some serious new feature implementation:

- cookie-based persistent logins
- expanded activity reporting
- "top" and "fixed" left menus are now dynamically generated from XML config,
  not hard coded
- error reporting enhanced and protection increased
- "About Venice" page first draft
- new means of "framing" static content within the Venice "frame"
- base page now includes the "footer" itself, "content" pages don't anymore
- general cleanup of some heavyweight old containers, replaced with faster
  Collections framework containers
- probably more, there's a LOT of stuff in here

etc/render-config.xml

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
     language governing rights and limitations under the License.
 
-    The Original Code is the Venice Web Community System.
+    The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
 
     The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
     for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
@@ -86,4 +86,38 @@ Text of this agreement is TBD.
 
   </messages>
 
+  <!-- Menu definitions for the base page -->
+  <menu-definitions>
+
+    <!-- Definition for the "top" menu (when not in a SIG) -->
+    <menudef id="top">
+      <header>Front Page</header>
+      <menuitem>
+	<text>Calendar</text>
+	<absolute>TODO</absolute>
+	<disabled/>
+      </menuitem>
+      <menuitem>
+	<text>Chat</text>
+	<absolute>TODO</absolute>
+	<disabled/>
+      </menuitem>
+    </menudef>
+
+    <!-- Definition for the "fixed" menu (always displayed under the "top" or "SIG" menus) -->
+    <menudef id="fixed">
+      <header>About This Site</header>
+      <menuitem>
+	<text>Documentation</text>
+	<absolute>TODO</absolute>
+	<disabled/>
+      </menuitem>
+      <menuitem>
+	<text>About Venice</text>
+	<frame>about-venice.html</frame>
+      </menuitem>
+    </menudef>
+
+  </menu-definitions>
+
 </render-config>

etc/web.xml

@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@
     <load-on-startup>3</load-on-startup>
   </servlet>
 
+  <servlet>
+    <servlet-name>framestatic</servlet-name>
+    <description>
+      Displays static content inside the Venice frame.
+    </description>
+    <servlet-class>com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.FrameStatic</servlet-class>
+  </servlet>
+
   <servlet>
     <servlet-name>account</servlet-name>
     <description>
@@ -216,6 +224,11 @@
     <url-pattern>/top</url-pattern>
   </servlet-mapping>
 
+  <servlet-mapping>
+    <servlet-name>framestatic</servlet-name>
+    <url-pattern>/frame/*</url-pattern>
+  </servlet-mapping>
+
   <servlet-mapping>
     <servlet-name>account</servlet-name>
     <url-pattern>/account</url-pattern>

setup/database.sql

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ CREATE TABLE users (
     uid INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
     username VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
     passhash VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
+    tokenauth VARCHAR(64),
     contactid INT DEFAULT -1,
     is_anon TINYINT DEFAULT 0,
     verify_email TINYINT DEFAULT 0,
@@ -345,6 +346,8 @@ CREATE TABLE topicsettings (
     uid INT NOT NULL,
     hidden TINYINT DEFAULT 0,
     last_message INT DEFAULT -1,
+    last_read DATETIME,
+    last_post DATETIME,
     PRIMARY KEY (topicid, uid)
 );
 

src/com/silverwrist/util/cachemap/CacheMap.java

@@ -0,0 +1,400 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.util.cachemap;
+
+import java.util.*;
+
+public class CacheMap implements Map
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Internal class used to do comparisons for cache shrinkage
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  static class CacheOrdering implements Comparator
+  {
+    private CacheMapStrategy strategy;   // CacheMap's strategy object
+    private long tick;                   // when the sort operation started
+
+    CacheOrdering(CacheMapStrategy strategy)
+    {
+      this.strategy = strategy;
+      this.tick = System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+    } // end constructor
+
+    public int compare(Object o1, Object o2)
+    {
+      long figm1 = strategy.getEntryValue((CacheMapEntry)o1,tick);
+      long figm2 = strategy.getEntryValue((CacheMapEntry)o2,tick);
+      return (int)(figm1 - figm2);  // we want the largest figures of merit to go first
+
+    } // end compare
+
+    public boolean equals(Object o)
+    {
+      return (o instanceof CacheOrdering);
+
+    } // end equals
+
+  } // end class CacheOrdering
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Internal class implementing a default cache ordering strategy
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  static class DefaultStrategy implements CacheMapStrategy
+  {
+    private static final long SCALING_FACTOR = 5000;
+
+    DefaultStrategy()
+    { // do nothing
+    } // end constructor
+
+    public long getEntryValue(CacheMapEntry entry, long tick)
+    {
+      return (entry.getHits() * SCALING_FACTOR) - entry.getAge(tick);
+
+    } // end getEntryValue
+
+  } // end class DefaultStrategy
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data members
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private static final DefaultStrategy default_strategy_singleton = new DefaultStrategy();
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private int capacity;                // capacity of the CacheMap
+  private int shrink_percentage;       // what percentage we shrink by when full
+  private CacheMapStrategy strategy;   // strategy routine to use to purge entries
+  private HashMap base_map;            // maps keys to CacheMapEntry values
+  private ArrayList element_list;      // the actual elements
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructors
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public CacheMap(int capacity, int shrink_percentage, CacheMapStrategy strategy)
+  {
+    if (capacity<=0)
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("capacity must be greater than 0");
+    if ((shrink_percentage<=0) || (shrink_percentage>100))
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("shrink_percentage must be in [1, 100]");
+    if (strategy==null)
+      throw new NullPointerException("no strategy passed to CacheMap");
+
+    this.capacity = capacity;
+    this.shrink_percentage = shrink_percentage;
+    this.strategy = strategy;
+    this.base_map = new HashMap(10);
+    this.element_list = new ArrayList(10);
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  public CacheMap(int capacity, int shrink_percentage)
+  {
+    this(capacity,shrink_percentage,default_strategy_singleton);
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  public CacheMap(int capacity)
+  {
+    this(capacity,10,default_strategy_singleton);
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface Map
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public int size()
+  {
+    return base_map.size();
+
+  } // end size
+
+  public boolean isEmpty()
+  {
+    return base_map.isEmpty();
+
+  } // end isEmpty
+
+  public boolean containsKey(Object key)
+  {
+    return base_map.containsKey(key);
+
+  } // end containsKey
+
+  public boolean containsValue(Object value)
+  {
+    Iterator it = element_list.iterator();
+    while (it.hasNext())
+    { // look at all the CacheMapEntry values we have
+      CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(it.next());
+      Object my_val = cme.getValue();
+      if (my_val==null)
+      { // test for also null
+	if (value==null)
+	  return true;
+
+      } // end if
+      else
+      { // make sure the other value is non-null before we test equality
+	if ((value!=null) && my_val.equals(value))
+	  return true;
+
+      } // end else
+
+    } // end while
+
+    return false;  // nope, sorry
+
+  } // end containsValue
+
+  public Object get(Object key)
+  {
+    CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(base_map.get(key));
+    if (cme==null)
+      return null;
+    cme.touch();
+    return cme.getValue();
+
+  } // end get
+
+  public Object put(Object key, Object value)
+  {
+    Object rc = null;
+    CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(base_map.get(key));
+    if (cme==null)
+    { // create a new CacheMapEntry for this key
+      cme = new CacheMapEntry(key,value);
+
+      synchronized (this)
+      { // insert it into the basic object
+	if (base_map.size()==capacity)
+	  shrink();
+	element_list.add(cme);
+	base_map.put(cme.getKey(),cme);
+
+      } // end synchronized block
+
+    } // end if
+    else
+    { // we have an old value - replace it and touch the entry
+      cme.touch();
+      rc = cme.setValue(value);
+
+    } // end else
+
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end put
+
+  public Object remove(Object key)
+  {
+    Object rc = null;
+    CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(base_map.get(key));
+    if (cme!=null)
+    { // save the mapped value before we remove it
+      rc = cme.getValue();
+
+      synchronized (this)
+      { // remove the values
+	base_map.remove(key);
+	element_list.remove(cme);
+
+      } // end synchronized block
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end remove
+
+  public void putAll(Map map)
+  {
+    synchronized (this)
+    { // make sure we have enough space in the CacheMap for all the new elements!
+      while ((map.size() + base_map.size()) > capacity)
+	shrink();
+
+    } // end synchronized block
+
+    Iterator it = map.entrySet().iterator();
+    while (it.hasNext())
+    { // add each element in turn
+      Map.Entry me = (Map.Entry)(it.next());
+      put(me.getKey(),me.getValue());
+
+    } // end while
+
+  } // end putAll
+
+  public synchronized void clear()
+  {
+    base_map.clear();
+    element_list.clear();
+
+  } // end clear
+
+  public Set keySet()
+  {
+    return base_map.keySet();
+
+  } // end keySet
+
+  public Collection values()
+  {
+    return null;  // not implemented
+
+  } // end values
+
+  public Set entrySet()
+  {
+    return null;  // not implemented
+
+  } // end entrySet
+
+  public boolean equals(Object o)
+  {
+    if ((o==null) || !(o instanceof Map))
+      return false;  // not a map
+    Map other = (Map)o;
+    if (other.size()!=base_map.size())
+      return false;  // size does matter!
+    Iterator it = base_map.values().iterator();
+    while (it.hasNext())
+    { // get each of the entries out and use that to do a key-value comparison
+      CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(it.next());
+      Object o1 = cme.getValue();
+      Object o2 = other.get(cme.getKey());
+      if (o1==null)
+      { // must have a matching null
+	if (o2!=null)
+	  return false;
+
+      } // end if
+      else
+      { // make sure we have a matching object (not null)
+	if ((o2==null) || !(o2.equals(o1)))
+	  return false;
+
+      } // end else
+
+    } // end while
+
+    return true;  // all OK!
+
+  } // end equals
+
+  public int hashCode()
+  {
+    int rc = 0;
+    Iterator it = base_map.values().iterator();
+    while (it.hasNext())
+    { // add up the hash codes and return them
+      CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(it.next());
+      rc += cme.hashCode();
+
+    } // end while
+
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end hashCode
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External getters/setters
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public int getCapacity()
+  {
+    return capacity;
+
+  } // end getCapacity
+
+  public void setCapacity(int c)
+  {
+    if (c<=0)
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("capacity must be greater than 0");
+    capacity = c;
+
+  } // end setCapacity
+
+  public int getShrinkPercentage()
+  {
+    return shrink_percentage;
+
+  } // end getShrinkPercentage
+
+  public void setShrinkPercentage(int p)
+  {
+    if ((p<=0) || (p>100))
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("shrink_percentage must be in [1, 100]");
+    shrink_percentage = p;
+
+  } // end setShrinkPercentage
+
+  public CacheMapStrategy getStrategy()
+  {
+    return strategy;
+
+  } // end getStrategy
+
+  public void setStrategy(CacheMapStrategy s)
+  {
+    if (s==null)
+      throw new NullPointerException("no strategy passed to CacheMap");
+    strategy = s;
+
+  } // end setStrategy
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External operations
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public synchronized void shrink()
+  {
+    // Figure out how many elements to remove.
+    int num_remove = (element_list.size() * shrink_percentage) / 100;
+
+    // Sort the element list to figure out which elements to remove.
+    Collections.sort(element_list,new CacheOrdering(strategy));
+    
+    // The elements we want to remove are at the end of the array, so start from there.
+    for (int i=0; i<num_remove; i++)
+    { // remove the "removed" entries from the hash map
+      CacheMapEntry cme = (CacheMapEntry)(element_list.remove(element_list.size() - 1));
+      base_map.remove(cme.getKey());
+
+    } // end for
+
+  } // end shrink
+
+} // end class CacheMap

src/com/silverwrist/util/cachemap/CacheMapEntry.java

@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.util.cachemap;
+
+import java.util.*;
+
+class CacheMapEntry implements Map.Entry
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private Object key;
+  private Object value;
+  private int hits = 0;
+  private long timestamp;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  CacheMapEntry(Object key, Object value)
+  {
+    this.key = key;
+    this.value = value;
+    this.timestamp = System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * finalize() function
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected void finalize()
+  {
+    key = null;
+    value = null;
+
+  } // end finalize
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface MapEntry
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public final Object getKey()
+  {
+    return key;
+
+  } // end getKey
+
+  public final Object getValue()
+  {
+    return value;
+
+  } // end getValue
+
+  public final Object setValue(Object o)
+  {
+    Object rc = value;
+    value = o;
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end setValue
+
+  public final boolean equals(Object o)
+  {
+    // make sure the other element is a Map.Entry
+    if ((o==null) || !(o instanceof Map.Entry))
+      return false;
+    Map.Entry other = (Map.Entry)o;
+
+    // compare the keys
+    if (key==null)
+    { // the other key must be null
+      if (other.getKey()!=null)
+	return false;
+
+    } // end if
+    else
+    { // the other key must be equal to us
+      if ((other.getKey()==null) || (!(key.equals(other.getKey()))))
+	return false;
+
+    } // end else
+
+    // compare the values
+    if (value==null)
+      return (other.getValue()==null);
+    else
+      return ((other.getValue()!=null) && value.equals(other.getValue()));
+
+  } // end equals
+
+  public final int hashCode()
+  {
+    int rc = 0;
+    if (key!=null)
+      rc ^= key.hashCode();
+    if (value!=null)
+      rc ^= value.hashCode();
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end hashCode
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External operations
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  final int getHits()
+  {
+    return hits;
+
+  } // end getHits
+
+  final long getTimestamp()
+  {
+    return timestamp;
+
+  } // end getTimestamp
+
+  final long getAge(long tick)
+  {
+    return (tick - timestamp);
+
+  } // end getAge
+
+  final void touch()
+  {
+    hits++;
+    timestamp = System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+  } // end touch
+
+} // end class CacheMapEntry

src/com/silverwrist/util/cachemap/CacheMapStrategy.java

@@ -15,23 +15,10 @@
  * 
  * Contributor(s): 
  */
-package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format;
+package com.silverwrist.util.cachemap;
 
-import java.io.Writer;
+public interface CacheMapStrategy
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-public class MenuTop implements ComponentRender
 {
-  public MenuTop()
+  public abstract long getEntryValue(CacheMapEntry entry, long tick);
-  { // constructor does nothing
-  } // end constructor
 
-  public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+} // end interface CacheMapStrategy
-  {
-    out.write("<B>Front Page</B><BR>\n");
-    out.write("<A HREF=\"\">Calendar</A><BR>\n");  // TODO: fill this link in
-    out.write("<A HREF=\"\">Chat</A>\n");          // TODO: fill this link in
-
-  } // end renderHere
-  
-} // end class MenuTop

src/com/silverwrist/util/rcache/ReferenceCache.java

@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 package com.silverwrist.util.rcache;
 
 import java.util.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 
 public class ReferenceCache
 {
@@ -124,7 +123,7 @@ public class ReferenceCache
 
   public List sweepReturn()
   {
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     int count = 0;
 
     synchronized (this)
@@ -155,7 +154,7 @@ public class ReferenceCache
 
     } // end synchronized block
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end sweepReturn
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/TopicContext.java

@@ -78,5 +78,17 @@ public interface TopicContext
 
   public abstract void delete() throws DataException, AccessError;
 
+  public abstract List getActivePosters(int skip, int limit) throws DataException, AccessError;
+
+  public abstract List getActivePosters(int limit) throws DataException, AccessError;
+
+  public abstract List getActivePosters() throws DataException, AccessError;
+
+  public abstract List getActiveReaders(int skip, int limit) throws DataException, AccessError;
+
+  public abstract List getActiveReaders(int limit) throws DataException, AccessError;
+
+  public abstract List getActiveReaders() throws DataException, AccessError;
+
 } // end interface TopicContext
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/UserContext.java

@@ -103,4 +103,8 @@ public interface UserContext extends SearchMode
 
   public abstract void setTimeZone(TimeZone timezone) throws DataException;
 
+  public abstract String getAuthenticationToken() throws AccessError, DataException;
+
+  public abstract boolean authenticateWithToken(String token) throws DataException;
+
 } // end interface UserContext

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/CategoryDescriptorImpl.java

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package com.silverwrist.venice.core.impl;
 import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
 
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
    */
 
   private DataPool datapool;       // used for doing database lookups
-  private Vector cats;             // the actual category segments
+  private LinkedList cats;         // the actual category segments
   private int symlink = -1;        // if our category is actually a symlink
   private boolean do_hide = true;  // do we hide subcategories marked hide_dir?
 
