Update Logs.

17.1 (2012_02_21)

I have changed all the values from kb/s to Mb/s, This is only for display purposes and the actual data is still stored as kb/s.
I have made some graphical changes to a lot of the GUI's , mainly removing any title bars from windows that did not really require them.
I have changed the manual results window to look a bit more presentable although im still not sure that im 100% happy with it but could go on for ever trying to get this bit looking right.
Added a transparency option to the testing GUI's (the mimimeter etc).
I have removed the Child_holder.exe process as it turned out that it was not required.
I Changed the upload to use passive ftp mode properly, this has enabled jdast to do upload testing through my VPN and also on VMWare with a NAT network connection.
Fixed the main graphs slider bug that was showing up on XP.
Fixed a bug in the threshold email when a new data set is started.

17.0.1 Beta (2012_02_07)

A bug was found on XP with the slider bar at the bottom. If the list view on the left was hidden the slider was locking up jdast. Is a pain sometimes when commands act differently on different OS versions.

I shall wait a week or so before releasing this properly just in case i have any other bugs pointed out.

17 (2012_02_05)

By Request :- Iv added an easy way to export / import the configurations to a single zip file, this makes it easier to backup specific configuration sets and/or transport them. These options are found under the "Menu" on the toolbar.

There may have been some purposeful abuses of Jdast and our upload testing servers, So I have made a couple of changes to the code in all of the jdast processes :-

JDAutoSpeedTester.exe
Upload_child.exe
Child_holder.exe
Restart_jdast.exe

You may now find that some / all of these processes are being flagged by any security software you may use. Please re-whitelist them and allow the top 2 access to the net. I generally do not need to change these files (except JDAutoSpeedTester.exe) but on this occasion I have had to. I have send these files off to AVG and Symantec but it will take at least a week for them to complete the checks.

I shall soon be forcing an update for all who are using our servers for upload testing.

16.8 and 16.9

These were emergency updates, there were problems with the upload connection not being disconnected properly.

16.7 (2012_01_24)

The main change is that iv finally got both the upload and the download tests to be monitored and measured by the adapter hooks. I have left in the ability to turn off the hook just in case any users have a problem with it. If the "load hooks" tickbox (configurations / general tab) is un-ticked then both the upload and download tests revert to the old method of gathering the throughput data.
I received a request to add the ability to have a remote system running JDast be able to send notification emails either on a regular basis or when the download or upload tests fall below a user defined level. Added this on a new tab in the configurations called "Communications".
Added a few different GUI background colours. A couple are ok and a couple look a bit rubbish (to me anyhow). These are found in the menu bar under "Graph view options/GUI colour".
Iv brought the help file up to date.
I have had a major restructuring of the core code, this should not be noticeable by the user but if i have "upset" anything then please let me know.
A few minor cosmetic alterations. Iv added an average level bar to the mini meter that shows when you run tests (you'll see it if you use the mini meter when testing). Iv also changed the box that shows when you hover over the main graph, mainly the colour but more importantly the alignment of the text.
We have added our own forum as the one i was using at BroadBandHelper.co.uk has had to close it's new registrations again (probably due to spam). So please do create an account and say hi :).

16.6 (2012_01_11)

Added another location to retrieve the default upload server permission. This is just a redundancy. Also a few minor bug fixes and tweaks.

16.5.1 Beta (2012_01_09)

Found a bug that caused a crash after closing the config window in certain situations, so iv just uploaded this quickly for people who are having that problem as i have a couple of other things to do before i can update properly.

16.5 (2012_01_07)

Quite a few changes for this update, i shall list the most prominent.

I have completely redone the upload test function. It looks the same but now uses a child process to run the upload and uses a hook into your network adapters to measure the throughput. This give a much more accurate upload speed result especially for fast upload connections. You may have to allow the new process "Upload_child.exe" through your firewall. You can choose the network adapter to monitor on the front page of the configurations.
I have added the ability to use the multi url testing in a "multi-threaded" mode which allows you to download all of the test url's in your test list at the same time. It will calculate the quantity of data downloaded as the sum of the multiple files. This should be a helpful way to keep you download speed "maxed out" even if one (or more) of the test files is going slow. It should allow you to test from multiple servers without having to test each one separately and so reduce you bandwidth used for download testing.
I have added a couple of extra options in the main menu to give easy access to the MyDocuments\Speed_Test.CSV file and folder.
I have altered the invisible testing mode so that it does not show errors if it is running an automatic test although it will add the error info to the error logs. I also added more info to the error logs so you can see what it was doing and where it was trying to do it to/from.
I have also added a "stop test" option in the tray icon context menu so tests can be stopped when in invisible testing mode.

I have revisited the following :-

The "scan entire test file url list" function
The status bar
The tooltip on the tray icon
The screen shot save function, added better control of which file type you want
I have added a few new download testing files

16.4.7 Beta (2011_12_31)

It was decided that a proper domain name should be purchased for jdast and any other software i may wish to publish in the future so im afraid that another URL change has been made. Hopefully now that almost everything is all under the same domain it will not have to be changed again even if i change server hosting.

