WebChecker 1.0 Documentation :

Features:

Easy and reliable way to make sure that your web site is up and running and you don't loose your customers.

WebChecker could be running on Windows and Unix platform.
Webchecker could be easily installed as a service on Windows platform so it will be automatically started as you start windows.
It can be installed as daemon processes on UNIX systems.

Using webchecker you can monitor as many URLs as you want. No limitations by number of domains or urls.

You can check your monitored URLs as often as you want. You can set different criteria for validation monitored URLs including:

• Valid HTTP Response code
• Valid Content in response. (you can simply specify what text you expect in response from monitored URL)
• Valid Response time (you can monitor that your site is not only Up but that responsiveness is satisfying as well)

Using these most important for web site criteria you can be always sure that your site is operating, that it is operating
with appropriate response time and that content that is shown on your pages is one that you expecting.

Content validation criteria especially useful because you can validate not only static html pages which are rarely broken but those dynamic pages that relay on
back end processing, databases and other involved in html processing components.

Using WebChecker you can monitor response not from only one URL but from sequence of requests (HTTP Transactions) emulating real paths of users on your web site.
For example you can set first Request to your home page, second to product search page and third request posting search form and bringing result of the search.
At the end of this HTTP Transaction you can check that result of the search page has expected content in it. Using this approach you can monitor any important
user paths on your web site and be sure that everything behind the scene operating properly.

You can specify what action you want to be invoked on failure of conditions that you set up. There are several built in actions that you can select.

• Email notification
  You can specify as many people as you want to send e-mail notification immediately after any of the conditions fails.
• SMS Message notification
  You can specify cell phones to which you want a failure notification immediately to be sent after any of the conditions fails.
• HTTP Transaction
  You can put any sequence or single HTTP Request to be invoked on any failed condition. You can use this failure action to invoke any component or
  service on internet or local intranet.
• Custom Handler
  You can make WebChecker to invoke your custom failure handler. It means that you can implement any action in java and make it called by WebChecker.

Installation:

Requirements:
You will need java runtime environment (JRE ) installed on you computer.
You can download JRE from this link http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html.

Just unpack an archive file in any location on your hard drive. Location where you extract software will be referenced in future as an installation folder.
In installation folder you will find checkerRules.xml application.properties file. You should replace zeros in line licensenumber=00000000 with your license number
that was emailed to you. If you don't have license yet you can obtain one using next link. http://www.techcreative.biz/products/web_checker/requesttrial.jsp. All rules for your web application that are used by WebChecker software are stored in checkerRules.xml file. In installation folder you can find
sample of checkerRules.xml file. You can edit it for your specific rules and requirements.
To create checkerRules.xml using convenient user interface you can go to http://www.techcreative.biz/webchecker/forward.htmw?p=startcheck and use wizard style
interface to create your rules. You will find help link on each of the pages using this approach. You will need to enter your license number and your email that you used to
get license into fields on login screen.
As you complete this wizard style creator you will be offered to save your checkerRules.xml file. Choose location in installation folder overwriting existing file there.

After you created checkerRules.xml file you are ready to start WebChecker. Go to bin folder in installation folder and run for windows start_webcheck.bat script
for Unix start_webcheck.sh. To install application as a service on windows use control_service.bat. After installing it as a service (using control_service install ) it will be configured to start automatically when windows starts. To run application as a daemon on unix you can use daemon.script in bin directory.
Before executing daemon.script or start_webcheck.sh on unix you will need to give execute permission to these files also you have to make executable wrapper file to
run it as a daemon.

F.A.Q.

Q. How can I make WebCheker to notify me with SMS message.
A. To use SMS notification just use SMS over email feature of the your Wireless Provider.
For example for at&t wireless you will use 2061234567@mobile.att.net format of email to send notification
where 2061234567 is your cellular phone number. Each cellurar provider has simmilar format for SMS messages over email.
Here is a link to at&t wireless website
Here is a link to compiled list of such emails for different providers.
http://www.notepage.net/smtp.htm