Net Tool Box Documentation
What's So Special About Net Tool Box?
The reason Net Tool Box is the best Networking Utility around, is not
because of various tasks it can perform as a unit, but because of its format.
Net Tool Box is like a big grab bag of networking tools. Importantly,
the tools talk to each other; which makes it much easier and quicker
to get the job done. Because they all share resources, they converge to make
the user experience more productive.
Using Tools
When you first open Net Tool Box, you are presented with a message
asking you to buy the software. Click "OK" to dismiss it. You will then
see a "Mail List" registration window. This allows sign up to the
Nettlesting updates list. If you decide not to sighn up, you can go back to
register at a later stage to register by choosing "Help" > "Join
Nettlesting Mail List".
A toolbar appears at the top of the screen. It
will display your current IP address under the "Net Tool Box" text on the right. You can click
on the IP menu to show a list of quick functions available to use with
your IP.
If you prefer not to use the toolbar, you can close it or toggle
the "Edit" > "Show
Toolbar" menu item.
You can also easily select a tool from the Dock Menu. This is accessed
by control-clicking on the Net Tool Box Icon from within the dock.
This only works when Net Tool Box is running.
Authorization
A known-issue in previous versions of Net Tool Box was that many
low-level operations (mainly ping, listener terminals and UDP terminals)
were prohibited to the user unless they log on to OS X as the "root" user. For many
people this was an inconvenience, so now there is a built in an "Authorize" feature.
This lets you type your admin password straight into Net Tool Box,
to activate these 'root-only' tools.
If you are using a tool that needs to be authenticated to use,
just choose "Edit" > "Authorize".
This will display the well-known OS X "Authenticate" window asking
for your Administrator password. Once you successfully authorize, Net Tool
Box will quit and re-open itself as a "root" process, giving it access
to the low-level socket functions used in the required tool.
If you often use Net Tool Box in the authorized state, you can automatically
authenticate at application launch. This option is accessible via
the "General" pane
of the Preferences window.
Favorites
In each tool, where appropriate, there is a "favorites" menu, usually
next to each "host" field. Here you can select a host you regularly
use. These hosts are also accessible using the "AutoComplete" feature.
You will notice AutoComplete working when you start typing into a host
field. If it recognizes anything you have started to type, it predicts
the text in a greyed state. If you hit the tab key, it will AutoComplete the
text suggestion. AutoComplete is active by default, but you can disable it
from the preferences window.
Your favorites can be changed by selecting "Edit favorites" from
any of the Favorites Drop-Down Menus, or by selecting Window > Favorites
(Command - F). This will display the Favorites window. You can then
add, delete and edit your favorites using the toolbar.
Interfaces
Net Tool Box has a useful utility that lets you see all your Network
Interface information. You can access it via the "Edit" menu (or
by typing command-i). A palate appears on the right hand side
of your screen, displaying a list of all the attached (enabled) Network
Interfaces and their properties.
Window Manipulation
You can easily show and hide any current tools you are working
with by using the "Window" menu. To minimize the current item you are working
on the dock, select Window > Minimize (Command - M). You can retrieve them
by clicking on the dock icon, or by selecting the tool from the Window Menu.
You can minimize all the open tools by choosing Window > Minimize All
(Command - Option - M).
Preferences
The preferences are accessible via the Application Menu (or with
the command-comma shortcut). In the preferences window, you
have the ability to control how Net Tool Box will behave. The "General" pane, has general
purpose settings such as "Use AutoComplete" and "Check for
new versions".
In the "Appearance" pane there is a "Fixed-Width Font" menu,
Which determines which font the reporting-tools use (eg Whois, and
Terminals). Bear in mind that for this to work correctly, the chosen font
MUST be a fixed-width typeface, such as Courier or Monaco (default). There
is also an option to make inactive windows transparent, useful
when using many windows.
Port Database
Net Tool Box is equipped with a fully functional port database.
It holds over 2500 officially reserved port numbers along
with their official names and descriptions. The list is available under Help > Port Numbers.
Once open, the list will show a list of ALL ports in the database in
numerical order. You can add delete and edit port numbers for your own reference,
however you should remember that if you edit or delete a port by mistake,
the only way to revert the database is to reinstall Net Tool Box.
To edit a port, either double click on it in the list or highlight
it and click the "Edit" item in the window's toolbar. This will
display a sheet allowing you to edit the port number, name and description.
If you choose a port number that is already used you will be asked
to choose a different one.
Adding a port is done in the same way. Click the "New" button on
the window 's toolbar to display a blank edit dialog. Type a port number, name
and description and click "Add". Again, if the port number is in
use you will be asked to choose a different one
To remove a port from the database, highlight the port you wish to
delete and click the "Delete" button. A dialog will appear asking if you
to confirm. By pressing "OK" at this stage, the port, it's name
and description will be permanently removed from the database.
You can search
the database for specific ports by clicking the "Search" item
on the window's toolbar. This will display the search dialog. Here you can
specify the criteria for your search. If you want to search for a specific
number, you can type it directly into the "Port No" field. If you
want to find a partial text match from either the name or description
fields, you can type the text to match and choose between one of the logical
operators (contains, begins with, ends with or equals for an exact match).
The "Operator" option will determine whether all of your criteria
are matched (if in the "AND" state) or if any of the criteria are
met (if in the "OR" state.
By clicking "Find", Net Tool Box will search the database with your
criteria. If at this point no records are found, a message will appear saying "No
records found". If there were results yielded from your search the search
dialog will be dismissed and your results shown in the list.
To show all the ports again, click the "Show All" item on the right
hand side of the window's toolbar.
|
|