I have added a few new download testing files.

16.4 (2011_12_14)

The main change is that I have altered all the links in JDast to point to the new site.
I had some feedback regarding the download settings tab, in particular the "OFF" button that turns off the download testing. It was decided that the way it was set up could be a little confusing so iv altered the way it works to make it clearer if it's on or off.
There is now a ticket system for problems or bug reports in fact any communication. A ticket is created if you use the "Help/Request help" menu item. You can also raise a ticket on the web site.

16.3 (2011_12_07)

There has been some problems with the default upload testing servers. I have had to make some slight alterations to the JDast code to get these default servers communicating with JDast properly again.

16.2 (2011_09_18)

This should be the last alpha update for a while. Iv just made a set of minor cosmetic alterations.

16.1 (2011_09_11)

Opps, though id got all the bugs but had a report today that there was something wrong with the axis control. Took me a while to find what problem was being referred to but in the end found that if you moved the main window the axis control pop-up’s were not positioning themselves properly & therefore not remaining visible (as they close when you move the mouse off them).

16.0 (2011_09_07)

●    Firstly Plenty of tweaking and tidying, too may little things to list them all here.
●    Had a request to add some IP filtering. One being a “No Testing” on certain IP’s and the other being a filter that will not include certain IP’s in the averages data but will still test and record them. This function can be found in the config’s under the ping/pk/jitt/IP tab.
●    Had a request for a graph view option of just a line graph.
●    I got the maximize working properly as far as I can tell and iv removed the minimize all together as it was causing major problems and really is not needed anyhow.
●    Iv also tinkered with the averages graph bars & boxes.
●    Iv added a switch on the bottom of the left hand side Axis control window that enables the user to choose how to have the averages graph maximum Y axis calculated. It can either use the main graphs Y axis max or be calculated purely from the maximum of the current data set.

15.9 (2011_08_13)

There was a problem with Jdast crashing during the upload test on rare occasions. Hopefully this is fixed now.
I have re-coded the “WAN detection test” as there had been a problem with it showing a false negative when some network adapters were asleep (in power saving mode), hopefully this is fixed now.
I have revisited the averages graph.
It was coded a long time ago now and I was not happy with it. I have removed it from the bottom of the graph and given both the hourly averages and the basic averages there own windows. The basic averages is now just a popup that you access by hovering over the new “Av Data” button, the hourly averages window is either accessed by hovering over the “AV Graph” button or if you want this window to be persistent, movable & sizable then just click the “AvGraph” button or tick the “persistency” tick box on the top right of the averages window then you can position it where you want it to be
I have also added the ability to choose what time period to show on the averages graph. You can choose from the full data set (as it was before) , the past 30 days, the current month, the past 7 days, the current week or just today.
I also added this extra average data to the little pop up info window. (as per request :D )

15.8 (2011_06_16)

Added a throughput check. You can now set up a check to test that you are not using the network (downloading/uploading something) before the test is started. The settings for this have been added under the last tab on the config’s (tab renamed to “No Testing”).
Iv also done a little more tinkering with the averages pop-up box info.
Added a clearer day division on the main graph (user switched (see Graph view options)).

15.7 (2011_06_02)

●    Added a little real time network monitor. This is a stand alone separate process that can be run from the start menu or from Jdast. I must thank Ascend4nt of the AutoIt forums for his brilliant work on Performance Counters without which I could not have created this code.
●    Changed the method used to measure upload speeds. I have figured out how to do upload tests by measuring the throughput over a set period of time (“fixed test time”) and also without the need for a local file to upload. So you will see that the upload configurations have been changed and you may need to re-visit them after updating.
●    Changed the averages graph. Before this update the numbers on the averages represented how many data points were involved in each hours average. Now they represent the rounded average speed (Mb/s) for that hour.
●    Iv changed the averages pop-up box’s content, it used to be that the averages for 02:00 were comprised of 01:31 to 02:30 (seemed like a logical idea at the time) but iv changed that to what you would expect it to be I.e. 02:00 comprises of 02:00 to 02:59.
●    Changed the averages graph pop-up boxes. The pop-up boxes that show all the data points that comprise that hours average value are now listed with the data point number rather than being sequentially numbered.
●    Speeding up of displaying and adding data to the graphs. Originally whenever the graph was displayed or data was added to the graphs the whole data set was re-calculated and re-drawn. I have changed this to append the data and graph info which speeds things up a lot when the data set starts to get quite big, of course it does all have to be calculated and drawn at least once the first time you display the main window.
●    The gathering of your public IP address has been changed. Rob (the kindly donator of the default upload servers :D) has constructed a quick script on his server to respond with your IP so hopefully there will be no need for any other public web sites that return an IP. (Many thx Rob).
●    I removed the striping from the data list (left hand list box), decided I didn’t like it.
●    Received a request for a user adjustable data set length so iv added that ability along with the option to have data sets of length 1 week or 1 month.
●    There is a requirement by a handful of people to be able to switch off the LAN & WAN detection at the beginning of the test cycle, so iv added the switches to do this under the Ping/PKT/Jitter/IP tab of the configurations.
●    Added more control to the Y axis's. You can fix the maximum of the Y scale on both sides of the graph, there is a tick box to turn on auto scaling & a slider to enable zooming of the Y axis’s. The buttons to control these functions is found on the main graph window directly beneath the two Y axis’s.
●    Also there has been a few occasions when erratic jitter results have been generated, I have fixed it so if a spurious negative jitter result is measured it will just return a -1 (no test).
●    Also added an update & auto update for beta releases (see first tab in config’s & Menu pulldown).
●    Added an “area” graph view. You can display the bars on the main graph as an area graph.
●    I decided to change the way ping is calculated. It used to be the lowest value of 100 single packet pings but I have changed it to the mode of the 100 pings (the most common value among the group) so this might slightly increase your ping value.
●    I have at long last brought the help file right up to date :D

