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Overview of an application
WideStream is a download manager and FTP explorer that can be used to effectively manage your downloads from HTTP and FTP resources. WideStream allows you to download several files at a time, to resume broken downloads, to download from servers that require authorization and much more.
WideStream was designed with simplicity in mind. We were trying to keep the learning curve as low as possible therefore user interface and behavior of a program is much alike other download managers. At the same time WideStream offers advanced features such as queue management and refined download configuration for experienced users.
WideStream is a Windows application. It runs on Windows 2000, Windows XP (all versions including 64 bit), Windows 2003 (all versions including 64 bit) and Windows Vista (all versions). WideStream itself is a lightweight program and doesn’t require installation – it is all contained in a single 500KB file. However WideStream requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – so if you can’t lunch an application please make sure to install .NET Framework from Microsoft site.
WideStream is an open source software which means that you can always download its source code, request a feature or report a bug and even participate in its development.
Development of WideStream is splitted into milestones. Milestone is a major release of an application. We can compare it with versions of Windows – there is Windows 2000 version, Windows XP, Windows Vista – that all represent an evolution of a single operative system but at the same time have a lot of differences. WideStream milestones are called using the names of the famous rivers. The current milestone is Murray – in regards of Mighty Murray, the Australia’s largest river.
Program features
WideStream Murray has the following major features:
Multiple simultaneous downloads which are managed using graphics interface
Download from HTTP and FTP
An ability to resume broken HTTP and FTP downloads, auto restart of failed downloads
Detailed log for downloads and FTP explorer
Authorization for HTTP and FTP
HTTP 1.0 and HTTP 1.1
Configurable HTTP auto redirections
HTTP to FTP redirection
Smart download acceleration with up to 20 connections per download
Download priorities which are used to favor one download in the bandwidth over others
Download adapters (see project blog for more details).
Total bandwidth management
FTP explorer that supports authorization and allows to download files from browsed folders
FTP explorer history
Host manager with wildcard matching for host name that allows you to store credentials and other settings for different sites
Work with multiple queue definition files, autosave of queue definitions
Customizable user interface
Minimize to tray feature
Download notifications
A ticker style active downloads window that is transparent and displayed over other windows and can be used to track downloads status when the program itself is minimized
Browser integration (currently only Microsoft Internet Explorer 6/7 and Opera 9 are supported)
Plug-in support: you can add new protocols and new download adapters without changing the code of the application (see project blog for more details).
Not installation needed - download and run
New features are being constantly added to the project. Check the current work log to see what will be added in the next release.
Installation and first time configuration
WideStream doesn't require installation. However you should have Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 to run this application. .NET Framework is a modern platform for Windows application. Version 3.5 is not shipped with any current version of Windows but it may be downloaded through Windows Update if you have it enabled. You can also download it from Microsoft site and install it manually. If you have any questions or problems considering .NET Framework installation please feel free to contact or to create a support request.
It doesn't matter where exactly you place an application executable (WideStream.exe file). You can create a folder in ProgramFiles or run it from desktop.
When application is first lunched it creates folders My Documents\WideStream and My Documents\WideStream\Downloads. My Documents\WideStream folder is used to store application configuration file and queue definition file. Downloads folder is used a default local path for the downloads. You can choose to store configuration and/or downloads in any other location through program options.
Also WideStream creates a key in a registry - HKEY LOCAL USER\Software\WideStream - that is used to persist view state of a program (such size and position of a main window, etc.). If you are experiencing problems with an application or you simply want to revert all settings back to default you can delete program configuration file and a registry key. But bear in mind that you will loose all your settings, FTP explorer history and hosts registered in a host manager.
Main application window
Main application window is what you see when you lunch WideStream. This window includes the following elements:
Menubar, which provides you an access to all application functionality. Menu bar may change depending on the current mode of an application (i.e. download manager or FTP explorer) but you will always have an access to general features (such as application configuration)
Toolbar provides shortcuts to the frequently used functionality. Toolbar may change depending on the current mode of an application (i.e. download manager or FTP explorer).
Central part of the screen contains either a grid with current downloads or a list of files and folder if you are in FTP explorer mode. Different application modes will be described later.
Log window (that's the grid with headers Time, Message, etc.) is available all the time and is used to display information and error message. Use log window to track your download progress, to gain stats about what is happening, etc.
Statusbar contains statistical information. For example, in download manager mode it shows current number of active/finished/paused/stopped and failed downloads.
In this section we will describe common functionality of the application - that is accessible all time in all the application modes (in download manager and in FTP explorer as well).
Menu bar provides an access to the following functions:
File menu:
Exit - exit an application. You don't have to manually pause all the active downloads if you have any, application will pause them automatically. In a case when your downloads cannot be paused (which means that a server doesn't support resume download feaure) you will be prompted that the progress for these downloads will be lost if you exit.
View menu:
Downloadmanager - switch to the download manager mode.
FTPexplorer - switch to the FTP explorer mode.
Log - choose whether or not to show the log pane.
StatusBar - choose whether or not to show the status bar.
ToolBar - choose whether or not to show tool bar.
Tools menu:
Hostmanager - open host manager window. Host manager will be described in a separate section.
Options - open program options window. Program options will be described in a separate section.
Help menu:
Documentation - open this documentation page on WideStream site in your default browser.
Community - community links.
About - show information about program version, license, milestone, etc.
Log window which size can be always adjusted and remembered by an application is controlled through a context menu. Log context menu provides an access to the following functions:
Copy - copy currently selected log entry to the clipboard.
Copyall - copy all log entries from the log window to the clipboard.
