MADMIN, MSTUDENT and MSERVER Manuals

MADMIN Manual MSTUDENT Manual MSERVER Manual

MADMIN Manual

SYNOPSIS

madmin [server_name/port]

OPTIONS

    server_name/port        - can be specified, this will be the default server when MADMIN starts. If not specified,
                                         the user is prompted with a menu with a list of servers to choose from (the list is read
                                         from the file Servers.dat).

OPERATION

MADMIN is a part of the MTEACH system which serves for the session administrators and moderators (teachers) as a way to connect to the server, retrieve or modify its data and start or join the multimedia session.
When started, after selecting the server, the user can click on the "No connection.." button, after which he/she is prompted for the username and password. The user is uniquely defined by his username and password. Depending on the information that server sends afterwards, three cases exist:

The user is granted administrator access. In this mode, the user can change or add every possible option in the session and user database.
The user is granted moderator access. In this mode, the user can check which sessions he/she moderates, change the session information field and check which users are allowed to participate in his/her session. He/she can also see the settings for the session (which application, what are the command line arguments) but cannot change them.
The user is not allowed to access the server.

The main window looks as follows:

MADMIN Main Window

On the top, the menu commands are as follows:

Session menu:

Start Session - starts the specified applications for the selected session, with the moderator command line arguments. Moderator command line arguments may or may not be the same as the user command line arguments.
Join Session - starts applications for the selected session with the user command line arguments.
Disconnect - disconnects from the server. Once established, the connection with the server is maintained until disconnected.
Quit - quits program and terminates the server connection.

Settings:

Change Server - pops up a menu where one can select the server. In this menu, it is possible to add new servers (with ports to connect to) by pressing "New".
Change Password - prompts the user for the new password.

Help: pretty much straightforward.

Under the main menu, the title bar displays the currently selected session. The session or user can be selected by clicking on its name in the main list window. If double clicked, the session information pops up (if the users are displayed, it shows the sessions that a user is entitled to or moderates). Right click to remove the information window.
There are two buttons underneath the title bar:

List Sessions - this button behaves differently depending on the user privileges. If administrator privileges are given, it displays two selections when clicked:

Get Global Sessions - downloads the list of sessions which can be accessed by any user (and guests, which login with a "guest" username and no password).
Get Restricted Sessions - downloads the list of sessions available only to selected users. Again, this button behaves differently: in administrative mode, it will download all restricted sessions existing on the server, whereas in the moderator mode, it will download only the sessions that the current user is moderating.

List Users - if in admin mode, shows two selections:

Get User List - downloads the list of all users (students) from the server.
Get Moderator List - downloads the list of all moderators (teachers) from the server.

If in moderator mode, clicking on "List Sessions" the list of moderated sessions appears and by clicking on "List Users" the list of users attending all moderated sessions (by that moderator) appear.

Underneath the main list window, there are 3 buttons:

Add - disabled in moderator mode. In administrative mode, three selections are possible:

Add Session - displays the blank session information window and a new ses-sion can be created.
Add User - displays the user information window and a new user can be added. The user information window consists of username, password and sessions that can be attended or moderated (separated by comma). Note that if the moderator, for example, wishes to attend certain sessions other than the moderating ones, he/she would have to be added as normal users.
Add Moderator - displays the user information window and a new moderator can be added.

Change - displays the session information window (see Figure), with the selected session information (or user information window with the selected user information).

MADMIN Session Information Window The session Information window consists of the following:

Name - session name field
Session Type - can be Global, which can then be accessed by all (username "guest") or Restricted, which can be accessed only by users who have this session name in their session list.
Available Tools - this menu is auto configurable. Every time when connection with the server is established, the server sends a list of all the media types and appropriate applications (executables) that it supports. This menu configures accordingly to show all possible media tools (applications). If the button is depressed, this means that the tool is in use for the current session. There can be multiple tools for one media type. When the session is being started or joined, MAdmin attempts to start those tools one by one until it succeeds. This is good if the administrator is not sure which tool should be used and which tool is actually used by the end user. He/she can then input several tools in the server list.
Option arguments entry field - when clicked on a particular media tool (application), this field displays its command line arguments with which it is going to be invoked. The option arguments are used either when the moderator selects "Start Session" or when the user joins the session, depending on the "User" or the "Moderator" selection.
Session Info - information about the session.

