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| CommTraffic Help Documentation |
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CommTraffic works as a combination of CommTraffic Service and CommTraffic Console, which work together to provide an accurate account of the data being transmitted and network utilization. CommTraffic Service starts automatically on Windows boot-up and works in the background to collect and store information about the network traffic passing through the selected network interface. Even if CommTraffic Console is closed, the Service continues to collect the traffic statistics and write them to the log files. CommTraffic Console is responsible for visual representation of the collected data: drawing current throughput graphs, and providing the interface for the program's configuration. In order to display the traffic statistics, CommTraffic Console connects to CommTraffic Service on the local or remote computer. CommTraffic Console is represented by an icon in the Windows system tray area. Double-clicking on the tray icon activates CommTraffic Console's main window – the Toolbox that includes the main menu, the View Tree for accessing different parts of the interface, and the status log pane that displays system messages. The Monitor page provides current information about the network traffic. By default, it is divided into two horizontal sections that display incoming and outgoing traffic. The number of sections, their type and appearance can be changed by right-clicking anywhere on the particular section in the Monitor page and selecting the corresponding menu item, or by clicking on the "~" sign in the upper left corner of the section. The appearance of each section can be configured independently. For each section, the type of traffic information (summary, incoming, or outgoing) can be changed by clicking on the corresponding button in the upper left corner of the section. The bottom pane of this window displays system messages, such as CommTraffic Console connections to CommTraffic Service, limit alerts, and so forth. You can hide it by clicking View => Message View. Once CommTraffic Console Toolbox and the Monitor page is opened, it starts drawing graphs that represent the current network payload. Each section has an area where the total traffic for different periods (current session, today, this week, this month, last month) is displayed. You can change the type of information being displayed by clicking on the button below the word "Total" or by double clicking in this area. The program will display either the traffic volume, connection times, traffic alarms (if defined), or expenses (if defined). The Reports pages provides extended network utilization and expenses reports. The program is capable of reporting the expenses incurred for traffic (if the tariffs are defined), as well as very detailed overall traffic statistics for the specified period; broken down by local hosts, remote hosts, remote ports, local ports, and IP protocols. The Alarms page allows you to define the traffic limits based on a number of criteria; such as incoming, outgoing, total traffic volume, connection time, or cost. You will also need to specify the ISP for which the limit is valid, the period of validity, and the size of the limit. Additionally, the program includes the alerting mechanism that will notify you when the limit is about to be reached. The Settings pages allows you to configure the program's networking, interface, and system options. The View Pane area of the program window provides easy access to all program pages. It has a tree-like structure that leads you to the next level nodes. Click on the "+" sign to expand the next level nodes. View Pane - right-click to access the context menu. Expand – expands all nodes. Collapse – collapses all nodes. Tree Lines – draws or hides the lines that connect upper and lower level nodes. Hot Track - check this item if you would like the program to underline the View Pane item on mouse over. Action – opens a list of menu commands relevant for the selected View Pane node. Main Menu File Floating monitor – opens the Floating Monitor window. Close – closes the Toolbox window. Closing the window does not stop traffic collection and processing or traffic alarms monitoring and does not close CommTraffic Console. If you would like to close CommTraffic Console, please right-click on its system tray icon and select Exit from the pop-up menu. Service This menu controls the link between CommTraffic Console and Service. The menu is available in the Pro version only. Address Book – launches the Address Book where you may add entries containing an IP address or hostname, port number, and password for the remote host running CommTraffic Service to which you frequently connect. Connect – allows you to make a connection to CommTraffic Service on the local or remote computer. A dialog window will pop up so you can enter the IP address (by default the connection is made on localhost), TCP port number and the passphrase, or select an entry from the Address Book. Disconnect – disengages CommTraffic Console and CommTraffic Service. Disconnecting the Console does not prevent the Service from monitoring traffic and saving it in the log files. The program will display all traffic statistics when you restore the connection. Service options – allows you to change the port number that the Service is listening on and the connection passphrase. When changing the passphrase for the first time, please leave the current passphrase field blank. You may also change the password or the port number to those defined in an Address Book entry by selecting the corresponding entry in the drop-down list. Action This menu contains a dynamically generated list of items, relevant for the active program window page. Whenever you open the Monitor page, one of the Reports, or any other program window page, the contents of this menu will be different. View Color Scheme – allows you to set a color scheme for the program's main window. Language – allows you to change the interface language. Be sure to restart the program once you've changed the language. The CommTraffic installation package may not include all available language files for the interface. Clicking on the Other Languages menu item opens the additional languages download page on our Web site where you can download your language file if it is available for the current version. View Bar – shows or hides the view bar of the current page. View Tree - shows or hides the view pane. Message View – shows or hides system messages at the bottom of the Toolbox window. Status Bar - shows or hides the status bar. Messages - opens the message-viewing window. Provider This menu allows you to switch between providers and select one or multiple providers. Each provider may have different tariffs, and you can use this menu even when you are offline to see your Internet traffic or connection time and the amount of money spent on each provider. You can also see the total expenses if you select All from the Providers menu. When you go online, the program will automatically display the provider to which you are connected. The selected provider is displayed in the program status bar. Help Contents – opens the help file. Search For Help On – opens the CommTraffic help index. Online Tutorial – opens http://www.traffic-accounting.com/ Web site that is an easy-to-read, illustrated user guide for traffic accounting principles and the use of CommTraffic. Send a feature request – opens the Feedback Form Web page on our Web site. Please fill it out, describing the feature that you would like to have added to CommTraffic, and click the Submit button. Send a bug report – creates a message in your default e-mail program with the necessary debugging information. Please describe your actions at the time the problem occurred and send us the message. Check for an Update on the Web – opens the Update Wizard window. Please follow the instructions on the screen to download and install the latest upgrade for CommTraffic from the TamoSoft web site. About – shows the About window. CommTraffic Program Group The CommTraffic program group has several important external components that are not available in the program itself. CommTraffic Console – launches CommTraffic Console – the GUI part of the program. CommTraffic Help – opens the CommTraffic help index. Log Manager – launches the logs configuration utility. Service Manager – allows you to control CommTraffic Service. Please refer to the Service Manager chapter for detailed information. Uninstall CommTraffic – launches the CommTraffic removal utility. |