@@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
   CategoryDescriptorImpl(DataPool datapool, int catid, boolean do_hide) throws DataException
   {
     this.datapool = datapool;
-    cats = new Vector();
+    cats = new LinkedList();
     this.do_hide = do_hide;
 
     if (catid<0)
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
     throws SQLException, DataException
   {
     this.datapool = datapool;
-    cats = new Vector();
+    cats = new LinkedList();
     this.do_hide = do_hide;
 
     if (catid<0)
@@ -127,19 +126,18 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
   protected CategoryDescriptorImpl(DataPool datapool, int id, int symlink, String name, boolean do_hide)
   {
     this.datapool = datapool;
-    this.cats = new Vector();
+    this.cats = new LinkedList();
     this.symlink = symlink;
     this.do_hide = do_hide;
 
     this.cats.add(new CatSegment(id,name));
-    this.cats.trimToSize();
 
   } // end constructor
 
   protected CategoryDescriptorImpl(CategoryDescriptorImpl other, int copy_levels)
   {
     this.datapool = other.datapool;
-    this.cats = new Vector();
+    this.cats = new LinkedList();
     this.symlink = ((copy_levels==other.cats.size()) ? other.symlink : -1);
     this.do_hide = other.do_hide;
 
@@ -147,7 +145,6 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
     { // copy the references to the objects directly
       for (int i=0; i<copy_levels; i++)
 	this.cats.add(other.cats.get(i));
-      this.cats.trimToSize();
 
     } // end if
 
@@ -156,7 +153,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
   protected CategoryDescriptorImpl(CategoryDescriptorImpl other, int id, int symlink, String name)
   {
     this.datapool = other.datapool;
-    this.cats = new Vector();
+    this.cats = new LinkedList();
     this.symlink = symlink;
     this.do_hide = other.do_hide;
 
@@ -164,7 +161,6 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
     for (int i=0; i<other.cats.size(); i++)
       this.cats.add(other.cats.get(i));
     this.cats.add(new CatSegment(id,name));
-    this.cats.trimToSize();
 
   } // end constructor
 
@@ -209,13 +205,11 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
 
       } // end if
 
-      cats.add(0,new CatSegment(curr_catid,rs.getString("name")));
+      cats.addFirst(new CatSegment(curr_catid,rs.getString("name")));
       curr_catid = rs.getInt("parent");
 
     } // end while
 
-    cats.trimToSize();  // shrink vector down to size
-
   } // end doFillFromTop
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -226,7 +220,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
   public int getCategoryID()
   {
     if (cats.size()>0)
-      return ((CatSegment)(cats.lastElement())).getID();
+      return ((CatSegment)(cats.getLast())).getID();
     else
       return -1;
 
@@ -260,7 +254,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
     } // end if
 
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     try
     { // get a connection and create a statement
       conn = datapool.getConnection();
@@ -294,8 +288,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
 
     } // end finally
 
-    // wrap the vector in a ReadOnlyVector object
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
 
   } // end getSubCategories
 
@@ -393,7 +386,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
   static List getTopLevelCategoryList(DataPool datapool, boolean do_hide) throws DataException
   {
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     try
     { // get a connection and create a statement
       conn = datapool.getConnection();
@@ -426,8 +419,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
 
     } // end finally
 
-    // wrap the vector in a ReadOnlyVector object
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
 
   } // end getTopLevelCategoryList
 
@@ -438,7 +430,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
       logger.debug("Category search: mode = " + String.valueOf(mode) + ", term '" + term + "', offset = "
 		   + String.valueOf(offset) + ", count = " + String.valueOf(count));
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -505,7 +497,7 @@ class CategoryDescriptorImpl implements CategoryDescriptor, Cloneable
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end searchForCategories
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/ConferenceCoreData.java

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package com.silverwrist.venice.core.impl;
 import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.AuditRecord;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.DefaultLevels;
@@ -233,7 +232,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
       throw new DataException("This conference has been deleted.");
 
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // get a database connection from this object
@@ -263,7 +262,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getAlias
 
@@ -273,7 +272,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
       throw new DataException("This conference has been deleted.");
 
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // get a database connection from this object
@@ -312,7 +311,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getHosts
 
@@ -1059,7 +1058,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("Member list: conference = " + confid);
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1104,7 +1103,7 @@ class ConferenceCoreData implements ConferenceData
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getMemberList
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/ConferenceUserContextImpl.java

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package com.silverwrist.venice.core.impl;
 import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.rcache.ReferencedData;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.htmlcheck.*;
@@ -95,19 +94,21 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 
     } // end constructor
 
-    public void doFix(Statement stmt, int uid) throws SQLException
+    public void doFix(Statement stmt, int uid, java.util.Date date) throws SQLException
     {
       StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer();
       if (do_insert)
       { // construct an SQL INSERT statement
-	sql.append("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_message) VALUES (").append(topicid);
+	sql.append("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_message, last_read) VALUES (");
-	sql.append(", ").append(uid).append(", ").append(top_message).append(");");
+	sql.append(topicid).append(", ").append(uid).append(", ").append(top_message).append(", '");
+	sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(date)).append("');");
 
       } // end if
       else
       { // construct an SQL UPDATE statement
-	sql.append("UPDATE topicsettings SET last_message = ").append(top_message).append(" WHERE topicid = ");
+	sql.append("UPDATE topicsettings SET last_message = ").append(top_message).append(", last_read = '");
-	sql.append(topicid).append(" AND uid = ").append(uid).append(';');
+	sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(date)).append("' WHERE topicid = ").append(topicid);
+	sql.append(" AND uid = ").append(uid).append(';');
 
       } // end else
 
@@ -941,8 +942,17 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
     // now we need to reset our last post date
     Connection conn = null;
     try
-    { // get a connection and feed it to the touchPost function
+    { // get a connection
       conn = datapool.getConnection();
+
+      // create a new record in topicsettings (we WERE the first to post in the topic after all!)
+      Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+      StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_post) VALUES (");
+      sql.append(new_topic_inf.getTopicID()).append(", ").append(sig.realUID()).append(", '");
+      sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(new_topic_inf.getCreateDate())).append("');");
+      stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString());
+
+      // update the conference last-post information
       touchPost(conn,new_topic_inf.getCreateDate());
 
     } // end try
@@ -1024,16 +1034,17 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 	ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
 
 	// use the results to build up a list of FixSeenHelpers
-	Vector tmp = new Vector();
+	ArrayList tmp = new ArrayList();
 	while (rs.next())
 	  tmp.add(new FixSeenHelper(rs.getInt(1),rs.getInt(2),rs.getBoolean(3)));
 
 	// now iterate over the list and call doFix on each one
 	Iterator it = tmp.iterator();
+	java.util.Date now = new java.util.Date();
 	while (it.hasNext())
 	{ // just hit each one in turn
 	  FixSeenHelper fsh = (FixSeenHelper)(it.next());
-	  fsh.doFix(stmt,sig.realUID());
+	  fsh.doFix(stmt,sig.realUID(),now);
 
 	} // end while
 
@@ -1074,7 +1085,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
     } // end if
 
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // retrieve a connection from the datapool
@@ -1115,7 +1126,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getActivePosters
 
@@ -1141,7 +1152,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
     } // end if
 
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // retrieve a connection from the datapool
@@ -1182,7 +1193,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getActiveReaders
 
@@ -1700,7 +1711,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
   {
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("getSIGConferences for SIG # " + sig.realSIGID() + ", user #" + sig.realUID());
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1751,7 +1762,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getSIGConferences
 
@@ -1863,7 +1874,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
       logger.debug("getUserHotlist for user #" + user.realUID());
 
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
 
     try
     { // get a database connection
@@ -1926,7 +1937,7 @@ class ConferenceUserContextImpl implements ConferenceContext, ConferenceBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getUserHotlist
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/EngineBackend.java

@@ -93,4 +93,8 @@ public interface EngineBackend
 
   public abstract void unpublish(long postid);
 
+  public abstract String generateRandomAuthString();
+
+  public abstract boolean isValidRandomAuthString(String s);
+
 } // end interface EngineBackend

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/SIGCoreData.java

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.rcache.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
@@ -1493,7 +1492,7 @@ class SIGCoreData implements SIGData, SIGDataBackend
       logger.debug("Member search: SIG = " + sigid + ", field = " + field + ", mode = " + mode + ", term '"
 		   + term + "', offset = " + offset + ", count = " + count);
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1584,7 +1583,7 @@ class SIGCoreData implements SIGData, SIGDataBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end searchForMembers
 
@@ -1689,7 +1688,7 @@ class SIGCoreData implements SIGData, SIGDataBackend
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("Member list: SIG = " + sigid);
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1737,7 +1736,7 @@ class SIGCoreData implements SIGData, SIGDataBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getMemberList
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/SIGUserContextImpl.java

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.rcache.ReferencedData;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.AuditRecord;
@@ -163,7 +162,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
   {
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("setMemberValues(" + String.valueOf(granted_level) + ", " + String.valueOf(member)
-		   + ", " + String.valueOf(locked));
+		   + ", " + String.valueOf(locked) + ")");
 
     if (user.realBaseLevel()>granted_level)
       this.level = user.realBaseLevel();
@@ -1484,7 +1483,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
   {
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("getMemberSIGEntries for user #" + String.valueOf(user.realUID()));
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1521,7 +1520,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getMemberSIGEntries
 
@@ -1611,7 +1610,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
 		   + ", term '" + term + "', offset = " + String.valueOf(offset) + ", count = "
 		   + String.valueOf(count));
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1688,7 +1687,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end searchForSIGs
 
@@ -1780,7 +1779,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
       logger.debug("reading SIGs in category " + String.valueOf(catid) + ", offset = "
 		   + String.valueOf(offset) + ", count = " + String.valueOf(count));
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1823,7 +1822,7 @@ class SIGUserContextImpl implements SIGContext, SIGBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getSIGsInCategory
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/TopicMessageUserContextImpl.java

@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import java.util.*;
 import java.util.zip.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.AuditRecord;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.Capability;
@@ -1092,7 +1091,7 @@ class TopicMessageUserContextImpl implements TopicMessageContext
       logger.debug("loadMessageRange for conf # " + conf.realConfID() + ", topic #" + topicid + ", range ["
 		   + post_low + ", " + post_high + "]");
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1138,7 +1137,7 @@ class TopicMessageUserContextImpl implements TopicMessageContext
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);  // wrap the return vector
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);  // wrap the return vector
 
   } // end loadMessageRange
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/TopicUserContextImpl.java

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package com.silverwrist.venice.core.impl;
 import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.htmlcheck.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.security.AuditRecord;
@@ -511,7 +510,9 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
       try
       { // start by trying to see if we can update topicsettings directly
 	StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer("UPDATE topicsettings SET last_message = ");
-	sql.append(last_msg).append(" WHERE topicid = ").append(topicid).append(" AND uid = ");
+	sql.append(last_msg).append(", last_read = '");
+	java.util.Date now = new java.util.Date();
+	sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(now)).append("' WHERE topicid = ").append(topicid).append(" AND uid = ");
 	sql.append(conf.realUID()).append(';');
 	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	  logger.debug("SQL: " + sql.toString());
@@ -540,8 +541,9 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
 
 	// OK, just insert a new row into topicsettings, why dontcha...
 	sql.setLength(0);
-	sql.append("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_message) VALUES (").append(topicid);
+	sql.append("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_message, last_read) VALUES (");
-	sql.append(", ").append(conf.realUID()).append(", ").append(last_msg).append(");");
+	sql.append(topicid).append(", ").append(conf.realUID()).append(", ").append(last_msg).append(", '");
+	sql.append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(now)).append("');");
 	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	  logger.debug("SQL: " + sql.toString());
 	stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString());
@@ -691,7 +693,7 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
 
       // slap a lock on all the tables we need to touch
       stmt.executeUpdate("LOCK TABLES confs WRITE, topics WRITE, posts WRITE, postdata WRITE, "
-			 + "confsettings WRITE, topicsettings READ;");
+			 + "confsettings WRITE, topicsettings WRITE;");
 
       try
       { // refresh our current status and recheck allowed status
@@ -755,6 +757,25 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
 	sql.append(real_text).append("');");
 	stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString());
 
+	// mark that we posted to the topic
+	sql.setLength(0);
+	sql.append("UPDATE topicsettings SET last_post = '").append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(posted_date));
+	sql.append("' WHERE topicid = ").append(topicid).append(" AND uid = ").append(conf.realUID());
+	sql.append(';');
+	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	  logger.debug("SQL: " + sql.toString());
+	if (stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString())<1)
+	{ // we had no topicsettings record, add one
+	  sql.setLength(0);
+	  sql.append("INSERT INTO topicsettings (topicid, uid, last_post) VALUES (").append(topicid);
+	  sql.append(", ").append(conf.realUID()).append(", '").append(SQLUtil.encodeDate(posted_date));
+	  sql.append("');");
+	  if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	    logger.debug("SQL: " + sql.toString());
+	  stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString());
+
+	} // end if
+
 	// mark that we posted to the conference
 	conf.touchUpdate(conn,posted_date);
 	conf.touchPost(conn,posted_date);
@@ -925,6 +946,126 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
 
