Opens a file selection dialog that allows you to define one or more digest files for examination. Possible file types are those types defined by the check window, which you can choose with the Selection component. Also original files can be selected here (like tomcat.zip), the existing digest/signature files such as tomcat.zip.md5 are automatically detected based on the configured extensions and then loaded.
The checking process is represented by a special dialog where the current state can be monitored. After completion this progress dialog shows some statistics about the operations performed as well as the checking results. In addition to the elapsed period of time on the left, the anticipated time is being displayed here.
After the checking has been completed and the progress dialog was closed, the results are automatically displayed by the results window. The checking results are divided into the two tabs Files and File Digests or URLs and URL Digests, if the checking has been called from the network file system window.
This function can also be accessed from the tool bar using a button.
The generate wizard in the first step prompts you to select original files to be calculate digests for. By holding down the control key multiple files can be selected at once. If you accidentally selected digest or signature files while the option Ignore digest/signature files is activated in the generate window there will be no digest files created (like MD5 for MD5 file).
In the second step you can select the message digest algorithms to be used for calculation. In the third step you can configure the mode of operation:
These are the same settings of the generate window. If files are being generated, then you can control the exact mode in the next step. One option is the file format, where you can generally select the GNU format, the BSD format, as well as the Digester XML format. You can either choose between the GNU or BSD format because these formats use the same file names. The XML format can be generated always in addition to the GNU/BSD formats, because here a separately configurable file extension is used.
If you would like to create GNU files, you can now specify whether a GNU file per target (original file) shall be created or if all the digests for the directory should be saved into one single GNU file. You can also use both methods in parallel. While the GNU files per target carry the name of the original files plus the extension for each of the used algorithms, the GNU files per directory are named based on the contents of the Summary file input field (defaults to summary). While the GNU files per target each contains only one single digest per algorithm, the GNU files per directory may contain multiple digests per algorithm. A typical GNU file per target for the original file franz.txt and the MD5 algorithm is named franz.txt.md5 for example, a typical GNU file per directory by defaul is named summary.md5.
The settings for BSD files correspond to those for GNU files, except that the format of the generated files is slightly different.
If you want to create Digester XML files that contains any number of digests for any algorithm constellation including intermediate digests, please select the option XML file per target or XML file per directory or both. While the XML files per target carry the name of the original files plus the extension in the XML extension field (see XML tab, defaults to .digest), the XML files per directory are named based on the contents of the Summary file input field (defaults to summary). While the XML files per target each contains only one single digest per algorithm, the XML files per directory may contain multiple digests per algorithm. A typical XML file per target for the original file franz.txt is named franz.txt.digest for example, a typical XML file per directory by defaul is named summary.digest.
By setting the option Overwrite existing files you allow the Digester software to overwrite existing files. It can be useful to apply the original file timestamps to the created digest files (only possible for digest files per target). Then please set the Apply target file timestamp as well.
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You will not be able to restore overwritten digest/signature files with the program, please backup your data first. |
If you selected the No files, just calculate option or if you like to create Digester XML files then an additional step is shown by the wizard where you are prompted to configure the intermediate digests:
If you like no intermediate digests being created please select the No intermediates option. Select the Linear mode in order to extract intermediates in fixed data intervals. The used clock length can be specified with the value in the Create every input field which defaults to 10M where an intermdiate digest is extracted every 10 megabytes. In order to keep the Digester XML files as small as possible even for bigger original files you can limit the total number of intermediates per original file (input field Max digests).
The option Exponential mode allows the extraction of intermediate digests starting at a definable data position (field Starting at, defauls to 8K = 8 kilobytes). The next intermediates are extracted after 16 kilobytes, then 32 kilobytes and so on. While in this mode the software extracts a relatively large number of intermediates for the first blocks of an original file and less to the end of the file. This technique makes it possible to detect deviations of original files and message digests very early after processing the first data blocks of a file. In order to keep the Digester XML files as small as possible even for bigger original files you can limit the total number of intermediates per original file (second input field Max digests).
Now all settings for the digest generation are as desired, so that the calculation may be started with a click on the Finish button.
This wizard can also be started from the tool bar using a button. The current settings are restored if you start the wizard the next time.
This wizard can be used to create a new mapping for the sync window. This mapping can then be used permanently to synchronize local and remote files and directories. The steps are optimized the way that you can get the new mapping with only a few necessary settings.
In the first step, the wizard will prompt you to select a set of source entries (files or directories). In addition to local files (File System tab) you may choose to use network resources (Network Files tab). You can select either local or remote files/folders here. The source entries may be expanded or modified later with the sync window.
In the second step, you can select target entries the same way. This wizard supports to setup up exactly one target set, additional target sets can be set up later with the sync window. If entries from a network file system are being used, the corresponding connection may first be established. You can use the Network Files tab to do this where you can find several settings. For a synchronization to take place, for each source entry exactly one target entry of the same type must be configured (for each of the targets sets). The list rows of the sync window therefore must contain either files or directories. A source file must be synchronized with a target file, a source directory must be synchronized with a target directory.
In the next step to setup the generate options please enter a unique name for the newly created mapping to be used by the sync window. Often is is useful to update the source digests before the synchronization. The respective generate template of the generate window is then executed before the sync. Alternatively you can enable the Refresh option in order to optimize the calculation of digests and signatures. Setting a generate template is optional. If another template is selected then the template settings are directly activated within the wizard window so that a minimum of input is required. This also ensures that the new mapping is created with a consistent configuration.
As for the generate function also here you can choose from the list of file formats to be used for the synchronization of existing digests/signatures:
OpenPGP files can only be created per target and not on a directory basis. All settings should be consistent with the settings of the configured generate template since checking XML files would be useless for example if the template creates only GNU files. If you like subdirectories be analyzed as well please set the Include subdirectories option. The option Intermediate digests can be enabled to generate intermediate digests for Digester XML files. This option is enabled only if XML files are generated.
