Introduction

Although the release of Mac OS X largly removed the need to run
UNIX on a different machine for day to day operations, I have kept this classic MacOS page up just in case someone still has the need…

Tired of copying URLs from your UNIX box so you can view them on your Macintosh based browser of choice?

This free open source utility consists of a Macintosh Java based URL server and a UNIX based client which allows launching of your Macintosh based browser to a URL provided directly from your UNIX system.

If you don’t have a UNIX and Macintosh machine networked together, this is not for you. If you read email on your UNIX box and browse on you Mac, this may be helpful.

Warning

Do not use the RmoreUrlServer program on a Macintosh directly reachable from the internet (not behind a firewall or NAT server).

The simple protocol used the the RmoreUrlServer is not safe to internet connected machines not behind a firewall. It would be easy for an attacker to download files or send you browser to any webpage if you are not protected.

This means your Macintosh should behind a firewall and the port you specify in your RmoreUrlServer should be protected/filtered. If you don’t know what this means ask someone at your site/ISP.

Downloads

Application Self Mounting Disk Image – Includes Basic Instructions, MacOS Server Application, and UNIX client source code with make file. For more information see RmoreUrlServer.
RmoreUrl-1.0.2 Source Self Mounting Disk Image – Includes complete MacOS Java Server and UNIX C Client source code and building instructions. For more information see RmoreUrlSrc.
UNIX side client source only in tar gzip format – Includes complete UNIX C Client source code and building instructions in UNIX and Linux friendly format. For more information see RmoreUrlClient.

Requirements

This requires InternetConfig 2.0 or later (the Internet Control Panel bundled with MacOS 8.5 or later will also do the trick).

MRJ 2.1 or greater is needed to run the Macintosh RmoreUrlServer. MRJ 2.1 is limited to PowerPC Macintoshes only, and needs 6MB of available RAM in additional to whatever your browser of choice requires.

Apple Disk Copy is required for mounting the disk image under Classic MacOS. You can get it by searching for “Disk Copy” at the Apple Software Updates site.

Installation Overview

Once you have the disk image, mount is with Disk Copy and then open the disk icon. Drag the RmoreUrlServer sub-folder onto your Macintosh hard disk. Then transfer the RmoreUrlClient folder to your UNIX box, and compile and configure the rmore-url-client executable to work with your UNIX based mail reader.

Each sub-folder contains a README with additional information and the RmoreUrlServer and RmoreUrlClient pages contain more detailed information.

Quick Start

Start the RmoreUrlServer application on your Mac. Go to your UNIX
box, compile and configure the rmore-url-client if you haven’t already.

From the UNIX command line your can run rmore-url-client and pass in the URL you would like your Mac based browser to open and your Macintosh’s IP address. You can also configure your UNIX based mail reader to launch the rmore-url-client directly.

More detailed instructions for installing, configuring, and using the MacOS based RmoreUrlServer can be found here.

More detailed instructions for compiling, installing, configuring, and using the UNIX based RmoreUrlClient is available here.

RmoreUrl Server Program

The RmoreUrlServer is a MacOS Java MRJ based application which listens for incoming URL requests sent by the UNIX based RmoreUrlClient. Upon receiving a request, the request is passed on to InternetConfig which will then send it to the web browser or other application of your choice.

RmoreUrl Server Installation

The RmoreUrlServer is contained in the RmoreUrl Server disk image which you can downloads section.

You can simply copy the entire RmoreUrlServer-forMac folder onto your hard disk and then launch the RmorerUrlServer application. The RmoreUrlServer and the RmoreUrlLib file most reside in the same folder.

If you would like the RmoreUrlServer application to be started automatically when your Macintosh starts, just place an alias in the Startup Items folder located in your System Folder. You can create an alias by selecting the RmoreUrlServer application icon in the Finder and choosing the Make Alias menu item from the File menu.

RmoreUrl Server Configuration

The only configuration issue on the MacOS side is to make sure that the TCP/IP port number that the RmoreUrlServer application uses to listen for incoming URLs from the UNIX box matches the port number specified on the UNIX side for the RmoreUrlClient.

The TCP/IP Port number can be viewed or modified the RmoreUrlServer preferences window. To open the preferences window, choose Preferences… from the Edit menu from within the RmoreUrlServer application.