15.6 (2011_04_05)

Google has shut down my Jdast email account , ahh :( so I have removed the questionnaire from the first installation that asks “Where did you first hear of this software”. Basically I had over 1000 downloads yesterday and google didn’t like it.
I suppose it was a mistake to rely on Gmail for this part of Jdast but I was never expecting so may people to be interested when I coded the feedback section.

15.5 (2011_04_04)

There was sometimes a bug with the toolbar on win7, as most people are using win7 now this had to be fixed.
I have been asked by a couple of people to include some larger upload testing files. Don’t forget though that you can make your own sized upload test files (please see JDast help).

15.4 (2011_04_01)

Since the massive influx of new users due to MajorGeeks.com publishing Jdast a minor bug in the default upload testing has shown itself. This may have resulted in inaccurate upload test results.

15.3 (2011_03_24)

If you are updating from before version 15.2 :- you may need to enter a URL into the “Fixed Time” testing URL list (configurations / Download tab) as it may be empty after this update.

I have now brought the help file right up to date, along with the web site. So we are pretty much there now.
I have also added a setting for the “fixed time” test method that clips off the beginning of the tests. Sometimes there can be a slight delay before the data starts flowing when initiating a download test. This can be due to many reasons, this setting will "clip" off the beginning of the download to remedy this situation. The default is 1 second.

15.2 (2011_03_22)

If you are updating you may need to enter a URL into the “Fixed Time” testing URL list (configurations / Download tab) as it may be empty after this update.

The configurations were becoming muddled as things have been added so as part of my tidying process I have re written them.
A couple of the changes I think I should mention are :-
In the test method “measure quantity (fixed time)” I have merged multi & single URL testing into one setting, if you want to test with just one URL just have one URL in the list box if you want more just add some more.
I have added a user input delay in between the 100 (single packet) pings during testing. This should help people who have software that detects ICMP flooding. I have set the default to 30ms.
You can now choose to not do any download testing at all if you wish, in fact you can do any of the tests, download, upload, ping, packet loss & jitter as stand alone testing. I have added on/off toggles to the top of both the download and upload tabs, the others can be switched on & off the same as before.
I was going to wait until I had done the help files which are way out of date now but a couple of bugs have forced me to upload this update now. I shall get to the help files asap.

15.0 (2011_03_18)

Polishing & tidying.

14.9 (2011_03_14)

Stumbled across a bug in the multi url testing, if one of the url’s failed I.e. Couldn’t connect or did not have data flowing within 5 secs it was then not terminating the final DL test. Fixed now.
I have speeded up the display of the main window by not having it redraw everything if there is no new data to be recalculated and even if there is it should be a little quicker.
Iv added a button to edit the main test file list a bit better, so you can add/remove url’s and reset the list back to default much easier. This button is just above the pull down on the first tab and there's another on the multi url testing tab.
Now I know iv said this a lot to certain people but I don’t believe iv said it on here before, so they wont believe me (thats cool :P). I AM TAKING A REST from adding anything else, I will concentrate on bugs from here on. Iv also got the help file & web site to update. There may come a time when I pick it up again but I must get this thing to a properly stable situation before I go any further.

14.8 (2011_03_11)

I was going to put this up as a beta for a while but then I found a stupid bug causing a crash after re-installing & maybe on updating as well so I had to release this as a full update.
I had a thought that as iv done most of the work for multi url tests I could re-use some of that work and make a test method that rather than using just the one test file for download testing It could use multiple test files and take the best result from the outcome. This will give much more accuracy & superior download tests. The only draw back is the amount of bandwidth this method of testing might use (dependent on how the user sets it up).
To use this method you have to be set to “Measure Quantity” although I might do it for the other test method as well at some time, we shall see.
You can find all the settings for this in a new config tab called “Multi URL Testing”.
Basically just tick the “Multi URL Testing ON/OFF”, put some of your best test URL’s into the list (by using the pull down list) & set the duration for each url’s test (seconds, default = 10). It will do an X second “fixed Time” test on each of your selected URL’s one at a time, gather the DL speed from each URL and then present the best result.
I will have to get around to changing the help file again soon, not enough time in the day :D
Iv fixed the Maximize/Restore frame positioning as well. I just never use it maximized so never really noticed it.
O yea and iv changed the default notification sound file (just in case you thought you were going mad :-P)
Thx all.

