what is supersify?

supersify is a simple console based client which you can use to log into your sify
broadband account. currently, it exists only for win32 systems. supersify is a
standalone client and does not require sify's client to work.

if you don't know what sify broadband is, you shouldn't be here. go away.

features of supersify:

apart from logging you on, keeping you on, and logging you off; supersify doesn't
do much else. the really cool part about it is, the really small memory footprint.
as compared to sify's official clients - it takes a maximum of around 80kb of
physical memory. eighty kilobytes. compare that to the 8 mb that you lose to the
win32 client and the 15 - 20 mb which you lose to the java client, i'd say it's
worth not having a gui ... for now.

console? aargh. how do we use this thing?

it's the simplest thing, really. supersify takes 11 switches, out of which only 2
are compulsory, here they are ...
-u = username
-p = password
-m = macaddress
-h = heartbeat enable/disable
-b = heartbeat interval
-l = logout
-k = keypress supression
since version 0.60b
-a = keep alive
-c = keep open
-v = verbosity
-o = override login/logout urls

allrighty, here's an example. suppose your username is "panduram" and my password

is "bonehead". (all further doc assumes this, so memorize this until you can say
it backwards in your sleep). getting back on track, you can log on like this
supersify -u panduram -p bonehead
if the heartbeat is enabled for your connection, supersify will start "beating".
you can quit anytime by typing in "quit" on the console. this will exit supersify
without logging you out. if you type "logout", you will be logged out of sify
before supersify quits. you could also ctrl+c supersify or close the console,
though this is not recommended. this will leave you logged in as well.

logout (-l):
you can quit the client without logging out (this happens if you disable heartbeat
or you quit in any way after logging in - ctrl+c or using quit). when you need to
logout, invoke supersify like so.
supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -l
note: a session id is assigned to you when you contact the server. if this is the
id used for logging in - it must consequently be used for logging out. supersify
will save this id to a file (supersify.sid) for it's own use.

you don't really need the next eight switches, supersify will work just fine
without them; read on if you're interested

mac address (-m):

i know for a fact that sify transmits your mac address as part of the login
string. i also know that currently they don't seem to give a rat's ass about what
the address actually is, or whether a value is even transmitted. i do have routine
in there that sends the mac address of one of your network adapters. if you have
more than one card - this might not be the actual mac address of the card through
which you are connected to sify. but this is how it is in the other sify clients
as well, so wth anyway. the routine is slightly messy and i haven't found a better
alternative, it also takes the memory consumed up to 80kb (otherwise it's about
55-60kb). so, you just might want to supply your own address - actually pick up
the address from your card or anything really. say you want to transmit "hero" as
your mac address ... this is how you can log in
supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -m hero

hearbeat (-h):
as far as i know, the hearbeat serves one prime purpose ... to tell sify you're
still there and it should keep your connection alive. this is useful for people
who have time based connections, in case you forget to logout, sify will.
for the rest of us, with unlimited connections, this is a nuisance actually. you
can call up customer care and ask them to disable the heartbeat thingy for your
account. apparently disabling the hearbeat is not an atomic process, because my
heartbeat is supposed to be disabled (i called and asked), but the validation data
says that it is enabled (and therefore required to keep my connection alive).
what the hearbeat switch does is this.

* if you don't specify the switch - it will do what the server tells it to do,
i.e. start the beat only if the server asks it to.
* if you specify "-h enable" it will enable the beat - regardless of the
server setting
* if you specify "-h disable" it will disable the beat - regardless of the
server setting. actually any string excluding enable will disable the hearbeat.

supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -h disable

is how you can disable your (connection's) heartbeat.
note: disabling the hearbeat will cause the supersify to terminate immediately
after logging you in, there is no sense in keeping it running. you can try this
and see if your connection remains alive for more than 30 minutes. if it does then
you're home free. if this isn't working for you - either keep the heartbeat on, or
call sify and ask them to disable it.

heartbeat interval (-b):

by default, i think the heartbeat interval is 300 seconds. this is a value that
supersify receives from the sify server. if for some reason you want to increase
or decrease the frequency of your hearbeat, you can use this argument, the value
is in seconds.
supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -b 60
is how the hearbeat is sent out every 60 seconds instead of the usual 300. if you
find your connection dying frequently, you could try reducing the beat interval
from the usual 5 minutes.

keypress supression (-k):

by default supersify will login / logout and then wait for you to press a key
before exiting (if the heartbeat is disabled). if you use this flag, supersify
exit without waiting for you to press a key.
supersify will always wait for a keypress if a failure in either the login or
logout process occured, even if -k has been specified. this is so that you can
read the error message on the console and you are aware that something went wrong

keep alive (-a):

supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -a 300/100
this will cause supersify to check if you are logged in every 300 seconds. if you
are, it does nothing, if not it will attempt to log you in immediately. if it
fails to log you in, it will retry in 100 seconds.

keep open (-c):

use this flag if you want supersify to remain active even if the heartbeat and
keep alive are disabled. in such a case, if this flag is not specified, supersify
will exit immediately after logging you on/off.

verbosity (-v):
use this flag with an integer argument, ranging 0-2.

* 2 = messages sent and recieved by supersify will be dumped to the console

* 1 = messages received by supersify will be dumped to the console
* 0 = messages not dumped

supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -v 2

override urls (-o):

sify has recently changed it's login process. until we figure out how this works,
you might need to specify this flag which forces supersify to use the old login
page. this might or might not work, depending on how far along sify is the
crossover to the the new protocol in your sector/zone/whatever. or maybe it will
work forever, though i doubt it.
bottom line: if yoee a "receive datau s format error" message or supersify has
stopped working for you suddenly, try using this flag.
supersify -u panduram -p bonehead -o

njoy!!!!!!!!!!