1/c1/c1 -mt rgb:ff/00/00
 will give you a black background, white foreground/text, grey highlights,
 and red midtones.

 If you don't know what an RGB color is, it's basically the same thing as an
 HTML color, just ditch the '#', and add a '/' every two characters.

 This version allows you to customize the colors to create your own themes,
 checkout wmwifi --help for more information.

 0.5 -
 This version (0.5) of wmwifi still uses the look introduced by version 0.2.
 For now, you cannot change the look, and to be honest, there has been
 no complaints, so if you want a new look or have a kewl design, e-mail me.

 There were bug reports of the percentages not being displayed correctly,
 this is my fault, since I assumed that the maximum link quality would
 always be 92. I had reports of varying link qualities, so in this version
 it should be fixed (if it's not, you know where to e-mail me). We not
 get the maximum link quality directly from the wireless extensions in the
 kernel, rather than assume it's 92.

 The Link quality of your card is now displayed as a percentage (0% - 100%).


-----------------
Stuff it does do
-----------------


 WmWiFi now monitors all of you wireless interfaces. So if you have more
 than one, WmWiFi can now handle it!

 - Monitors all wireless interfaces attached to your machine
   (If you have the module(s) loaded)
 - Displays Link, Level, Noise, Bitrate, and Current Access Point
   for each interface.
 - Customizable Colors.
 - Preset Themes.
 - Scrolling Interface Name and ESSID
 - Turn's backlight on when link quality goes below 1%

 To disable interface and essid scrolling, simply left click (mouse 1).
 To switch to the next wireless interface, simply middle click (mouse 2).
 To switch to the next screen, simply right click (mouse 3).

-----------------
Stuff if doesn't do or can't do
-----------------

 WmWifi cannot properly report the stats from drivers like the prism54 or
 ndiswrapper drivers. Believe me, I have tried to get these to work, but
 the stats don't even report correctly from iwconfig, so I am assuming it's
 not my fault.

 If you post to the mailing list complaining about wrong stats, and you are
 using one of those drivers, I'm going to slap you silly, because you didn't
 read this!

 I did try and put some code in this version to "auto-learn" your link quality
 if the maximum cannot be read from the driver, but it's not guaranteed.

-----------------
Rants / Raves
-----------------

 forward beer, pizza, scotch, smokes, or hate mail to jess@digitalssg.net