NDT-DEV email list created

[Nathan Kinkade <>]

Just pinging this thread... I never heard back from anyone about the
small patch I attached in the original mail of this thread which
exposes a couple new Flash variables to javascript for the purpose of
detecting and reporting to the user outdated Flash plugins in the
browser.   The link to the patch is below.  Is there a better or more
appropriate way that I should be presenting or handling this?

http://files.opentechinstitute.org/~kinkade/flash-client.patch

Richard, Regarding more detailed test information, in the sample test
I have now put a "debug" link in the top right corner of the screen
which toggles display of a <div> on the bottom of the page which
contains all of the same information you would normally see in the
Flash client itself.  That may or may not contain the particular
details you referenced in a previous email, but as far as I know it's
all the Flash client presents the user with.  If this is still lacking
then presumably the Flash client itself is deficient in the same way.

Thanks,

Nathan

On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 at 1:15 PM, Richard Carlson
<>
 wrote:
> Hi Nathan;
>
> Yes, I meant the Flash client.  Nice work.
>
> I look forward to seeing future versions.
>
> Rich
>
>
> On 12/19/2014 12:55 PM, Nathan Kinkade wrote:
>>
>> Hi Rich,
>>
>> Thanks for the quick reply.  Just to clarify and make sure we're on
>> the same page, this is about the Flash client, not the Java client.
>> My understanding is that this javascript wrapper is, more than
>> anything, just a reference implementation of a wrapper around the
>> Flash client.  The idea, I believe, is to give a working example of
>> how one could go about doing it, and how the interface can be
>> relatively nice looking, with the hope that more people would
>> integrate into their sites.  That said, I imagine many may use the
>> reference implementation as a base on which to build something a
>> little more feature and information complete.
>>
>> I'm not aware that the Flash client currently makes all of the data
>> available to javascript, but I presume there is no reason that it
>> couldn't.  As far as I can tell, the Flash client itself only renders
>> the detailed data in a somewhat cryptic command-line-like fashion that
>> only someone quite technical would be able to parse.  I would image it
>> could be quite easy to make that same information in it's current
>> format available to the javascript.  I'll take a look at making that
>> happen soon.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>> P.S. Not sure about the etiquette on this list yet with regard to
>> copying the original poster on replies and top vs bottom posting.
>> Defaulting to only copying the list, and top posting (based on this
>> message, and others I see in the archive).  If this is wrong, let me
>> know.
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 12:28 PM, Richard Carlson
>> <>
>>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Nathan;
>>>
>>> I just ran the client on my home Linux workstation.  Nice job, I'm
>>> pleased
>>> that NDT based on-demand testing will continue even if the face of
>>> growing
>>> Java JRE limitations.
>>>
>>> While the client gave me the upload/download and RTT data, there was no
>>> way
>>> to dig into the test results to figure out if these numbers were good,
>>> bad,
>>> or mediocre.
>>>
>>> As the original developer of the NDT code I will repeat my mantra, the
>>> server is collecting data that can be used to interpret the test results.
>>> I
>>> agree that the majority of NDT users are not interested in knowing more
>>> than
>>> the basic data, but I still think that M-Lab should strive to educate
>>> them
>>> on the value of knowing more.
>>>
>>> For example, the NDT server calculates how the clients selection of TCP
>>> window size impacts the upload and download speeds.  These are the upper
>>> bounds of what could be achieved over the connection.  The server also
>>> calculates the speed based on the Mathis formula, this is also a bounding
>>> condition.
>>>
>>> I think it would be great if the display somehow showed the user where
>>> they
>>> fit in relation to these limits.
>>>
>>> At a minimum, I would also like to see a button on the screen that would
>>> send me the test details.  Again, I know that few, if any, users
>>> want/need/understand this data, but the point is, they could look at it
>>> or
>>> send it to the IT staff when reporting a problem.
>>>
>>> Regards;
>>> Rich
>>
>>
>