14.7 (2011_03_10)

It was pointed out that the screen shot file was often to big for forums so iv changed it to a .png, however dont forget that the bigger your graph window when you take the shot the bigger the file size.
The ThinkBroadband test files are getting a bit unstable (well for me and Spenc, not sure about others) so what iv done is to put a notice up for first time installers of Jdast reminding them that they should find the best test url for there personal situation & location.
Also in that vain iv added an automatic “scanner” that will do a 10 second fixed time test on all of the url’s in your current main test file list. It will test the speed of each and then set you main test file to the fastest found. This is only minimal help as its just a snapshot of the test file servers at that specific moment and should be looked into further by the individual user but it should help to point out this area of the app to new users.
If anyone has test file url’s that I do not already have I would love to here from them, especially if there in the U.S. as Jdast has a lot of U.S. users but no servers/test files dedicated to them as far as I know.
P.s you can of course add new url’s to the test file list in Jdast’s configurations but if you need to really sort/change the list you can edit %appdata%\jdast\locmenu.txt

14.6 (2011_03_06)

Found the upload test file location was not being saved properly, fixed.
Received a request to put the main graph screen shot option back in, done.
Had a little mess around with the bottom graph, added some more averages info.
Added an auto system shutdown timer (under main menu).
Added a proper colour picker gui. (under graph view options)

14.5 (2011_02_27)

Lots of changes today, so please excuse multiple subsequent updates :-/
●    Iv added the option in the “Graph view options” for the user to be able to set there own colours & choose 3D effects on/off.
●    Added the ability to slide both the sliders all the way to the side so you can now hide the averages graph and the listview.
●    Iv changed the first settings tab a little, now you can enter your max DL/UL speed and the graph will reflect your value. This will remain constant even after starting a new data-set. If your measured speeds surpasses the set value then it will automatically increase.
●    Added a tick-box to turn on/off the mini-meter.
●    Moved the legend box out of the way, iv put it along the bottom of the graph.
●    It was pointed out that the old data-sets had some missing commas in the header. I have fixed this but it wont show up until you finish the next data-set (Thx Neil)

14.4 (2011_02_17)

Occasionally the main graph tooltips are hiding behind the windows, I believe this is something to do with the xp bug that sometimes hides the tray tips bellow the taskbar. So iv also had a little overhaul of the graph tooltips whilst I was messing with it.

14.3 (2011_02_09)

Another bug found in the “measure Time” test method , grr. Well my excuse is that that function was written a long time ago and there’s been a lot of changes since than. I dont use it but someone has started to and is being helpful enough to report any bugs found. So thx again Neil.

14.2 (2011_02_08)

Reported bug:- When using the “measure Time” method to do the download testing the switching off of the upload test was not working. Fixed (thx Neil).
Changed the background colour of the window to hide the black horizontal bars that show on some windows skins due to tiny size differences in the title bar & window borders.

14.1 (2011_01_23)

I’v been asked to add an option to start a new data set but keep the old one in the previous data set list, so that iv done.

14.0 (2011_01_19)

Thx to Neil for pointing out an error with the ping/packet/jitter testing. If JDast failed a ping test it was not doing any more ping/packet/jitter tests thereafter. Fixed. Thx Neil.
There has been some comment on a problem with Jdast causing the system to crash (system unresponsive & desktop icons flashing) I am trying to find the cause but having difficulty reproducing it. I did manage to get 1 of my VM XPpSP3 systems to manifest this fault when trying to close Jdast but the odd thing was that it stopped doing it half an hour later by itself ?!?!? I have made some changes to the code that i think might be the problem but as im unable to test it I cant be 100% sure. If anyone does find this fault I would like to hear from you, thx.
P.S. If you do get this fault you can close out Jdast by using Alt+F4 on the Jdast window, unfortunately the main Jdast window does need to be open and it does take a few repeats of pressing Alt+F4 but it does save you having to shut down the computer.

13.9 (2011_01_13)

Had a few reports of some display problems with different Windows themes/skins so I’v done what I can to fix this.

13.8 (2011_01_11)

Iv revisited the update procedure because there has been a problem with the auto update reported by 2 Jdast users. Im hopping after this update this should be fixed.
Iv also decided that there was no longer the need to have the averages graph pop-out, it works fine as is.

13.7 (2011_01_10)

Iv added a status bar to the bottom of the main window which was just a good excuse for me to correct a couple of little bugs.

13.6 (2011_01_06)

As per user request I have had another look at the main graphing function. A Zoom in and out has been added and also the wider you make the window the more of the graph you can see, before the graph bars were just getting wider.
Done a load of code tidying to the whole display sequence of the main window. I cant get it any faster but its a little cleaner.

