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eCS
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Application Review |
GammaTech
IRC (GTIRC) 3.06 |
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Year:
1999 Homepage
Link: None Download
GTIRC 3.06 now! |
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IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". It is a multi-user, multi-channel chat network which allows people all over the world to have real time conversations. It was originally written by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988. The channels are virtual places with names indicating the type of conversations, many of which have specific topics for discussion. Users talk in groups, or in private conversations using a user selected nickname. IRC is based on the client-server model. A server is a system that transports messages from one client to one or more other clients. The client is the individual user who connects to a server for this service. The GammaTech IRC software is an IRC client that will work with other clients and servers on many different platforms. I was never a big IRC user but I bought GTIRC back in the day because I thought it was one of the easiest IRC clients out there. I still use it to this day, and although IRC is no where as popular as it was in the past, people that do, are very friendly and knowledgeable. (2) Installation: GTRIC has it's own installer (Non WarpIn or IBM Installer). It's a little odd, especially when you update the software, which I will go over here. So first thing is to click on GTINST.EXE, this is the GammaTech installer. You will find “Install” in the menu bar, click it, then “Install Product”
A new window will pop up asking where you want GTIRC, the default is directly to the C:\drive, which I hate. I suggest putting it in your C:\programs directory.
Once installed, you unsurprisingly have a new folder.
BUT WAIT...your not done! Unlike most of my reviews, GTIRC needs to be updated manually, it's not hard and just takes a sec. The version you installed is 3.00, the update takes you to version 3.06, which from the read me, does: Corrective
Service List Enhancements Version 3.06 * Correct traps on DalNet resulting from error in nicklist handling. * Permit use of Ban, Kick and KickBan from nicklist popup with long nicknames. * Correct potential trap 5 in nick parsing routine. * Correct trap 5 when attempting to join a keyed channel. * Added logic to disable automatic userhost queries on servers which do not support userhost information. * Supress "* :No such nick" messages. Enhancements Version 3.04 * Correct problem where starting GTIRC on systems with fixpak 11 locks up the WPS requiring a Alt-Esc or Ctrl-Esc key sequence. * Added a new feature which permits driving of a REXX exit script whenever a DCC session completes for any reason. See the help for the CTCP Options dialog and the sample REXXDCCX.CMD file for details. Enhancements Version 3.03 * Minor changes for restructuring. Enhancements Version 3.02 *
Prevent use of drive or paths on /Sound command for security. This appears to correct problems with TCP/IP 4.1 stacks also. * Added webbnet network and server to default server list. So nothing major but we might as well take GTIRC to it's highest service level before we play with it. First, in the file you downloaded from the BlueNexus site, you should see the folder called Update 3.06, copy the file GRC99014.CDS to your desktop (this is the update file). This should make the next step easier. In the new folder on your desktop (GTIRC Folder) double click on the Corrective Service Install Icon, and you should see a new window asking where to find the .csd file.
Since you have GRC99014.CDS on your desktop, type C:\desktop\GRC99014.CDS in the field, then click “Open”. A new window will open, verifying were you're GTIRC is installed, which, if you followed this walk though, is in C:\programs\gtirc30. Hit “OK” and it should update the program.
The update is done so you can now delete the GRC99014.CDS file on your desktop, in case you forget. So now that you have a nice, shinny copy of GTIRC on your computer, lets start her up, an get ready to chat. (3) Startup: Clicking on the GTIRC icon will bring up a window that looks like this:
This is the Connection Dialog window, which is basicly asking you what server you want to join. I would leave the IRC Network as Undernet, it is the IRC Server that can get time consuming. You may configure your desired servers in groups by network. When GTIRC is initially installed it configures a few default networks. To list the configured networks click on the down arrow at the right of the Network name control. Because GTIRC is a “few” years old, there are a good number of servers that don't connect anymore. You can search the Internet for additional ones. Before we go any further, we will add a new one that the official eComStation site recommends. Click on the Add button in the IRC Server area. A new window will open:
Since there is no USA IRC server, I chose a Russian one: irc.ecomstation.ru, simply type irc.ecomstation.ru into the Server box and hit “Done”. You will return back to the Connection Dialog window. To make life easier the next time you want to log on, click on the Arrange button and lets move the irc.ecomstation.ru server to the top choice.
Most likely the irc.ecomstation.ru will be at the bottom, just highlight it and then hit the “UP” button until it's the first server at the top. Again, you can add an server to this and adjust them the way you want, also, though some of the servers that come predefined in GTIRC don't work, some do, so you might play around a bit to find something you like. Move irc.ecomstation.ru to the top by clcking the Up button, click on the “DONE” button when, eerrr...your done. Back at the Connection Dialog window we are ready to connect to the server, double check that irc.ecomstation.ru is in the server window, then hit connect. Finally, you see a screen that starts to log you into the server. It takes a few seconds, but once it's done, it should look like this:
So your connected to the server, congrats! If you want to check real fast if you updated GTIRC correctly to 3.06, simply click on Help and then Product info, you should see a screen like this:
One last step (gah). Now that you are connected to the server, you have to pick a “chat room”. With GTIRC you can join multiple chat rooms, for for this review, we are going to add a room called #ecolabs. See that little button to the bottom right of the screen, the one with a arrow pointing right, and into a box? Hover your cursor over it and to the far right you will see the button is named “Join Dialog”, Click it and a new window will pop up:
Type #ecolabs in the top line and hit add, then in the bottom window, highlight #ecolabs and click on the “OK” button.
