Using ISpy
 Running ISpy for the first time
When running ISpy for the first time, it may ask you to reboot your system. Please do so before continuing, because it is required for the correct operation of ISpy.
After rebooting (if required) and restarting ISpy, you will be prompted to select the correct settings for ISpy. Make sure to enter the following settings:
- dial-up connection
- FTP hostname/path/username/password
For details of these settings, see the following sections.
After selecting the settings, press OK.
ISpy main window
The following window should pop up (the image you see may be different, depending on who sits behind your computer :-)
The main ISpy window contains the following elements:
- menu (top)
- video preview/overlay (below menu)
- a message line (left bottom)
- current time (right bottom)
- next scheduled image upload time
- indicators for FTP and dial-up networking (bottom right)
- upload / abort buttons (bottom right) (see corresponding menu options)
- a pause button/indicator to temporarily disable uploads (left bottom in the logo)
After launching, ISpy will schedule the first upload after 60 seconds.
Menu options
| File Menu
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Settings - brings up the various settings windows
Exit - exits ISpy
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Session Menu
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Upload now - starts the image upload now in stead of at the scheduled time
Abort connection - aborts an image upload session
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Video Menu
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(video sources) - you’ll see a list of available video capture devices here
Source - lets you select the video source (dependent on frame grabber)
Format - lets you select the video format (dependent on frame grabber)
Display - lets you select the way video is displayed (dependent on frame grabber)
Overlay - switches the frame grabber in overlay mode (dependent on frame grabber). This mode uses very little CPU power to view video and is therefore the (preferred) default option (if supported by your hardware)
Preview - switches frame grabber in preview mode, or allows you to disable preview
Preview rate - lets you choose the frame rate for the video preview. If you choose a high preview rate, you'll see better video but the application will take more CPU power.
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Window Menu
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Always on top - when checked causes ISpy to be the topmost window on your screen
Minimize to system tray - when checked causes ISpy, when minimized, to reside in the system tray and not show in the taskbar |
Help Menu
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Contents - launches your web browser with the contents page of the ISpy manual
ISpy home page - launches your web browser with the (online) ISpy home page
About - shows the About Box |
Settings
Dial-up
Use LAN connection
Do not attempt to use dial-up networking to upload the image. Use an (assumed existing) fixed connection. Useful in fixed network environments.
Use dialup connection
Use Windows 95 / Windows NT dial-up networking (also known as RAS). Establish a dial-up-connection for each upload session, and hang-up afterwards. If a dial-up connection is available when the upload session is started, ISpy will not attempt to make a connection or break it, and will use the existing connection.
If your system does not have dial-up networking installed, this option (and the others below) will be disabled. You must use your Windows installation disks to install dial-up networking. Open Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs, choose Windows Setup, double-click Communications, and check the Dial-Up Networking checkbox.
Connection
Use the dial-up connection listed in this dropdown list. Dial-up connections can be made by double-clicking My Computer, and then double-clicking Dial-Up Networking.
# retries
Select the number of retries ISpy should do for every connection attempt. Your dial connection may fail due to busy phone lines, bad modems, etc. ISpy will detect and retry failed connections.
Authentication
If you choose 'use default' here, ISpy will attempt to use the username and password as remembered by Windows for making the connection. You can also specify the username and password yourself, in case you are having trouble with having Windows remember the password.
FTP
Upload image via FTP
Uncheck this box if you don't want ISpy to send your images to an FTP server. In that case, ISpy will only periodically take snapshots and store those on local disk, in the location specified under the Image tab.
FTP host
Select the host your image should be uploaded to. You can either type a host name, or a host IP address (in case your name server is not installed or working). You can also specify a non-default FTP port, by typing something like 'ftp.myhost.com:1021'.
Username
Type the FTP username that gives write/rename/delete access to your FTP/WWW server.
Password
Type the FTP password which belongs with the Username.
Remote path
Type the full FTP path name (directory and file name) for the file you want to upload. Please include the file extension `.jpg' or `.jpeg' at the end, so that any web browser will be able to decode the received image automatically.
You may need to use the path format that is appropriate for your target system, eg WWW/ispy.jpg for a Unix system (case sensitive!), WWW\ISpy.jpg for a Windows system, WWW::ISpy.jpg for a Mac system, and [.WWW]ISPY.JPG for a Vax.
The remote path supports all time/date formatting macros (except %f, %F, %l and %L) as described in Appendix B, so if you wanted to have a 24-hour archive of one picture per hour you'd choose a path like 'WWW/ispy%H.jpg'. Using these macros is not compatible with the 'history' option (see below).
Do not enter a full URL in this field! If you want to upload to 'ftp://ftp.yourhost.com/path/ispy.jpg' or 'http://www.yourhost.com/path/ispy.jpg' then the appropriate pathname to enter is 'path/ispy.jpg'!
