FreeCanalplan is a cut-down version of the web based CanalplanAC that you can run on your own computer. It does not do everything that the web version does (the missing features include calculating overnight stopping places and maps). The current stable release, and possibly a development release, are available for download from this website. Before you do this, read on. Be sure to follow the links for background information and interesting facts.
The CanaplanAC interpreter is copyright under the GNU General Public License and hence is completely free. This is a popular concept in the Unix and Linux worlds, but is less well known to the average home computer user with Windows, so I'll roughly explain some key points; for detail, and the actual legal document, please read the full license.
The download is a self-extracting and installing windows executable. Just download and run it. But before doing this, you'll need a webserver.
Canalplan differs from most software you'll be used to using on your computer, in that it is not a self contained program. To run Canalplan you need access to three different applications all installed and running:
I'm now going to talk you step-by-step through installing a working copy of CanalplanAC Personal Edition on your computer. I'm a firm believer that people ought to know a little bit about what is happening when they do something, so in the process I'll tell you what is happening, and try to explain why this is slightly less simple than for some other software you may have used.
If you wish to install it on another computer, perhaps one that is not connected to the Internet, all you need to do is to keep these instructions, download the web server and Canalplan executables, transfer them to the other computer and run each in turn there.
If you are feeling reckless you can skim through the text; everything you need to do is shown in green.
This explanation is aimed at the non-computer expert. If you are something of an expert, you may find it a bit patronising in places: my apologies!
When you use the on-line version of Canalplan on this site, then the above description is exactly how it works; you run the web browser on your computer and connect across the Internet to the other two components on the remote computer, your browser talks to the web server and the web server runs Canalplan with the appropriate settings, collects the output, and sends it back to your browser.
This three level approach: browser talking to webserver and webserver running applications is exactly how other interactive web sites, such as shopping sites and discussion boards, work.
When you install the personal edition of Canalplan on your home computer this arrangement is duplicated, but with all three components on the same machine.
Most software you are used to is a single program that displays within a window on your screen. Why does CanalplanAC have to be so complicated and different?
The biggest drawbacks to this is that it is more complicated - (particulary to install, once installed you'll hardly notice the difference). However, it's not that difficult, and these instructions talk you through the process step by step. And you are doing all the fiddly stuff with the free version - if it doesn't work you haven't lost anything except a bit of time. Once it is working, you can easily upgrade to the full version.
To recap: to run CanalplanAC personal edition you need three things on your computer; a browser, a web server and Canalplan itself. We'll look at each of those in turn:
There should be no need for this. You are already running a suitable browser or you couldn't read this. So we are 1/3 of the way already!
Some versions of Windows come with a web server (Microsoft's IIS or a personal version of this) and many other web servers are available (including Apache which runs the on-line version). But proving configuration instructions for all these servers would have been a nightmare, and would not have helped the majority of users who have no web server at all. [If you do have a server installed, know how to use it, and can pursuade it to work with Canalplan I'd be interested to hear from you]. Instead I've found a superb free product that is very easy to install, and have written software that automatically configures it as part of the Canalplan install process. The web server I've chosen is "Abyss" from Aprelium Technologies.
If you already run a web server on your computer follow this link for more information on how to avoid conflicts.
If you run the K9 mail filter program, it will interfere with the installation of Abyss. Once Canalplan is installed all will be well again (for the technically minded: K9 and Abyss both use port 9999 by default. When Canalplan is installed it reconfigures Abyss to use port 9898 instead). To avoid problems during installation, please turn K9 off now (it is always good practice on Windows to stop all programs before installing new software). You will be told when to restart it later.
During installation and testing Abyss will ask you for an administrator's user name and password. You should never need to use these, as Canalplan automatically configures Abyss itself, but they provide useful security so chose a good password, and keep it safe.
Assuming all has gone well, you now have successfully installed the Abyss Web Server. While you are on line, you may wish to register your copy.
Now shutdown the webserver (you should have a small icon in the system tray that represents a globe on stand - double click on this to show the server panel). Select "Server", "Exit" and "Yes" to quit. It is necessary to do this because installing Canalplan changes the server's configuration. When you restart Abyss later in the process it will pick up the new configuration.
You now have a browser and a web server, so we're two-thirds of the way there. The third and final stage is to install CanalplanAC. The instalation program will also automatically configure the Abyss Web Server to work with Canalplan.
Now, before running Canalplan you need to start the web server. Find "Abyss Web Server" from the "programs" (also called "start") menu and run it. All is now complete...
If you turned K9 off earlier, you can start it again now.
The link below should launch your own version of Canalplan into life. On some versions of windows you may get a message about connecting to the internet and offering you the options to "Work Offline" or "Try Again". If so, select "Try Again" and all should be well.
Whenever you want to run FreeCanalplan in the future you will need to start the webserver first (unless you set it to "autostart"). Canalplan checks that the webserver is running startup
Whenever you connect your computer to the Internet, people can gain access to the web server and to CanalplanAC. It's almost certain that something this big and complicated has some weaknesses in it that could be exploited for nefarious purposes
For your own protection you should therefore: