HttpMonitor

User Manual

V3.0

June 2007

Copyright, Creare Inc.

Introduction

HttpMonitor is an application which copies files from any URL to any WebDAV server. It monitors the remote site for changes, and updates the destination whenever a change occurs.

Usage

HttpMonitor may be started from the command line using the following syntax:

It can also be started from the WebTurbine interface.

Configuration File

The configuration file is an XML file which specifies where the source files are located, and where to place them. As an example:

<monitor destURLPath="http://whf/RBNB/Video/" minimumInterval="250"
		deltaFraction="0.5"
		mkcolQuery="?archive=25000&amp;cache=100" debug="true">
	<resource>
		<url>http://wrbv1.creare.com/cgi-bin/camera.jpg</url>
		<destFile>farmhouse.jpg</destFile>
	</resource>
</monitor>
	

The configuration file has the following elements:

• monitor. Root element. Children: resource, configMonitor, gate, auth. Attributes:
  • destURLPath - the URL folder where the files will be copied.
  • destPrefix - if specified, filenames will be automatically generated at the destination using this prefix and an integer.
  • mkcolQuery - the query string used with the MKCOL WebDAV command to create the destination folder.
  • deltaFraction - the fraction of the calculated delay interval to use until the next update. Values smaller than 1.0 cause more requests than necessary but guarantee that resource updates are not missed.
  • minimumInterval - the smallest allowed interval between updates.
  • maximumInterval - the largest allowed interval between updates.
  • successCountToMin - the number of consecutive successes which set the delay interval to the minimum value.
  • failCountToMax - the number of consecutive failures which set the delay interval to the maximum value.
  • tcpListenPort - TCP port to listen to, to stream data to connected sockets.
  • udpDestAddr - Internet address to send data packets to when files are downloaded. Must be used with
  • udpDestPort - UDP port to send packets to.
  • readTimeout - Time to wait for a resource read, in ms.
  • staggerStartup - Time between the start of consecutive downloads of resources for the first time during process startup, in ms.
  • debug - if set to "true", text is spewed to the console as files are downloaded.
• resource. Parent: monitor. Children: url, destFile, user, password, minimumInterval, maximumInterval. Attributes: none.
• url. Parent: resource. Children: none. Attributes: none. Contains the url to use to find this resource.
• destFile. Parent: resource. Children: none. Attributes: none. Contains the filename to use at the destination. Overrides the destPrefix feature.
• initialSleep. Parent: resource. Children: none. Attributes: none. Specifies a time to wait in millseconds after HttpMonitor startup, before copying the resource for the first time.
• user. Parent: resource, auth. Children: none. Attributes: none. Contains the authorization username.
• password. Parent: resource, auth. Children: none. Attributes: none. Contains the authorization password.
• minimumInterval. Parent: resource. Children: none. Attributes: none. The smallest allowed interval between updates for this resource.
• maximumInterval. Parent: resource. Children: none. Attributes: none. The largest allowed interval between updates for this resource.
• configMonitor. Parent: monitor. Children: as resource. When this URL is updated, a new configuration is loaded for the monitor, and the old resource list is discarded.
• gate. Parent: monitor. Children: as resource. This URL must be continuously updated, or else downloading will stop.
• auth. Parent: monitor. Children: user, password. This provides global authorization for all resources.
• putAuth. Parent: monitor. Children: user, password. This provides authorization for all PUTs. If not used and <auth> appears it will be used instead.

If neither destPrefix is set globally, nor destFile used on a particular resource, the resource will be copied using its source filename.

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