MySettings/MyTcSettings/Tools/pinginfoview/readme.txt

PingInfoView v3.20
Copyright (c) 2008 - 2025 Nir Sofer
Web site: https://www.nirsoft.net



Description
===========

PingInfoView is a small utility that allows you to easily ping multiple
host names and IP addresses, and watch the result in one table. It
automatically ping to all hosts every number of seconds that you specify,
and displays the number of succeed and failed pings, as well as the
average ping time. You can also save the ping result into text/html/xml
file, or copy it to the clipboard.

PingInfoView supports both ICMP pings and TCP pings.



System Requirements
===================

This utility works under Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003,
Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, Windows
Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11. Older versions
of Windows are not supported.



Versions History
================


* Version 3.20
  o Added 'Black Background' option (Under the View menu). When it's
    turned on, the main tables are displayed in black background and
    white text, instead of default system colors.
  o Added 'Mark Odd/Even Rows' option.

* Version 3.15
  o Fixed bug from version 3.10 that caused improper parsing of IPv6
    addresses.
  o Custom context menu: You can now add your own menu items to the
    right-click context menu of the upper pane, by editing the
    configuration file (PingInfoView.cfg)
  o See the 'Custom Context Menu' section for more information.

* Version 3.10
  o Added support for IPv6 TCP pings. You can specify host name (For
    example: www.google.com:80), or IPv6 address in the following format:
    [IPv6 Address]:Port.

* Version 3.05
  o Added 'Source IPv4 Address' option. You can use this option if
    you have multiple network adapters and you want to send the ping from
    specific adapter.

* Version 3.01
  o Fixed bug: when disabling one or more items, the ping interval
    was longer than the interval in the Ping Options window.

* Version 3.00
  o Added support for IPv6 pings. In order to enable IPv6 pings you
    have to select the 'Allow IPv6 addresses' option.
  o Optionally, you can choose the source IPv6 address (It might be
    needed if you have multiple network adapters)
  o Be aware that TCP pings are not supported for IPv6 in this
    version.
  o When you specify host name and the 'Allow IPv6 addresses' option
    is selected, PingInfoView first tries to resolve the host name as
    IPv6 address, and if it fails, it resolves the host name as IPv4
    address.
  o Added option to change the sorting column from the menu (View ->
    Sort By).
  o Added 'Sort By' button to the toolbar.
  o Added 'Update Settings' button to the 'Ping Options' window,
    which allows you to change some ping settings (e.g. : number of
    seconds to wait between the pings, ping timeout, window title)
    without resetting all ping data. You can also update the description
    of existing items, add new items, or change the groups.
  o Added 'Copy Stuck Threads Report' (Under Help menu) for debugging
    stuck threads problem.
  o The status bar now shows the number of active ping threads, and
    the number of stuck threads in parenthesis.
  o Fixed bug with stuck threads that occurred when PingInfoView
    failed to resolve host name.

* Version 2.30
  o Added 'High Resolution Ping Time' option (Under the Options
    menu). When it's turned on, PingInfoView displays the ping time in
    microsecond resolution (For example: 2.351 ).
  o Added 'Hide Disabled Items' option (Under the View menu).

* Version 2.25
  o Added option to disable and enable the selected items. When an
    item is disabled, PingInfoView will not sent pings to this host until
    it's enabled.
  o Be aware that the disable status is not remembered if you exit
    from PingInfoView and then run it again.

* Version 2.22
  o The number of items in a group is now displayed in the group
    title.

* Version 2.21
  o Added 'Copy Clicked Cell' option to the right-click context menu,
    which copies to the clipboard the text of cell that you right-clicked
    with the mouse.

* Version 2.20
  o When the 'Use IP-Host Description format' option is turned on,
    you can now specify group name for every group of computers.
  o When group name is specified, every group is displayed
    separately, and you can collapse and expand a group by
    double-clicking the group header.
  o Look at the 'Use IP-Host Description format' section for an
    example of using this new groups feature.
  o Added 'Skip the first address' and 'Skip the last address'
    options for IP addresses range in CIDR format.

