hotComm User Guide

User Guide
Document number: hc.70
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File Sharing

hotComm Standard/Pro users can share files with other hotComm Standard/Pro users independently, without being connected through a room.

An overview of the steps is:

Add the intended recipient to your User List, in one of several ways.
Use My OutBox to make the file(s) or folder(s) available to the intended recipient through hotComm File Sharing.
The recipient uses My InBox to download the files or folders at any time that both of you are running hotComm at the same time. You do not need to be in a room or session at the time.

Some of the features of this type of file sharing are:

The files are compressed and encrypted for transfer.
You have complete control over which files to give to which people.
The files may pass through hotComm servers, but they are never resident there.
The files can be larger than those transferred through a room.

This file sharing is only available between hotComm Standard/Pro users. It is not available in hotComm Lite, hotComm CL or hotComm Java.

Disabling File Sharing

To disable file sharing, right-click the File Sharing icon. In response to the question: "Are you sure you wish to discontinue File Sharing?", click Yes.

While a file transfer is occurring, you may not have enough bandwidth for other hotComm activities. The microphone icon turns yellow, to indicate this.

Important Reminders: All hotComm Messages are totally PRIVATE between you and your session peers. Please respect Copyright Law when making file transfers.

Add User

Add the other person to your Users List, in one of two ways:

From a room
1. You and the same person join the same room.
2. In the Invited List, right-click the person's name and select Add to User List. Note that this option may not be available all the time.
3. The person is added to the All Users section of your Users List.
4. Close hotComm, wait 20 seconds, and restart hotComm. This makes the person available to the File Sharing user list.
Using their email address
1. Click File, then Add User/Room to List.
2. In the Add User by Email screen, type in the person's hotComm registration email address and click Search.
  
  If the user is not found, make sure you have the correct address and try again. You might ask the person to click Registration in their hotComm, select Profile Information, and verify the email address shown there.
3. When the user is found, look at the Display name and change it if you want. (People often change their nicknames, and the Display name may not be the one you are familiar with.).
4. Click Add User w/o Notification.
5. The person is added to the All Users section of your Users List.
6. Close hotComm, wait 20 seconds, and restart hotComm. This makes the person available to the File Sharing user list.

The person is added to the All Users section of your Users List. For more information about your Users List, see All Users.

Troubleshooting

If the other person's hotComm is running, you should see a small Free or DND icon in front of their name. Off means that their hotComm is not running.

If you have verified that their hotComm is running, but the icon in front of their name says Off, see Troubleshooting p2p.

My OutBox

Use My OutBox to make files and folders available to other users.

To make a file or folder available:

Click the File Sharing icon, to open the File Sharing window.
Select the My OutBox tab.
In the Groups panel, click the name of the recipient.
Make sure that the bottom panel is labeled "Drag files available to correct-recipient's-name into this folder", and contains one folder icon.
Find the file or folder you want to share, and drag it into the recipient's folder in the bottom panel.
- Drag directly from your computer
  
  Find the file or folder on your desktop, or in a list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. Drag it into the recipient's folder in the bottom panel.
- Use the File Sharing panels
  1. In the upper-left white panel, click the + symbol in front of My Computer.
  2. Continue clicking + symbols to navigate through your computer until you reach the folder that contains the file (or folder) you want to make available.
  3. Click on that folder to highlight it.
  4. The upper-right white panel now contains a list of the files and folders inside the highlighted folder. Click on the file or folder you want to make available, and drag it into the recipient's folder in the bottom panel.
  NOTE: Network drives must be mapped. The upper-left panel does not show files that are listed only in Windows My Network Neighborhood or My Network Places.
The recipient gets a hotComm Transfer Notification pop-up message when the file is available. There may be a delay before they see the notice. If their hotComm is not running at the time you make the file available, they get the notice when they start hotComm.

When you make a folder available to someone, all files in the folder become available to them.

The other person can download the files and folders repeatedly until you remove them from the bottom panel. If you change the contents of the files or folders, the person can get the updates.

To remove a file or folder from the bottom panel, right-click on it and select Delete.

For more information, see File Sharing Maintenance.

My InBox

My InBox contains files and folders that are available to you.

Note: copying files from others is often called downloading files.

To get a file or folder from someone else:

Select My Inbox.
Click the File Sharing icon, to open the File Sharing window.
Select the My InBox tab.
In the Groups panel, click the name of the person who made the file available to you. This opens a folder in the white panel labeled "Files available to you from sender's-name".
Right-click on the file or folder you want to get, and select Get.
You are asked where you want to save the file. Browse until you find the location you want, and click OK. By default, files are saved into your hotComm /Downloads folder.
While the transfer occurs, you see the hotComm Transfer Notification window showing progress.

Updates

If the sender updates the file or folder -- and still leaves it available to you -- you can get the updates, either by repeating the above steps, or by setting up the file for automatic updates. See see File Sharing Maintenance.

Status icons

The status of each file and folder in your InBox and OutBox are shown as icons:

File Sharing status graphic