Pre 2011 Update logs

13.5 (2010_12_19)
Jimmy06 has now finished the maintenance of his server and has been able to offer a VPS for all Jdast users to use as there “default” upload test server. I have had to make some simple FTP address changes for the default up test and so an update to the app is needed.
Again, many thx to Jimmy06 for the use of his server for Jdast up testing, without his generous offer Jdast would either have no default upload testing or a charge may have to have been levied for the cost of a dedicated service.

13.4 (2010_12_10)
I have always been on the lookout for new download test locations. Now thx to willemijns and his hard work collecting just such info for his own speed tester I now have a decent list of HTTP addresses. I have added them to the default drop-down list in Jdast.
The entire donated list can be viewed in the Current news section.
If you are updating JDast the test file list will not update until you reset it. To reset the list go into the config, drop down the test file location list, scroll down to the bottom, click on “Reset List to Default”.

Many thanks to willemijns for the use of this collection of addresses.
Willemijns speed tester site :- http://www.willemijns.com/faqspeed.htm

I have also moved the “Getting IP..” message box that pops up when you run Jdast down to the lower corner of the screen. I need this box to show if there’s a problem with the retrieval of your IP i.e. Its taking to long, so you can then choose another IP gathering method (goto config/optional test switches/ to change method) Un-Tick “record public IP” to turn this message box off.

Found a problem with the auto-update for win7 (maybe Vista also) it looks like when I used the silent install method the UAC was not allowing the installer to run at all. So I have changed it to a non-silent install which works with all the windows versions iv tested it on so far. So for anyone who found the auto-update was not updating you will have to download and install this version of Jdast before the auto-update feature will start working.

13.3 (2010_12_01)
I noticed that the main site I use to report your public IP was down for a short while the other day and this was causing a long delay before Jdast could load or run a test (if your settings had “record public IP” set). So what iv done is to implement 4 different sites that the user can select which to use.
These are :-
www.whatismyip.com/automation/n09230945.asp
http://www.ip-adress.com/
http://www.whatismyip.org/
http://checkip.dyndns.org/?rnd1= Random

These settings are under “Config/optional test switches”

Also A user has pointed out that the upload testing to a private server was not working since my last update, this is fixed now (sorry about that), Thx to Dan.

13.2 (2010_11_17)
I have noticed that on occasion people are doing upload tests with high speed data servers ( >10Mb/s). This is not really what the donated server was intended for, I would just like to remind people that the use of the default server should only be for home systems/connections.
With this in mind I have put a note in the upload settings & also a nag pop-up if your upload speed measures higher than 10Mb/s.
If however you are using your own target server to test your upload speeds then of course that's fine, there is no nag pop-up.

Iv been playing with the look of the manual results window

Im hoping to do all the windows in time but im having a little difficulty with the auto test result windows.

I have added better date info at the bottom of the main graph window. This is so when you use the option to “save a shot of the graph to .jpg” the time & date of the tests can be seen.

13.1 (2010_11_07)
Firstly no one told me that the x64 users had a major problem with Jdast, :D anyhow hopefully it’s working properly now. You might need to clean out both the programfiles\Jdast and Programfiles(x86)\Jdast folders (delete them both if they exist) then install the latest ver of Jdast.

With great appreciation to Jimmy06 (BroadbandHelper forum name) who has kindly offered the use of his servers, JDast now does have default upload testing :D. All you need to do is make sure the FTP Server field is set to "Default" and make sure there is a “File to upload” (if its blank then pick one), the rest is done for you. If however your upload speed is above 1Mb/s you may want to change the size of the test file used as i have set the default to 500KB which is fine for most ADSL.

I have also included 4 upload test file with the installation of JDast.

500KB - UP_Test_500K.upt
1MB     - UP_Test_1M.upt
2MB     - UP_Test_2M.upt
5MB     - UP_Test_5M.upt

But you can in fact use any "junk" file you want.

Although we do now have a default upload test server you can still use your own servers for upload testing, just enter your info as normal

So a special Thx goes out to Jimmy06 for offering JDast users the use of his servers for upload testing, This is greatly appreciated by both the users and myself.

Thank You.

13.0 (2010_10_28)
Just a small change to the averages graph, Fixed it so you can get the cursor to the averages detail windows.
Also a couple of minor things changed.

12.9 (2010_09_24)
A bug pointed out by one of the users of JDast, when using the “run quick test” from the tray options whilst the app is in the tray a problem was spotted, if you cancel the test the averages graph window was popping up. Not a major thing but im wanting to get it 100% before I do any more additions or changes. So thx to Max for pointing that bug out.

12.8 (2010_09_19)
Added The “Hours of the day” averages graph into the main window (bottom right corner), its basically a thumbnail which you can click on to bring to full size.
Added a horizontal slider between the two graphs.
I found a bug, if you closed any child window and the mouse was left over the toolbar after the child was gone the whole app would hang, fixed now.
Iv been scratching my head over what to do with the backgrounds of the graphs. Some have said just leave it white, others said that looked to plain. Im not sure what to do but iv put something light for now. Iv removed the users ability to change the background because certain backgrounds hide the fonts and so I would need to add a user option for all the different font/graph colours, its just to much and I believe not really necessary.