* Version 2.16
  o Fixed the 'Execute the following command on success ping (After
    previous failure)' option (Added in version 2.15) to work according
    to the 'Number of consecutive failed pings to trigger the failed
    command/sound alert' option. For example: if you set the 'Number of
    consecutive failed pings...' value to 3, and there are 2 failed pings
    and then a success ping, PingInfoView will not activate the success
    command.

* Version 2.15
  o Added new option: 'Execute the following command on success ping
    (After previous failure)' (In 'Advanced Options' window).
  o Updated to work properly in high DPI mode.

* Version 2.10
  o Added new lower pane mode: 'Add ping line for every change in
    ping status'. When you choose this mode, a new ping line is added to
    the lower pane only when there is a change in the ping status.
  o For example: if you have a sequence of 10 succeeded pings and
    then a sequence of 5 failed pings, you'll see 2 lines in the lower
    pane - one line for the 10 succeeded pings and one line for the 5
    failed pings.
  o The new 'Pings Count' column displays the number of
    failed/succeeded pings. The 'Sent On' column displays the time range
    of the succeeded/failed pings.

* Version 2.05
  o Added 'Display Mode' option (Under the Options menu), which
    allows you to view only the hosts with succeeded pings or to view
    only the hosts with failed pings.
  o Added 'Add Header Line To CSV/Tab-Delimited File' option (Turned
    on by default).

* Version 2.02
  o Added new column: 'Total Sent Pings'.

* Version 2.01
  o Added 'Start As Hidden' option (Enabled only when 'Put Icon On
    Tray' option is on).
  o When both 'Start As Hidden' and 'Put Icon On Tray' options are
    turned on - PingInfoView starts to ping instantly when you run it
    without displaying the main window.

* Version 2.00
  o Added support for TCP pings. You can now specify the host name or
    IP address with a port number (e.g: 192.168.0.100:80 192.168.1.10:443
    www.nirsoft.net:443 ) and PingInfoView will check the TCP connection
    in the specified port number instead of using ICMP pings.

* Version 1.86
  o Added option to specify IP addresses range in CIDR format (e.g:
    192.168.0.0/24)
  o Added option to choose another font (name and size) to display in
    the main window.

* Version 1.85
  o Added IP options: Time To Live and Don't Fragment.

* Version 1.82
  o Fixed to sort properly the 'Last Succeed On' and 'Last Failed On'
    columns.

* Version 1.81
  o Fixed bug with resizing the 'Ping Options' window.

* Version 1.80
  o Added new option: Beep On Succeeded Pings (After Failure).
  o Fixed bug: When the lower pane option was turned off,
    PingInfoView didn't add the pings to the log file.

* Version 1.75
  o Added 'Resolve host name to IP address on every ping' option. If
    the IP address of the host you ping may change, you should turn on
    this option , so when the IP address is changed, PingInfoView will
    ping the new IP address.
  o Added new option in 'Advanced Options' window: 'Limit the total
    number of accumulated pings' (Default is 50000). If you run
    PingInfoView for long period of time, you should use this option.
    Otherwise, the accumuated ping result will consume a lot of memory,
    and eventually PingInfoView will respond very slowly or crash.
  o Added 'Window Title' field. The text you type here will appear in
    the title of the main window.

* Version 1.70
  o Automatic export feature: You can now choose to generate a new
    filename on every session (When you close the program and then run it
    again) or on every save. You can also generate a filename with
    date/time (e.g: ping20170925112130.csv) instead of numeric counter.

* Version 1.65
  o The 'Consecutive Failed Count' column now keeps the last value
    when pings are ok again.
  o Added 'Max Consecutive Failed Count' column which displays the
    maximum number of consecutive failed pings and 'Max Consecutive
    Failed Time' which displays the date/time that the maximum number of
    consecutive failed pings was detected.
  o Added 'Add only failed pings' option to the 'Lower Pane Mode' in
    'Advanced Options' window.

