TESTED PLATFORMS

The VNet server is written in pure Java, and the client is written in
Java, VRML and HTML and should be compliant with any VRML 2.0 browser.

The client and server have been tested and work on the following platforms:

Windows95, Netscape Navigator 3.0.1, CosmoPlayer 1.0.2
Windows95, Netscape Communicator 4.0, CosmoPlayer 1.0.2
Windows95, Netscape Communicator 4.0, CosmoPlayer 2.0
Windows95, Netscape Navigator 3.0.1, Intervista WorldView 2.0
Irix 6.3/6.4 (O2/Octane), Netscape Navigator 3.0.1s, CosmoPlayer 1.0.2
Irix 6.3 (O2), Liquid Reality b17
Linux 2.0.30, Liquid Reality b17

The following platforms do *NOT* work:

Irix 6.*, Netscape Communicator 4.x (due to Netscape bugs)
Windows95, Internet Explorer 4.0, IE VRML control vrml2c aka WorldView
(due to a bug in vrml2c - should be fixed in WorldView 2.1 for IE4)
VRWave 0.9 (too many unimplemented nodes)

INSTALLATION

NOTE:  These instructions are *only* for people who wish to set up their
       own multi-user VRML space.  If you wish to try out existing spaces,
       you need only point your VRML 2.0-compatible browser at one of
       the existing ones.  See www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~sfwhite/VNet.html

In order to install and run VNet, you must have

1)  the Java Development Kit (1.0.2 or higher), or the Java Runtime
    Environment for your machine.  See 
    http://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/
2)  a copy of the vnet client software  (vnet-client-*.tar.gz)
3)  a copy of the vnet server software  (vnet-server-*.tar.gz)
4)  a web server up and running on your machine
5)  permission to also run the vnet server on that same machine

You do *not* need to compile the .java files; pre-compiled .class
files are provided.  The .java files are only there for people who
wish to modify the client or server (see the file COPYING for details).

1)  INSTALL THE CLIENT FILES

Install the vnet client files in a directory which is visible
to the web server.

on unix, you can do this with:

	gunzip -c vnet-client-*.tar.gz | tar xf -

on Windows95 or WindowsNT, open the files with WinZip and extract them.

2)  BUILD THE JAVA ARCHIVES

This step is optional, but people will be able to load your VNet page
*much* faster if you do it.  On Unix, the Makefile provided will build
the archive for you; simply type "make".  It should create EAIVNet.zip
and TextVNet.zip.  On Windows, you can create the archives with WinZip,
or simply download them from my web page
(www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~sfwhite/VNet.html)

3)  INSTALL THE SERVER FILES

As above, decompress the files in vnet-server-*.tar.gz.  You do *not*
need to put these files in a directory visible to the web server.

4)  START THE SERVER

In the server directory, type

	java VSystem 8888

The server will start running and you'll see some diagnostic messages
printed to that window.  For Unix, you can also use a shell script in the
server distribution called "restart".  It will kill a running instance
of the server if any, and start a new server in the background with
output redirected to /tmp/VSystem.log.

5)  THAT'S IT!

You should now be able to connect to your server by going to the
"index.html" file found in the client directory (which is visible
from your web server, right?), choosing an avatar and typing in
a username, and logging in.  If you see the message "connection refused"
or "invalid argument", then the server is either not running, or not
running on the correct port.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Q)  I see "Error opening server socket:  Address already in use" when
    trying to start the server.
A)  The server is either already running, or something else is using that
    port number.  If you must use a different port number, be sure to change
    it also in EAISimple.wrl, Simple.wrl and TextVNet.html.

Q)  When logging in on the client, I see the message "connection refused"
    or "invalid argument".
A)  The server is not running.  Start the server.