The TCP/IP port number is the only setting which can be modified.

RmoreUrl Server Troubleshooting

If you have problems getting this software to work, first make sure that you have the correct versions of the required MacOS software as specified on the RmoreUrl page. Next, make sure that the RmoreUrlServer is running on your MacOS box and that you have a working network connection between your UNIX and MacOS machines.

If you have checked all these things and are still having problems email me. I’ll be glad to help.

RmoreUrl Client Program

UNIX is used here as a generic term which includes Linux, BSD, Solaris, and other UNIX-like operating systems.

General

The RmoreUrl client program (better know as the rmore-url-client executable on UNIX) is the UNIX side program which sends URLs to the MacOS based RmoreUrlServer.

The RmoreUrlClient source code is contained in the RmoreUrl MacOS only disk image which you can download. If you prefer to download directly to your UNIX box the sources in tar gnuzip format are also available on the downloads section.

Downloading the RmoreURL Client

Note: All RmoreUrl downloads may be found in the downloads section.

The first task is to get the rmore-url-client source and makefiles copied to your UNIX box. One approach is to copy the RmoreUrlClient-forUNIX folder contained in the MacOS RmoreUrl disk image from your MacOS box to your UNIX box. If you do not have easy MacOS to UNIX file transfer you can also download the source from this page.

The UNIX source archive is in tar/gnuzip format so you can extract it by running (replacing xxx.tar.gz with the actual file name):

gzip -d < xxx.tar.gz | tar xvf -

If you don't have the gzip executable you'll have to install that
first. Most Linux and modern UNIX systems will already have gzip
installed.

Building the RmoreURL Client

If you are lucky you can just type make in the RmoreUrlClient-forUNIX directory.

If not look at the makefile and tweak as needed. I would also appreciate information on any modifications that are needed.

Installing the RmoreURL Client

This is up to you. The only requirement is that you place it somewhere in your path (perhaps in /usr/local/bin if you have root privileges) or you can specify a full path when you execute it.

Configuring the RmoreURL Client

You can specify the host server and port number via the command line or via environment variables. For more info about the environment variables and your current settings you can run rmore-url-client with no arguments.

In general you can configure your environment such that:

RMORE_URL_HOST is the hostname or ip address of your MacOS box.
RMORE_URL_PORT is the portname the MacOS based RmoreUrlServer is monitoring. It will consistent of all digits (0-9).

Another alternative is to just pass them in on the command line:

 rmore-url-server https://rmore.net my-mac-address my-mac-port

Usage

If you have your RMORE_URL_HOST and RMORE_URL_SERVER environment variables configured, you can send a URL to your Mac box (assuming RmoreUrlServer is ready and listening on the Mac side) by entering:

rmore-url-server https://rmore.net

On the UNIX command line. If you don't have any environment variables configured you'll need to enter:

rmore-url-server https://rmore.net my-mac-address my-mac-port

emacs Configuration

I use the rmore-url-client from the emacs VM mail client and also from the emacs Gnus news and email.

emacs Environment Variable Setting

If you will only be the rmore-url-client program from emacs, an alternative to setting a variable in a shell startup file is to just have emacs set the environment variables when it starts.

After placing the compiled rmore-url-client application in my path, I just make sure that I have the RMORE_URL_HOST and RMORE_URL_PORT environment variables set prior to launching emacs. A good way to be sure is to also set the environment variable from your .emacs file:

(setenv "RMORE_URL_HOST" "myMachine")
(setenv "RMORE_URL_PORT" "1237")

emacs VM Config

If you use VM to read mail, you could also add the following to your .emacs file:

(setq vm-url-browser "rmore-url-client")

You may have to provide the full pathname if rmore-url-client isn't
already in your path.

The end result is that from emacs-VM you can click your 2nd mouse
button on a URL and your Macintosh browser will be opened.

emacs Gnus Config

If you use emacs Gnus to reads news or email, you can add the following to your .emacs or .gnus file:

(setq browse-url-generic-program "rmore-url-client")
(setq browse-url-browser-function #'browse-url-generic)

You may have to provide the full pathname if rmore-url-client isn't already in your path.