12.7 (2010_09_11)
A final tweak or two to the changes made recently (ver 12.4), Really nothing much to post about

12.6 (2010_09_07)
Sorry but had to do this update, I knew the middle slider was going to provide bugs :( but hopefully (fingers crossed) its working now.

12.5 (2010_09_05)
Thought I might find some bugs,
The tooltips on the main buttons were crashing the app on Win7 & Vista (removed for now, not really needed anyhow).
It was possible to make the width of the main window so small that the buttons were dropping down to the next row & messing up everything (again Win7 & Vista).
Iv restricted the middle slider so it cant go right up to the ends of the window i.e. Completely to the right or left as this was also causing problems.
The MTU calculator was not working (Again on Win7 & Vista, lol, I really must check on these os’s but there’s just so much to check now) This was because the CMD on Win7 & Vista was giving a slightly different output.

12.4 (2010_09_03)
Changed the toolbar to a smaller slimmer size.
Added a slider bar between the graph and the listview of the data so you can change how much of the listview on the right side to show, although making the graph side of the window to small does make the graphs tooltip less and less accurate (in the fact that it gets hard to pick out individual bars the smaller the graph is).
Added an MTU calculator, basically figures out your MTU to a user chosen target (may be other diagnostic tools added later).
Moved the Tracert button off the toolbar and put it, with the new MTU calculator, into a dropdown menu item called “diagnostics”.
Moved the Configuration button off the toolbar and put it in the main dropdown menu.
The whole window (main graph window) can be made much smaller now.
As I have made quite a few changes in one go please excuse any bugs that may crop up. Also I am aware that the help doc is now getting a bit dated and with these new changes to the look of the main window they are even more so, I will get around to updating the help doc some time when im not quite so busy.
Thx all :D

12.3 (2010_08_04)
Sorry Peeps Iv been messing with the Installer again !
If your getting an Error when doing an update you need to manually download the 12.3 Jdast_installation file and just install it over the top of your already installed Jdast, i.e. Download new installer & run it.
After this update it should do future updates "Automatically" no buttons to press etc.
Another reason I changed the installer was because with the last one i could not get it hold the meta data on the actual installer file itself (the version info, date created, description etc), Its fixed now.
Also because i was messing with the installer again i have set it up so that you will only have to enter that question "where did you hear of this software" ONCE. If you do an update or re-install (install over the top of current installation) you will not be asked again. The only way it ever will ask again is if you completely uninstall JDast or if the data I collect ie “where did you first hear of this software” fails to get through, in this case it will try again next time JDast is started up.
Added a few handy options to the tray icon right click menu.
●    Run a quick test
●    Invisible Running - toggle
●    Configurations
●    Set Test Cycle Duration
O and also stopped the “starting test” notify from sounding when you put it into “Invisible Running”.

12.2 (2010_07_28)
Sorry to all, I have been pointed out a fault with the IP change notification when testing “on boot” it was showing a changed IP even if there was not a change. This was a silly mistake by myself which I would have never spotted if it was not for the private message from a very nice chap called Neil Kemp.
Thx for the pointer Neil :D most appreciated.

12.1 (2010_07_25)
Slight tweak here and there, mainly I noticed that if you install without an active net connection that it would throw up an error & the same with trying to send a “request help / report bug” without a connection but worse in this case the whole app would shut down !

12.0 (2010_07_18)
Added a couple of extra test files to the default list (100MB files) just in case people have exceptionally fast connections.
Changed the “invisible running” setting to be ignored if you run a manual test, so its only invisible & silent when doing automatic tests.
When you fill out a “request help Report bug” I have added a load of Jdast diagnostic data that will be sent along with your message to help me diagnose any problems you may be having.
Added a couple of my own sound files as default rather than using the windows sounds.

11.9 (2010_07_06)
A couple of people have had a problem with the main window disappearing off the screen area so i have forced it to remain at least partially visible at all times.
Also i have added a user variable delay to the "Load at windows startup".
Iv also changed it so that if you use the "Run a test on Startup" it will not do this startup test if the app is run manually, only if it is starting up with windows startup.

And last but not least iv fixed the "Auto Update" Function. I did not notice it was not working as iv always got the latest version :D Hope its working properly now.

11.8 (2010_06_26)
I have decided to have a go at using a proper Installer/Un-installer/Updater. I am hoping this will stop the AV false positive's, work better, be easier for me to update & look more professional, also JDast is now added to the add remove programs list. Im not sure how the change over from the old method to this new method will go but i hope smoothly.

There are no changes to the actual JDast app.

11.7 (2010_06_12)
Found a bug with the "program pause list" and some of the red message box pop-ups causing the main JDast Window to lock up, so fixed that.

I found the need for a log of all the red warning pop-up boxes as i would often leave JDast running
unattended and so missed any warnings, so have added a log of all the red pop-up messages. Its found under the main menu.

11.6
I decided i dident like the way i had the list view (left hand side) slide up and down when you moved the mouse over the graph so iv changed it to only do it if you click or hold the mouse button.

