Improved RemoteDesktopClient GUI - Feb 28, 2007

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rarsa
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Improved RemoteDesktopClient GUI - Feb 28, 2007

#1 Post by rarsa »

The Remote desktop client is an application that allows you to connect to windows computers remotelly and use them as if you were sitting in front of them.

Click on the small images to view the full image
Simple view
Image

Showing options
Image


I have updated the remote desktop client with the following features:

Cleaner interface:
- Converted the interface to be fully GTK2 compliant. It now looks noticeably better and follows your GTK theme.
- It now has the "simple" and "advanced" modes.

Persistent Profiles
- Added the ability to save a profile. This is: after you enter all the parameters you can save it to a file to reuse at a later time.

Almost all the options
I've included almost all the options available from the command line.

This upgrade was suggested in another thread
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=14706

Plus I always had the intention in the back of my mind and now I had some time. (surprisingly people are not reporting bugs with the new network wizard ;) )

Regarding the "art work":
I am no artists whatsoever so I just took the tango icon for remote desktop and assembled the header. If someone with more artistic aspirations wants to do something nicer such as reflections or glass effects I'll include it (try to keep the size of the file small). Just ask me for the Gimp file I created.

Regarding the base source code
Whenver you question why your source code should be clear and legible, consider that for the most part the changes to this program were made easier because the code is quite clean.

If you are interested in learning tcl or if you know tcl and want to learn gnocl, check the sourcecode. I've splitted the UI and the functionality in two different files.

Dependencies

To get the GTK compliance I used the gnocl toolkit. Download it from here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=15639
Attachments
remotedesktopclient-2.15-2.pup
(19.13 KiB) Downloaded 3715 times
Last edited by rarsa on Wed 28 Feb 2007, 05:52, edited 9 times in total.
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WhoDo
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#2 Post by WhoDo »

Get it? Got it! GOOD!!! :P

Love it and can highly recommend to others using RDP for remote access.

Cheers

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paulh177
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#3 Post by paulh177 »

this looks excellent.
if i can find a vpn client that can emulate the microsoft vpn client, this removes a bit of problem for me
(i need to use vpn to get into my wor LAN then rdp to connect to a win2k3 terminal server)
I tried ppptpconfig but can't make it work properly

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HairyWill
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#4 Post by HairyWill »

Paul,
Did you try the pptpconfig dotpup I compiled.
http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Network/pptpc ... Gtk-4.4.4/
This is also available using the Puppy Software Installer if you have it.
You may need to install the full version of the 'ip' command available at the same place.
Turn the debug option on and post the log in a new thread. I'll try and help. As long as you have pptp in the subject line I know there are a few others here that understand at least some of the output. It took me ages to get it to work, now I use it everyday.
Last edited by HairyWill on Wed 24 Jan 2007, 13:39, edited 1 time in total.
Will
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paulh177
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#5 Post by paulh177 »

OK thanks Will;
I don't think I've tried that version (the dotpup I had was just "ppptpconfig.pup") plus it was a couple of puppys ago.
I'll download it and give it a go when I have a moment, perhaps report back in a new thread so as not to hijack this one ...

Paul

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HairyWill
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#6 Post by HairyWill »

New dotpup works fine for me.
I notice that puppys man page for rdesktop seems out of step with the installed version. On the man page it states that the device redirection is only implemented for sound. Clearly this isn't true anymore.
With the map disk drive options I see that you have mapped the entire filesystem. This is probably the best option but may create some confusion for users who are expecting to get a number of physical devices mapped as in c:\\ d:\\ .
Will
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rarsa
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#7 Post by rarsa »

HairyWill wrote:I see that you have mapped the entire filesystem. This is probably the best option but may create some confusion for users who are expecting to get a number of physical devices mapped as in c:\\ d:\\ .
This is what I'm talking about! Bringing out the ideas!

I didn't modify that part of the code but your idea is worth looking at.

I will also review the man pages (and maybe add a Help button).
[url]http://rarsa.blogspot.com[/url] Covering my eclectic thoughts
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Leon
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Re: Improved RemoteDesktopClient GUI

#8 Post by Leon »

rarsa wrote:Regarding the "art work":
I am no artists whatsoever so I just took the tango icon for remote desktop and assembled the header. If someone with more artistic aspirations wants to do something nicer such as reflections or glass effects I'll include it (try to keep the size of the file small)
It's really nice as it is. Please keep it simple and clean as Puppy is.

I would only suggest white background for text boxes and first and last button to be aligned with tabs margins. When I saw gray text box background I taught that text entry is disabled.

The picture of modified remotedesktopclient-2.14.1 is attached.
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remotedesktopclient-2.14.1.png
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Last edited by Leon on Thu 25 Jan 2007, 06:58, edited 2 times in total.

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rarsa
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#9 Post by rarsa »

Great!

I am going to upload the script to the Puppy Subversion repository to simplify this exchange.

I was going to upload it yesterday but it was too late and I was tired.

please send me an email to svnadmin@puppylinux.org so I can grant you write access to the repository.