   } // end delete
 
+  public List getActivePosters(int skip, int limit) throws DataException
+  {
+    Connection conn = null;
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
+
+    try
+    { // retrieve a connection from the datapool
+      conn = datapool.getConnection();
+      Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+
+      // create the SQL statement to retrieve all posters
+      StringBuffer sql =
+          new StringBuffer("SELECT s.uid, u.username, s.last_read, s.last_post FROM topicsettings s, "
+			   + "users u WHERE u.uid = s.uid AND s.topicid = ");
+      sql.append(topicid).append(" AND u.is_anon = 0 AND ISNULL(s.last_post) = 0 ORDER BY s.last_post DESC");
+      if ((skip>=0) && (limit>0))
+	sql.append(" LIMIT ").append(skip).append(", ").append(limit);
+      sql.append(';');
+
+      // execute the statement
+      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
+
+      while (rs.next())
+      { // return all the records as ActiveUser data elements
+	ActiveUser usr = new ActiveUserImpl(rs.getInt(1),rs.getString(2),SQLUtil.getFullDateTime(rs,3),
+					    SQLUtil.getFullDateTime(rs,4));
+	rc.add(usr);
+
+      } // end while
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (SQLException e)
+    { // this becomes a DataException
+      logger.error("DB error getting active poster list: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+      throw new DataException("unable to get active poster listing: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+
+    } // end catch
+    finally
+    { // make sure we release the connection before we go
+      if (conn!=null)
+	datapool.releaseConnection(conn);
+
+    } // end finally
+
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+  } // end getActivePosters
+
+  public List getActivePosters(int limit) throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    return getActivePosters(0,limit);
+
+  } // end getActivePosters
+
+  public List getActivePosters() throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    return getActivePosters(-1,-1);
+
+  } // end getActivePosters
+
+  public List getActiveReaders(int skip, int limit) throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    Connection conn = null;
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
+
+    try
+    { // retrieve a connection from the datapool
+      conn = datapool.getConnection();
+      Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+
+      // create the SQL statement to retrieve all readers
+      StringBuffer sql =
+          new StringBuffer("SELECT s.uid, u.username, s.last_read, s.last_post FROM topicsettings s, "
+			   + "users u WHERE u.uid = s.uid AND s.topicid = ");
+      sql.append(topicid).append(" AND u.is_anon = 0 AND ISNULL(s.last_read) = 0 ORDER BY s.last_read DESC");
+      if ((skip>=0) && (limit>0))
+	sql.append(" LIMIT ").append(skip).append(", ").append(limit);
+      sql.append(';');
+
+      // execute the statement
+      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql.toString());
+
+      while (rs.next())
+      { // return all the records as ActiveUser data elements
+	ActiveUser usr = new ActiveUserImpl(rs.getInt(1),rs.getString(2),SQLUtil.getFullDateTime(rs,3),
+					    SQLUtil.getFullDateTime(rs,4));
+	rc.add(usr);
+
+      } // end while
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (SQLException e)
+    { // this becomes a DataException
+      logger.error("DB error getting active reader list: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+      throw new DataException("unable to get active reader listing: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+
+    } // end catch
+    finally
+    { // make sure we release the connection before we go
+      if (conn!=null)
+	datapool.releaseConnection(conn);
+
+    } // end finally
+
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+  } // end getActiveReaders
+
+  public List getActiveReaders(int limit) throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    return getActiveReaders(0,limit);
+
+  } // end getActiveReaders
+
+  public List getActiveReaders() throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    return getActiveReaders(-1,-1);
+
+  } // end getActiveReaders
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * External operations usable only from within the package
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -936,7 +1077,7 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("getTopicList for conf # " + String.valueOf(conf.realConfID()) + ", user #"
 		   + String.valueOf(conf.realUID()));
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();    // return from this function
     Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
 
     try
@@ -1088,7 +1229,7 @@ class TopicUserContextImpl implements TopicContext
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getTopicList
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/UserContextImpl.java

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.sql.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.LocaleFactory;
 import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.rcache.ReferencedData;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
@@ -41,6 +40,9 @@ class UserContextImpl implements UserContext, UserBackend
 
   private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(UserContextImpl.class.getName());
 
+  private static final String AUTH_TOKEN_PREFIX = "VQAT:";
+  private static final char AUTH_TOKEN_SEP = '|';
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Attributes
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -902,7 +904,7 @@ class UserContextImpl implements UserContext, UserBackend
   public List getSideBoxList() throws DataException
   {
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // retrieve a connection from the data pool
@@ -934,7 +936,7 @@ class UserContextImpl implements UserContext, UserBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getSideBoxList
 
@@ -1052,6 +1054,235 @@ class UserContextImpl implements UserContext, UserBackend
 
   } // end setTimeZone
 
+  public String getAuthenticationToken() throws AccessError, DataException
+  {
+    if (!isLoggedIn())
+    { // can't generate an authentication token if we're not authenticated!
+      logger.error("UserContext not authenticated, cannot generate auth token");
+      throw new AccessError("You cannot generate an authentication token without logging in.");
+
+    } // end if
+
+    // Generate a random authentication string and poke it into the database for this user.
+    String tokenauth = engine.generateRandomAuthString();
+    Connection conn = null;
+
+    try
+    { // retrieve a connection from the data pool
+      conn = datapool.getConnection();
+      Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+      StringBuffer sql = new StringBuffer("UPDATE users SET tokenauth = '");
+      sql.append(tokenauth).append("' WHERE uid = ").append(uid).append(';');
+      stmt.executeUpdate(sql.toString());
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (SQLException e)
+    { // turn SQLException into data exception
+      logger.error("DB error setting token authentication string: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+      throw new DataException("Unable to set authentication token: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+
+    } // end catch
+    finally
+    { // make sure the connection is released before we go
+      if (conn!=null)
+	datapool.releaseConnection(conn);
+
+    } // end finally
+
+    // Build the full authentication token string value.
+    int checkvalue = uid ^ tokenauth.hashCode();
+    StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer(AUTH_TOKEN_PREFIX);
+    buf.append(uid).append(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP).append(tokenauth).append(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP).append(checkvalue);
+    buf.append(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP);
+    return buf.toString();
+
+  } // end getAuthenticationToken
+
+  public boolean authenticateWithToken(String token) throws DataException
+  {
+    if (isLoggedIn())
+    { // already authenticated, can't authenticate again
+      logger.error("UserContext already authenticated (with uid " + uid + ")");
+      throw new InternalStateError("context already authenticated");
+
+    } // end if
+
+    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+      logger.debug("decoding authtoken: " + token);
+
+    // Pick apart the authentication token value.
+    if (!(token.startsWith(AUTH_TOKEN_PREFIX)))
+    { // token parse error
+      logger.error("Token parse error: prefix not valid");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    int xstart = AUTH_TOKEN_PREFIX.length();
+    int xend = token.indexOf(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP,xstart);
+    if (xend<0)
+    { // could not find the UID separator
+      logger.error("Token parse error: UID sep not found");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    int pending_uid;
+    try
+    { // get the user ID
+      pending_uid = Integer.parseInt(token.substring(xstart,xend));
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (NumberFormatException nfe)
+    { // we couldn't parse the UID
+      logger.error("Token parse error: invalid UID value");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end catch
+
+    xstart = xend + 1;
+    xend = token.indexOf(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP,xstart);
+    if (xend<0)
+    { // could not find the auth string separator
+      logger.error("Token parse error: auth string sep not found");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    String pending_auth = token.substring(xstart,xend);
+    if (!(engine.isValidRandomAuthString(pending_auth)))
+    { // the auth string is not valid by the rules under which it was generated
+      logger.error("Token parse error: invalid auth string value");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    xstart = xend + 1;
+    xend = token.indexOf(AUTH_TOKEN_SEP,xstart);
+    if (xend<0)
+    { // could not find the checkvalue separator
+      logger.error("Token parse error: checkvalue sep not found");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    int checkvalue;
+    try
+    { // get the check value
+      checkvalue = Integer.parseInt(token.substring(xstart,xend));
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (NumberFormatException nfe)
+    { // we couldn't parse the checkvalue
+      logger.error("Token parse error: invalid checkvalue");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end catch
+
+    if (checkvalue!=(pending_uid ^ pending_auth.hashCode()))
+    { // the checkvalue does not match what it should - possible corrupted token
+      logger.error("Token parse error: checkvalue does not match");
+      return false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    // At this point, we now have a UID and authentication string extracted from the token.
+    // Proceed to authenticate.
+    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+      logger.debug("Authenticating user ID#" + pending_uid);
+
+    Connection conn = null;
+    AuditRecord ar = null;
+      
+    try
+    { // look for a user record matching this user ID
+      conn = datapool.getConnection();
+      Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
+      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM users WHERE uid = " + pending_uid + ";");
+
+      if (!(rs.next()))
+      {  // user not found
+	logger.error("...user not found");
+	ar = new AuditRecord(AuditRecord.LOGIN_FAIL,0,remote_addr,"Bad token UID: " + pending_uid);
+	return false;
+
+      } // end if
+
+      if (rs.getBoolean("is_anon"))
+      { // can't log in as Anonymous Honyak
+	logger.error("...user is the Anonymous Honyak, can't explicitly login");
+	ar = new AuditRecord(AuditRecord.LOGIN_FAIL,pending_uid,remote_addr,"Anonymous user");
+	return false;
+
+      } // end if
+
+      if (rs.getBoolean("lockout"))
+      { // account locked out
+	logger.error("...user is locked out by the Admin");
+	ar = new AuditRecord(AuditRecord.LOGIN_FAIL,pending_uid,remote_addr,"Account locked out");
+	return false;
+
+      } // end if
+
+      // compare the stored token auth value to what we have
+      if (!(pending_auth.equals(rs.getString("tokenauth"))))
+      { // the auth string is bad - we can't log in
+	logger.warn("...invalid authentication string");
+	ar = new AuditRecord(AuditRecord.LOGIN_FAIL,pending_uid,remote_addr,"Bad auth-string");
+	return false;
+
+      } // end if
+
+      if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("...authenticated");
+
+      // we're authenticated - load the user data into the context
+      loadUserData(rs);
+
+      // update the "last access" time in the database
+      java.util.Date mydate = new java.util.Date();
+      stmt.executeUpdate("UPDATE users SET lastaccess = '" + SQLUtil.encodeDate(mydate)
+			 + "' WHERE uid = " + uid + ";");
+
+      // update the "last access" time in this object
+      last_access = mydate;
+
+      // an audit record indicating we logged in OK
+      ar = new AuditRecord(AuditRecord.LOGIN_OK,uid,remote_addr);
+
+      if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("...context loaded, we're ready :-)");
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (SQLException e)
+    { // database error - this is a DataException
+      logger.error("DB error reading user data: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+      throw new DataException("unable to access user data: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+
+    } // end catch
+    finally
+    { // make sure the connection is released before we go
+      try
+      { // save off the audit record before we go, though
+	if ((ar!=null) && (conn!=null))
+	  ar.store(conn);
+
+      } // end try
+      catch (SQLException e)
+      { // we couldn't store the audit record!
+	logger.error("DB error saving audit record: " + e.getMessage(),e);
+
+      } // end catch
+
+      if (conn!=null)
+	datapool.releaseConnection(conn);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return true;  // token authentication worked!
+
+  } // end authenticateWithToken
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Implementations from interface UserBackend
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

src/com/silverwrist/venice/core/impl/VeniceEngineImpl.java

@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import org.w3c.dom.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
 import com.silverwrist.util.DOMElementHelper;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.util.rcache.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.*;
@@ -385,6 +384,10 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
   private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(VeniceEngineImpl.class.getName());
 
+  private static final String AUTH_ALPHABET =
+      "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz./";
+  private static final int AUTH_STRING_LEN = 32;
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Attributes
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -406,7 +409,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
   private int[] gp_ints;                              // global integer parameters
   private MasterSideBox[] sideboxes;                  // master sidebox table
   private Hashtable sidebox_ids = new Hashtable();    // maps sidebox IDs to MasterSideBox objects
-  private Vector cache_fp_posts = new Vector();       // all posts that have been published to front page
+  private LinkedList cache_fp_posts = new LinkedList();  // all posts that have been published to front page
   private boolean cache_fp_posts_busy = false;        // busy flag for above vector
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -482,7 +485,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
     this.config = config;
 
-    Vector dictionary_tmp;
+    ArrayList dictionary_tmp;
     try
     { // first, verify that this is a valid configuration
       Element root = config.getDocumentElement();
@@ -542,7 +545,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
       } // end if
 
       // Retrieve the list of dictionary files to load into the spellchecker.
-      dictionary_tmp = new Vector();
+      dictionary_tmp = new ArrayList();
       NodeList dict_nodes = dict_sect.getChildNodes();
       for (i=0; i<dict_nodes.getLength(); i++)
       { // scan the <dictionary> element looking for <file> elements
@@ -625,15 +628,13 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 	logger.debug(max_value + " features loaded from database");
 
       // load the master sidebox table
-      Vector sidebox_tmp = new Vector();
+      ArrayList sidebox_tmp = new ArrayList();
       rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM refsidebox ORDER BY boxid;");
       while (rs.next())
 	sidebox_tmp.add(new MasterSideBox(rs));
 
       // store the real master sidebox table as an array
-      sideboxes = new MasterSideBox[sidebox_tmp.size()];
+      sideboxes = (MasterSideBox[])(sidebox_tmp.toArray(new MasterSideBox[0]));
-      for (i=0; i<sidebox_tmp.size(); i++)
-	sideboxes[i] = (MasterSideBox)(sidebox_tmp.get(i));
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug(sideboxes.length + " sidebox definitions loaded from database");
 
@@ -671,10 +672,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
     UserNameRewriter username_rewriter = new UserNameRewriter(datapool);
 
     // Create the LazyLexicon that holds our dictionary files, and add it to the SpellingRewriter.
-    String[] dictfiles = new String[dictionary_tmp.size()];
+    LazyTreeLexicon lex = new LazyTreeLexicon((String[])(dictionary_tmp.toArray(new String[0])));
-    for (i=0; i<dictionary_tmp.size(); i++)
-      dictfiles[i] = (String)(dictionary_tmp.get(i));
-    LazyTreeLexicon lex = new LazyTreeLexicon(dictfiles);
     spell_rewriter.addDictionary(lex);
 
     html_configs = new HTMLCheckerConfig[4];  // create the array
@@ -771,7 +769,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
   {
     checkInitialized();
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // do a SELECT on the refcountry table to load the master country list
@@ -803,7 +801,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getCountryList
 
@@ -811,7 +809,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
   {
     checkInitialized();
     Connection conn = null;
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     try
     { // do a SELECT on the refcountry table to load the master country list
@@ -843,7 +841,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getLanguageList
 
@@ -1225,8 +1223,8 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
       logger.debug("User search: field = " + field + ", mode = " + mode + ", term '" + term + "', offset = "
 		   + offset + ", count = " + count);
 
-    Vector rc = new Vector();    // return from this function
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();  // return from this function
-    Connection conn = null;      // pooled database connection
+    Connection conn = null;          // pooled database connection
 
     try
     { // get a database connection
@@ -1309,7 +1307,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
     } // end finally
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end searchForUsers
 
@@ -1506,7 +1504,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
   public List getPublishedMessages(boolean all) throws DataException
   {
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
 
     synchronized (this)
     { // Make sure the cache is in condition.
@@ -1542,7 +1540,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
     if (all)  // add the extra postings to the list
       PublishedMessageImpl.backfillReturn(rc,datapool);
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getPublishedMessages
 
@@ -1713,7 +1711,7 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
   public List getSIGFeatureSet(BitSet enabled_features, int level, boolean read_privs)
   {
     checkInitialized();
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     for (int i=0; i<features.length; i++)
       if (enabled_features.get(i) && features[i].featureAllowed(level,read_privs))
       { // this feature must be included in the eventual output set
@@ -1728,14 +1726,14 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 	  } // end if and for
 
 	if (insert_me)  // insert at end by default
-	  rc.addElement(elt);
+	  rc.add(elt);
 
       } // end if and for
 
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug("getSIGFeatureSet() loaded " + rc.size() + " elements");
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);  // wrap the vector for return
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);  // wrap the vector for return
 
   } // end getSIGFeatureSet
 
@@ -1934,9 +1932,9 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
   {
     if (pubmsg!=null)
     { // add the new message
-      cache_fp_posts.add(0,pubmsg);
+      cache_fp_posts.addFirst(pubmsg);
       while (cache_fp_posts.size()>gp_ints[IP_NUMFRONTPAGEPOSTS])
-	cache_fp_posts.remove(cache_fp_posts.size()-1);
+	cache_fp_posts.removeLast();
 
     } // end pubmsg
 
@@ -1962,4 +1960,28 @@ public class VeniceEngineImpl implements VeniceEngine, EngineBackend
 
