X-Plain! Assistant It's like having a Certified Network Expert engineer right there with you
to help you understand the output from your protocol analyzer.
The X-Plain!tm Assistant
The X-Plain! Assistant is an on-line database of network acronyms, words, and phrases that goes far beyond the idea of a simple 'look up' encyclopedia. The explanations that we have built into X-Plain! include the troubleshooting implications behind the engineering technology. You either type in, copy-and-paste, or load files into the X-Plain! Assistant program to look up the explanations in the extensive database. When you look up "TCP" you get a complete description of how to read TCP sequence numbers and how the TCP Window Size impacts data throughput. When you look up ILMI (Integrated Local Management Interface) you receive an explanation of how ATM addresses are constructed and how switches may be configured to circumvent ILMI incompatibilities.
Applications For X-Plain!
Because the heart of the X-Plain! Assistant software is its extensive database of technical explanations. You will use X-Plain! anytime you need fast and accurate explanations with a troubleshooting focus.
Situations Where X-Plain! can help you:
| You are working with an engineer on the
phone and they tell you that there are excessive TCP Resets occurring on a particular WAN
link. You need immediate information to tell you about the TCP Reset, how to
interpret it, what may cause it, and what to do about it. You simply type the word
"Reset" into the X-Plain! input field and the explanation is presented to you. | |
| Suppose you are configuring a switch using a
Telnet or RS-232 terminal from your Windows desktop. You are given the option to
enable Classless Internet Domain Routing (CIDR). You don't know what 'CIDR' is.
Now you could either type the word 'CIDR' into X-Plain! or you could copy-and-paste
in the Windows desktop. Once again, the explanation is presented to you. |
| Here's another way to use X-Plain!, this
time with any ASCII text file. You may have a .PRN file from a protocol analyzer, a
text file from a file capture (out of a terminal session, for example) or an email that
you've printed to a file. With X-Plain! you can load the ASCII file into the
X-Plain! buffer and X-Plain! will automatically go through the file and highlight (and
hyperlink) all the words that are in the X-Plain! database. Then you can simply
click on a highlighted word to read its explanation. |
| And, finally, if you are using a
Windows-based protocol analyzer you can have your X-Plain! window open on the desktop and
type in acronyms, symptom or diagnosis messages, words, or phrases (or, you could
copy-and-paste them if the analyzer allows copy-and-paste) - and the explanations are
presented to you. | |
| A special version of X-Plain! is available
for the Network Associates DOS-based SNIFFER analyzer. The DOS version of X-Plain!
is a background-resident program that pops up 'behind' your DOS-based SNIFFER and allows
you to highlight words or phrases on the SNIFFER screen. The DOS version of X-Plain!
will also pop up behind DOS EDIT, allowing you to highlight words or phrases in ASCII
documents. The DOS version does not have the ability to load and hyperlink
text files automatically. |
We encourage you to go through both the Windows and the DOS-based examples and then to download a sample copy of the actual software.
THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS OF X-PLAIN!
There is the standard Windows 95/NT version of X-Plain! and a special DOS-based version specifically designed for the Network Associates SNIFFER protocol analyzer.
The underlying database of explanations is identical in both products - only the user interface is different. You can view either the Windows demonstration or the DOS demonstration or you can simply read some sample explanations from the database.
EXAMPLE OF
X-PLAIN! FOR WINDOWS
If you are using Windows 95 or Windows NT you can run the Windows version of X-Plain! in a
window on your desktop along with your windows-based protocol analyzer, terminal software,
word processor - or, all by itself. This is the recommended way to run X-Plain!
because the full feature set of the product is available to you in the Windows
environment.
With the Windows version of X-Plain! you can:
| Look up words or phrases by typing them in | |
| Load files into X-Plain! for automatic hyperlinking to the database | |
| View a history list of recently referenced words and phrases | |
| List the entire database keyword list and select from it directly | |
| Copy-and-paste from appropriately enabled Windows applications | |
| Run along side your Windows-based protocol
analyzer or terminal software |
EXAMPLE OF
X-PLAIN! FOR DOS
If you are using a Network Associates SNIFFER (R) protocol analyzer you can load the DOS
version of X-Plain! as a background-resident program 'behind' your Sniffer and pop it up
with a function key.
With the DOS version of X-Plain! you can:
| Load as a background-resident utility 'behind' your DOS-based SNIFFER Analyzer | |
| Pop-up and highlight words or phrases in any DOS application (like your SNIFFER or the DOS EDIT utility for text files) |
READ A SAMPLE OF TEXT FROM
THE X-PLAIN! DATABASE
If you would like to read some representative explanations from the X-Plain! database,
select this option. You'll see what we mean by 'real-world, field-oriented,
troubleshooting information' and not simply encyclopedia definitions.
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