(If you haven't used subversion with esvn, I will include instructions. It is quite easy)
[url]http://rarsa.blogspot.com[/url] Covering my eclectic thoughts
[url]http://www.kwlug.org/blog/48[/url] Covering my Linux How-to

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Flash
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#10 Post by Flash »

Are there instructions anywhere that tell a beginner how to set up a remote desktop connection? (Both ends.)

Leon
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#11 Post by Leon »

rarsa wrote:please send me an email to svnadmin@puppylinux.org so I can grant you write access to the repository.
I sent you an email to svnadmin@puppylinux.org.

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HairyWill
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#12 Post by HairyWill »

Flash wrote:Are there instructions anywhere that tell a beginner how to set up a remote desktop connection? (Both ends.)
Microsoft give some quite helpful instructions :D the remote machine stuff at the top is the important bit.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... intro.mspx
You need to have XP or a windows server >= 2000. for the remote machine.
On the local side you just need to enter the ip address or full URL of the machine you want to connect to. The defaults get you a fairly low quality connection so you might want to change some of the options on the display tab for a better experience.
Will
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paulh177
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#13 Post by paulh177 »

I installed the pptpconfig dotpup and the updated RDP client under puppy 2.13.
Once I remembered that there are 4 octets in an IP address (!), pptpconfig connected first time to the terminal server at work.
Then it took a little fiddling with the routing options to make the target internal IP address visible for RDP.
I had to set pptpconfig to "all to tunnel" to make it work, as I get really lost trying to work out netmasks and the intricacies of the route command ... so that part is not for beginners.

As far as the RDP client is concerned, I ran into usability problems with it.
I'm connecting to a Win2K3 desktop but whatever resolution I use I can't see the whole desktop -- in particular there aren't side scrollbars allowing me to "see" the taskbar and startbutton.
Also the screen update is pretty slow compared to my equivalent XP VPN/RDP setup.

paul

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rarsa
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#14 Post by rarsa »

Are you logging into an existing session that you opened in a monitor with a higher resolution?

I haven't seen those problems and I connect to XP, 2000, 2003 with different levels of service packs.
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paulh177
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#15 Post by paulh177 »

No. Fresh sessions.

However I think that it happens when i start a new (or load a saved) session in which a desktop resolution is specified under the "Display" tab.
If this is "blank" (greyed out because not specified) then it starts a window which is correctly sized and doesn't crop the remote desktop.

note that I am testing this on puppy 2.13, Xorg, with a 800x600x16 screen res on the machine running puppy.

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rarsa
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#16 Post by rarsa »

I contacted John Hass, the original developer and synchronized changes with him.

I've uploaded a newer version (at the top of this thread) that includes his changes, the changes made by Leon and my changes.

I've also set the default font to DejaVu to match the rest of Puppy

Leon,
Could you remove your attachments so new users don't get confused? (don't remove your message, as it is important to keep track of the history)

Great team work!
Leon made the following changes
- Align bottom buttons
- Set white field backgrounds

John Hass, the original developer, sent me the following changes which I synchronized with our changes. Now our version and his official version are the same.
- Added console mode to Desktop tab
- Added error checking if /usr/bin/rdesktop does not exsist (I modified it to check for "which rdesktop")
- Added compression to experience
- Added do not send mouse motion events to experience
- Added Force bitmap updates to experience tab
- Added a Makefile for easy installation (As the package is already a dotpup, it does not include the make file)
Last edited by rarsa on Fri 23 Feb 2007, 05:21, edited 1 time in total.
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[url]http://www.kwlug.org/blog/48[/url] Covering my Linux How-to

Leon
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#17 Post by Leon »

rarsa wrote:Leon,
Could you remove your attachments so new users don't get confused? (don't remove your message, as it is important to keep track of the history)
Done.

Leon
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#18 Post by Leon »

rarsa wrote:I've uploaded a newer version (at the top of this thread) that includes his changes, the changes made by Leon and my changes.
It would be useful to add version number in window title like Remote Desktop Client 0.3 and into the contents of About tab.

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WhoDo
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Problem in 2.14 Alpha?

#19 Post by WhoDo »

Hey rarsa,

I love this new RDP client script, but I'm having trouble running it on Puppy 2.14. Here is a link to my enquiry, just in case the problem is with the script and not Puppy 2.14

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=14909

Any assistance greatly appreciated

Leon
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Re: Problem in 2.14 Alpha?

#20 Post by Leon »

WhoDo wrote:Hey rarsa,

I love this new RDP client script, but I'm having trouble running it on Puppy 2.14. Here is a link to my enquiry, just in case the problem is with the script and not Puppy 2.14

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=14909

Any assistance greatly appreciated
See topic about bugs in Pup 2.14ALPHA on Puppy Developer Forum:
http://www.puppyos.net/forum/?1169851092;2

Solution:
Download and install remotedesktopclient-0.3.pup from the first page of this topic.

Dotpup:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... ch&id=2994

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