Clear - clear the current log window.
Host manager
Host manager (that is accessible from the main menu: Tools -> Host manager) is used to save settings specific to concrete hosts. For example, you may wish to download from rapidshare only in 3 connections, to use HTTP 1.0 instead of 1.1 and of course to set up your premium account credentials.
Host manager window is a grid that displays all registered host managers. By default this grid shows Host Name, Description, Timeout, Error Limit, Priority and Maximum Connections. You can choose display columns from the Tools -> Options dialog or by right clicking the column headers.
Host manager can be controlled through a toolbar or through a Host Manager menu. They both have three items:
AddHost - allows you to configure a new host
RemoveHost - allows you to remove currently selected host
Properties - allows you to change settings of the currently selected host
The dialog that is used to manage host details is organized using a tabbed page control. The first two pages are Host and General.
Host page allows you to specify major host details such as host name, description that can be used for reference purposes and credentials. Remember that you should enter only host names, domain names, in the host name field - not URLs. For example, rapidshare.com is a correct entry when http://rapidshare.com is not. You can also use wildcards in domain names. For example, *.sourceforge.net will match all domain under sourceforge.net including widestream.sourceforge.net but not the sourceforge.net itself. But *sourceforge.net will matchs all domains that ends with sourceforge.net (in our case both widestream.sourceforge.net and sourceforge.net itself).
General page allows you to configure general download properties. By default all controls on this page (as well as all controls on subsequent pages) are displayed. It means that default settings will be used. If you want to override default settings check a check box near by the name of the setting - and it will be enabled. The settings on this page are similar to the settings that you can see on the Settings tab when adding the new download - with the only exception that you can also specify a download path here.
Other pages in the host manager dialog represent protocol settings. By default these are FTP and HTTP protocols. These settings are similar to the settings that you can see in the Configure Download dialog.
Download Manager
Download manager can be opened from the main menu: View -> Download Manager. When Dowload Manager is the active view you will be able the grid with downloads in the main section of a form:
This grid includes the following major columns:
Url or Download column that shows either a download link or just a file name.
Progress column that shows a progress of a download (from 0 to 100%). Besides this it shows an icon that identifies a status of a download. Also (if turn on so called priority icons through Tools/Options/Queue Manager/Priority Icon -> Show) it can display a small icon that determines a priority of a download - red H for high priority, blue L for low priority and just a white space for normal priority.
Size column that shows the size of a file beign downloaded
Downloaded column that shows how many bytes were already downloaded
Speed used to indicate the current speed. A read arrow that can be displayed in this column shows that speed is increasing, blue arrow - that speed is decreasing, black dot - that speed is not changing.
TimeLeft column shows an estimated time left before download ends.
Connections coumns shows a number of simultaneous connections for a download.
Status column shows a status of a download. You can track download status using icons in the very column as well.
You can resize and reorder these columns by dragging them as you wish. Position and width of all columns will be remembered by WideStream.
Downloads have the following statuses:
Wating which means that download is not yet started and will be processed by download manager later.
Initializing - download is about to start.
Downloading - download is in process.
Paused - you have paused your download but can resume it from the place where you have paused it at any time.
Aborted - you have stopped your download and can start it only from the begging.
Failed - number of errors during download exceeded the limit and download has failed. This status is similar to Aborted.
Finished - download has successfully finished.
You can control your downloads through either content menu, tray icon menu, Download menu in the main menu or using buttons on the toolbar.
Main download menu includes the following items:
Addcownloads opens a Configure Download download (that will be described in a separate section).
Maximumdownloads opens a submenu that allows you to select a number of files that will be downloaded simultaneously (from 1 to 20). Choosing Don'tStartNewDownloads will freeze the download queue.
Pausedownload pauses the currently selected download.
Pausealldownloads pauses all currently running downloads.
Stopdownload stops (aborts) currently selected download.
Resumedownload resumes currently selected download.
Resumealldownloads resumes all currently paused downloads.
Removedownload removes currently selected download.
Removeallsuccessful removes all successful downloads.
Movedownloadup moves selected download up in the queue.
Movedownloaddown moves selected download down in the queue.
Opencontainingfolder opens a folder where the selected file is placed.
Openfile opens a currently selected file.
Downloadproperties opens download properties dialog (which is the same as Configure Download dialog).
Context menu is similar the main download menu, but it also allows you to "freeze" the queue (Don'tStartNewDownloads) and to quickly change download priority through the sub menu with Low, Normal and High choices.
You can also control download manager through tray icon menu, by right clicking an icon in the tray. Tray menu allows you to add a download, change traffic usage, "freeze" the queue, resume or pause all downloads.
Command Line Parameters
You can lunch WideStream with command line parameters that allow you to control the application. For example with command line parameters you can integrate WideStream with FlashGot or with any browser that supports external download managers but is not supported by WideStream natively.
WideStream supports the following command line parameters:
-url - this parameter allows to pass an URL to WideStream. For example, widestream.exe -url http://site.com/file.zip. You can enclose URL in quotes but this is not mandatory. When this parameter is used WideStream will automatically show Add Download dialog with the supplied link. If WideStream is already running it will still show this dialog.
-minimize - this parameter is used to lunch WideStream in minimized form. It will not show its main window - but you will a WideStream icon in the tray area. You can use this parameter if you want to configure WideStream to be lunched at system startup.
-log - this parameter is used to support error logging feature. You should provide a path the log file - i.e. widestream.exe -log C:\temp\log.txt. You should enclose the path to the file in quotes if it contains spaces. Error log will contain dump of all errors including download errors and application errors.
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