Troubleshooting

First make sure the RmoreUrlServer is running on your Macintosh and that your Macintosh is "visible" to your UNIX box. The UNIX commandline "ping" command can be useful for this.

ping mymac-hostname

Note that ping is often not in your path. /sbin/ping or /usr/sbin/ping are common locations.

If ping works then make sure the port numbers between the RmoreUrlServer and the rmore-url-client agree.

You can also check your UNIX side configuration by running the rmore-url-client executable with no arguments:

rmore-url-client

This will print usage information and will also indicate the current RMORE_URL_HOST and RMORE_URL_PORT settings.

RmoreUrl Source Code

The source code for the current version (RmoreUrl 1.0.2) is now available in the downloads section.

Required Software and Configuration

To build the RmoreUrlServer you must have:

MPW including the following MPW tools:

 
  {{{make, MrC PowerPC C compiler, rez, PPCLink}}}

[http://developer.apple.com/java MRJ 2.x] or later.
[http://developer.apple.com/java/text/download.html MRJ SDK] 2.2 or later (not to be confused with the MRJ redistribution SDK).
MPW must also be configured to find the java MPW tools which the MRJ 2.x SDK provided.
The [ftp://ftp.stairways.com/stairways/source/icprogkit-202.sit.bin Internet Config SDK].

Directions for building RmoreUrlServer

These build instructions can also be found in the top level README of the source disk image.

Copy the entire contents of the RmoreUrl source disk image to your hard disk
Using the MPW Shell application change directory to your copy of the RmoreUrl source folder (the easiest way to use use the SetDirectory... command from the Directory menu).
Using MPW Shell open the RmoreUrl.make file which is located in the top level or your copy of the RmoreUrl source directory.
The towards the top of the file you will see a line like this:
```
RMORE_ICONFIG=Moof:ICProgKit2.0.2:APIs:
```
Modify the line to point at where you install the internet config SDK.
Choose the Build... command from the Build menu and type RmoreUrl into the resulting Program Name dialog box.
You should see some commands executed and the last line in your Worksheet should be something like:
```
# 05:00:00 PM -------- Done.
```
You can either check the output in your worksheet or go straight to the next step to see the the RmoreUrlServer application was built.
To launch the RmoreUrlServer application you can go to the RmoreUrlServer folder and launch the RmoreUrlServer executable or type:
```
:RmoreUrlServer:RmoreUrlServer
```
and just hit "Enter" (the one on the number pad) and the resulting RmoreUrlServer will be launched.

Directions for building the UNIX client

The directions for building rmore-url-client are on the RmoreUrlClient page.

Source Code Tour

The javadoc is available in the source code archive available in the downloads section.

Releases

The current version of RmoreUrl is 1.0.2 (download here). The source code is available here.

Release History

1.0.2

Changed for RmoreUrl 1.0.2 on 19-August-2000:

Fixed longstanding RmoreUrlServer bug which occurred when you would switch from a port, to a second port, and then back to the first port.
Added javadoc comments to RmoreUrlSrc source code.
Added more diagnostics to UNIX side rmore-url-client code.
More extensive documentation in READMEs and on website.

1.0.1

Changed for RmoreUrl-1.0.1 on 25-July-2000:

Fixed embarrassing bug related to new preference file creation/saving.
Added delay and fade to RmoreUrlServer status window so you could see it has actually done something.

1.0

Changed for RmoreUrl-1.0 on 22-July-2000:

Overhaul of MPW build system to make is easier for others to build.
Automated building of release area.
Added licensing information.
First public source code release (see RmoreUrlSrc).

1.0b3

Changed for RmoreUrl-1.b3 on 19-July-2000:

Added window position remembering.
Fixed garbage output in rmore-url-client.c (UNIX client bug).

1.0b2

Changed for 1.1b2 on 17-May-1999:

First public release.
Various minor cosmetic changes.
Fixed unhandled exception when RmoreUrlLib is missing.
Fixed mixed up colors acquired from InternetConfig for Read/Unread links in about box.

1.0b1

Changed for 1.1b1 on 15-May-1999:

Private testing version.
Created splash screen and started to make about box presentable.
Tidied up and include UNIX side client.

1.0b0

Changed for 1.1b0 on 24-Apr-1999:

First packaged release.