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Important: The server which hosts the P2P Exchange has moved again as of July 2008.
Version 8.5
of the program reflects this, previous versions don't, so if you are using an old version of the program
when you try to connect you will see the "spinning globe" spin endlessly without finding what it
is looking for. As before, the upgrade to 8.5 is free for all users, registered or not.
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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.
Version 8.5 also includes comments
made by the sharer, as well as those of other users. To add comments about a deck you need to be a registered user.
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 log back on. The deck will be cleared from the server's memory cache.
2) How to use it
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.
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 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.
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After each file transfer is concluded a short report,
which records how long the
transfer took, is generated and sent back to the main file server.
This allows the server to evaluate how well each shared file tends to
perform. This information is indicated by the coloured patch which appears by the side of each deck
in the Deck Exchange.
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4) 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.
5) 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.
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