   } // end unpublish
 
+  public String generateRandomAuthString()
+  {
+    StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer(AUTH_STRING_LEN);
+    for (int i=0; i<AUTH_STRING_LEN; i++)
+      buf.append(AUTH_ALPHABET.charAt(rng.nextInt(AUTH_ALPHABET.length())));
+    return buf.toString();
+
+  } // end generateRandomAuthString
+
+  public boolean isValidRandomAuthString(String s)
+  {
+    if (s.length()!=AUTH_STRING_LEN)
+      return false;
+    for (int i=0; i<AUTH_STRING_LEN; i++)
+    { // verify each authentication character in turn
+      if (AUTH_ALPHABET.indexOf(s.charAt(i))<0)
+	return false;
+
+    } // end for
+
+    return true;  // all tests passed - ship it!
+
+  } // end isValidRandomAuthString
+
 } // end class VeniceEngineImpl

src/com/silverwrist/venice/security/AuditRecord.java

@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package com.silverwrist.venice.security;
 
 import java.sql.*;
 import java.util.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.SQLUtil;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.AuditData;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.DataException;
@@ -34,9 +33,9 @@ public class AuditRecord implements AuditData
 
   static class DescrStringCache
   {
-    private Hashtable descr_cache = new Hashtable();
+    private HashMap descr_cache = new HashMap();
-    private Hashtable uname_cache = new Hashtable();
+    private HashMap uname_cache = new HashMap();
-    private Hashtable signame_cache = new Hashtable();
+    private HashMap signame_cache = new HashMap();
     private Statement stmt;
 
     DescrStringCache(Connection conn) throws SQLException
@@ -363,7 +362,7 @@ public class AuditRecord implements AuditData
   public static List getAuditRecords(Connection conn, int sigid, int offset, int count)
       throws SQLException, DataException
   {
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
     DescrStringCache cache = new DescrStringCache(conn);
 
     Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
@@ -380,7 +379,7 @@ public class AuditRecord implements AuditData
 
     } // end while
 
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+    return Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
 
   } // end getAuditRecords
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/security/Role.java

@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 package com.silverwrist.venice.security;
 
 import java.util.*;
-import com.silverwrist.util.collections.*;
 
 public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 {
@@ -31,12 +30,24 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
   private static Role no_access = null;
   private static Role unrestricted_user = null;
   private static Role sig_host = null;
-  private static Vector global_low = null;
+  private static ArrayList global_low = null;
-  private static Vector global_high = null;
+  private static ArrayList global_high = null;
-  private static Vector sig_low = null;
+  private static ArrayList sig_low = null;
-  private static Vector sig_high = null;
+  private static ArrayList sig_high = null;
-  private static Vector conf_low = null;
+  private static ArrayList conf_low = null;
-  private static Vector conf_high = null;
+  private static ArrayList conf_high = null;
+
+  private static List sigreadlist_rc = null;
+  private static List sigwritelist_rc = null;
+  private static List sigcreatelist_rc = null;
+  private static List sigdeletelist_rc = null;
+  private static List sigjoinlist_rc = null;
+  private static List sig_member_levels = null;
+  private static List confreadlist_rc = null;
+  private static List confpostlist_rc = null;
+  private static List confhidelist_rc = null;
+  private static List confdeletelist_rc = null;
+  private static List conf_member_levels = null;
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Attributes
@@ -58,80 +69,6 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 
   } // end constructor
 
-  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-   * Internal functions
-   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-   */
-
-  private static void initAllSets()
-  {
-    if (not_in_list==null)
-      not_in_list = new Role(0,"(not in list)");
-
-    if (no_access==null)
-      no_access = new Role(NO_ACCESS,"No Access");
-
-    if (unrestricted_user==null)
-      unrestricted_user = new Role(UNRESTRICTED_USER,"'Unrestricted' User");
-
-    if (global_low==null)
-    { // initialize the "global lowband" vector
-      global_low = new Vector(3);
-      global_low.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_ANONYMOUS,"Anonymous User"));
-      global_low.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_UNVERIFIED,"Unauthenticated User"));
-      global_low.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_NORMAL,"Normal User"));
-      global_low.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (global_high==null)
-    { // initialize the "global highband" vector
-      global_high = new Vector(3);
-      global_high.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_ANYADMIN,"Any System Administrator"));
-      global_high.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_PFY,"System Assistant Administrator"));
-      global_high.addElement(new Role(GLOBAL_BOFH,"Global System Administrator"));
-      global_high.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (sig_low==null)
-    { // initialize the "SIG lowband" vector
-      sig_low = new Vector(1);
-      sig_low.addElement(new Role(SIG_MEMBER,"SIG Member"));
-      sig_low.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (sig_high==null)
-    { // initialize the "SIG highband" vector
-      sig_high = new Vector(3);
-      sig_high.addElement(new Role(SIG_ANYADMIN,"Any SIG Administrator"));
-      sig_high.addElement(new Role(SIG_COHOST,"SIG Co-Host"));
-      sig_host = new Role(SIG_HOST,"SIG Host");
-      sig_high.addElement(sig_host);
-      sig_high.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (conf_low==null)
-    { // initialize the "conference lowband" vector
-      conf_low = new Vector(1);
-      conf_low.addElement(new Role(CONFERENCE_MEMBER,"Conference Member"));
-      conf_low.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-    if (conf_high==null)
-    { // initialize the "conference highband" vector
-      conf_high = new Vector(2);
-      conf_high.addElement(new Role(CONFERENCE_ANYADMIN,"Any Conference Administrator"));
-      conf_high.addElement(new Role(CONFERENCE_HOST,"Conference Host"));
-      conf_high.trimToSize();
-
-    } // end if
-
-  } // end initAllSets
-
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * External operations
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -196,69 +133,95 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 
   public static List getSIGReadList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sigreadlist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // create the returned list
-    rc.addAll(global_low);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.addAll(global_low);
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
-    rc.add(global_high.firstElement());
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(global_high.get(0));
+      sigreadlist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return sigreadlist_rc;
 
   } // end getSIGReadList
 
   public static List getSIGWriteList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sigwritelist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // build the return value
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(global_high);
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.addAll(global_high);
+      sigwritelist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return sigwritelist_rc;
 
   } // end getSIGWriteList
 
   public static List getSIGCreateList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sigcreatelist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // create the return list
-    rc.add(global_low.lastElement());
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.add(global_low.get(global_low.size()-1));
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
-    rc.add(global_high.firstElement());
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(global_high.get(0));
+      sigcreatelist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return sigcreatelist_rc;
 
   } // end getSIGCreateList
 
   public static List getSIGDeleteList()
   { 
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sigdeletelist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // create the return list
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(global_high);
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    rc.add(no_access);
+      rc.addAll(global_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(no_access);
+      sigdeletelist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return sigdeletelist_rc;
 
   } // end getSIGDeleteList
 
   public static List getSIGJoinList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sigjoinlist_rc==null)
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(global_low);
+      sigjoinlist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(global_low);
+    return sigjoinlist_rc;
 
   } // end getSIGJoinList
 
   public static List getSIGMemberLevelChoices()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (sig_member_levels==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // figure out the member levels list
-    rc.add(not_in_list);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(global_low);
+      rc.add(not_in_list);
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.addAll(global_low);
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
-    rc.remove(rc.size()-1);
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.remove(rc.size()-1);
+      sig_member_levels = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return sig_member_levels;
 
   } // end getSIGMemberLevelChoices
 
@@ -270,26 +233,36 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 
   public static List getConferenceReadList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (confreadlist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // precalculate the conference read list
-    rc.addAll(global_low);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.addAll(global_low);
-    rc.addAll(conf_low);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(conf_low);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      confreadlist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return confreadlist_rc;
 
   } // end getConferenceReadList
 
   public static List getConferencePostList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (confpostlist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // precalculate the post list
-    rc.addAll(global_low);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.addAll(global_low);
-    rc.addAll(conf_low);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(conf_low);
-    rc.addAll(conf_high);
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.addAll(conf_high);
+      confpostlist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return confpostlist_rc;
 
   } // return getConferencePostList
 
@@ -301,12 +274,17 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 
   public static List getConferenceHideList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (confhidelist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // precalculate the hide list
-    rc.addAll(conf_high);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      rc.addAll(conf_high);
-    rc.add(global_high.firstElement());
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(global_high.get(0));
+      confhidelist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return confhidelist_rc;
 
   } // end getConferenceHideList
 
@@ -324,27 +302,88 @@ public class Role implements Comparable, SecLevels
 
   public static List getConferenceDeleteList()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (confdeletelist_rc==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // precalculate the delete list
-    rc.addAll(sig_high);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(global_high);
+      rc.addAll(sig_high);
-    rc.add(no_access);
+      rc.addAll(global_high);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(no_access);
+      confdeletelist_rc = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return confdeletelist_rc;
 
   } // end getConferenceDeleteList
 
   public static List getConferenceMemberLevelChoices()
   {
-    initAllSets();
+    if (conf_member_levels==null)
-    Vector rc = new Vector();
+    { // precalculate the list
-    rc.add(not_in_list);
+      ArrayList rc = new ArrayList();
-    rc.addAll(global_low);
+      rc.add(not_in_list);
-    rc.addAll(sig_low);
+      rc.addAll(global_low);
-    rc.addAll(conf_low);
+      rc.addAll(sig_low);
-    rc.add(unrestricted_user);
+      rc.addAll(conf_low);
-    rc.add(conf_high.lastElement());
+      rc.add(unrestricted_user);
-    return new ReadOnlyVector(rc);
+      rc.add(conf_high.get(conf_high.size()-1));
+      conf_member_levels = Collections.unmodifiableList(rc);
+
+    } // end if
+    
+    return conf_member_levels;
 
   } // end getConferenceMemberLevelChoices
 
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static initializer
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  static
+  {
+    not_in_list = new Role(0,"(not in list)");
+    no_access = new Role(NO_ACCESS,"No Access");
+    unrestricted_user = new Role(UNRESTRICTED_USER,"'Unrestricted' User");
+
+    // initialize the "global lowband" vector
+    global_low = new ArrayList(3);
+    global_low.add(new Role(GLOBAL_ANONYMOUS,"Anonymous User"));
+    global_low.add(new Role(GLOBAL_UNVERIFIED,"Unauthenticated User"));
+    global_low.add(new Role(GLOBAL_NORMAL,"Normal User"));
+    global_low.trimToSize();
+
+    // initialize the "global highband" vector
+    global_high = new ArrayList(3);
+    global_high.add(new Role(GLOBAL_ANYADMIN,"Any System Administrator"));
+    global_high.add(new Role(GLOBAL_PFY,"System Assistant Administrator"));
+    global_high.add(new Role(GLOBAL_BOFH,"Global System Administrator"));
+    global_high.trimToSize();
+
+    // initialize the "SIG lowband" vector
+    sig_low = new ArrayList(1);
+    sig_low.add(new Role(SIG_MEMBER,"SIG Member"));
+    sig_low.trimToSize();
+
+    // initialize the "SIG highband" vector
+    sig_high = new ArrayList(3);
+    sig_high.add(new Role(SIG_ANYADMIN,"Any SIG Administrator"));
+    sig_high.add(new Role(SIG_COHOST,"SIG Co-Host"));
+    sig_host = new Role(SIG_HOST,"SIG Host");
+    sig_high.add(sig_host);
+    sig_high.trimToSize();
+
+    // initialize the "conference lowband" vector
+    conf_low = new ArrayList(1);
+    conf_low.add(new Role(CONFERENCE_MEMBER,"Conference Member"));
+    conf_low.trimToSize();
+
+    // initialize the "conference highband" vector
+    conf_high = new ArrayList(2);
+    conf_high.add(new Role(CONFERENCE_ANYADMIN,"Any Conference Administrator"));
+    conf_high.add(new Role(CONFERENCE_HOST,"Conference Host"));
+    conf_high.trimToSize();
+
+  } // end static initializer
+
 } // end class Role

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Account.java

@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ public class Account extends VeniceServlet
 
   private static final String DISPLAY_LOGIN_ATTR = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.internal.DisplayLogin";
 
+  private static final int COOKIE_LIFETIME = 60*60*24*365;  // one year
+
   private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(Account.class.getName());
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -159,6 +161,11 @@ public class Account extends VeniceServlet
       if (user.isLoggedIn())
       { // this is a Logout command
 	clearUserContext(request);
+
+	// delete the "login" cookie
+	Cookie del_login_info = rdat.createCookie(Variables.LOGIN_COOKIE,"",0);
+	Variables.saveCookie(request,del_login_info);
+
 	throw new RedirectResult("top");  // take 'em back to the "top" page
 
       } // end if
@@ -299,7 +306,15 @@ public class Account extends VeniceServlet
 	{ // use the user context to authenticate
 	  user.authenticate(dlg.getFieldValue("user"),dlg.getFieldValue("pass"));
 
-	  // TODO: here is where the persistent cookie gets sent, if it does...
+	  // If they want a cookie, give it to them!
+	  final String yes = "Y";
+	  if (yes.equals(dlg.getFieldValue("saveme")))
+	  { // create the authentication cookie and save it
+	    Cookie auth_cookie = rdat.createCookie(Variables.LOGIN_COOKIE,user.getAuthenticationToken(),
+						   COOKIE_LIFETIME);
+	    Variables.saveCookie(request,auth_cookie);
+
+	  } // end if
 
 	  // assuming it worked OK, redirect them back where they came from
 	  // (or to the verification page if they need to go there)

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/ConfOperations.java

@@ -486,15 +486,43 @@ public class ConfOperations extends VeniceServlet
 
     } // end if ("A" command)
 
-    if (cmd.equals("RP") || cmd.equals("RR"))
+    if (cmd.equals("QR"))
-    { // "RP" = "Report Posters," "RR" = "Report Readers" (requires conference parameter)
+    { // "QR" = "Reports Menu" (requires conference parameter)
       ConferenceContext conf = getConferenceParameter(request,sig,true,on_error);
       on_error = "confops?sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID() + "&cmd=Q";
 
+      try
+      { // display the "Conference Reports" display
+	setMyLocation(request,"confops?sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID() + "&cmd=QR");
+	return new ReportConferenceMenu(sig,conf);
+
+      } // end try
+      catch (DataException de)
+      { // unable to get the data for the list
+	return new ErrorBox("Database Error","Database error getting topic list: " + de.getMessage(),on_error);
+
+      } // end catch
+      catch (AccessError ae)
+      { // some sort of access error - display an error dialog
+	return new ErrorBox("Access Error",ae.getMessage(),on_error);
+
+      } // end catch
+
+    } // end if ("QR" command)
+
+    if (cmd.equals("RP") || cmd.equals("RR"))
+    { // "RP" = "Report Posters," "RR" = "Report Readers" (requires conference parameter, optional topic)
+      ConferenceContext conf = getConferenceParameter(request,sig,true,on_error);
+      TopicContext topic = getTopicParameter(request,conf,false,on_error);
+      on_error = "confops?sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID() + "&cmd=QR";
+
       try
       { // generate the listing on this page
-	setMyLocation(request,"confops?sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID() + "&cmd=" + cmd);
+	String my_loc = "confops?sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
-	return new ConferenceActivity(sig,conf,cmd.equals("RP"));
+	if (topic!=null)
+	  my_loc += ("&top=" + topic.getTopicNumber());
+	setMyLocation(request,my_loc + "&cmd=" + cmd);
+	return new ConferenceActivity(sig,conf,topic,cmd.equals("RP"));
 
       } // end try
       catch (DataException de)

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/FrameStatic.java

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import javax.servlet.*;
+import javax.servlet.http.*;
+import org.apache.log4j.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.*;
+
+public class FrameStatic extends VeniceServlet
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data members
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(FrameStatic.class);
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Overrides from class HttpServlet
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public String getServletInfo()
+  {
+    String rc = "FrameStatic servlet - Displays a static page inside the Venice \"frame\"\n"
+              + "Part of the Venice Web Communities System\n";
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end getServletInfo
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Overrides from class VeniceServlet
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected VeniceContent doVeniceGet(HttpServletRequest request, VeniceEngine engine,
+				      UserContext user, RenderData rdat)
+    throws ServletException, IOException, VeniceServletResult
+  {
+    setMyLocation(request,"frame" + request.getPathInfo());
+    return StaticRender.getStaticRender(request.getPathInfo().substring(1));
+
+  } // end doVeniceGet
+
+} // end class FrameStatic