* Version 1.60
  o Added option to automatically export the current pings status to
    a file (csv/tab-delimited/html/xml) every xx seconds (In 'Advanced
    Options' window).
  o Added option to execute a command on ping failure.
  o Added option to specify the number of consecutive failed pings to
    trigger the sound/beep alert and the failed command executaion.
  o Added 'Consecutive Failed Count' column.

* Version 1.55
  o Added option to choose the type of beep/sound to use when a ping
    fails (In 'Advanced Options' window).
  o Added option to add all ping results or only the failed pings
    into a comma-delimited or tab-delimited log file (In 'Advanced
    Options' window).
  o Added option to stop adding the ping results into the lower pane
    (In 'Advanced Options' window). It's recommended to use this option
    if you have large amount of pings, because the accumulation of ping
    results consumes a lot of memory and eventually causes PingInfoView
    to crash.
  o When 'Use IP-Host Description format' option is turned on,
    PingInfoView now adds the IP address even if it doesn't have a
    description.

* Version 1.51
  o On IP-Host format, if you put '#' in the beginning of the line,
    PingInfoView will consider it as a remark line and ignore it.

* Version 1.50
  o Added option to specify the ping size (The default is 32 bytes).
  o Added 'Order' column, which specifies the original order of
    hosts, as you typed in the 'Ping Options' window.

* Version 1.45
  o Added option to control the maximum number of concurrent pings
    (In 'Advanced Options' window - F9). The default value is 500.
  o Fixed bug: PingInfoView failed to remember the last size/position
    of the main window if it was not located in the primary monitor.

* Version 1.43
  o Fixed bug: When using PingInfoView from command-line,
    /IPHostDescFormat and some other command-line options failed to work
    properly.

* Version 1.42
  o Fixed issue: When editing PingInfoView_hosts.txt with external
    editor that adds Byte order mark to the file, PingInfoView failed to
    handle the first host name.

* Version 1.41
  o Added 'Sort On Every Update' option.

* Version 1.40
  o Added 'Auto Scroll Lower Pane' option.
  o Fixed bug: In some circumstances, when using 'Copy Selected
    Items' on the lower pane, PingInfoView copied the wrong items or
    crashed.
  o Improved the ability of PingInfoView to handle hundreds or
    thousants of IP addresses in the same time.

* Version 1.36
  o Added 'Auto Size Columns+Headers' option, which allows you to
    automatically resize the columns according to the row values and
    column headers.
  o Fixed issue: The properties and the options windows opened in the
    wrong monitor, on multi-monitors system.

* Version 1.35
  o Added a lower pane that lists the result of all pings for the
    selected IP address in the upper pane. (You can disable this feature
    by unchecking the 'Show Lower Pane' option under the Options menu)

* Version 1.30
  o PingInfoView now resolves the IP addresses and displays the
    result under the 'Host Name' column.
  o Added 'Minimum Ping Time' and 'Maximum Ping Time' columns.

* Version 1.28
  o Fixed the sorting problem of 'IP Address' and 'Reply IP Address'
    column.

* Version 1.27
  o Made another workaround that hopefully will solve the mysterious
    problem that people report where PingInfoView stop pinging after
    hours of continuous work. PingInfoView now check the pinging status,
    and if the pings stoped from some reason, PingInfoView should start
    them again.

* Version 1.26
  o Added command-line options to make a single ping test and save it
    to html/text/xml/csv file.
  o Fixed some problems with the xml file.

* Version 1.25
  o New column: Last Succeed On.
  o New column: Last Failed On.
  o The % Failed value now shows the value in accuracy of 0.01%
    instead of interger values in previous versions.

* Version 1.20
  o New column: % Failed.
  o New option: Beep On Failed Pings.
  o New option: Put Icon On Tray.

* Version 1.18
  o Fixed bug: The size of addresses list text-box was limited to 32
    KB.

* Version 1.17
  o Added new option: Start pinging immediately without displaying
    this dialog-box.

* Version 1.16
  o Added more accelerator keys.

