Our friend the proxy server

[MisterX]

> Right now our app allows someone to manually enter proxy settings.   
> The problem is the app is going to be distributed across 
> corporate networks, hospital networks, etc.  I will probably 
> add a feature to load in a proxy settings file that will 
> automatically configure it the first time it is launched.  I 
> haven't had much experience with proxy servers so I'm not 
> sure how most software handles this.  Of course I would just 
> like everything to work for the user without any effort on 
> their part but that may be asking too much here.

Most apps i've seen, allow you to enter proxy settings in the application's
options. Firefox or even TotalCommander do and they do not propose
auto-detection. 

Many apps use a small ini file located in the apps folder. (more convenient
than a registry setting since your program or other user can edit them
easily - or even the network distribution server. Avoid the registry or make
sure you test all windows versions for the different branchings, etc... 

cheers
Xavier