Richard John Torrens
RISC OS

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Networking with RISC OS

This page was started but not finished because it appears there is little interest in networking as I did when I was trading as 4QD. That business is now sold. The moral is - if you want tips on network file sharing on RISC OS - ASK!

Networking on RISC OS is very easy and consistent. However most programs are not designed for network use so you need to set up your network for consistency, so that in the future, is you make any changes, these cause minimal upset and maintenance around the system. Here are some hints and tips that should make maintenance easier.

The main problem is making sure that any change that is made to any file is always made on the same file, never on a copy. Also, if there is ever more than one person who wants to access the data, you need to make sure they cannot both access the file at the same time.

Server and clients

RISC OS networks are generally peer-to-peer systems: all computers are similar and no one is really more important than another. However when it comes to data for a program shared over the network, the shared data must always reside on one particular file system, attached to one particular computer so that other computers can find it. We will call that computer the Server and the filing system is the ServerFS.

Other computers that access that data are Clients. Their main filing systems you wil also probably want to be accessible from anywhere, so we will call that the MainFS. Since this is a peer-to-peer system, the Server is also a MainFS.

Incidentally, it is not necessary to have the same ServerFS for different programs. You could have different ServerFS for different programs, On any MainFS or any subsidiary FS. But that's unnecessary complication: if you want to do that, you can probably sort it yourself.

Set up Networking

From the Iconbar, rightmost Icon, click Menu (middle) mouse button. Click on Configuere in the menu that opens. This will open a selection of Icons. Click on the Network one.

NetConfig/png The images that follow are for an ARMX6, but other machines are similar

This will open up the window, right. Click on Internet

Now click on Interfaces

Your interface may be different but this is not important.

Click on Configure and the window, right, opens.
As you have several machines that you want to be able to comunicate together, it is best to set up manually. Select that button.
The Netmask of 255.255.255.0 sets things up so that you must use the same first three blocks of the IP address for all the devices on your network. The last block is 0 in the Netmask. That means that the last block only must be unique to every machine.
The IP Number defines each machine. Internal networks such as we are setting up normally use IP numbers in the range 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255. I suggest you use 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx as these are most common for other devices such as Modems etc.

Setting up Share FS

RISC OS comes with ShareFS. But initially it may be invisible. In Set UP Networking, above, you need to switch on Access.

Or you can open a Task Window and type *ShareFSIcon
to get an icon on the iconbar. You can now menu on this and Show Discs at any time.

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