Simple FTP mode
Some FTP servers, such as the server at ftp.geocities.com, and also Microsoft Personal Web Server, have problems with the 'rename' command as used by ISpy in Normal mode (see below). Using Simple mode just uploads the file with the specified remote path directly, and prevents these problems.
Normal FTP mode
In Normal mode, the image file is initially not uploaded under the specified name, but under a temporary name similar to the name you typed, ending in a sequence number. After successful upload, several attempts will be made to rename the temporary file to the path name you specified. If all attempts fail (due to file locking - your web server may have the image file locked), the temporary file is deleted, and the session ended.
The reason for uploading under a temporary name is that while you are uploading the new image, any visitors to your web site will still be able to get a proper image.
Safe FTP mode
If you experience problems with ISpy (frequent error messages related to file renaming), try turning this mode on. ISpy will perform some extra steps in the file transfer to make sure the new image is copied correctly in place.
Pasv FTP mode
This option explicitly tells ISpy to turn on passive mode for FTP uploads. This mode may be faster, so try it if you want to maximize upload speed. When using ISpy through a proxy server it may also be required to enable this option.
Use S/Key / OPIE
This option tells ISpy to use S/Key or OPIE ("One-time Passwords In Everything") -based one-time passwords when uploading to the FTP server. Use your OPIE passphrase for the password field. It will not be transmitted over the Internet. This option requires an OPIE-modified ftp server at your provider. The OPIE software distribution for your provider is available from ftp://ftp.nrl.navy.mil/pub/security/opie. If you see this option in ISpy, then OPIE support is already installed in ISpy.
Proxy
Here you can specify if ISpy uses a proxy server for FTP uploads. If you choose 'default' thne the one as specified for MS Internet Explorer will be used. Choose 'no proxy' to disable the use of a proxy server. You can also explicitly specify which proxy server to use.
Check with your system administrator what kind of proxy server you are using, and what features it supports. Some proxy servers require you to turn on passive ftp mode. Some are transparent and require no different settings than entering the proxy server host. Some require you to specify 'no proxy', then use the hostname of the proxy server as ftp host name, and something like 'username@ftp.yourdomain.com' as username.
Image
Local path
This is the path (directory and file name) where ISpy will store the grabbed image before uploading.
By default, this is done in the same directory as the ISpy software is installed in, so the image appears in the sample page.
The local path supports all time/date formatting macros (except %f, %F, %l and %L) as described in Appendix B, so if you wanted to have a 24-hour archive of one picture per hour you'd choose a path like 'C:\Program Files\ISpy\ISpy%H.jpg'. Using these macros is not compatible with the 'history' option (see below).
Image quality
Images are stored in the JPEG format. JPEG is a `lossy compression' method, where image data is lost if more compression is used. Choose a quality between 0% and 100%, where 0% is the worst and 100% is the best. The image quality has big implications on the size of the image you upload. Size can vary between 1 Kbyte and 200 Kbytes! Experiment with the settings until you have found a reasonable tradeoff between image quality and image size.
Safe mode
If you do not use FTP, but copy your files directly onto your FTP server, turn this mode on. It makes sure people looking at the local file will always see a correct image.
Progressive
Turn on this option to produce progressive jpeg files as output. Progressive jpeg files are only slightly larger than regular jpeg files, but will produce a nicer visual effect during loading on most web browsers. Be sure to turn off this option when uploading motion video as it will produce fuzziness.
Upload
Upload period
In this group box, you can set the period of the day you want to upload your images. For instance, if you are uploading outdoor images, there will not be much to see when it's dark, so you can choose to not send images at night.
24 hours a day
Keep uploading pictures day and night, 24 hours a day.
Between ... and ...
Choose the period of the day you want to upload your images.
Upload days
In this group box, you can set on which days of the week you want to upload your images. For instance, if you are uploading images of your office, there will not be much to see on weekends, so you can choose to not send images on saturday and sunday.
Every day
Upload pictures every day of the week.
Only on ...
Choose the days you want to upload your images.
Upload every ...
Enter how often you want to upload your images. The interval can be between 1 second and 24 hours. If the interval is shorter than the time it takes to upload a picture, ISpy will effectively be busy making connections and uploading continuously.
Mode
ISpy supports different modes of operation, to do still images, image loops, or live video.
Single shot
In single shot mode, ISpy grabs a single frame (image), and uploads it, after which ISpy will wait for the next scheduled upload.
Series of ...
In this mode, ISpy will grab a series of images as fast as possible. The number of images is controllable. After grabbing the series of images, ISpy establishes the FTP connection, and uploads all the images at once.
The images are stored, locally and remote, with a sequence number in the file name. Let's say you had selected filename `ISpy.jpg' to save the image under. If you upload a series of 100 images, the first image will be stored as `ISpy.00.jpg', the second one as `ISpy.01.jpg', then `ISpy.02.jpg' and so on, up to the last one `ISpy.99.jpg'. If you upload between 2 and 10 images, the sequence numbers are put into one digit (name.n.ext). If you upload between 11 and 100 images, the sequence numbers are put into two digits (name.nn.ext). If you upload between 101 and 1000 images, the sequence numbers are put into three digits (name.nnn.ext), and so on. In this mode, the speed of the image capture is limited by your computer’s frame grabbing speed, and the ‘max fps’ setting.