11.5
I noticed that the memory usage was going up a little as i made more and more changes
so I have addressed that and brought it back down to just above 1MB (when in tray)
Added a slider to the bottom of the graph window.
Also have done some more work on this Black/Blank graph error, it happens very very infrequently and
is very difficult to reproduce so difficult to diagnose but i hope iv got it now.

11.4
    * Noticed that the resize arrows for the main window had disappeared so fixed that.
    * added a clearer method of showing you if your viewing a previous data set.
    * Added a "request help / report a bug" option to the help drop down menu. Direct contact to me, I will reply and do my best to help.
Only problem when i make quite large changes is that im bound to find something i forgot to do but there's getting to be just to many settings/variables now so its very hard for me to test everything is working 100%.

11.3
    * Found a minor bug (nothing much worth mentioning), so just wanted to fix it before to many people updated.

11.2
    * Changed the Averages graph so that it shows the Max, min & average values.
    * Tried to fix a bug that causes the main graph display to stay blank/black (something to do with closing JDast by killing the process rather than closing the app in the normal manner), im not 100% sure its completely fixed but if it happens to you all you need to do is log off your windows user account and then log back in.
    * Also a couple more cosmetic changes.

11.0
Added a method of loading previous data sets so you can see them in the graph, list view & display CSV.
(more info in the JDast help).
Added the IP to the tooltip of each test result in the main graph.
Also noticed that some AV programs seriously affect the test results so iv tried to compensate for this but as i cant test all of them i just hope what iv done covers most of them.
I hope the test accuracy is not detrimentally affected by my changes.

10.9
Just a little polishing & tweaking.

10.8
more bugs, :(
it was leaving the white popup saying "starting test" on the screen if the program was paused or it failed one of the checks before the test starts etc.
I couldn't leave it that way so had to do another update, hopefully it will be all sorted v soon but i did suspect a few bugs after such a big change. The more i add the harder it is for me to make sure every permutation of the app is working properly.

10.5
and the last update, im done on this one so unless there are requests or bugs posted here that will be it.
I hope its doing its job for all who are using/have used it.
Thx to all the people who helped with the program and also the people who hosted it for me :D

10.3
I Found that if you install the x86 ver of JDast on a x64 OS (which you can do) the update was incorrectly downloading and updating the x64 ver NOT the x86 ver, so i hope iv fixed this. However it will only work from this version onwards so if you have been using x86 on a x64 OS it would be best to remove JDast folders from both program files & program files(x86) if either exit, then re-install from a new download.
and a couple of other things but nothing anyone would be particularly interested in.
p.s. i might even discontinue the x64 ver (as already suggested by Ashley) as it's not strictly necessary, the x86 ver works fine on x64 OS's, but just thinking about it atm.

10.2
well, i have got around to writing the help files , what a drag that was :blink: my hands and fingers are knackered lol, how do people do it for a job just hammering away at a keyboard all day long? well i could not.
also made a little easier to save a JPG of the manual test results window, just hit the "home" key whilst the results window is showing.
hope the help works for you all as its a bit new to me.

10.1
changed the manual result window so that it fits better into forum posts.

9.9
Major changes :D
Firstly iv fixed the updater so it can "update" itself .
I have added some more tests :- Packet loss & Jitter.
Added an option on the main window called Graph View Options which is so you can turn on or off individual graph lines, This option does not stop the tests running it just hides or shows the graph lines.
Added a new tab in the Configuration menu called Optional Test Switches. This enables you to choice which tests you want to run, this is divided into manual and automatic so for example you can have all the tests run on manual tests but not on auto tests.
Also you can specify what location to use for ping/packet loss/jitter tests. I found the BBC.co.uk to be best for me atm so i have set this as default (for now).
I have changed the program icon (the old one was just random) to something i like a bit better but this does cause some confusion to Vista and win 7 for a while, the shortcuts & taskbar icons dont match the window icon (probably sort its self out after a reset or two).
and yes some more cosmetics :P
also a massive script tidy up so i hope its all ok but im sure you will let me know if there are any problems, thx.
If all looks ok i shall do x64 shortly.

9.8
another ver update for you to change the the web sites pages with a ver number on Ash. :)
cheers mate.

9.7
Noticed that if a test took longer than 1 minute then this would upset the next cycle time
by a minute (or longer) e.g. if cycle time was 1 hour you might get
1:00 test result
2:00 test result
3:00 test result
4:01 test result (because the last test took longer than a minute)
5:01 test result
etc

and also if you did a single manual test this also was messing with the timer, just
bugged me so its hopefully fixed now.

9.6
was a minor mistake.
some more cosmetics (pity im not artistic :( )
brought x64 up to date.

9.5
for x86 (i'll do x64 soon)
enabled the main window to save its position and size (should have done this ages ago)
Also a few cosmetic changes + spelling mistakes lol

29. As you can see iv added a little description of what iv changed when i release each update. This saves you from having to look on the forum or the readme file.

As there are not 100`s of people using my app i have decided to drop the minimum cycle frequency to 10 mins (when using the Think Broadband test files).

