
Welcome to NS-Batch.  I wrote this program to help me with the
administration of a web site belonging to a client of mine.
The log file(s) from the web server included the IP addresses
of all machines that accessed the site, but did not include
hostnames corresponding to those addresses.  My client wanted
the hostnames, and I got tired of manually typing (or even
cut'n'pasting) the names from a log file into an NS-Lookup
program.  Thus NS-Batch was born.

Both 16-bit (for Windows 3.1) and 32-bit (for Windows '95 and
Windows NT) are available.  Although the 16-bit version will
run under Windows '95, it is not recommended.  The 16-bit 
version is NS-BATCH.EXE.  The 32-bit version is NSB-32.EXE.

If you have received NSB32*.ZIP, create an empty directory,
unzip the file into that directory, and then run SETUP.EXE
to install the program.

Otherwise, just unzip the file and run the program.


Interactive Processing - IP Address to Hostname:

Enter the IP address for which you want a hostname and press
the upper "Lookup" button (Alt-L).  If a hostname is available,
it will be displayed.



Interactive Processing - Hostname to IP address:

Enter the hostname for which you want an IP address and press
the lower "Lookup" button (Alt-O).  If an IP address can be
found, it will be displayed.



Batch Processing:

Enter the name of an ASCII text file containing numeric 
IP addresses in dotted-octet notation (i.e., in the form 
199.102.3.2), and the name of an output file.  Then click 
on  the "Run" button (Alt-U).  The program will read the
input file, searching for IP addresses, and will create an 
output file containing a separate line for each address in 
the input file.  The format of the output file will be 
determined by the options that you select.


Probing:

You can also use NS-Batch to "probe" for the names of all
the machines on a given subnet.  Say for example that you
want the names of all computers whose addresses are in the
range 199.1.11.1 through 199.1.11.254.  Enter the subnet
199.1.11 (without the trailing '.' character), and the name
of an output file.  Then click on the "Probe" button (Alt-R).
The program will start probing the DNS, searching for IP
addresses that fit the subnet, and will create an output
file containing a separate line for each address in the
input file.  The format of the output file will be determined
by the options that you select.

Note that NS-Batch only does DNS lookups, and does not actually
perform a "ping" on each computer reported.

Also note that if an address appears in the input file more
than once, the lookup is performed only once.  However, one
of the output fields indicates the number of times each
address appeared in the input.

Output Format Options:

The output files for both batch processing and probing can
be formatted as desired.  Each line in the output file can
contain up to five fields, separated by the delimiter of
your choice.  The order of the fields can also be adjusted
by selections on the Output Options dialog.

* The hexadecimal representation of the binary form of the
  IP address (makes it easy to sort the file).
* The IP address in dotted-octet notation.
* The hostname corresponding to the IP address, if found (for
  example, www.onramp.net).
* The hostname in reverse notation (for example, net.onramp.www).
* A status field describing any anomalies that occurred during
  the lookup.
* A count of how many times each address appeared in the input
  file (applies only to batch operation, not "probing").

Also, you may adjust the operation of NS-Batch via the following
selections (on the "Output Options" dialog:

* Selecting "Verify that hostnames are valid" will cause
  NS-BATCH to perform a forward lookup of the hostname.
  That is, if NS-BATCH finds that "198.57.35.2" is
  "machine.domain.com", it will then lookup "machine.domain.com"
  to verify that "198.57.35.2" is returned.
* Selecting "Include invalid hostnames in output" (which
  is only applicable if  "Verify that hostnames are valid"
  is checked) will cause NS-BATCH to include in the output
  all hostnames found, even if they fail the forward lookup.
* Selecting "Keep only those found" causes NS-Batch to
  output information about only those IP addresses for
  which the reverse lookup succeeded.


Comments, Suggestions, etc.

Comments are more than welcome, and constructive
suggestions will be incorporated into future versions
of the program.  Please feel free to contact the author
via e-mail at:

  jim@jimprice.com, 

The latest versions of NS-BATCH and other products can
always be found on the NS-Batch homepage at:  

  http://www.jimprice.com/jim-soft.htm


Licensing

Although ownership of NS-Batch is retained by the author, this 
version may be freely distributed, as long as it is not modified, 
and as long as it is accompanied by this notice.  If you really 
like the program, and feel compelled to send money, send a 
small donation to:

Jim Price
13237 Montfort Drive, Suite 406
Dallas, TX  75240