In the last step of the wizard the digest options can be adjusted. Besides the algorithms MD5, SHA-1 etc. you can select the (secret) OpenPGPP keys here to use for signature creation. Depending on the previous selections not all components may be enabled here.
If OpenPGP secret keys have been already configured using the key management, they will appear in the list below. Besides the optionally configured URL (network address), here appears the Name as well as some pieces of information like the eMail and Key Id. In order to generate signatures based on the OpenPGP standard, please simply select the desired key entry in the list. If a passphrase is available for the key, it will be automatically used for signing, otherwise the passphrase will be requested shortly before signing with a dialog. The key URL can optionally be stored for each key in order to be added to Digester XML files. A key URL can be specified by clicking on the pen icon button and deleted again with the red X button. URLs should be existing Internet addresses since they are used for automatic downloads of public keys. On top of the key list you can see the most important functions of the key management which can be started comfortably from here.
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The OpenPGP functions can be used only
if the unlimited key strength has been activated. You can find detailed pieces of
information about the legal background for the deployment of cryptography on our website.
With the Check Key Strength functionality you can determine the
currently supported key strength of your Java environment. |
This wizard can also be started from the tool bar using a button. After the wizard has been closed using the Finish button the sync window shows the new mapping. You can adjust your wizard settings later using the window, for example you can add additional targets sets to be synchronized.
This submenu shows the files and network files which have been opened by the document window for viewing or editing purposes. Here, a maximum of 10 entries are being displayed. You can open these files again by selecting the desired submenu entry. In order to clear the list from time to time or due to data security concerns please select the last entry Reset.
Opens the file chooser dialog where you can select one or multiple files to be viewed or edited by the document window. Currently the following file types are supported by this window which means viewing or editing is possible for these types:
For these file types arbitrary extensions may be configured in the preferences, an appropriate editor is then opened automatically. In the file system window it is possible to open arbitrary file formats with the integrated hex editor. Please select the Hexedit context menu (right mouse button).
This function can also be called with the shortcut Ctrl+E (Windows) or Cmd+E (Mac).
Opens the network file chooser dialog where you can select one or multiple files to be viewed or edited by the document window. Currently the following file types are supported by this window which means viewing or editing is possible for these types:
For these file types arbitrary extensions may be configured in the preferences, an appropriate editor is then opened automatically. In the network file system window it is possible to open arbitrary file formats with the integrated hex editor. Please select the Hexedit context menu (right mouse button).
The currently displayed file or network file within the document window can be saved with this function, if the content has been changed. This is always indicated by an asterisk (*) after the file name on the tab. If a file name is not known right now (e.g. after inserting content from the clipboard), then a file selection dialog appears to be used for storage.
This function can also be called with the shortcut Ctrl+S (Windows) or Cmd+S (Mac) as well as from the tool bar using a button.
For contents of the document window to be saved into local files, please use the Save As function. A file chooser dialog is displayed to specify a target file to save the data. If the file already exists and the content has not already been saved into this file, a security dialog appears, where you can cancel the saving.
For contents of the document window to be saved into network files, please use the Save As Network File function. A file chooser dialog is displayed to specify a target file to save the data. If the file already exists and the content has not already been saved into this file, a security dialog appears, where you can cancel the saving.
If network files are being accessed the respective network connection must have been established. In order to do so you can use the functions in the header area of the dialog. You can create new connections with the Edit Connections menu.
The program settings are managed with the Preferences menu. All file operations around the preferences are located in the Preferences menu of the File menu together with the other file functions.
With Save Preferences the current preferences of the program may be saved explicitely e.g. after changes were applied. Each time the program is terminated the preferences are automatically saved in the configuration file of the application. This file is located in the PC user's home directory in .digester-1.6.x/config/digester.conf. Depending on the program this directory contains additional configuration files like OpenPGP keystores which are saved automatically as well when the program terminates. If the program has to be stopped using the Windows Task Manager then the preferences are not saved, so that your settings at the time of interruption may be lost. After bigger changes to the configuration it makes sense to save the preferences explicitely once with this menu function.
This function can also be called with the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+S (Windows) or Cmd+Alt+S (Mac).
With Import Preferences you can choose a file to load preferences which have stored using the Export Preferences functionality previously. After these two functions have been called a file chooser dialog is displayed where to select a configuration archive in ZIP format. If the file does already exist a security dialog is shown where the action can be cancelled. Please keep in mind, that you can only import such configuration archives that have been exported with exactly the same program version. If this is not possible the program shows a special message.
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The export functionality should be used
regularly to create backups of the program preferences. The exported archives should then
be saved on secure media and carried to secure locations. Import/export could also be
used to transfer the preferences from one PC to another or to restore the preferences for
example if the operating system has been re-installed. |
The program can be properly terminated and restarted with the Restart menu. This is possible for both the installer versions as well as the Web Start versions of the software. When restarted the current program state is being analyzed. Dialogs may be created e.g. if tasks are still being executed and where the appropriate steps can be configured. Finally the program shows a dialog where you must confirm the restart of the program (not the PC!). This dialog may be opted out by setting the Do not show again flag so that the next restart can be executed directly without being asked.
Program restarts may be initiated by the program itself e.g. after the memory size has been adjusted.
The program should be properly terminated after use, since certain data and preferences are saved for the next run. If the program is stopped by the Windows Task Manager for example your manuall applied settings may be lost and must be applied again the next time. When restarted the current program state is being analyzed. Dialogs may be created e.g. if tasks are still being executed and where the appropriate steps can be configured.
This function can also be called with the shortcut Ctrl+Q (Windows) or Cmd+Q (Mac).