1) What it is

Many of us have a dabble at making a deck from time to time, and we would be happy to share our work with other users. Prior to Version 8.0 of the program the Deck Exchange was the medium for doing this, but the Deck Exchange ran into a couple of problems in this respect (see the History section below).

The P2P Exchange (P2P stands for peer-to-peer) is a file sharing tool which is available to all users, whether registered or not . It permits the user to share some of their decks, or other files, with the rest of the Orphalese Tarot community. Decks are exchanged between users via a central server, which then caches the file for a period of time in order to avoid stress on the sharer's machine. Users who open the P2P Exchange receive a list of decks available from other users who are logged on, as well as those which have been temporarily cached on the server. This list includes basic details about the deck and a preview image.

All caching on the server is subject to the state of the deck as "published" by the sharer. If the user who is sharing the deck makes any modifications to it (e.g adding a background or editing the pop-up notes for the cards), or they delete it from their shared list, those modifications will be reflected as soon as they re-publish the deck, which is then cleared from the server's memory cache.

2) How to download decks

Begin by clicking the File Exchange icon on the program's main menu. After you accept the legal disclaimer the program connects to the server. When the connection is established the main P2P Exchange window opens.

	Press this button to see a list of the decks that users are sharing. You can filter this list for key words in the deck's name. You can also sort the columns and apply other advanced search options.
	If you see a deck that interests you, press the corresponding preview button and then be patient while the program requests the preview from the other user, or downloads it from the server if it is available in the memory cache.
	Share some of your own decks with other users by pressing this button and using the form that appears. By default none of your decks are shared. You have to specifically add them using this tool for them to be visible to other users.
	The options button allows you to set parameters for your searches, for example it lets you take off the safe search lock, permitting you to see decks which have been marked with a warning flag by the users that have shared them.

Since version 8.4 of the program you can share all and any modifications you make to a deck. Custom backgrounds and icons are copied and transmitted with the deck. You can publish your modified decks with a single click, straight from the background tab on the main options form - then go into P2P Exchange and see your changes on line.

3) How to share decks

To share some of your own decks with the rest of the Orphalese Tarot community you need to install the Windows Service knows as the Deck Service.

If the Deck Service is not installed, or not running, or you are not a registered user of the program, you will see that the button to share your decks is disabled, as shown:

To install the deck service and share some decks simply download the setup files and follow the instructions included.

Previously anybody could share their decks, but this policy has been changed to offer users of the exchange a greater degree of security. Having said that, you are always recommended to check any file you download from the internet for viruses.

4) How it works

It consists of two parts. The first part is the interface you see when you run the program, which is where you see the buttons listed above, and which lets you request decks from other users.

The other part is a Windows Service which runs in the background and responds to requests from other users who might be interested in your shared decks. Windows services perform background tasks when there are system resources available. They are assigned a low priority by Windows, which is why sharing your decks should never affect the performance of your computer. If you are busy using another program that will take priority, but when your computer is idle it dedicates more resources to the Windows Services you have running. Other examples of Windows Services might include anti-virus programs and file indexing services. If you have not flagged any of your decks as being "for sharing" then the Windows Service remains idle.

When you add a deck to your shared list the program does the following things. First it takes a zipped copy of the deck and stores it in a system folder called "For Sharing" which you can find in your Orphalese Tarot directory (assuming you have Windows configured not to hide system folders). This also contains a thumbs folder, and a thumbnail take of the 00 card is copied in here to provide the preview. Finally the details of the deck are copied to an XML data file which is also contained in the For Sharing folder. When you connect to the server it is the data in this file which is used to let other users know about your shared decks.

5) Troubleshooting

If you try to connect but see no decks...

If you see no decks, there are two likely explanations:

a) One is that the information returned from the server is being blocked by an intermediate firewall. This may be your own computer's firewall if you do not have the appropriate port open, and this requires manual configuration (in which case it is port 3999), or it may be a firewall employed by your internet provider.

b) Another possible explanation is that the central server is down. If this seems to be the case (i.e. normally you are able to see decks, but this time you can't) please leave a message about this on the official forum. If the server is down it will be rebooted as soon as we know about it.

If you don't think other users can see your shared decks...

The Add Decks form has a test button which you can use to test your connectivity and the availability of your decks to other users. This test is only available a) when you have added at least one deck to your shared list and b) when you have connected by pressing the connect button on the main form. If you receive a "Connection Failed" message when trying the test, please make sure that the Orphalese Tarot program is whitelisted by your firewall. If your firewall requires manual configuration you will need to open port 3999.

Having established that the firewall is not blocking the program, go to the options button on the file-sharing toolbar and check the option to include your own decks in the search results. Run a search and see if your decks appear. If not, try rebooting in order to stop and start the Windows Service (or do this manually via System/Administrative Tools) and then try again.

Remember that the forum is the best place to find up-to-date help about the program.

6) History

Prior to the release of Orphalese Tarot 8 the program included access to a central store of zipped files that users could upload to, and download from, via a tool called the Deck Exchange. A couple of problems emerged with this. The first was that it was not anonymous. Some users felt reticent about uploading their own work because it seemed presumptious to do so, or because the decks had themes and imagery which might have upset other users. The anonymous nature of P2P gives people more freedom to share what they like, while the "Safe Search" filter protects people of a more sensitive disposition.

The second problem was that although it was originally conceived as a way for users to share their own deck creations, many of the decks uploaded were scanned copies of published tarot decks. One particular publisher objected to images from their decks being digitalised and exchanged in zip format in this way. In response we enforced a strict policy that meant no decks could be exchanged unless we had written permission from the copyright holder. Users could still upload decks, but they would not appear on the Exchange until we had contacted the copyright holder and been given approval. It was a daunting task that soon came to occupy all the programmer's free time. A number of users began to help as volunteers, and we set up a publishers database in order to keep track of the decks we could allow transmission of. We identified over 600 publishers, and sent out hundreds of emails and written letters. But after several months of work it became apparent that most copyright issues would never be resolved (simply identifying the copyright holder was almost impossible in many cases), and meanwhile all development work on the program had ceased. It was obvious that another solution was required. The P2P solution leaves the copyright question to the user. However, we would like to reiterate that the P2P tool is included for users to exchange their own creations, and we would beg you to respect the laws of the country where you reside in respect of copyright images.