Help on How To

["George D. Tennant" <gdt9075@it.rit.edu>]

This is a plea for help from a newbie, recently baptized into active
networks in general, Janos and Ants in particular.  As a work product of
an Independent Study I am engaged in here at RIT, I am tasked with writing
a "How To" (ultimately for web publication) giving detailed information on
the Ping application, for new folks such as we.  It is my aim to do
descriptive material on each of the constituent parts of the system one
needs have built in order to run Ping, then to run through the app,
describing how the various pieces interact, and what can be expected to
happen, what product to anticipate.

My first query is:  Is there extant anything done in this vein?  I have no
desire to re-invent the wheel, and will be happy to learn from the
experience of anybody who's gone before me.

Second:  Having read David Wetherall's thesis, I have a somewhat better
than vague understanding of the idea that there is a magic number formed
by the app.....yet in the scripts, specifically PinCapsule.java, there is
reference to BOTH PIDs and MIDs at line 53   Am I in error thinking these
(one or both) equivalate to the magic number?  Anything here??

Many thanks for any light shed.

Regards,

George Tennant