                     AniClient Readme file
                     ---------------------
                        03rd september, 2001



What is AniClient ?
-------------------

AniClient is a GPL Windows (C) clone of Hotline.
Hotline, (C) Hotline Communications Ltd. 1996-2001., is a
mix of IRC, file transfer, news.
Check www.bigredh.com, the official site.

It was mostly written by Nicolas Weeger <nicolasweeger@hotmail.com>
(see the 'Copyright & stuff like that' section in this file)

Latest official releases can be found on AniCONS Hotline server
at anicons.net, or on Sourceforge (www.sourceforge.net/projects/anicons/)
Sources will always be available from Sourceforge.
Also Sourceforge will host mailing lists, bug tracking system, and so on.


How to use it ?
---------------

Check the enclosed 'Use.txt' file (isn't really up to date, but
should give a good starting point).


Features
--------

Check enclosed 'Features.txt' file.


Copyright & stuff like that
---------------------------

This program is distributed under the GNU/GPL.
Check enclosed file 'GPL.txt' to find out more.

Here are a few copyright things:
 * thanks go to Tan for the nice Lime icon ^_^

 * some code, particularly concerning the Hotline protocol,
    as well as Hotline.dat file, is based on Fidelio's code.
    Fidelio is a Hotline clone for Linux, and is
    Copyright 1999,2000 Bassoukos Tassos <abas@aix.meng.auth.gr>
    http://fidelio.sourceforge.net

   Also the interface may have been inspired by Fidelio's
   (always hard to tell if you thought of it yourself, or mainly
    copied....)

 * the CImage.cpp & .h were written by Philippe Mignard
   (his webpage is http://www.multimania.com/micromeg/programmeur.html)

 * also the ImageLib files were taken from his site, though it seems
   he didn't write them himself (WARNING: i don't know the distribution
   policy of this library, please let me know if distributing it is bad)


The following files do not have any particular distributing
policy that i am aware of. I found them on CodeGuru (www.codeguru.com), and
used them as it. If i did violate a copyright by modifying / distributing,
please let me know and i'll remove them immediately.

 * the Color.h and Color.cpp files are  1999 by Christian Rodemeyer

 * The ResizablePropertySheet.* and DlgItemResizer.* files were written
    by Magnus Egelberg

 * the TrayIcon.* were 'clobbered together by Chris Maunder'


Also, the banner support is temporarily disabled while i look at the issues
for the image library I primarily used (shouldn't be a problem, hopefully).

All other files (unless i forgot someone, in which case I apologize) are
(C) 2000, 2001 Nicolas Weeger <nicolasweeger@hotmail.com>.


Building
--------

Requires:
 * Microsoft Visual C++ version 6
That should be enough, hopefully.

Building should be quite straightforward:
 * unzip all files, preserving directory structure
 * open the AniClient.dsw file
 * make sure 'AniClient' is the active project
 * choose either 'Debug' or 'Release' build
 * hit F7, and watch the build

If you run in any trouble you can't fix, feel free to
contact me


A few notes on the source files
-------------------------------

The files AniClientDebug.h and AniClientRelease.h were created by a
small VC addon i made, and the build count is incremented each time.
Modify them if you want, but I'll use my own version for official builds ^_^.

Many comments are in french, since I am French. Sorry for ya non-french speakers !


How it started
--------------

Time for the nostalgic stuff ! ^_^
I usually connect to multiple Hotline servers.
So I (and others doing the same) soon found the resulting troubles:
news read/unread status lost, have to open multiple clients,
also the ads aren't that fun.
Also it was something a pain to change your nickname to reflect
for instance your 'away' status when connected to many servers.
That's why I decided to start this project.

Also, why the 'AniClient' name, you ask ?
Well i'm part of the AniCONS icon list (anicons.net),
so I took the 'Ani' [for 'anime'], and added 'Client'
^_^
(my nick is 'Ryo', and i usually idle on the server)


How you can help this project
-----------------------------

If you wish to contribute to AniClient, here what you can do:
(this isn't an exhaustive list, any other help will be considered !)
 * use it, report bugs, make feature suggestions
 * fix the bugs in the code & forward me changes
 * make icons for the application (many are still ugly ;
    check the AniClient/res directory)
 * write nice usage documentation
 * online help may be done some day, but don't expect it soon
    (not from me at least)
 * support for other languages isn't impossible, but again
    that isn't something high on my todo list


Thanks for reading this file, and enjoy the application !

Nicolas Weeger
<nicolasweeger@hotmail.com>
usually hanging around on anicons.net under the nick 'Ryo'


Windows is (C), (R) and what-else by Microsoft Corporation