Man, that seemed like a lot to start chatting to people I don't know, lucky all of that is behind us and the next time you want to get to this final screen, only a few steps are needed. Lets see if it is worth it... (4) The Program: GTIRC's has one window for the server and another separate window for each channel or private chat session. There is not much to the windows besides the bottom toolbar that runs between the channel conversation frame and the text-entry area. The windows are adjustable and after you play around with the color scheme (see below), it's not any worse to look at as any other IRC Client out there. Most of the buttons are predefined but there are four that the user can configure himself to either send an IRC command or execute a REXX script. The top menu has just two choices, file and Options. Lets briefly go over the options screen.
I would suggest looking at all the different options, most are self explanatory, other you will need the Help file, for fun, lets look at the color configuration. It's pretty basic but honestly, were chatting, not doing an art project.
Back in the chat window, the left window shows the conversation (channel) while to the right of each channel window is a user list frame that displays the nicks of all the people on the same channel, right-clickable with the mouse to see a list of actions that can be performed on that nick (such as sending a file, opening a query window or checking the person's ID). You are also able to toggle the userlist on and off using one of the buttons on the toolbar, I guess this was good for people with small screens, but now a days does anyone use anything smaller than a 21inch screen with at least 1024 x 768?
Most of the choices you have when you right click on a name are interesting but anything a typical user would use, I know I don't. The one thing I am glad it has is a Send function. As with most IRC Clients, all you have to do is right click on the name you want to send a file to, then pick DCC Send (Direct Client to Client protocol). A window like most of are used to will appear, simply pic the file you want to send and click “OK”
When this command is entered, the user specified is notified that you wish to send them a file. They then have the option to accept the offer and receive the file or decline the offer. In any event, a new window is created where the file transfer session will take place if it is accepted. I have read that the DCC SEND session is conducted as a direct client to client session and is therefore not affected by server performance. It was very fast when I sent a few files, and I learned a very interesting trick with doing this review. GTIRC's support of DCC is adequate although definitely not the best when it comes to transferring files. It doesn't support the ability to resume an aborted transfer, either in sending or receiving. GTIRC also does not have a means to automatically accept a DCC transfer from someone else. When transferring many files at once you find yourself with a myriad of progress windows to deal with too, none of which will automatically close themselves once the transfer has completed. If this wasn't bad enough, the same window template has been reused as the channel/query/server windows, meaning that your progress dialog will have a button bar, conversation text area and entry text area that don't do anything and just take up space. This didn't make sense to me at all. I have a Droid X for my cell phone, and one of the programs I have is called AndChat, which is a IRC chat client for the Droid OS. It's a decent little app that is free, so if you have a droid phone, I suggest the program. Anyways, moving software, or pictures, to my phone was always an issue for me in eComStation. With GTIRC and AndChat I can now transfer whatever to my phone for backup to to transfer at a latter date. I wish it went the other way with AndChat sending data to GTIRC but I think that is an issue with AndChat and not with GTIRC. In preferences, there are some basic things to decide on. I personally like this, it's not overbearing like some programs I've had to deal with.
Speaking of basic, GTRIC is just that. I think it has everything the “common” user would need to log onto IRC and just chat. Honestly the only two things I every wanted to do on IRC was talk and trade files. Everything else after that is just busy work. I loaded up ChatZilla 0.9.86.1 to test the ease of use vers GTIRC 3.0.6, as well as some of the basic items I thought most people would use.
As you can see there is not much of a difference, which shows you the quality of work for GTIRC. It also helps that IRC is not a high developmental area on the Internet. (5) Final Thoughts: GTIRC 3.0.6 is fast first of all, it's light weight and a true eComStation application. I never have had an issue with this program, no crashes, nothing to really comment on. GTIRC is probably a good choice for a beginner (like me) who wants enough features to manage comfortably with the 'crowd out there'. With that there really is no major bells and whistles but honestly they just get in the way of what really matters, talking and file sharing. The same window template everywhere gets confusing and “busy” but is manageable since I'm not in ten chat rooms at the same time. If you do though, it can get busy. ChatZilla works better for those tasks since it will put everything in tabs. At the end of the day though I cannot see why anyone would not want this quality piece of software. When I fire up eComStation, there are around seven programs I have up right away, GTRIC is one of them. So download a copy now and meet me in irc.ecomstation.ru, #eCoLabs, I hang out there all the time, try and make it a habit because it's nice to hang out with people of similar interest. (6) Updates after the review: 04-07-11 – It has been brought to my attention that there are a few IRC clients out there such as OpenChat/2. Also, there are some “modern” ports, such as Quassel, a recently ported, (Paul Smedley), QT IRC client that has a lot of interesting features. There are actually several options out there, GTIRC was just one I always used (and thus comfortable with). I also lean towards eCS native apps over ports, not that they are bad...I'm just saying... |