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/UserDisplay.java

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public class UserDisplay extends VeniceServlet
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(UserDisplay.class.getName());
+  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(UserDisplay.class);
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Overrides from class HttpServlet

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/Variables.java

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
  * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
  * 
- * The Original Code is the Venice Web Community System.
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
  * 
  * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
  * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import javax.servlet.http.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus.LeftMenu;
 
 public class Variables
 {
@@ -35,19 +36,21 @@ public class Variables
   protected static final String ENGINE_ATTRIBUTE = "com.silverwrist.venice.core.Engine";
   protected static final String COUNTRYLIST_ATTRIBUTE = "com.silverwrist.venice.db.CountryList";
   protected static final String LANGUAGELIST_ATTRIBUTE = "com.silverwrist.venice.db.LanguageList";
-  protected static final String TOPMENU_ATTRIBUTE = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.MenuTop";
 
   // HttpSession ("session") attributes
   protected static final String USERCTXT_ATTRIBUTE = "user.context";
   protected static final String MENU_ATTRIBUTE = "current.menu";
 
+  // ServletRequest ("request" attributes)
+  protected static final String COOKIEJAR_ATTRIBUTE = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.CookieJar";
+
   // Servlet initialization parameters
   protected static final String ENGINE_INIT_PARAM = "venice.config";
 
   // Cookie name
-  public static final String LOGIN_COOKIE = "VeniceLogin";
+  public static final String LOGIN_COOKIE = "VeniceAuth";
 
-  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(Variables.class.getName());
+  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(Variables.class);
   private static Integer engine_gate = new Integer(0);
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -90,7 +93,8 @@ public class Variables
 
   } // end getVeniceEngine
 
-  public static UserContext getUserContext(ServletContext ctxt, ServletRequest request, HttpSession session)
+  public static UserContext getUserContext(ServletContext ctxt, HttpServletRequest request,
+					   HttpSession session)
       throws ServletException
   {
     Object uctmp = session.getAttribute(USERCTXT_ATTRIBUTE);
@@ -101,6 +105,33 @@ public class Variables
     { // use the Venice engine to create a new user context and save it off
       VeniceEngine engine = getVeniceEngine(ctxt);
       UserContext user = engine.createUserContext(request.getRemoteAddr());
+
+      // Did the user send a Venice authentication cookie?  If so, try to use it.
+      Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();
+      Cookie venice_cookie = null;
+      for (int i=0; (venice_cookie==null) && (i<cookies.length); i++)
+      { // look for a Venice authentication cookie
+	if (LOGIN_COOKIE.equals(cookies[i].getName()))
+	  venice_cookie = cookies[i];
+
+      } // end for
+
+      if (venice_cookie!=null)
+      { // we've found the cookie - now attempt to authenticate with it
+	if (!(user.authenticateWithToken(venice_cookie.getValue())))
+	{ // the authentication failed - this cookie MUST be bogus, delete it!
+	  Cookie zapper = new Cookie(LOGIN_COOKIE,"");
+	  zapper.setMaxAge(0);
+	  zapper.setPath(request.getContextPath());
+	  saveCookie(request,zapper);
+	  
+	} // end if
+	// else we're authenticated - let the cookie stay!
+
+      } // end if
+      // else don't bother trying to authenticate
+
+      // save the user context off as usual and return it
       session.setAttribute(USERCTXT_ATTRIBUTE,user);
       return user;
 
@@ -185,18 +216,31 @@ public class Variables
   public static void setMenuTop(ServletContext ctxt, HttpSession session)
   {
     Object obj = session.getAttribute(MENU_ATTRIBUTE);
-    if ((obj==null) || !(obj instanceof MenuTop))
+    boolean do_change;
-    { // look for the common MenuTop object and set it to the session context
+    if ((obj==null) || !(obj instanceof LeftMenu))
-      obj = ctxt.getAttribute(TOPMENU_ATTRIBUTE);
+      do_change = true;
-      if (obj==null)
+    else
-      { // we don't have a common MenuTop yet...make one
+    { // look to see if this is the "top" menu
-	MenuTop mt = new MenuTop();
+      LeftMenu mnu = (LeftMenu)obj;
-	ctxt.setAttribute(TOPMENU_ATTRIBUTE,mt);
+      do_change = !(mnu.getIdentifier().equals("top"));
-	obj = mt;
 
-      } // end if
+    } // end else
 
-      session.setAttribute(MENU_ATTRIBUTE,obj);
+    if (do_change)
+    { // get the new menu from the RenderConfig object and save it
+      try
+      { // but note that getting the rendering configuration can throw a ServletException
+	RenderConfig cfg = RenderConfig.getRenderConfig(ctxt);
+	LeftMenu new_mnu = cfg.getLeftMenu("top");
+	session.setAttribute(MENU_ATTRIBUTE,new_mnu);
+
+      } // end try
+      catch (ServletException e)
+      { // if we fail, just clear it out
+	logger.warn("caught ServletException in setMenuTop",e);
+	session.removeAttribute(MENU_ATTRIBUTE);
+
+      } // end catch
 
     } // end if
 
@@ -237,4 +281,41 @@ public class Variables
 
   } // end failIfNull
 
+  public static void saveCookie(ServletRequest request, Cookie cookie)
+  {
+    ArrayList cookiejar = null;
+    Object o = request.getAttribute(COOKIEJAR_ATTRIBUTE);
+    if ((o==null) || !(o instanceof ArrayList))
+    { // create a new cookie jar and save it
+      cookiejar = new ArrayList();
+      request.setAttribute(COOKIEJAR_ATTRIBUTE,cookiejar);
+
+    } // end if
+    else  // found our cookie jar
+      cookiejar = (ArrayList)o;
+
+    // save the cookie in the cookie jar (to be flushed later)
+    cookiejar.add(cookie);
+
+  } // end saveCookie
+
+  public static void flushCookies(ServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
+  {
+    Object o = request.getAttribute(COOKIEJAR_ATTRIBUTE);
+    request.removeAttribute(COOKIEJAR_ATTRIBUTE);
+    if (o instanceof ArrayList)
+    { // found the cookie jar - now take the cookies out and add them to the response
+      ArrayList cookiejar = (ArrayList)o;
+      Iterator it = cookiejar.iterator();
+      while (it.hasNext())
+      { // add each cookie in turn
+	Cookie cookie = (Cookie)(it.next());
+	response.addCookie(cookie);
+
+      } // end while
+
+    } // end if
+
+  } // end flushCookies
+
 } // end class Variables

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/VeniceServlet.java

@@ -67,8 +67,7 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
       } // end if
       else
       { // a null SIGContext is permitted
-	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("no SIG specified");
-	  logger.debug("no SIG specified");
 	return null;
 
       } // end else
@@ -78,7 +77,15 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
     SIGContext rc = null;
     try
     { // turn the string into a SIGID, and thence to a SIGContext
-      rc = user.getSIGContext(Integer.parseInt(str));
+      int tmp_id = Integer.parseInt(str);
+      rc = user.getSIGContext(tmp_id);
+      if (rc==null)
+      { // trap any null results (may not be possible with SIGs, but you never know)
+	logger.error("SIG #" + tmp_id + " was not found!");
+	throw new ErrorBox(null,"The specified SIG (#" + tmp_id + ") was not found in the database.",on_error);
+
+      } // end if
+
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug("found SIG #" + rc.getSIGID());
 
@@ -112,8 +119,7 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
       } // end if
       else
       { // a null TopicContext is permitted
-	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("no topic specified");
-	  logger.debug("no topic specified");
 	return null;
 
       } // end else
@@ -122,8 +128,17 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
 
     TopicContext rc = null;
     try
-    { // turn the string into a TopicID, and thence to a TopicContext
+    { // turn the string into a topic number, and thence to a TopicContext
-      rc = conf.getTopic(Short.parseShort(str));
+      short tmp_id = Short.parseShort(str);
+      rc = conf.getTopic(tmp_id);
+      if (rc==null)
+      { // the topic was not found!
+	logger.error("ConfID #" + conf.getConfID() + " did not have topic #" + tmp_id);
+	throw new ErrorBox(null,"Topic #" + tmp_id + " was not found in the '" + conf.getName()
+			   + "' conference.",on_error);
+
+      } // end if
+
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug("found topic #" + rc.getTopicID());
 
@@ -162,8 +177,7 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
       } // end if
       else
       { // a null TopicMessageContext is permitted
-	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("no message specified");
-	  logger.debug("no message specified");
 	return null;
 
       } // end else
@@ -173,7 +187,16 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
     TopicMessageContext rc = null;
     try
     { // turn the string into a postid, and thence to a TopicMessageContext
-      rc = conf.getMessageByPostID(Long.parseLong(str));
+      long tmp_id = Long.parseLong(str);
+      rc = conf.getMessageByPostID(tmp_id);
+      if (rc==null)
+      { // the message was not found
+	logger.error("ConfID #" + conf.getConfID() + " does not contain postid " + tmp_id);
+	throw new ErrorBox(null,"The post with ID number " + tmp_id + " was not found in the '"
+			   + conf.getName() + "' conference.",on_error);
+
+      } // end if
+
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug("found post #" + rc.getPostID());
 
@@ -212,8 +235,7 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
       } // end if
       else
       { // a null TopicMessageContext is permitted
-	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("no message specified");
-	  logger.debug("no message specified");
 	return null;
 
       } // end else
@@ -223,7 +245,16 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
     TopicMessageContext rc = null;
     try
     { // turn the string into a post number, and thence to a TopicMessageContext
-      rc = topic.getMessage(Integer.parseInt(str));
+      int tmp_id = Integer.parseInt(str);
+      rc = topic.getMessage(tmp_id);
+      if (rc==null)
+      { // could not find the message
+	logger.error("TopicID " + topic.getTopicID() + " does not contain message #" + tmp_id);
+	throw new ErrorBox(null,"There is no message #" + tmp_id + " in the '" + topic.getName() + "' topic.",
+			   on_error);
+
+      } // end if
+
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug("found post #" + rc.getPostID());
 
@@ -360,8 +391,7 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
       } // end if
       else
       { // a null ConferenceContext is permitted
-	if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	logger.debug("no conference specified");
-	  logger.debug("no conference specified");
 	return null;
 
       } // end else
@@ -371,7 +401,16 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
     ConferenceContext rc = null;
     try
     { // turn the string into a ConfID, and thence to a ConferenceContext
-      rc = sig.getConferenceContext(Integer.parseInt(str));
+      int tmp_id = Integer.parseInt(str);
+      rc = sig.getConferenceContext(tmp_id);
+      if (rc==null)
+      { // couldn't find the conference
+	logger.error("SIG #" + sig.getSIGID() + " does not contain conference #" + tmp_id);
+	throw new ErrorBox(null,"The conference #" + tmp_id + " could not be found in the '" + sig.getName()
+			   + "' SIG.",on_error);
+
+      } // end if
+
       if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
 	logger.debug("found conf #" + rc.getConfID());
 
@@ -517,45 +556,79 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
   {
     ServletContext ctxt = getServletContext();
     VeniceEngine engine = Variables.getVeniceEngine(ctxt);
-    UserContext user = Variables.getUserContext(ctxt,request,request.getSession(true));
-    RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(ctxt,request,response);
     VeniceContent content = null;
 
+    // Make all log messages for the request carry the remote address.
+    NDC.push(request.getRemoteAddr());
     try
-    { // run the actual "get" in the servlet
+    { // get the user context
-      content = doVeniceGet(request,engine,user,rdat);
+      UserContext user = Variables.getUserContext(ctxt,request,request.getSession(true));
+      boolean record_uname = user.isLoggedIn();
+      if (record_uname)
+	NDC.push(user.getUserName());
+
+      try
+      { // and now we proceed!
+	RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(ctxt,user,request,response);
+
+	try
+	{ // run the actual "get" in the servlet
+	  content = doVeniceGet(request,engine,user,rdat);
+
+	} // end try
+	catch (VeniceServletResult res)
+	{ // special VeniceServletResult catch here - figure out what result it is
+	  if (res instanceof VeniceContent)
+	    content = (VeniceContent)res; // this is content
+	  else if (res instanceof ContentResult)
+	  { // this contains content
+	    ContentResult cres = (ContentResult)res;
+	    content = cres.getContent();
+
+	  } // end else if
+	  else if (res instanceof ExecuteResult)
+	  { // direct-execution result
+	    ExecuteResult xres = (ExecuteResult)res;
+	    Variables.flushCookies(request,response);
+	    xres.execute(rdat);
+	    return;
+
+	  } // end else if
+	  else  // unrecognized VeniceServletResult
+	    content = null;
+
+	} // end catch
+	catch (RuntimeException re)
+	{ // record that we caught a runtime exception in here!
+	  logger.error("VeniceServlet.doGet caught " + re.getClass().getName() + " in doVeniceGet",re);
+	  throw re;
+
+	} // end catch
+
+	Variables.flushCookies(request,response);
+	if (content!=null)
+	{ // display the content!
+	  BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),content);
+	  base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
+
+	} // end if
+	else  // there is no content - display the null response
+	  rdat.nullResponse();
+
+      } // end try
+      finally
+      { // pop the username from the NDC if we used it
+	if (record_uname)
+	  NDC.pop();
+
+      } // end finally
 
     } // end try
-    catch (VeniceServletResult res)
+    finally
-    { // special VeniceServletResult catch here - figure out what result it is
+    { // pop the nested diagnostic context
-      if (res instanceof VeniceContent)
+      NDC.pop();
-	content = (VeniceContent)res; // this is content
-      else if (res instanceof ContentResult)
-      { // this contains content
-	ContentResult cres = (ContentResult)res;
-	content = cres.getContent();
 
-      } // end else if
+    } // end finally
-      else if (res instanceof ExecuteResult)
-      { // direct-execution result
-	ExecuteResult xres = (ExecuteResult)res;
-	xres.execute(rdat);
-	return;
-
-      } // end else if
-      else  // unrecognized VeniceServletResult
-	content = null;
-
-    } // end catch
-
-    if (content!=null)
-    { // display the content!
-      BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),content);
-      base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
-
-    } // end if
-    else  // there is no content - display the null response
-      rdat.nullResponse();
     
   } // end doGet
   
@@ -564,67 +637,102 @@ public abstract class VeniceServlet extends HttpServlet
   {
     ServletContext ctxt = getServletContext();
     VeniceEngine engine = Variables.getVeniceEngine(ctxt);
-    UserContext user = Variables.getUserContext(ctxt,request,request.getSession(true));
-    RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(ctxt,user,request,response);
     ServletMultipartHandler mphandler = null;
     VeniceContent content = null;
 