When "Ok" is selected, the information is sent to the server which either adds or updates the session.
In moderator mode, only the "Session Info" field can be changed.

Delete - deletes the session or the user or the moderator, depending on the selec-tion.

The field at the bottom of the main window displays either "No connection", or "Connected to _server_name_", depending on the status of the connection. If clicked upon, it either tries to establish the connection with the server or disconnects (it is a shortcut for the "Disconnect" menu button).

Note: Once MADMIN is started, it looks for the file named "Servers.dat". If found, it tries to load the server information from that file. The file format is:
server's_internet_address port
server's_internet_address port
…
This list of servers is going to be displayed when MADMIN is started. If "Servers.dat" is not found, the user is prompted to input the server name and the port.

MSTUDENT Manual

SYNOPSIS

mstudent [server_name/port]

OPTIONS

    server_name/port        - can be specified, it is the default server when mstudent starts. If not specified, user is
                                         prompted with a menu with a list of servers to choose from (the list is read from the
                                         file Servers.dat).

OPERATION

MSTUDENT is a part of the MTEACH system which serves the students (or end users) so that they can connect to the server, retrieve basic session information or change their passwords, and join the multimedia session. When started, after selecting the server, the user is prompted for the username and password. The user is uniquely defined by its username and password. The user can either be granted the access in which case the session data available to him/her is automatically retrieved and the connection is terminated or the user is not allowed to access the server.
The main window looks as follows:

MSTUDENT Main Window Menus are as follows:

Session:
Join Session - the appropriate multimedia applications are invoked, thus joining the session. Shortcut is the big button on the main window.
Quit - quits the application.
Settings:

Change Server - pops up a menu where one can select the server to connect to. In that menu, it is possible to add new servers (with ports to connect to) by pressing "New".
Change Password - prompts the user for the new password.
Help: pretty much straightforward.

Clicking on the session in the main list window selects it, double clicking invokes the information window displaying session information (right click to remove it). Note that only the global sessions (accessed with the "guest" username) or the sessions that the user is registered to are retrieved from the server and displayed.

Note: Once MSTUDENT is started, it looks for the file named "Servers.dat". If found, it tries to load the server information from that file. The file format is:
server's_internet_address port
server's_internet_address port
…
This list of servers is going to be displayed when MSTUDENT is started. If "Servers.dat" is not found, the user is prompted to input the server name and the port.

MSERVER Manual

SYNOPSIS

mserver [port #][log 0|x]

OPTIONS

    [port #][log 0|x]        - port number specifies the port to which the server is listening (defaults to 23232).
                                      log opens the file Log.dat in which the connections to the server are logged (time, date
                                      and where from - connections established and terminated), if the argument after log is
                                      different than 0. log defaults to 0.

OPERATION

Mserver is the part of the MTEACH system. It maintains the database of users, moderators, administrator and multimedia sessions. It also provides access to those databases to the authorized users. It does not have a graphical user interface so it can be started remotely, with minimum of resources necessary for its operation.
Once started, it replies to requests from the MADMIN and MSTUDENT applications until it is terminated (Ctrl-C). It maintains 6 files (databases), in plain ASCII:

Adm.dat - this is one of the two files that should be made before the first time that MSERVER is started. It should contain only one word - the administrative password. Administrator username is "administrator" by default.
Moderats.dat - it contains information about all the moderators. It is of the same format as the following file.
Students.dat - contains information about all the students (end users) on the server. Here is the file format:

It should be in ASCII.

Globsess.dat - contains information about the global sessions. Has the same format as the following file.
Restrict.dat - contains information about the restricted sessions. The format:

Types.dat - this is the other file that should be made manually and cannot be changed remotely. It contains the information about all possible types of media and supporting applications. Example:

First, media name goes preceded by a period and in the next line(s), names of the applications that support it (executable names).

SECURITY

The directory where MSERVER resides should be protected by resetting all group and other permissions.

Click here to go back to the main page