Proxomitron Configuration Manager

Proxomitron Configuration Manager - This program can be used to manage configurations for Proxomitron. The Proxomitron Configuration Manager requires MS Access 2000 to be installed. Screenshot. Look further down the page for upgrading instructions if you want to transfer your configurations from a previous version.

Proxomitron is a freeware web filter. More information can be found here.

Main Features:

• Create multiple configurations that can be exported
• Import existing configurations
• Compares imported filters with similarly named filters in the database and lets you select which one to keep
• Categorise filters

Instructions:

Hopefully, the interface is simple enough not to require too much instructions so I'll only give a few tips.

• Start the program by opening the file ProxMgr.mde
• Hover your mouse on top of a button to see its description.
• Import Proxomitron's default.cfg to start off your collection of filters.
• You can also import individual filters, but make sure that the section name (e.g. [HTTP headers]) precedes the actual filter.
• Categorise your filters by first creating a category, then applying that category to selected filters. Once this is done, double-clicking on a category name or clicking on the button Toggle Category Visibility will make filters with that category become visible/invisible from the Inactive Filters list. Please note that if a filter that you recently applied a category to suddenly disappears from view, either the category you used may have been set to invisible or the list is sorted by category and the filter moved to a new position in the list.
• Double-clicking on a filter will allow you to edit that filter.
• When you import a configuration file, patterns keep their "active" status. Edit the patterns (as shown on the previous tip) and set the "active" status to how you want it to default when those patterns are exported. This "active" status is also used by the Quick Config Creator, to quickly select a set of filters to add to the current configuration.
• Pressing Shift+F2 on any text box will give you a zoomed-in view of the contents.
• When exporting a configuration file, don't forget to type the ".cfg" extension.
• Enable the "Compact on Close" setting in Access to keep the .mde file small. You can find it in Tools > Options > General.
• When upgrading the program with a newer version, DO NOT replace the back-end database, ProxMgr_be.mdb, unless you want to lose your database of filters. Only the file ProxMgr.mde should be replaced. Only replace the back-end database if it is mentioned in the version history.

Thanks to Scott for his help in describing how Proxomitron reads configuration files, and for creating Proxomitron.

Also, thanks to the authors of Access 2000 Developer's Handbook. It is a great book and highly useful for any Access developer. I used their CommonDlg class in this program for displaying the Open/Save dialogs.

Upgrading instructions:

Due to a change in database structure for version 1.7, the following steps are recommended if you want to transfer your configurations from the previous version of the program.

1. Run the previous version and export all existing configurations into Proxomitron configuration files
2. Unzip version 1.7 into a different folder from the previous version
3. Run version 1.7 and use the "Create new configuration" button to create each of the names of your configurations
4.  Import one of the exported configuration files
5. Select the corresponding configuration name and click on the button "Attach most recent imported filters to current config"
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all your configurations

History:

Version 1.71

• A minor change in comparing imported filters (made in one of the earlier versions) made a query fail if a field contained NULL. Fixed.

Version 1.7

• Added ability to categorise filters. Requires replacing the back-end database, ProxMgr_be.mdb. The database structure has also been modified to be ready for version 2.0 (I hope, but it may change again). 
• Inactive Filter list now sortable by name or by category and name
• Rearranged the filter edit forms again - moved the URL textbox above Match and Replace.
• Modified counters at bottom of filter list boxes
• Refreshed filter list after pressing delete filter button

Version 1.61

• Record navigation enabled on filter edit forms.
• Refreshed filter lists after exiting filter edit forms so as to display any changes in the active status of filters.
• Swapped the placing of the Match and Replace text boxes in the HTTP Header edit form since they were the wrong way around.
• Displays progress indicator when removing a filter from a configuration.

Version 1.6

• Allows attachment of most recently imported filters into current configuration.
• Status of filters now also displayed as Y/N in the list boxes.
• Bugfix: Allow import into general settings for lines containing apostrophes.
• Added counters at the bottom of the active and inactive filter list boxes.
• Resized forms and controls to show more info at once (not suitable for 800x600 screen resolution anymore).

Version 1.5

• Now aborts import if duplicates are detected within the configuration file. Shows the line numbers in the configuration file where the duplicates occur.
• Changed the email address in the About box (click on logo) to mike at mikebliv dot cjb dot net.

Version 1.4

• Added a "Quick Config Creator" button. This adds all filters with an "active" status to the current configuration.

Version 1.3

• Changed the code that calculates how many records were imported.
• Removed the primary keys in the temporary import tables. This will prevent the program from halting if the configuration file contains duplicates.

Version 1.2

• Added configuration name in the header of the exported file.

Version 1.1

• Fixed 50-character limit on Pattern name to a maximum of 100 characters. Any excess will be truncated. Requires replacing the back-end database, ProxMgr_be.mdb.
• Added hourglass mouse cursor and progress indicators on the status bar when performing long operations.

Version 1.0

• Initial release

To Do:

I'll be starting on the Visual Basic version of this application soon so any more updates to the program after version 1.7 will be minimal if any. The next release will be for those who can't run MS Access 2000 but there will be some new features I intend to implement as well that existing users would probably like.

Features intended for version 2.0 (or later):

• Separate General Settings for each configuration
• Buttons to change active status of filter without going to the filter edit window
• Show which fields failed in filter comparison
• Import/Export comments (lines immediately preceding a filter, prefixed with "##")
• Search for filter
• Active status of each filter to be saved with the configuration (i.e. a filter can have an active status in one configuration and inactive in another)
• Allow creation of filters from within the program instead of importing only
• Rename categories/filters
• Menu bar (running out of screen space for more buttons while keeping the interface uncluttered is what kept some simple-to-implement functions away)