
- KouChat v1.1.0 Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Kou?

Kou is a special cow character I've made. You can see Kou at the Super Kou
project page http://superkou.googlecode.com/
Kou is pronounced kind of like cows say mooooooo.


2. KouChat crashed, doesn't connect, or behaves strangely.

First, make sure you are using the latest version. When you do, the easiest
way to find the problem is for you to run KouChat from the console, like this:
'java -jar kouchat-x.x.x.jar'

If you see any errors, write them down. If nothing of interest shows up,
then you can try enabling debug output by running KouChat like this:
'java -jar kouchat-x.x.x.jar --debug'

Please check the wiki at http://kouchat.googlecode.com/ for help as well.

When you can reproduce the problem, report it as an issue on
http://kouchat.googlecode.com/ with as many details as possible.


3. I minimized KouChat, and it's not visible on the taskbar anymore.

Have a look in the system tray. There should be a small black and white icon
there with a cow pattern. Click on it to open KouChat again.


4. How do I change my nick name?

Open the Tools menu, and choose Settings.


5. How do I send files?

Right click on a user in the user list on the right side, and choose
"Send file". You can also drag and drop a file on a user in the list,
or in a private chat window.


6. How do I open a private chat?

You can double click on a user in the user list, or you can right click on a
user in the user list and choose "Private chat".


7. The file chooser is horribly slow in Windows XP.

This is a Java bug, see
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6578753
As a workaround you can move any zip-files lying on the desktop
to some other folder.


8. How do I enable console mode?

From a console, run KouChat like this:
'java -jar kouchat-x.x.x.jar --console'
See /help for a list of commands you can use while in console mode.


9. How come some messages don't show up in other clients?

That's probably because of packet loss. KouChat uses the UDP protocol,
which does not resend lost packets. Packet loss is usually not a problem
in wired networks, but wireless networks might have some loss.


10. Where do the log files go?

The logs are put in the ~/.kouchat/logs/ folder, sorted by date and time
of creation. For those wondering, ~ means home folder.

Examples:

* Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\Your Username\.kouchat\logs\
* Windows Vista - C:\Users\Your Username\.kouchat\logs\
* Linux - /home/username/.kouchat/logs/


11. Why do non-ascii characters look wrong when using console mode in Windows?

That's because the Windows console uses the old DOS character sets instead of
the normal Windows character sets. A common DOS charset is cp850 and a
common Windows charset is cp1252. I've found 2 ways to go around this problem:

* Change the console charset to match the Windows charset.
  If your Windows charset is cp1252, just run the command 'chcp 1252' before
  starting KouChat like normal. For this to work you need a console font
  which supports the chosen charset, like Lucida Console.

* Change the Java charset to match the console charset.
  You can get the current console charset by running the command 'chcp'.
  Then use the charset number when starting KouChat:
  'java -Dfile.encoding=850 -jar kouchat-x.x.x.jar --console'.


12. Why don't I have the Nimbus look and feel?

Nimbus is a new look and feel that comes with Java 6 update 10 and newer.
If you don't see Nimbus in the list, then you need to update to the
newest version of Java.


13. Where can I find an icon to use for shortcuts?

There is an icon available inside kouchat-x.x.x.jar, in two different
formats:

* kou_shortcut.ico
* kou_shortcut.png

To find these, you can just open the jar file in a decompression utility
like WinZip or 7-Zip.


14. Which smileys are available?

There are 11 different smileys available, for different needs. Try them :)

* :)
* :(
* :p
* :D
* ;)
* :O
* :@
* :S
* ;(
* :$
* 8)


15. Why is the window sometimes only maximized vertically or horizontally
after being unhidden from the system tray?

I don't know! But I'm unable to reproduce the problem using early
versions of Java 7, so I'm guessing it's not my bug ;)


16. I have a great suggestion for a new feature. What do I do?

Cool :) Just register the suggestion on the issue tracker at
http://kouchat.googlecode.com/ with "feature request" in the title.