Also i noticed a problem with loading JDast, sometimes it had a bit of a delay when its run, this is because there is something wrong with it trying to gather your current IP address and sometimes it fails to do so (you may have noticed you IP shown as -1) I have attempted to fix this.

I am not going to update this log anymore as i really need to do a proper instruction manual. I will get around to doing it soon.

28. I really need to get some idea of how many people are using my app for my benefit and also the people at Think Broadband have also asked. Because they supply the default test files if to many people are using this app they may need to address this situation. So i hope to collect two pieces of data. The first being a purely random serial number generated by the program upon installation which enables me to calculate how many copies of this program are being used. This is absolutely anonymous and in no way can be traced or associated to the individual user. The second being the operating system that this program is being used on. So for an example from an individual installation i could be sent :-

92489827 Win XP x86

The collection of this data will be extremely helpful to my continuation of development,However there is an optout within the configuration settings.
Thank you.

27.Fixed the x64ver update/autoUpdate ability at long last :P , also changed the averages graph background pic to same as main JDast windows background pic (it's also blank if no background pic has been selected yet for the main window)

26. Added the ability to create a graph of the averages of all collected data in the current data set and display this info as a graph of each hour of the day. so you can see easily the hours in which your speeds are getting throttled/affected, whilst in this graph you can also load a previously saved data set so that you can compare diferant periods of time, THE BUTTON FOR THIS IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAIN SPEED TESTER WINDOW (I HAVE REPLACED ONE OF THE UNUSED BUTTONS).

25. i was asked to add an option to have the user select notify sound, so i have :) (although "slilent running" was a was to turn off all sound and notifications)

24. added an upload trim (i needed it so you might) helps to get the upload test correct.
If you have a slight delay before upload starts you can trim in the resault by enetring the delay here in seconds. so if it has a 1 sec delay enter 1

23. added the ability to test upload, you need to find your own ftp location (best left alone unless you know what your doing)

the "test FTP" button is to test your FTP server, user name and password is correct and it can make a connection. the "FTP upload location" is the remote location ie in my case its :- "/jackdinn.we.bs/test_folder" note no "/" at the end ! and the "file to upload" is just a pointer to the local test file.

EDIT:- iv changed it so the user has more control over the upload location as it may be problematic so the actual command in the script is:-

_FTPPutFile($Conn, $ftpLocalFile, $ftpuplocation & "/ULspeedtest.txt")

$conn                =nothing to do with address
$ftpLocalFile        =the local file (full path)
$ftpuplocation        =the remote address with the "/ULspeedtest.txt" added to the end

good luck with this .

22. added an option so you can create a list of programs that you want Jdast to pause whilst they are running ie games etc (thx for the request Ashley) its found in the dropdown menu called "Program detection pause"

21. added a Little netmeter to the test cycle. Put your max DL speed in Mb/s into the settings. Putting in 0 will turn if off.

20. Added a pulldown menu to the test file locations so you dont have to remember your test file locations also added a test cycle time out option as requested by Btcc22

19. if you can find your own test files to dl then there is no restriction on the cycle frequency. im not guna say any as it can not be down to me in any way who's bandwidth you use that way :P

18. added an option to put in your own test file location. (you need to make sure you know what your doing here, check with a net meter when testing, look for delays in the test starting to actualy DL, make sure you are getting the speed of DL that you are expecting, check the consistency of the DL during a DL cycle and also over a longer period of time ie is it stil dl'ing at the speed you expect the next day)
dont use to small a file (may cause inaccurate resaults)
dont use to big a file.
etc etc...

17. option to add a pic to the background of the graph.

16. When the log has reached 200 tests it will save itself as SpeedTest_$year_$month_$day.csv
Then will start a new csv file cauled SpeedTest.csv (the working name for the active csv file)

15. hovering the mouse over the graph bars will bring up a tooltip showing all the info for that test.

14. Tracert can be set to do a tracert to wherever you like. (this user chosen location is not persistent yet )

13. the data list displayed on the left can be ordered by clicking on the column top.

12. option to silently run which means there will be no notification when the download test is running.

11. option to automaticly check for updates

10. option to always load into tray

9. option to load at windows start up. this will open the program whenever you run windows (always starts in tray).

8. the options (cycle time, Load at windows start, auto update, always load in tray & Silent running) are now persistent.

7. NOTE: you cannot open/close or interact in any way with the speedtester whilst it is running a test cycle as it was interfering with the measurement of the download speed. however you can still cancel the download test.

6. using the TBB dl test files now as more accurate however when your speed is very low it can take a while to test even using the smallest file they have (5MB), but it can be completely run in the background now so np

5. it makes a folder called myDocs\Speed_tester\ where the data is stored as a csv file and the .JPG of graph is also found.

4. its guna use the Temp folder to dl but it will delete after(can change this if im asked to).

3. Only complied in Unicode so only working with xp/vista atm but np to compile with ANSI for 9x/ME/xp/vista if needed.

2. Don't set the time duration between cycles to low if your speeds are really bad as it might overlap itself.

1. right click tray icon to bring up memu (show "Jdast window", Pause and exit), Left click to show/hide graph window.
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