-    if (ServletMultipartHandler.canHandle(request))
+    // Make all log messages for the request carry the remote address.
-    { // if this is a multipart/form-data request, invoke our special handler code
+    NDC.push(request.getRemoteAddr());
+    try
+    { // get the user context
+      UserContext user = Variables.getUserContext(ctxt,request,request.getSession(true));
+      boolean record_uname = user.isLoggedIn();
+      if (record_uname)
+	NDC.push(user.getUserName());
+
       try
-      { // create the multipart handler
+      { // and now we proceed!
-	mphandler = new ServletMultipartHandler(request);
+	RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(ctxt,user,request,response);
+
+	if (ServletMultipartHandler.canHandle(request))
+	{ // if this is a multipart/form-data request, invoke our special handler code
+	  try
+	  { // create the multipart handler
+	    mphandler = new ServletMultipartHandler(request);
+
+	  } // end try
+	  catch (ServletMultipartException e)
+	  { // this is an error message we need to generate and just bail out on
+	    logger.error("ServletMultipartException caught in doVenicePost!",e);
+	    BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),
+					       new ErrorBox(null,"Internal Error: " + e.getMessage(),null));
+	    base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
+	    return;
+
+	  } // end if
+
+	} // end if
+
+	try
+	{ // call the appropriate doVenicePost method
+	  if (mphandler!=null)
+	    content = doVenicePost(request,mphandler,engine,user,rdat);
+	  else
+	    content = doVenicePost(request,engine,user,rdat);
+
+	} // end try
+	catch (VeniceServletResult res)
+	{ // special VeniceServletResult catch here - figure out what result it is
+	  if (res instanceof VeniceContent)
+	    content = (VeniceContent)res; // this is content
+	  else if (res instanceof ContentResult)
+	  { // this contains content
+	    ContentResult cres = (ContentResult)res;
+	    content = cres.getContent();
+
+	  } // end else if
+	  else if (res instanceof ExecuteResult)
+	  { // direct-execution result
+	    ExecuteResult xres = (ExecuteResult)res;
+	    Variables.flushCookies(request,response);
+	    xres.execute(rdat);
+	    return;
+
+	  } // end else if
+	  else  // unrecognized VeniceServletResult
+	    content = null;
+
+	} // end catch
+	catch (RuntimeException re)
+	{ // record that we caught a runtime exception in here!
+	  logger.error("VeniceServlet.doPost caught " + re.getClass().getName() + " in doVenicePost",re);
+	  throw re;
+
+	} // end catch
+
+	Variables.flushCookies(request,response);
+	if (content!=null)
+	{ // display the content!
+	  BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),content);
+	  base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
+
+	} // end if
+	else  // there is no content - display the null response
+	  rdat.nullResponse();
 
       } // end try
-      catch (ServletMultipartException e)
+      finally
-      { // this is an error message we need to generate and just bail out on
+      { // pop the username from the NDC if we used it
-	BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),
+	if (record_uname)
-					   new ErrorBox(null,"Internal Error: " + e.getMessage(),null));
+	  NDC.pop();
-	base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
-	return;
 
-      } // end if
+      } // end finally
-
-    } // end if
-
-    try
-    { // call the appropriate doVenicePost method
-      if (mphandler!=null)
-	content = doVenicePost(request,mphandler,engine,user,rdat);
-      else
-	content = doVenicePost(request,engine,user,rdat);
 
     } // end try
-    catch (VeniceServletResult res)
+    finally
-    { // special VeniceServletResult catch here - figure out what result it is
+    { // pop the nested diagnostic context
-      if (res instanceof VeniceContent)
+      NDC.pop();
-	content = (VeniceContent)res; // this is content
-      else if (res instanceof ContentResult)
-      { // this contains content
-	ContentResult cres = (ContentResult)res;
-	content = cres.getContent();
 
-      } // end else if
+    } // end finally
-      else if (res instanceof ExecuteResult)
-      { // direct-execution result
-	ExecuteResult xres = (ExecuteResult)res;
-	xres.execute(rdat);
-	return;
-
-      } // end else if
-      else  // unrecognized VeniceServletResult
-	content = null;
-
-    } // end catch
-
-    if (content!=null)
-    { // display the content!
-      BaseJSPData base = new BaseJSPData(getMyLocation(request,engine,user,rdat),content);
-      base.transfer(ctxt,rdat);
-
-    } // end if
-    else  // there is no content - display the null response
-      rdat.nullResponse();
     
   } // end doPost
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/AuditDataViewer.java

@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ public class AuditDataViewer implements ContentRender
     } // end while
 
     out.write("</TABLE>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
 
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/BaseJSPData.java

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import javax.servlet.*;
 import javax.servlet.http.*;
 import org.apache.log4j.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.Variables;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus.LeftMenu;
 
 public class BaseJSPData
 {
@@ -114,6 +116,22 @@ public class BaseJSPData
 
   } // end transfer
 
+  public void renderMenu(HttpSession session, Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+  {
+    ComponentRender menu = Variables.getMenu(session);
+    if (menu==null)
+      menu = (ComponentRender)(rdat.getLeftMenu("top"));
+    menu.renderHere(out,rdat);
+
+  } // end renderMenu
+
+  public void renderFixedMenu(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+  {
+    ComponentRender menu = (ComponentRender)(rdat.getLeftMenu("fixed"));
+    menu.renderHere(out,rdat);
+
+  } // end renderFixedMenu
+
   public void renderContent(ServletContext ctxt, Writer out, RenderData rdat)
       throws IOException, ServletException
   {
@@ -142,7 +160,7 @@ public class BaseJSPData
       rdat.flushOutput();  // now make sure the included page is properly flushed
       return;
       
-    } // end if
+    } // end else if
     else // this is the fallback if we don't recognize the content
       new ErrorBox(null,"Internal Error: Content of invalid type",null).renderHere(out,rdat);
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ConferenceActivity.java

@@ -39,24 +39,39 @@ public class ConferenceActivity implements JSPRender
 
   private SIGContext sig;               // the SIG we're in
   private ConferenceContext conf;       // the conference being listed
+  private TopicContext topic;           // the topic being listed
   private boolean posters;              // is this a list of posters?
   private List records;                 // the actual data records
+  private String locator = null;        // our locator
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Constructor
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  public ConferenceActivity(SIGContext sig, ConferenceContext conf, boolean posters)
+  public ConferenceActivity(SIGContext sig, ConferenceContext conf, TopicContext topic, boolean posters)
       throws DataException, AccessError
   {
     this.sig = sig;
     this.conf = conf;
+    this.topic = topic;
     this.posters = posters;
-    if (posters)
+    if (topic!=null)
-      this.records = conf.getActivePosters();
+    { // do the report on the topic
+      if (posters)
+	this.records = topic.getActivePosters();
+      else
+	this.records = topic.getActiveReaders();
+
+    } // end if
     else
-      this.records = conf.getActiveReaders();
+    { // do the report on the conference
+      if (posters)
+	this.records = conf.getActivePosters();
+      else
+	this.records = conf.getActiveReaders();
+
+    } // end else
 
   } // end constructor
 
@@ -78,10 +93,22 @@ public class ConferenceActivity implements JSPRender
 
   public String getPageTitle(RenderData rdat)
   {
-    if (posters)
+    if (topic!=null)
-      return "Users Posting in Conference " + conf.getName();
+    { // it's a topic report
+      if (posters)
+	return "Users Posting in Topic " + topic.getName();
+      else
+	return "Users Reading Topic " + topic.getName();
+
+    } // end if
     else
-      return "Users Reading Conference " + conf.getName();
+    { // it's a conference report
+      if (posters)
+	return "Users Posting in Conference " + conf.getName();
+      else
+	return "Users Reading Conference " + conf.getName();
+
+    } // end else
 
   } // end getPageTitle
 
@@ -113,12 +140,29 @@ public class ConferenceActivity implements JSPRender
 
   } // end getConfName
 
+  public String getTopicName()
+  {
+    if (topic==null)
+      return null;
+    else
+      return topic.getName();
+
+  } // end getTopicName
+
   public String getLocator()
   {
-    return "sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
+    if (locator==null)
+      locator = "sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
+    return locator;
 
   } // end getLocator
 
+  public boolean isTopicReport()
+  {
+    return (topic!=null);
+
+  } // end isTopicReport
+
   public boolean isPosterReport()
   {
     return posters;

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ConfirmBox.java

@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ public class ConfirmBox implements ContentRender
     out.write("<IMG SRC=\"" + rdat.getFullImagePath("bn_no.gif")
 	      + "\" ALT=\"No\" WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0></A>\n");
     out.write("</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE><P>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
     
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ContentDialog.java

@@ -216,7 +216,6 @@ public class ContentDialog implements Cloneable, ContentRender
     } // end if
 
     out.write("</FONT></FORM>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
 
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ContentMenuPanel.java

@@ -135,7 +135,6 @@ public class ContentMenuPanel implements Cloneable, ContentRender
     } // end while
 
     out.write("</TABLE>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
 
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ErrorBox.java

@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ public class ErrorBox extends VeniceServletResult implements ContentRender
     else
       out.write("<A HREF=\"" + rdat.getEncodedServletPath(back) + "\">Go back.</A>\n");
     out.write("<P></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE><P>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
     
   } // end renderHere
   

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/LoginDialog.java

@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ public class LoginDialog extends ContentDialog
     addFormField(new CDPasswordFormFieldCommand("pass","Password",null,false,32,128,
 						new CDImageButton("remind","bn_reminder.gif","Reminder",
 								  80,24)));
-    //addFormField(new CDCheckBoxFormField("saveme","Save my user name and password for automatic logins",
+    addFormField(new CDCheckBoxFormField("saveme","Remember me for next time so I can log in automatically",
-    //					 null,"Y"));
+    					 null,"Y"));
     addCommandButton(new CDImageButton("login","bn_log_in.gif","Log In",80,24));
     addCommandButton(new CDImageButton("cancel","bn_cancel.gif","Cancel",80,24));
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ManageConference.java

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public class ManageConference implements JSPRender
 
   private SIGContext sig;               // the SIG we're in
   private ConferenceContext conf;       // the conference being listed
+  private String locator = null;        // the locator we use
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Constructor
@@ -116,7 +117,9 @@ public class ManageConference implements JSPRender
 
   public String getLocator()
   {
-    return "sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
+    if (locator==null)
+      locator = "sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
+    return locator;
 
   } // end getLocator
 
@@ -128,8 +131,7 @@ public class ManageConference implements JSPRender
 
   public boolean displayAdminSection()
   {
-    return conf.canChangeConference();
+    return conf.canChangeConference() || conf.canDeleteConference();
-    // TODO: needs to have "delete" permission OR'ed in
 
   } // end displayAdminSection
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderConfig.java

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.ConfigException;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.UserContext;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.Variables;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus.LeftMenu;
 
 public class RenderConfig
 {
@@ -57,7 +58,8 @@ public class RenderConfig
   private String image_url;
   private String static_url;
   private String site_logo;
-  private Hashtable stock_messages;
+  private HashMap stock_messages;
+  private HashMap menus;
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Constructor
@@ -171,9 +173,10 @@ public class RenderConfig
     } // end if
 
     // Initialize the stock messages list.
-    stock_messages = new Hashtable();
+    stock_messages = new HashMap();
     NodeList msg_nodes = msg_sect.getChildNodes();
-    for (int i=0; i<msg_nodes.getLength(); i++)
+    int i;
+    for (i=0; i<msg_nodes.getLength(); i++)
     { // examine all subnodes to add them to the message text
       Node msgn = msg_nodes.item(i);
       if (msgn.getNodeType()==Node.ELEMENT_NODE)
@@ -191,6 +194,56 @@ public class RenderConfig
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
       logger.debug(stock_messages.size() + " stock messages loaded from config");
 
+    Element menu_sect = root_h.getSubElement("menu-definitions");
+    if (menu_sect==null)
+    { // no <menu-definitions/> section - bail out now!
+      logger.fatal("config document has no <menu-definitions/> section");
+      throw new ConfigException("no <menu-definitions/> section found in config file",root);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    // Initialize the menus list.
+    menus = new HashMap();
+    NodeList menu_nodes = menu_sect.getChildNodes();
+    for (i=0; i<menu_nodes.getLength(); i++)
+    { // look for <menudef> subnodes and use them to initialize menus
+      Node mn = menu_nodes.item(i);
+      if (mn.getNodeType()==Node.ELEMENT_NODE)
+      { // found an element - now check it's name
+	if (mn.getNodeName().equals("menudef"))
+	{ // root of a menu definition - get its ID, build it, and save it
+	  Element mel = (Element)mn;
+	  String menuid = mel.getAttribute("id");
+	  if (menuid==null)
+	  { // no menu ID attribute
+	    logger.fatal("<menudef/> seen with no \"id\" attribute");
+	    throw new ConfigException("<menudef/> seen with no \"id\" attribute",mel);
+
+	  } // end if
+
+	  // create the menu and add it to the mapping
+	  LeftMenu menu = new LeftMenu(mel,menuid);
+	  menus.put(menuid,menu);
+	  if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+	    logger.debug("menu \"" + menuid + "\" defined");
+
+	} // end if (found the root of a menu definition)
+	else
+	{ // unknown element - bail out!
+	  logger.fatal("config document has unknown node <" + mn.getNodeName() +
+		       "/> inside <menu-definitions/>");
+	  throw new ConfigException("unknown node name <" + mn.getNodeName() + "/> in <menu-definitions/>",
+				    menu_sect);
+
+	} // end else
+
+      } // end if
+
+    } // end for
+
+    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+      logger.debug(menus.size() + " menu definitions loaded from config");
+
   } // end constructor
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -337,20 +390,6 @@ public class RenderConfig
 
   } // end getRequiredBullet
 
-  void writeFooter(Writer out) throws IOException
-  {
-    out.write("<HR WIDTH=\"80%\">\n<TABLE ALIGN=CENTER BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=6><TR VALIGN=TOP>"
-	      + "\n<TD ALIGN=RIGHT>\n");
-    out.write(getStdFontTag(null,1));
-    out.write(getStockMessage("footer-text"));
-    out.write("</FONT>\n</TD>\n<TD ALIGN=LEFT>\n<A HREF=\"http://venice.sourceforge.net\" TARGET=\"_blank\">"
-	      + "<IMG SRC=\"");
-    out.write(getFullImagePath("powered-by-venice.gif"));
-    out.write("\" ALT=\"Powered by Venice\" WIDTH=140 HEIGHT=80 BORDER=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0></A>\n</TD>\n"
-	      + "</TR></TABLE>\n");
-
-  } // end writeFooter
-
   void writeContentHeader(Writer out, String primary, String secondary) throws IOException
   {
     out.write(getStdFontTag("#3333AA",5) + "<B>" + StringUtil.encodeHTML(primary) + "</B></FONT>");
@@ -374,6 +413,12 @@ public class RenderConfig
 
   } // end writeStockMessage
 
+  public LeftMenu getLeftMenu(String identifier)
+  {
+    return (LeftMenu)(menus.get(identifier));
+
+  } // end getLeftMenu
+
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Static operations for use by VeniceServlet
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -410,14 +455,14 @@ public class RenderConfig
 					    HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException
   {
     UserContext uc = Variables.getUserContext(ctxt,request,request.getSession(true));
-    return new RenderData(getRenderConfig(ctxt),uc,request,response);
+    return new RenderData(getRenderConfig(ctxt),uc,ctxt,request,response);
 
   } // end createRenderData
 
   public static RenderData createRenderData(ServletContext ctxt, UserContext uc, HttpServletRequest request,
 					    HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException
   {
-    return new RenderData(getRenderConfig(ctxt),uc,request,response);
+    return new RenderData(getRenderConfig(ctxt),uc,ctxt,request,response);
 
   } // end createRenderData
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/RenderData.java

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import com.silverwrist.venice.core.IDUtils;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.core.UserContext;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.PostLinkRewriter;
 import com.silverwrist.venice.db.UserNameRewriter;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus.LeftMenu;
 
 public class RenderData
 {
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ public class RenderData
    */
 
   private RenderConfig rconf;
+  private ServletContext ctxt;
   private HttpServletRequest request;
   private HttpServletResponse response;
   private boolean can_gzip = false;
@@ -60,9 +62,11 @@ public class RenderData
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  RenderData(RenderConfig rconf, UserContext uc, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
+  RenderData(RenderConfig rconf, UserContext uc, ServletContext ctxt, HttpServletRequest request,
+	     HttpServletResponse response)
   {
     this.rconf = rconf;
+    this.ctxt = ctxt;
     this.request = request;
     this.response = response;
 