ISpy also creates a timing list file, which contains, on each line, the time since start of sequence, and the sequence number. Live video server programs can use this file to ensure playback at the correct speed. For example, if the image file was named ISpy.jpg, then the image files would be named ISpy.000.jpg, ISpy.001.jpg, ISpy.002.jpg, and so on, and the timing list file ISpy.lst would contain something like
0.00 00
1.04 01
2.08 02
...
Continuous
In this mode, ISpy will establish an FTP connection, and will then start grabbing and uploading images at the maximum speed. Each grabbed frame is uploaded immediately, under the same name, before a new one is grabbed.If the FTP or dial-up connection is lost, ISpy will reestablish it. In this mode, the speed of the image capture is limited by your FTP speed, your computer’s frame grabbing speed, and the ‘max fps’ setting.
Max fps
You can set the maximum frame rate for ‘series’ and ‘continuous’ mode. Choose a value between 0.01 and 30 frames per second (or 100 to 1/30 seconds/frame). Use this setting to adjust the frame rate of the video you are making to the viewer’s frame rate.
History
With this option you can let ISpy maintain a history of the last images, both locally and on the FTP server. If the current image is named 'ispy.jpg', then the previous one will be called 'ispy.0.jpg', the one before that 'ispy.1.jpg', and so on. If you choose a history of more than 10 images the file names will be different; see the description of 'series' mode for file naming conventions.
Maintaining a large history will slow down your uploads significantly because ISpy has to rename all the images through the FTP connection.
The history will not work with FTP servers that don't allow the 'rename' command, such as the server at ftp.geocities.com, and MS Personal Web Server.
Using any of the time/date formatting macros as described in Appendix B for local or remote path is not compatible with the history option.
Beep during upload
With this option you can enable or disable beeps during upload. The sound you hear is not necessarily a beep, but can be selected through the Control Panel, Sounds option. Look under ISpy application, Start Capture event.
Caption
Show caption in picture
Select here if you want to show the selected string in every uploaded image.
Upload as file
Select here if you want to upload a separate text file with the selected text with every image. File name will be
Sample
You see a sample here of what the combined other settings in this box result in.
Set font
Choose the font, size and color of the text that is put on every uploaded image. Pressing the button will pop up the standard Windows font dialog box.
Format string
Enter the string you want shown in every picture. This string can contain macros to show date and time. See Appendix B - Time formatting macros for full details.
Vertical position
Choose the vertical position of the string. You can choose between Top, Center and Bottom.
Horizontal position
Choose the horizontal position of the string. You can choose between Left, Center and Right alignment.
Use background
Select here if you want to have a solid background behind the string in every uploaded image. Useful if the contrast between your image and the text is too low.
Set color
Select the color of the background for the caption.
Overlay
Enable overlay image
Select here if you want to overlay an image file (eg your company logo) on each uploaded image. Supported formats are Windows Bitmap (*.bmp) and Jpeg (*.jpg) files. If you have specific requests for other file formats contact support@ispy.nl.
File name
Enter the file name of the image you want to overlay, or use the 'Browse' button to browse for the file. Make sure the file exists or images will not be uploaded.
Position
Specify the X and Y position (0,0 is the top left corner) where the overlay image should be placed on the uploaded image.
Transparency
Specify if the overlay image should be drawn transparent, and if so then which colour should be considered transparent. If you enter a RGB value enter them in decimal between 0 and 255.
Tolerance
Specify the tolerance (between 0 and 255) that should be used when deciding if a pixel is to be drawn transparent. Non-zero values are useful if you use a jpeg image for the overlay, since jpeg images are always slightly fuzzy.
Enable border
Check this option to have a border drawn around each uploaded image. You can specify the width of the border in pixels.
Set Color
Use this button to choose the color of the border.
Scripting
Execute external program before capture
You can specify an external program (batch file, DOS executable, Windows executable, script) to be executed before the image is captured. This can be used for example if you need to switch on a light before capturing the image, or to write a batch file that beeps and waits 5 seconds (so you hear a warning sound before the image is captured.)
Execute external program after capture
Specify a program to execute after the capture, eg to switch the light back off.
Execute external program before FTP
Specify a program to execute before the image is sent by FTP, but after the dial-up connection is made. This can be used for example if you want to upload your images to multiple sites. Write a batch file that sends the image to all but one site (which can be handled by the built-in ISpy FTP).
Execute external program after FTP
Specify a program to execute after the image is sent by FTP, but before the dial-up connection is terminated.
About ISpy
This is the about box of ISpy. It shows you your current version number, and it shows if you are running a licensed version or a demo version. Please include this information when emailing our tech support department.
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