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[JeffWay]

I just purchased and installed IceTCP Plus and am having a problem with using the -h option in the command line when launching.  I am using the following command in a script to launch IceTCP Plus and select a host from a list of multiple host entries:

D:\Program Files\J River\ICETCPPLUS\DEJA32.EXE -h ABC

The problem is that when this command line is executed, it is connecting to host "TRG" instead of "ABC" as indicated.  I have 19 hosts setup in the Hosts Config file and have numerous scripts that launch IceTCP Plus with the -h option to connect to the proper host.  

This worked just fine in the old 16-bit version of IceTCP, but is not working properly in the newly installed IceTCP Plus.  This is a critical issue that I need resolved today.

[Bob]

Since I can't see what you are doing and it works fine here it's difficult to know what to suggest. Try an entry without a shortcut, If you have autoselect turned on, turn it off.

I noticed that both -h=hostname and -h hostname seem to work. Try both syntaxes.

[JeffWay]

Bob,

Thanks for the prompt reply.  I checked each host and none of them have the "Auto Connect" box checked.  Basically I am using Winbatch scripts to launch IceTCP Plus and login via telnet to our 19 UNIX hosts.  Again, it worked just fine with the old IceTCP 16-bit version except that we were limited to 8 sessions on the old version... which is why I purchased the IceTCP Plus.

Here is the part of the Winbatch script that does the telnet login:

login=("report")                                                  
pw=("report")                                                    
exec1=("D:\Program Files\J River\ICETCPPLUS\DEJA32.EXE")          
exec2=("-h=ABC")                                                  
Run ("%exec1%","%exec2%")  

I tried it again and it connected to the last host in the list instead of the "ABC" host as specified in the -h option.  Any other ideas?  I appreciate your help on this!                                      

[Bob]

Jeff,
I just tried it here, even downloaded a demo version of the same batch program you are using and it works fine.

Now I was using the computer name as a FQDN, not as an entry in the "hosts" file that the 16 bit version used. Perhaps that is your problem. The 32 bit version doesn't maintain it's own hosts file. If you want something like the 16 bit versions hosts file you should use the windows hosts file and change your DNS settings accordingly.

[Bob]

You could try the IP address as well.

[JeffWay]

Bob,

IP address did not work either.  

It just stops at the "Host Identifier" field waiting for an entry.  I am going to try adding a script line that just types the text name of the host and the enter to see if it will take that and connect.  Will let you know if that works in a few minutes.  

[Bob]

Here is what I have tried (using an ip address) and it works fine for me.

exec1=("e:\Program Files\J River\ICETCPPLUS\DEJA32.EXE")        
exec2=("-h=192.146.151.188")                                            
Run ("%exec1%","%exec2%")  

[JeffWay]

Ok... I think we've got it now.  The problem I had was that I was using the Winbatch function to rename the window so I can send keystrokes to a unique window name.  Since I change the -h= option to an IP address, that was the window name when it opened.  I had to change the window rename function to change from 10.22.1.11 to ABCAGE (for example) and then it worked properly.  Now I just have to go edit 235 Winbatch script files!  

I am still curious why IceTCP Plus would have any problem with the host name specified in the -h option.  I have all hosts entered in the C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file so it should have no problem resolving by these short, 3 position host names.  Why would it even try to find a FQDN when the local host file has it identified with an IP address?!?  And where are the host file entries made in the Ice Configuration stored?  We couldn't find them in the registry.  Where are they??

[Bob]

Windows may NOT be using the local hosts file. There used to be an entry in the DNS settings for 98 to use the local hosts files but in 2k/xp it's in the WINS setup and I'm not sure it get's used for ip host lookups. Since the 16 bit version uses a completely different winsock stack it's possible that IT does use a local hosts file even on an XP machine.

The hosts for plus are kept in the local Windows directory in a file called ICETCPPLUS.INI.

It looks like the way it works is this:

Check for the named host in the ICETCPPLUS.INI file. If it exists, use the IP address associated with that name in the ICETCPPLUS.INI file.

If the name ISN'T in the ICETCPPLUS.INI file, do a windows DNS lookup on the name.

[JeffWay]

Bob,

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation.  I appreciate your prompt responses and support.  

It was just getting a bit frustrating today since this is a critical operation for us and nothing was working.  It would have been nice if we could have just changed the old 16-bit program file to allow more than 8 sessions at a time, but I understand if that couldn't be done and went ahead and purchased the new 32-bit IceTCP Plus version.

It looks like we've cracked the code now and are just going through all 230+ Winbatch scripts and making the modifications now.  Hopefully all will run fine and I won't have to bother you on this again.