Automatic Update Check / ClipMate News

ClipMate has an auto-update feature which polls our server for the latest version, along with details about changes/fixes. It will also retrieve alerts, tips, and excerpts from our periodic newsletter. The items appearing in the ClipMate News and Updates window will contain links to the actual file to be downloaded, which will launch into your web browser when clicked.

You can run a manual update check from the Help menu | ClipMate News And Updates. There will be a pause of a few seconds while the update file is downloaded. Or, you can automate the check to run every 5 days or so - there is an option right on the screen, also found on the "General" tab of the options dialog.

If enabled, the auto-update check will download the update file shortly after ClipMate starts. If it finds updates, it will add a flashing red icon on any of the main toolbars. Just click at your convenience, and you will be taken to the ClipMate News/Updates screen where you can review the articles.

If the update check runs, but you do not visit the updates screen before shutting down, it will run again the next time you run the program.

It's normal for the "Updates Available" menu option to delay its appearance on the toolbar. It's intentionally run in the background, so as not to interrupt your work.

Articles are shown with two icons next to the article title. The first icon shows whether the article is new (bright orange) or old (grey). Then there are various icons to show whether it's a software update, alert, news article, or other general information. Click on an article, and the content is shown in the browser window below. This will usually be formatted HTML, with links to larger articles and downloadable setup files.

RSS/XML is used in a fashion similar to RSS newsreaders like FeedDemon. It's actually a customized RSS feed, using Feed For Developers by NotePage.

RSS is a "pull" technology, where the client (ClipMate) downloads the feed on a periodic basis, directly from our server. Nothing is sent from your side, other than the usuall browser information (IP address, operating system version, etc..) It's just like visiting our page with a web browser.

•	No data is sent from your PC. This a read-only operation. Your PC is reading our server, deciding if we have newer files than you do, and then you are invited to download anything new, via the wizard.

•	We use the standard HTTP port 80. This may fail to work in certain corporate firewall situations where proxy authentication is required.

•	The connection is only one-way. We cannot, for example, "see" into your computer, even when you are actively connecting.

•	ClipMate Updates - Program updates issued by Thornsoft.

•	News, Tips, and Alerts - Text articles with links to web pages with further content.

•	Clip XML Feeds (a.k.a "Clip Feeding") (New in 7.1) - ClipMate XML files containing clips that can be imported into your database.

You can configure additional feeds for ClipMate to check, either at startup or on-demand from the Help | Check For Updates and News menu. While most users will just use the default feed, other users will use it to subscribe to Clip Feeds.

When ClipMate performs its update check at startup (if enabled), it will check the first feed. If that feed has no new content, it will continue checking until it either finds new content or runs out of feeds. If no new content is found, it will update the "next check date". You can force it to check any given feed and show you the complete contents (even old items) by using the Help | ClipMate News menu, which will have sub-menus for each individual feed.

Click the "settings" tab, and you can configure the update sources, and time interval. Each feed consists of a description and URL (http only).