                           Octopus 3.0b
                           ************
                   Free multithread downloader


Description
-----------

        This program is an automatic FTP and HTTP file downloader.
It allows You to get file from server through several threads
concarrently. Every thread reads some part of the file begining
different position. It allows to increase the speed of downloading.

	For example: You need 10 000 000 b file. Suppose You may use 5
concurrent connections to the server. So 1st thread will begin
to work from 1st byte and continue to do until 2 000 000 bytes
were readed. The 2nd one will read data from 2 000 001st to
4 000 000th bytes, e.tc. The last 5th reads from 8 000 001st
to 10 000 000. Every thread saves recived data in separate file.
This files will be concatenated after all threads finished.

	If thread copmlited successfully it returns 1 otherwise - 0.

	You can resume the downloading of resource if work was interrupted
or complited unsuccessfully. In this case You must use the same URL,
destination file name and number of threads.

	Program makes as many attempts to download the file as you tell it.
Octopus resumes broken connections and restarts download at current
positions for every thread.

	If server doesn't support restart operation You can not  use more
then 1 thread. However, You may create several threads. In this case only
one will read whole file. Others will stop.


Main features
-------------

        Downloading:
            - from FTP servers;
            - from Web servers;
            - automatic and manual restart;
            - PASV mode support;
            - proxy support;
            - request redirection support;
            - every file through several threads concurrently;
            - restart of every thread;

        Link addition methods:
            - over Clipboard;
            - manually, by typing the URL;

        Scheduling:
            - downloading by turn;
            - post processing of received files;

        Reporting:
            - log for each thread of downloaded file;
            - true site speed testing;
            - total time and time left;
            - file size.

	System requirements:
	    - Windows 95 or NT 4.0;
	    - Winsock v.1.1 or higher.

Installation
------------

          1. Download the Octopus installation package.
          2. Extract all files from the package into a temporary directory
             using your archiver, such as WinZip.
          3. On Windows NT systems, login with Administrator privileges.
          4. EXIT ALL RUNNING PROGRAMS.
          3. Run SETUP.EXE and follow the instructions.
          4. Now it is safe to delete the installation files. You may want
             to preserve the zipped package in case you need to re-install
             Octopus later.



Uninstallation
--------------
          1. Doubleclick the Add/Remove Programs icon in the
             Windows Control Panel.
          2. Select Octopus in the list of installed programs
             and click the Add/Remove button. Follow the
             instructions.

WARNINGS!
---------
	Do not open the destination files while downloading in progress.

        You may restart some thread but take care that the attempts are not
exhausted.

        Octopus is distributed _AS IS_. The author shall not be held liable
for any direct or indirect damage or claims caused by this software.



Copyright by Moskalyuk Alexander (1998-99)
e-mail: mak@sybase.rspd.net
http://members.tripod.com/Moskalyuk

Program Web sites:
 http://members.xoom.com/Moskalyuk/Octopus
 http://members.tripod.com/Moskalyuk/octopus
