There's always questions about any software that come up time and time again.
It's these questions that will be answered here. Please check here before submitting a support request or bug feature on the sourceforge website, your question may be answered.
Where do I download Black Guard?
Follow the link on the main page. This link houses all the support, file downloads and releases for the project.
Why do no versions older than 3.0 work now?
The 0.x, 1.x and 2.x versions all relied on code that extracted the URL from Yahoo's search results page - it got it directly from the HTML. There were 2 issues with this - one it was inefficient, as most of the returned HTML code was not needed. But most crucially, whenever Yahoo made a subtle change to their design, the program broke! 3.x and future versions all use the JUSAPI which in turn uses the official search APIs. So no more updating every other week needed for things to stay working!
Things seem to get a bit out of line in the table, sometimes odd records keep appearing.
This should have been fixed since 2.1, file a bug report if there are any more problems.
Does it just search for PHProxies?
No! As of version 1.3, you can search for and analyse anything you like, and version 2.0 in fact moves the focus away from just PHProxies completely with the change of name.
What language is Black Guard written in?
Black Guard is written in Java, and developed in Netbeans. The IDE was chosen because I had prior experience and so knew how to use it, it also handles GUI's very nicely. Java itself was chosen since, again, this is the language I am most fluent in. However, it is also a good choice because it is cross platform, running just as well on linux as windows or on any other platform that supports the JRE.
How does Black Guard work?
The options obviously alter the way the algorithm functions, but the basic mechanics of the program remain the same. First of all, a search query is sent to Yahoo. The program then steps through all the URLs returned by yahoo (100 at a time) and makes a connection to these URL's. The program then can decide whether they are available, blocked, or return an error, and display the results accordingly.
How long does it take to run?
This depends on a number of things, your connection speed, how many URL's time out, and the options you select. If you select the option to just list all the proxies without testing them, it should take a few minutes to list them all. If you choose to sort through them all including duplicates however, it can take hours to complete. Don't be tempted to close the program because you think it's hung, it's probably just waiting a very long time for a website to return a response. This is not a tool that can provide results in half a second, so please be patient and let it finish running.
Can't Black Guard be used for malicious purposes?
Of course. But so can anything if it falls into the wrong hands. The best I can say is that I will not in any way support the slightest bit of malicious activity.
Why can't I get to the 0.1 beta version?
There really is no point. I've made the 0.2 beta version available if people want to have a look, and version 0.1 is basically just a similar looking but worse behaving version of this. If you really want it, contact me and ask, but I really don't see the point!
What about the 1.0 beta version?
I didn't even keep a record of this, this just occured as a development state before the final version was launched. When I improved on it, I just saved right over it without making a copy first. So even if you really have a burning desire to get this one, I can't give it to you!
Can I contribute?
Please feel free! I'm more than willing to accept contributions in the form of code, website design, or just bug reports or feature requests. All are appreciated.
Can I do x with the code / project?
You can do anything you like under the terms of the GNU GPL.
My question still isn't answered.
Please head of to the Black Guard sourceforge project website and submit a bug report, feature request or email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks to sourceforge for hosting the site.
This site and this project are hosted courtesy of sourceforge.