Webcam32 FAQs User's Guide Java Support Help Wizard
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Webcam32 FAQs User's Guide Java Support Help Wizard |
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This
document contains the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the
Webcam32 product. If you don't find an answer to your question,
consider searching or asking at the live Bulletin Board here, or going through our Help Wizard, located
A: There's a compatibility problem between Webcam32 and the latest version of Java (1.4.2), as Webcam32's implementation of the HTTP 1.1 protocol is not strictly compliant with the spec. For whatever reason, this wasn't a problem with earlier versions of Webcam32. There are two possible solutions:
1) use Javascript instead of Java with the following sample code:
http://www.surveyor.com/webcam32/simple_javascript.zip
http://www.surveyor.com/webcam32/fancy_javascript.zip
2) install an HTTP compliant server such as Apache (www.apache.org) on your Webcam32 machine to deliver JavaCamPush.jar
A: Webcam32 is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, though you need to make certain you have the most up to date drivers for your capture hardware. Also, some users find the following WDM->VFW wrapper is required - here are the installation details:
1) download the wrapper archive from our site: http://www.surveyor.com/support/patches/wrapper.zip
2) unzip the archive into its own directory
3) right click on the .inf file and select 'install'
4) reboot
A: ATI's latest drivers do not come with a conversion between UYUV to RGB. To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
1) download this archive:
2) extract the archive.
3) right click on the .inf and select 'install'
4) reboot the machine
A: There are two types of users on Windows XP: administrators and limited users. Administrators have read/write access to all of the hard drive. Limited users are restricted to a few areas of the hard drive where they can write data. You need to run Webcam32 as an administrator to make certain the configuration settings are properly saved from session to session.
A: Go to your 'Start Menu'. Click on "RUN". Type in "winipcfg". Click "OK"
A: The 350 and 550 errors are usually caused by your permissions not being set correctly on you Web host. These errors are from issues with the webserver. You will have to check with them to see about that. Ask them to make sure that you have over write permission on the directory that you are trying to FTP to.Also try going to file-> preferences -> FTP -> advanced. Check the "use temp file" and "remove/rename" options.
A: Go to file-> preference ->tcp/ip -> server push. Make sure all of those settings are 0.
A: In order for the audio applet to work properly you will need to place the video and audio applets in separate frames, if they are on the same page. Also check in your Webcam32 directory. Make sure there is a file called AUDIO.JAR. If you are missing this file: http://www.surveyor.com/products/downloads/audio.jar
Advanced javascript to test for the audio.jar. This is not complete, you need to be able to write pieces of this.
A: The internal IP address is not viewable by the internet. One way to do this, is to change your NAT(network address translator) settings to map all request for port 8888 to the computer with the web cam. Make sure that the IP is the same as the router if you have one.
Sometimes certain browers won't be able to load the java applet. Look in your Webcam32 directory. The default is program files -> surveyor corporation -> webcam32. Make sure that you have a file called JAVACAMPUSH.JAR. If you do not have this file: http://www.surveyor.com/products/downloads/JavaCamPush.jar.
A: There are several places on the web where you can find free webspace to put up your cam: Geocities, Tripod, or Spotlife for example. Spotlife offers limited live streaming time. Or You could get a free website from geocities, but it won't be able to do live streaming, just upload pics at a set interval. Use the userID and password they give you. The FTP server would be ftp.geocities.com.
A: Motion detection events are triggered by the percent-changed in File / Preferences / Image / Video (see http://www.surveyor.com/support/webcam32help/video_settings.html)
For percent-change trigger of Local Save, if the Image Compare option in the Capture / Local Save menu is enabled, then local save will only occur when the percent-changed is exceeded. For FTP, look at the Advanced menu, and select "Use %Change" - FTP will only occur when percent-change is exceeded.
A: Webcam32 does support multiple cameras. It is not capable of send data from more then one camera at time though. There is a feature in Webcam32 called image cycle. This will cycle between a list of cameras and send images from one camera at a time for a certain time length. In order to use this feature you will have to have cameras of different type, due to the way that windows drivers work. Or, to create multiple instances of Webcam32, you can create more profiles. To see how this is done refer to our help page.
The FTP protocol does not normally allow file permissions to be changed from an FTP client. File permission changing is not part of the protocol specification of FTP since file permissions are different on Unix operating systems from NT operating system from Mac systems and so on. The FTP server running on these operating systems may allow permissions to be changed but these permissions are dependent upon the exact FTP server used. Thus Webcam32 is unable to change the file permissions created on a target file programmatically. This is not normally a problem as most FTP servers allow global file read of written files. If this does prove to be a problem, you must contact your FTP server administrator (usually your ISP) and have them change the default permissions for your userid or directory.
There are no plans to attempt to build yet-another Web server. Since Webcam32 can listen on any port number, its aim is to be an assister to a full-blown specialized Web Server.
There are some special instructions for using Webcam32 with AOL available here.
This message is produced by Webcam32 if the "Use Temp File" option is selected in the FTP settings but the target Web Server does not support file rename. You must un-check this option.
When an FTP client connects to an FTP server, the client is initially connected to the home directory for the userid entered. This may or may not be the correct directory for uploading Webcam32 images. If it is the correct directory, the "directory" field in the FTP settings within Webcam32 may be left blank.
If
the ISP hosting the web pages on which the Webcam32 image is to reside
doesn't support FTP, currently Webcam32 won't be able to upload any
images to that site. Webcam32 does not yet support alternative
upload mechanisms of images. To solve the problem, a free web
hosting server such as Geocities could be used. If a free account
from Geocities is obtained, Webcam32 could FTP images to that webserver
and an
Webcam32 has been fully tested with Wingate™. It does require a little extra configuration. This is fully documented here.