* Version 1.15
  o Added support for IP Range (For example:
    192.168.0.10-192.168.0.20)
  o Added support for IP-Host Description format. (See below)
  o Fixed bug: PingInfoView continued to ping even when 'Ping
    every...' option is unchecked.

* Version 1.10
  o Added command-line support.
  o Added 'Always On Top' option.
  o Added Drag & Drop support - You can drag a text file containing
    IP addresses into the main window of PingInfoView.
  o Added 'Start Pinging' option. (Start again after you previously
    used the Stop option)
  o Added 'Reset' option.
  o Added 'Load Addresses From File' option.

* Version 1.06
  o Fixed sorting problems in some columns.

* Version 1.05
  o Automatically save the hosts list and load it in the next time
    that you use PingInfoView utility.
  o Fixed the IP address sorting.
  o The 'Ping Options' dialog-box is now resizable.

* Version 1.01 - Fixed bug: The main window lost the focus when the
  user switched to another application and then returned back to
  PingInfoView.
* Version 1.00 - First release.



Using PingInfoView
==================

PingInfoView doesn't require any installation process or additional dll
files. In order to start using it, simply run the executable file
(PingInfoView.exe), type the host names and IP addresses that you want to
ping, and click the 'Ok' button to start pinging.
Starting from version 2.00, you can also specify a TCP port number (e.g:
192.168.0.100:80 192.168.1.10:443 ) in order to test a TCP connection
(TCP Ping) instead of using ICMP pings. Be aware that PingInfoView only
tests the TCP connection itself, it doesn't try to send or receive data
from the server.



Known Issues
============


* If you ping to a lot of hosts concurrently, PingInfoView may return a
  failed result to some of the hosts, even if the hosts are ok. In order
  to solve this issue, go to the 'Advanced Options' and decrease the
  maximum number of concurrent pings.



Use IP-Host Description format
==============================

When this option is selected, you should specify the IP addresses list in
the following format:

192.168.1.10 Main Server
192.168.1.11 Host 01
192.168.1.12 Host 02
192.168.1.30:443 HTTPS Web Site
192.168.1.31:25 SMTP Server
#192.168.1.14 Host 03

The description of each IP address is automatically added to the
description column. When port number is specified, TCP ping is used
instead of ICMP ping. If you add '#' character in the beginning of the
line, PingInfoView will ignore it.

Starting from version 2.20, You can also specify group name for every
group of computers. When group name is specified, every group is
displayed separately, and you can collapse and expand a group by
double-clicking the group header.

Here's an example for IP addresses list with group names:

Group: Computers Group 1
192.168.0.1 Computer01
192.168.0.2 Computer02
192.168.0.3 Computer03

Group: Computers Group 2
192.168.0.10 Computer10
192.168.0.11 Computer11
192.168.0.12 Computer12




Command-Line Options
====================



/stext <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into a simple text file.

/stab <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into a tab-delimited text
file.

/scomma <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into a comma-delimited text
file (csv).

/stabular <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into a tabular text file.

/shtml <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into HTML file (Horizontal).

/sverhtml <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into HTML file (Vertical).

/sxml <Filename>
Make a single ping test and save the result into XML file.

/loadfile <filename>
Load the specified filename that contains host names and/or IP addresses.
You can use this command-line option in conjunction with the above save
commands (/scomm, /stab, and so on)

/PingTimeout <value>
Specifies the ping timeout value, in ms.

/PingEvery <0 | 1>
Specifies whether to ping every xx seconds (0 - No, 1 - Yes)

/PingEverySeconds <value>
Specifies the number of seconds to wait between the pings.

/IPHostDescFormat <0 | 1>
Specifies whether to use the IP-Host Description mode (0 - No, 1 - Yes)

/StartPingImmediately <0 | 1>
Specifies whether to start pinging immediately without displaying the
Ping Options window. (0 - No, 1 - Yes)

/IPv6 <0 | 1>
/IPv6SourceAddress <IPv6 Source Address>
/PingTimeout <Milliseconds>
/ResolveEveryPing <0 | 1>
/WindowTitle <Window Title>
/ResolveAddresses <0 | 1>
/PingSize <Ping Size>
/MaxConcurrentPings <Value>

.
.
.