@@ -167,7 +171,13 @@ public class RenderData
   {
     return "/format/" + name;
 
-  } // end getFullFormatJSPPath
+  } // end getFormatJSPPath
+
+  public String getStaticIncludePath(String name)
+  {
+    return "/static/" + name;
+
+  } // end getStaticIncludePath
 
   public String getStdFontTag(String color, int size)
   {
@@ -193,12 +203,6 @@ public class RenderData
 
   } // end getRequiredBullet
 
-  public void writeFooter(Writer out) throws IOException
-  {
-    rconf.writeFooter(out);
-
-  } // end writeFooter
-
   public void writeContentHeader(Writer out, String primary, String secondary) throws IOException
   {
     rconf.writeContentHeader(out,primary,secondary);
@@ -250,6 +254,12 @@ public class RenderData
 
   } // end writeStockMessage
 
+  public LeftMenu getLeftMenu(String identifier)
+  {
+    return rconf.getLeftMenu(identifier);
+
+  } // end getLeftMenu
+
   public String formatDateForDisplay(Date date)
   {
     if (display_date==null)
@@ -491,4 +501,19 @@ public class RenderData
 
   } // end rewritePostData
 
+  public String mapToPath(String path)
+  {
+    return ctxt.getRealPath(path);
+
+  } // end mapToPath
+
+  public Cookie createCookie(String name, String value, int age)
+  {
+    Cookie rc = new Cookie(name,value);
+    rc.setMaxAge(age);
+    rc.setPath(request.getContextPath());
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end createCookie
+
 } // end class RenderData

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/ReportConferenceMenu.java

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format;
+
+import java.util.*;
+import javax.servlet.*;
+import javax.servlet.http.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.core.*;
+
+public class ReportConferenceMenu implements JSPRender
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data members
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  // Attribute name for request attribute
+  protected static final String ATTR_NAME = "com.silverwrist.venice.content.ReportConferenceMenu";
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private SIGContext sig;               // the SIG we're in
+  private ConferenceContext conf;       // the conference being listed
+  private List topics;                  // the topics in this conference
+  private String locator = null;        // the locator
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public ReportConferenceMenu(SIGContext sig, ConferenceContext conf) throws DataException, AccessError
+  {
+    this.sig = sig;
+    this.conf = conf;
+    this.topics = conf.getTopicList(ConferenceContext.GET_ALL,ConferenceContext.SORT_NUMBER);
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External static functions
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public static ReportConferenceMenu retrieve(ServletRequest request)
+  {
+    return (ReportConferenceMenu)(request.getAttribute(ATTR_NAME));
+
+  } // end retrieve
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface VeniceContent
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public String getPageTitle(RenderData rdat)
+  {
+    return "Conference Reports: " + conf.getName();
+
+  } // end getPageTitle
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface JSPRender
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public void store(ServletRequest request)
+  {
+    request.setAttribute(ATTR_NAME,this);
+
+  } // end store
+
+  public String getTargetJSPName()
+  {
+    return "report_conf.jsp";
+
+  } // end getTargetJSPName
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External operations
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public int getConfID()
+  {
+    return conf.getConfID();
+
+  } // end getConfID
+
+  public String getConfName()
+  {
+    return conf.getName();
+
+  } // end getConfName
+
+  public String getLocator()
+  {
+    if (locator==null)
+      locator = "sig=" + sig.getSIGID() + "&conf=" + conf.getConfID();
+    return locator;
+
+  } // end getLocator
+
+  public Iterator getTopics()
+  {
+    return topics.iterator();
+
+  } // end getTopics
+
+} // end class ReportConferenceMenu

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/StaticRender.java

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.cachemap.CacheMap;
+
+public class StaticRender implements ContentRender
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data values
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private static CacheMap cache = new CacheMap(15,25);
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private String name;
+  private boolean processed = false;
+  private String title = null;
+  private String content = null;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data values
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected StaticRender(String name)
+  {
+    this.name = name;
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Internal functions
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private static String searchBetweenTags(StringBuffer data, String search, String tagname)
+  {
+    tagname = tagname.toUpperCase();
+    String start = "<" + tagname;
+    String end = "</" + tagname + ">";
+
+    int startpos = search.indexOf(start);
+    if (startpos<0)
+      return null;
+    startpos += start.length();
+
+    int bkt_pos = search.indexOf('>',startpos);
+    if (bkt_pos<0)
+      return null;
+
+    int end_pos = search.indexOf(end,++bkt_pos);
+    if (end_pos<0)
+      return data.substring(bkt_pos);
+    else
+      return data.substring(bkt_pos,end_pos);
+
+  } // end searchBetweenTags
+
+  private synchronized void process(RenderData rdat)
+  {
+    if (processed)
+      return;  // check and set flag
+
+    // Map the content path to a real filename.
+    String real_path = rdat.mapToPath(rdat.getStaticIncludePath(name));
+    if (real_path==null)
+    { // not found!
+      title = name;
+      content = "File not mappable: " + name;
+      return;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    // Read in the whole thing.
+    StringBuffer raw_file = new StringBuffer();
+    try
+    { // read in from the file
+      FileReader rdr = new FileReader(real_path);
+      char[] buffer = new char[4096];
+      int rd = rdr.read(buffer);
+      while (rd>=0)
+      { // read in the raw characters
+	if (rd>0)
+	  raw_file.append(buffer,0,rd);
+	rd = rdr.read(buffer);
+
+      } // end while
+
+      rdr.close();
+
+    } // end try
+    catch (IOException ioe)
+    { // I/O exception - just discard
+      title = name;
+      content = "I/O error reading " + name + ": " + ioe.getMessage();
+      return;
+
+    } // end catch
+
+    // make the upper-case search page and use that to locate the page title and body
+    String search_page = raw_file.toString().toUpperCase();
+    title = searchBetweenTags(raw_file,search_page,"TITLE");
+    content = searchBetweenTags(raw_file,search_page,"BODY");
+    if (content==null)
+    { // no content?
+      content = "No content seen on " + name;
+      processed = false;
+
+    } // end if
+
+    processed = true;  // set the flag to indicate we've got everything
+
+  } // end process
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface VeniceContent
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public String getPageTitle(RenderData rdat)
+  {
+    process(rdat);
+    if (title==null)
+      return name;
+    else
+      return title;
+
+  } // end getPageTitle
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface ContentRender
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+  {
+    process(rdat);
+    if (content!=null)
+      out.write(content);
+
+  } // end renderHere
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External static operations
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public static StaticRender getStaticRender(String name)
+  {
+    StaticRender rc = (StaticRender)(cache.get(name));
+    if (rc==null)
+    { // create a new object and cache it
+      rc = new StaticRender(name);
+      cache.put(name,rc);
+
+    } // end if
+
+    return rc;
+
+  } // end getStaticRender
+
+} // end class StaticRender

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/TextMessageDialog.java

@@ -149,7 +149,6 @@ public class TextMessageDialog implements ContentRender
     } // end for
 
     out.write("</DIV>\n");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
 
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/TopDisplay.java

@@ -243,7 +243,6 @@ public class TopDisplay implements ContentRender
 
     // Finish up.
     out.write("</TD>\n</TR></TABLE>");
-    rdat.writeFooter(out);
 
   } // end renderHere
 

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/menus/AbsoluteLeftMenuItem.java

@@ -15,58 +15,43 @@
  * 
  * Contributor(s): 
  */
-package com.silverwrist.util.collections;
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus;
 
-import java.util.*;
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.RenderData;
 
-public class ReadOnlyVector extends AbstractList
+class AbsoluteLeftMenuItem extends LeftMenuItem
 {
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Attributes
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  private Vector my_vec;  // local vector
+  String url;
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Constructor
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  public ReadOnlyVector(Vector vec)
+  AbsoluteLeftMenuItem(Element elt)
   {
-    my_vec = vec;
+    super(elt);
-    my_vec.trimToSize();
+    DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper(elt);
+    url = h.getSubElementText("absolute");
 
   } // end constructor
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-   * finalize() method
+   * Overrides from class LeftMenuItem
    *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
 
-  protected void finalize() throws Throwable
+  protected void appendURL(StringBuffer sbuf, RenderData rdat)
   {
-    my_vec = null;
+    sbuf.append(url);
-    super.finalize();
 
-  } // end finalize
+  } // end appendURL
 
-  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+} // end class AbsoluteLeftMenuItem
-   * Implementations from superclass AbstractList
-   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-   */
-
-  public Object get(int index)
-  {
-    return my_vec.elementAt(index);
-
-  } // end get
-
-  public int size()
-  {
-    return my_vec.size();
-
-  } // end size
-
-} // end class ReadOnlyVector

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/menus/FrameLeftMenuItem.java

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus;
+
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.RenderData;
+
+class FrameLeftMenuItem extends LeftMenuItem
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  String url;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  FrameLeftMenuItem(Element elt)
+  {
+    super(elt);
+    DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper(elt);
+    url = h.getSubElementText("frame");
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Overrides from class LeftMenuItem
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected void appendURL(StringBuffer sbuf, RenderData rdat)
+  {
+    sbuf.append(rdat.getEncodedServletPath("frame/" + url));
+
+  } // end appendURL
+
+} // end class FrameLeftMenuItem

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/menus/LeftMenu.java

@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus;
+
+import java.io.Writer;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.*;
+import org.apache.log4j.*;
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.core.ConfigException;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.ComponentRender;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.RenderData;
+
+public class LeftMenu implements ComponentRender
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Internal class representing a header component
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  static class Header implements ComponentRender
+  {
+    private String txt;  // the actual stored text
+
+    Header(Element elt)
+    {
+      DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper(elt);
+      StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer("<B>");
+      buf.append(StringUtil.encodeHTML(h.getElementText())).append("</B><BR>\n");
+      txt = buf.toString();
+
+    } // end constructor
+
+    public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+    {
+      out.write(txt);
+
+    } // end renderHere
+
+  } // end class Header
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Internal class representing a separator component
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  static class Separator implements ComponentRender
+  {
+    Separator()
+    { // do nothing
+    } // end constructor
+
+    public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+    {
+      out.write("<BR>\n");
+
+    } // end renderHere
+
+  } // end class Separator
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Static data members
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private static Category logger = Category.getInstance(LeftMenu.class);
+  private static final Separator separator_singleton = new Separator();
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private String identifier;
+  private ArrayList menu_items = new ArrayList();
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public LeftMenu(Element elt, String identifier) throws ConfigException
+  {
+    if (!(elt.getNodeName().equals("menudef")))
+    { // just some shorts-checking here to make sure the element is OK
+      logger.fatal("huh?!? this should have been a <menudef/> if it got here!");
+      throw new ConfigException("not a <menudef/> element");
+
+    } // end if
+
+    NodeList items = elt.getChildNodes();
+    for (int i=0; i<items.getLength(); i++)
+    { // examine each of the child elements closely
+      Node n = items.item(i);
+      if (n.getNodeType()==Node.ELEMENT_NODE)
+      { // we've found a child element - what type is it?
+	if (n.getNodeName().equals("menuitem"))
+	{ // investigate the contents of the subelement
+	  DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper((Element)n);
+	  if (!(h.hasChildElement("text")))
+	  { // no menu item text!
+	    logger.fatal("<menuitem/> element has no <text/> subelement");
+	    throw new ConfigException("<menuitem/> element has no <text/> subelement",h.getElement());
+
+	  } // end if
+
+	  LeftMenuItem mitem = null;
+	  if (h.hasChildElement("servlet"))
+	    mitem = new ServletLeftMenuItem(h.getElement());
+	  else if (h.hasChildElement("absolute"))
+	    mitem = new AbsoluteLeftMenuItem(h.getElement());
+	  else if (h.hasChildElement("frame"))
+	    mitem = new FrameLeftMenuItem(h.getElement());
+	  else
+	  { // we don't know what type of menu this is!
+	    logger.fatal("unknown <menuitem/> type seen in menu");
+	    throw new ConfigException("unknown <menuitem/> type seen in menu",h.getElement());
+
+	  } // end else
+
+	  menu_items.add(mitem);
+
+	} // end if
+	else if (n.getNodeName().equals("header"))
+	  menu_items.add(new Header((Element)n));  // add a new header
+	else if (n.getNodeName().equals("separator"))
+	  menu_items.add(separator_singleton);  // all separators are exactly the same
+	else
+	{ // menu definition has an unknown item
+	  logger.fatal("unknown element <" + n.getNodeName() + "/> inside <menudef/>");
+	  throw new ConfigException("unknown element <" + n.getNodeName() + "/> inside <menudef/>",n);
+
+	} // end else
+
+      } // end if (an element node)
+
+    } // end for (each child node)
+
+    this.identifier = identifier;
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface ComponentRender
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+  {
+    Iterator it = menu_items.iterator();
+    while (it.hasNext())
+    { // render each menu item in turn
+      ComponentRender cr = (ComponentRender)(it.next());
+      cr.renderHere(out,rdat);
+
+    } // end while
+
+  } // end renderHere
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * External operations
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public String getIdentifier()
+  {
+    return identifier;
+
+  } // end getIdentifier
+
+} // end class LeftMenu
+

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/menus/LeftMenuItem.java

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus;
+
+import java.io.Writer;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.ComponentRender;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.RenderData;
+
+abstract class LeftMenuItem implements ComponentRender
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  private String text;
+  private boolean disabled = false;
+  private boolean new_window = false;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected LeftMenuItem(Element elt)
+  {
+    DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper(elt);
+    text = StringUtil.encodeHTML(h.getSubElementText("text"));
+    if (h.hasChildElement("disabled"))
+      disabled = true;
+    if (h.hasChildElement("new-window"))
+      new_window = true;
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Abstract functions which MUST be overridden
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected abstract void appendURL(StringBuffer sbuf, RenderData rdat);
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Implementations from interface ComponentRender
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  public void renderHere(Writer out, RenderData rdat) throws IOException
+  {
+    StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
+
+    if (disabled)
+      buf.append("<FONT COLOR=\"#CCCCCC\">");
+    else
+    { // write the <A> tag
+      buf.append("<A HREF=\"");
+      appendURL(buf,rdat);
+      buf.append('"');
+      if (new_window)
+	buf.append(" TARGET=\"_blank\"");
+      buf.append('>');
+
+    } // end else (writing <A> tag)
+
+    buf.append(text);
+    if (disabled)
+      buf.append("</FONT>");
+    else
+      buf.append("</A>");
+    buf.append("<BR>\n");
+    out.write(buf.toString());
+
+  } // end renderHere
+
+} // end class LeftMenuItem

src/com/silverwrist/venice/servlets/format/menus/ServletLeftMenuItem.java

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+ * 
+ * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+ * language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+ * 
+ * The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+ * 
+ * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+ * for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+ * Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+ * 
+ * Contributor(s): 
+ */
+package com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.menus;
+
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import com.silverwrist.util.*;
+import com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.RenderData;
+
+class ServletLeftMenuItem extends LeftMenuItem
+{
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Attributes
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  String url;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Constructor
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  ServletLeftMenuItem(Element elt)
+  {
+    super(elt);
+    DOMElementHelper h = new DOMElementHelper(elt);
+    url = h.getSubElementText("servlet");
+
+  } // end constructor
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   * Overrides from class LeftMenuItem
+   *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+   */
+
+  protected void appendURL(StringBuffer sbuf, RenderData rdat)
+  {
+    sbuf.append(rdat.getEncodedServletPath(url));
+
+  } // end appendURL
+
+} // end class ServletLeftMenuItem

web/format/attach_form.jsp

@@ -38,4 +38,3 @@
      WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0>
   </FORM><P>
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/base.jsp