When using FTP to upload a new image, sometimes you may get a broken or missing image on your browser. This is because there is no file level locking when a Web server gets an image at the same time that an FTP server is changing the image. Although Webcam32 minimizes the risk by creating a temporary file and then renaming at the end to the target file, the rename action is not instantaneous. This error does not occur with either the CGI or HTTP protocols. This error has been seen only 1 in 1000 times.
After creating a web page containing a link to a Webcam32 generated image, you find that the picture is static and that it is not refreshed when you refresh the page. Look at the HTML source of the page, you may find that if you have been using an HTML editor such as Netscape Navigator Gold, the reference to the Webcam32 server has been replaced by a locally saved one-off copy of a JPEG file. For example, if you had wanted the HTML to be:
you may find that you end up with
The solution is to manually edit the HTML page and correct the HTML code. It is recommended that you add Webcam32 images by using the Insert HTML Tag option of your HTML editor.
For Netscape V404 and later, a bug has been found which causes the image not to reload. Adding the following in the page seems to resolve the problem
If this fails, try coding the
ie
as opposed to
Q. The FTP Interval entry field is grayed-out and I can not enter an interval value in there?
A. If
there is an FTP Timer value set for absolute time upload of images,
this takes precedence over the interval upload. Delete all the
FTP Timer settings to return to interval based upload. See the Interval vs Absolute timer pages for more details.
Q. During an FTP upload, the modem connects to the Internet, the FTP happens but the connection is not removed after the upload?
A. If you are NOT normally connected to the Internet but want Webcam32 to dialup and then upload an image, use the dialup timer settings. The connection to the Internet if the dialup timer not being used is not
being made by Webcam32. It is being made by Internet
Explorer. By default, if Internet Explorer is installed, any
attempt to access the Internet results in an automatic dialup with no
subsequent disconnect. This can be disabled (according to
Microsoft's own documentation) by changing the connection type in
Internet Explorer's settings from Dial Up to LAN access. For more
information, see here.
If the Webserver being used to host the Webcam32 images is Microsoft IIS V4.0, a number of bugs and workarounds prevent the image from being reloaded. See the following page for more detailed information.
For information and specifics on Webcam32 performance, click here.
Webcam32 is shipped to listen on TCP/IP port number 8888 on your local machine by default for incoming HTTP requests. This may change to a different default value in a future release. If you are running a Web server on your local machine, Webcam32 will complain that port 8888 is already in use. Select a different TCP/IP port number in the TCP/IP settings within Webcam32 or else disable Webcam32 HTTP requests.
Server Push is controlled by both image size transmitted and time that the image have been transmitted. Both these settings are located in the TCP/IP Server Push preferences dialog. If either of these are exceeded by a client accessing webcam32, server push for the client will end until the next access.
If
you access Webcam32 in Server Push mode directly (ie not referenced in
a web page) the image will appear to flicker. This is a quirk of
the Netscape browser which, seeing that the only content on the screen
is the image, redraws the whole screen. If the image reference
is included in an HTML web page with an
Webcam32 now supports client pull and server push for both Netscape and Internet Explorer. This answer attempts to distinguish between the two:
Client Pull
Server Push
Under the full control of the end-user. End-user's page controls how access is established.
Under the control of Webcam32 at the server. Also controlled by the web page which points to Webcam32.
Slower refreshes. Browser reforms connection to Webserver each time a new image is to be displayed.
Faster
refreshes. The images are sent down the same connection.
Images are transmitted as soon as updated and available.
Consumes less resources off the PC running Webcam32.
Consumes more resources off the PC running Webcam32.
Server Push is a Netscape only feature. It has not been implemented natively by Microsoft in Internet Explorer V5.0. An alternative solution using Java has been developed called JavaCamPush. More information on JavaCamPush is available here.
Q. The documentation talks about a JavaCamPush.cab file ... where is this file and where do I put it?
A.
JavaCamPush.cab is a file containing the java applet. Unlike
other Java applets which need to be copied to a Webserver for end-user
download, JavaCamPush is contained within Webcam32 and is extracted
from Webcam32 directly by the browser.
Q. How do I publish my own TCP/IP address to allow access to the Server Push stream?
A.Webcam32 supports the IP Upload mechanism to upload an HTML page with the current IP address included.
Q. Can I use FTP at the same time as JavaCamPush?
A. Yes, you can used JavaCamPush and Webcam32's FTP at the same time.
Q. What browsers are supported by JavaCamPush technology?
A. Java
is still somewhat of an emerging technology. The language has
changed from one release of Java to another. JavaCamPush is
compliant with V1.1.x of the Java language. Not all browsers
support this version. The following table illustrates browser
compatibilities:
Internet Explorer V5 and V4.01 - Windows
Fully supported
Netscape Communicator V4.08 and later - Windows
Fully supported
Internet Explorer V3.x
Not supported
Netscape Navigator V3.x
Not supported
AOL Browsers
Not supported
Macintosh
Not Supported
Other browsers/platforms
Unknown
Q. Why does the JavaCamPush stream seem to stop after a short while (e.g.. 15 seconds)?
A. The
JavaCamPush functions are under control of the Server Push functions.
Server Push allows a maximum transmit time and a maximum amount
of data to be delivered. These can be changed or switched off if
desired. See here for more information.