You can use any variable inside the configuration file (PingInfoView.cfg)
as command-line option to set the desired option from command-line.



Custom Context Menu
===================

Starting from version 3.15, you can add your own custom menu items into
the upper pane context menu of PingInfoView.
In order to do this, you have to exit completely from PingInfoView and
then edit the PingInfoView.cfg file, located in the same folder of
PingInfoView.exe. You can edit PingInfoView.cfg with notepad or any other
text editor.

The structure of the custom menu configuration is very simple, and looks
like this:


[CustomMenu]
Caption0=Menu Caption
Command0=Menu Command
Caption1=Menu Caption
Command1=Menu Command
Caption2=Menu Caption
Command2=Menu Command
.
.
.



You can create up to 10 different menu items (from 0 to 9). The command
string is an executable file with parameters that provide the information
about the selected items.
For example, the following menu item will ping the selected IP address in
a command-prompt window:


[CustomMenu]
Caption0=Ping This IP address
Command0=cmd.exe /K ping %IPAddress%


PingInfoView will replace the %IPAddress% variable with the IP address of
the selected item. You can use the following variables for the custom
menu command (They are identical to the column names, but without the
space characters): %HostName% %IPAddress% %ReplyIPAddress% %SucceedCount%
%FailedCount% %ConsecutiveFailedCount% %MaxConsecutiveFailedCount%
%MaxConsecutiveFailedTime% %PercentFailed% %TotalSentPings%
%LastPingStatus% %LastPingTime% %LastPingTTL% %AveragePingTime%
%Description% %LastSucceedOn% %LastFailedOn% %MinimumPingTime%
%MaximumPingTime% %Order% %Disabled%

Finally, here's an example for full custom menu items. Notice that
Caption3 and Caption6 are actually a menu separator. Also, Command7 is a
'ShellExecute' command, which means that instead of specifying .exe file,
you specify a file, URL, or network resource to open (In this case it's
Admin share of the remote computer).

[CustomMenu]
Caption0=Ping IP address
Command0=cmd.exe /K ping %IPAddress%
Caption1=Ping Host Name
Command1=cmd.exe /K ping %HostName%
Caption2=Check IP Address With Nbtstat
Command2=cmd.exe /K nbtstat.exe -A %IPAddress%
Caption3=-
Caption4=Open IP Address In Chrome
Command4=chrome.exe %IPAddress%
Caption5=Open IP Address In Firefox
Command5=Firefox.exe %IPAddress%
Caption6=-
Caption7=Open Admin Share
Command7=ShellExecute:\\%IPAddress%\Admin$


The custom menu of the above example looks like this:




Translating PingInfoView to other languages
===========================================

In order to translate PingInfoView to other language, follow the
instructions below:
1. Run PingInfoView with /savelangfile parameter:
   PingInfoView.exe /savelangfile
   A file named PingInfoView_lng.ini will be created in the folder of
   PingInfoView utility.
2. Open the created language file in Notepad or in any other text
   editor.
3. Translate all string entries to the desired language. Optionally,
   you can also add your name and/or a link to your Web site.
   (TranslatorName and TranslatorURL values) If you add this information,
   it'll be used in the 'About' window.
4. After you finish the translation, Run PingInfoView, and all
   translated strings will be loaded from the language file.
   If you want to run PingInfoView without the translation, simply rename
   the language file, or move it to another folder.



License
=======

This utility is released as freeware. You are allowed to freely
distribute this utility via floppy disk, CD-ROM, Internet, or in any
other way, as long as you don't charge anything for this. If you
distribute this utility, you must include all files in the distribution
package, without any modification !



Disclaimer
==========

The software is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, either expressed
or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not
be liable for any special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages
due to loss of data or any other reason.



Feedback
========

If you have any problem, suggestion, comment, or you found a bug in my
utility, you can send a message to nirsofer@yahoo.com