@@ -20,19 +20,6 @@
 <%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.core.*" %>
 <%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.Variables" %>
 <%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.*" %>
-<%!
-
-private static void renderMenu(HttpSession session, java.io.Writer out, RenderData rdat)
-    throws java.io.IOException
-{
-  ComponentRender menu = Variables.getMenu(session);
-  if (menu==null)
-    menu = new MenuTop();
-  menu.renderHere(out,rdat);
-
-} // end renderMenu
-
-%>
 <%
   BaseJSPData basedat = BaseJSPData.retrieve(request);
   Variables.failIfNull(basedat);
@@ -97,36 +84,51 @@ private static void renderMenu(HttpSession session, java.io.Writer out, RenderDa
     <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- END PAGE HEADER --><% } %>
 
     <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD ALIGN=CENTER>
-      <TABLE ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=2 CELLSPACING=0><TR VALIGN=TOP>
+      <TABLE ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=2 CELLSPACING=0>
-        <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH=120 BGCOLOR="#9999FF">
+        <TR VALIGN=TOP>
-          <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH=120 CELPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0>
+          <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH=120 BGCOLOR="#9999FF">
-	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- BEGIN LEFT SIDEBAR --><% } %>
+            <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH=120 CELPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0>
-	    <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>
+	      <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- BEGIN LEFT SIDEBAR --><% } %>
-	      <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- variable menu --><% } %>
+	      <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>
-              <% renderMenu(session,out,rdat); %>
+	        <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- variable menu --><% } %>
-            </FONT></TD></TR>
+                <% basedat.renderMenu(session,out,rdat); %>
+              </FONT></TD></TR>
 
-            <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
+              <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
-            <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>
+              <TR VALIGN=TOP><TD VALIGN=LEFT><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>
-	      <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- fixed menu --><% } %>
+	        <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- fixed menu --><% } %>
-              <B>About This Site</B><BR>
+	        <% basedat.renderFixedMenu(out,rdat); %>
-              <A HREF="/TODO">Documentation</A><BR>
+              </FONT></TD></TR>
-              <A HREF="/TODO">About Venice</A>
-            </FONT></TD></TR>
 
-	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- END LEFT SIDEBAR --><% } %>
+	      <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- END LEFT SIDEBAR --><% } %>
 
-          </TABLE>
+            </TABLE>
-        </TD>
+          </TD>
 
-        <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="white">
+          <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="white">
-          <TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=2 CELLSPACING=0><TR VALIGN=TOP><TD ALIGN=LEFT>
 	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- BEGIN PAGE CONTENT --><% } %>
             <% basedat.renderContent(application,out,rdat); %>
-	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- END PAGE CONTENT --><% } %>
+  	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- END PAGE CONTENT --><% } %>
-          </TD></TR></TABLE>
+          </TD>
-        </TD>
+        </TR>
-      </TR></TABLE>
+        <TR VALIGN=TOP>
+          <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH=120 BGCOLOR="#9999FF">&nbsp;</TD>
+          <TD ALIGN=LEFT WIDTH="100%" BGCOLOR="white">
+  	    <% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- PAGE FOOTER --><% } %>
+	    <HR WIDTH="80%">
+            <TABLE ALIGN=CENTER BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=6><TR VALIGN=TOP>
+              <TD ALIGN=RIGHT><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,1) %>
+	        <%= rdat.getStockMessage("footer-text") %>
+              </FONT></TD>
+              <TD ALIGN=LEFT>
+	        <A HREF="http://venice.sourceforge.net" TARGET="_blank"><IMG
+                   SRC="<%= rdat.getFullImagePath("powered-by-venice.gif") %>" ALT="Powered by Venice"
+		   WIDTH=140 HEIGHT=80 BORDER=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0></A>
+              </TD>
+            </TR></TABLE> 
+          </TD>
+        </TR>
+      </TABLE>
     </TD></TR>
   </TABLE>
 </BODY>

web/format/conf_activity.jsp

@@ -25,11 +25,18 @@
   Variables.failIfNull(data);
   RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(application,request,response);
 %>
-<% rdat.writeContentHeader(out,(data.isPosterReport() ? "Posters in Conference:"
+<%
-                                                      : "Readers in Conference:"),data.getConfName()); %>
+  if (data.isTopicReport())
+    rdat.writeContentHeader(out,(data.isPosterReport() ? "Posters in Topic:"
+                                                       : "Readers in Topic:"),
+                            data.getTopicName() + " in " + data.getConfName());
+  else
+    rdat.writeContentHeader(out,(data.isPosterReport() ? "Posters in Conference:"
+                                                       : "Readers in Conference:"),data.getConfName());
+%>
 <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>
-  <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=Q") %>">Return to
+  <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=QR") %>">Return to
-      Manage Conference Menu</A>
+      Conference Reports Menu</A>
 </FONT><P>
 
 <% if (data.anyElements()) { %>
@@ -79,11 +86,18 @@
   </TABLE>
 <% } else { %>
   <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %><EM>
-    <% if (data.isPosterReport()) { %>
+    <% if (data.isTopicReport()) { %>
-      No posters to conference "<%= StringUtil.encodeHTML(data.getConfName()) %>" found.
+      <% if (data.isPosterReport()) { %>
+        No posters to topic "<%= data.getTopicName() %>" found.
+      <% } else { %>
+        No readers of topic "<%= data.getTopicName() %>" found.
+      <% } // end if %>
     <% } else { %>
-      No readers of conference "<%= StringUtil.encodeHTML(data.getConfName()) %>" found.
+      <% if (data.isPosterReport()) { %>
+        No posters to conference "<%= StringUtil.encodeHTML(data.getConfName()) %>" found.
+      <% } else { %>
+        No readers of conference "<%= StringUtil.encodeHTML(data.getConfName()) %>" found.
+      <% } // end if %>
     <% } // end if %>
   </EM></FONT>
 <% } // end if %>
-<P><% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/conf_member.jsp

@@ -151,4 +151,3 @@
            WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0>
   </FORM><BR>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/conf_sequence.jsp

@@ -137,4 +137,3 @@
 <% } else { %>
   <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %><EM>There are no conferences in this SIG.</EM></FONT>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/conferences.jsp

@@ -72,4 +72,3 @@
      BORDER=0></A>&nbsp;
   <% } // end if %>
 </DIV>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/find.jsp

@@ -286,4 +286,3 @@ private static String getActivityString(SIGContext sig, RenderData rdat)
 
   </TABLE><BR CLEAR=LEFT>
 <% } // end if (results found) %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/hotlist.jsp

@@ -96,4 +96,3 @@
     by visiting the conferences and pressing the "Add to Hotlist" button.
   </EM></FONT>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/invitation.jsp

@@ -49,4 +49,3 @@
     </TD></TR>
   </TABLE>
 </FORM>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/manage_aliases.jsp

@@ -68,4 +68,3 @@
   </FORM>
 
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/manage_conf.jsp

@@ -61,13 +61,9 @@
         Conference Aliases</A><P>
     <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=M") %>">Manage
         Conference Members</A><P>
-    <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=RP") %>">Conference
+    <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=QR") %>">Conference
-        Posters Report</A><P>
+        Activity Reports</A><P>
-    <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=RR") %>">Conference
-        Readers/Lurkers Report</A><P>
     <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=DEL") %>">Delete
         Conference</A><P>
   </B></FONT>
 <% } // end if (displaying admin section) %>
-
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/newsigwelcome.jsp

@@ -40,5 +40,3 @@
     <A HREF="/TODO">Invite Users</A>
   </DIV>
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>
-

web/format/newtopic.jsp

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
   <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0>
     <TR><TD ALIGN=LEFT COLSPAN=2>
       <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>New topic name:</FONT><BR>
-      <INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="title" SIZE=37 MAXLENGTH=255 VALUE="<%= data.getTopicName() %>">
+      <INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="title" SIZE=37 MAXLENGTH=128 VALUE="<%= data.getTopicName() %>">
     </TD></TR>
     <TR><TD ALIGN=LEFT COLSPAN=2>
       <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %>Your name/header:</FONT><BR>
@@ -77,4 +77,3 @@
     </TD></TR>
   </TABLE>
 </FORM>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/posts.jsp

@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@
     </EM>)
     <% if (msg.hasAttachment()) { %>
       <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("attachment?" + data.getConfLocator() + "&msg="
-                                              + msg.getPostID()) %>"><IMG
+                                              + msg.getPostID()) %>" TARGET="_blank"><IMG
        SRC="<%= rdat.getFullImagePath("attachment.gif") %>"
        ALT="(Attachment <%= msg.getAttachmentFilename() %> - <%= msg.getAttachmentLength() %> bytes)"
        WIDTH=16 HEIGHT=16 BORDER=0></A>
@@ -341,4 +341,3 @@
 <% } else if (data.isTopicFrozen()) { %>
   <DIV ALIGN=CENTER><%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %><B>This is a <EM>Frozen</EM> Topic</B></DIV>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/preview.jsp

@@ -84,4 +84,3 @@
     </TD></TR>
   </TABLE>
 </FORM>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/report_conf.jsp

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+<%--
+  The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
+  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  You may obtain a copy of the License at <http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/>.
+
+  Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
+  WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+  language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+  
+  The Original Code is the Venice Web Communities System.
+  
+  The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Eric J. Bowersox <erbo@silcom.com>,
+  for Silverwrist Design Studios.  Portions created by Eric J. Bowersox are
+  Copyright (C) 2001 Eric J. Bowersox/Silverwrist Design Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
+
+  Contributor(s): 
+--%>
+<%@ page import = "java.util.*" %>
+<%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.util.StringUtil" %>
+<%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.core.*" %>
+<%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.Variables" %>
+<%@ page import = "com.silverwrist.venice.servlets.format.*" %>
+<%
+  ReportConferenceMenu data = ReportConferenceMenu.retrieve(request);
+  Variables.failIfNull(data);
+  RenderData rdat = RenderConfig.createRenderData(application,request,response);
+  String stdfont = rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2);
+  String partial;
+%>
+<% if (rdat.useHTMLComments()) { %><!-- Reports for conference #<%= data.getConfID() %> --><% } %>
+<% rdat.writeContentHeader(out,"Conference Reports:",data.getConfName()); %>
+
+<%= stdfont %>
+  <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath("confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd=Q") %>">Return to Manage
+  Conference Menu</A>
+</FONT><P>
+
+<TABLE ALIGN=CENTER BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=6>
+  <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE>
+    <TH ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %><B><U>#</U></B></FONT></TH>
+    <TH ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %><B><U>Topic Name</U></B></FONT></TH>
+    <TH ALIGN=LEFT COLSPAN=2><%= stdfont %><B><U>Reports</U></B></FONT></TH>
+  </TR>
+  <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE>
+    <TD ALIGN=LEFT>&nbsp;</TD>
+    <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %>(Entire conference)</FONT></TD>
+    <% partial = "confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&cmd="; %>
+    <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %>
+      <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath(partial + "RP") %>">Posters</A>
+    </FONT></TD>
+    <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %>
+      <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath(partial + "RR") %>">Readers/Lurkers</A>
+    </FONT></TD>
+  </TR>
+
+  <% Iterator it = data.getTopics(); %>
+  <% while (it.hasNext()) { %>
+    <%
+      TopicContext topic = (TopicContext)(it.next());
+      partial = "confops?" + data.getLocator() + "&top=" + topic.getTopicNumber() + "&cmd=";
+    %>
+    <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE>
+      <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %><%= topic.getTopicNumber() %></FONT></TD>
+      <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %><%= topic.getName() %></FONT></TD>
+      <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %>
+        <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath(partial + "RP") %>">Posters</A>
+      </FONT></TD>
+      <TD ALIGN=LEFT><%= stdfont %>
+        <A HREF="<%= rdat.getEncodedServletPath(partial + "RR") %>">Readers/Lurkers</A>
+      </FONT></TD>
+    </TR>
+  <% } // end while %>
+</TABLE><P>

web/format/sig_member.jsp

@@ -148,4 +148,3 @@
            WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0>
   </FORM><BR>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/sigcatbrowser.jsp

@@ -69,4 +69,3 @@
   <B>SIG Administration</B> menu.<P>
 
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/siglist.jsp

@@ -62,4 +62,3 @@
 <% } else { %>
   <%= rdat.getStdFontTag(null,2) %><EM>You are not a member of any SIGs.</EM></FONT>
 <% } // end if %>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/sigprofile.jsp

@@ -100,4 +100,3 @@
 
   </FONT></TD>
 </TR></TABLE>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/sigwelcome.jsp

@@ -33,4 +33,3 @@
   has elected to provide.  Enjoy your membership!<P>
   <DIV ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="<%= data.getEntryURL(rdat) %>">Enter SIG</A></DIV>
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/slippage.jsp

@@ -106,6 +106,3 @@
     </TD></TR>
   </TABLE>
 </FORM>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>
-
-

web/format/topics.jsp

@@ -190,4 +190,3 @@
     <B>]</B>
   </DIV>
 </FONT>
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/format/userprofile.jsp

@@ -109,5 +109,3 @@
     </TABLE>
   </FORM>
 <% } // end if %>
-
-<% rdat.writeFooter(out); %>

web/static/about-venice.html

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <title>About Venice</title>
+  </head>
+
+  <body bgcolor="white">
+    <DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG SRC="/venice/images/venicelogo.jpg" ALT="Venice Web Communities System"
+     WIDTH=420 HEIGHT=80 BORDER=0></DIV><BR>
+    <H3>Venice Web Communities System Release 0.01PR</H3>
+    <FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2>
+      Copyright &copy; 2001 Silverwrist Design Studios, All Rights Reserved.<P>
+      This software is subject to the
+      <A HREF="http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/MPL-1.1.html" TARGET="_blank">Mozilla Public License Version 1.1</A>.
+      It is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, <B>without warranty of any kind</B>, either express or implied.
+      See the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the License.
+    </FONT><P>
+    <H3>The Venice Project Team</H3>
+    <FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2><DL>
+      <DT><B>Eric Bowersox</B> &lt;erbo&gt;</DT>
+      <DD>Code wrangler, system guru, and administrator in general</DD>
+      <DT><B>Harry Pike</B> &lt;maddog&gt;</DT>
+      <DD>EMinds host and domain expert in virtual community hosting</DD>
+      <DT><B>Finnegan</B> &lt;finnegan&gt;</DT>
+      <DD>Designer of the Venice web site</DD>
+      <DT><B>Catherine Dodson</B> &lt;cait&gt;</DT>
+      <DD>Technical documentation</DD>
+      <DT><B>Pamela Boulais</B> &lt;silverwrist&gt;</DT>
+      <DD>Administrative support, liaison, and den mother</DD>
+      <DT><B>The Entire Electric Minds Community</B></DT>
+      <DD>Beta testing, bug hunting, and encouragement</DD>
+    </DL></FONT>
+
+    <DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica" SIZE=2><EM>
+      Thanks to: Howard, who thought it up; Andre, who rescued it the first time; and the community, who
+      kept it together no matter what.
+    </EM></FONT></DIV><P>
+
+    <DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="http://www.silverwrist.com"><IMG SRC="/venice/images/sw-main.gif"
+         ALT="Silverwrist Design Studios" WIDTH=294 HEIGHT=208 BORDER=0</A></DIV>
+  </body>
+</html>
+