For you other forum addicts [Archive] - Xtreme Visual Basic Talk

Garrett Sever

10-05-2001, 04:04 PM

I posted a project (http://www.visualbasicforum.com/bbs/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=CodeLib&Number=54564&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&part=) in the Code Library section for an app that checks the status of the forum. It checks periodically and displays the status in the system tray. Its mostly useful for those of us that are always logged on via cable modems or DSL.

Hopefully it will be useless soon (problems disappear).

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Garrett Sever

10-05-2001, 05:16 PM

I thought of a few additions that would really make it nice... for example:

1) Double clicking when the forum is "up" actually opens the forum address in a browser.
2) Generates an audible noise when the forum goes from a "down" status to "up" status
3) Give it a "Start with windows" option
4) Fix the shutdown problem (windows won't shut down when the app is running b/c of the code in Form_QueryUnload)

Of course these things could be easily added into the code I've already written and posted... methods for both have been posted previously on here by other people. I'll just leave it up to one of you other eJunkies to code. images/icons/wink.gif

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gifEdited by The Hand on 10/05/01 06:29 PM.

orufet

10-05-2001, 10:18 PM

Hey, that's pretty cool! I remember you guys were talking in the chat about it, so I'm glad it actually went somewhere

"I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - Voltaire

Garrett Sever

10-08-2001, 12:34 PM

Very few people have actually downloaded it and started using it however. images/icons/frown.gif

Ah well, guess its good there aren't as many junkies out there as I thought there were. Means more people leading more productive lives images/icons/wink.gif

- The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

orufet

10-08-2001, 12:37 PM

Hey! I'll download this as soon as I get back to my own computer! I wish I could get it now, but my grandparents connection is so slow (48k), and I'm leaving in an hour or so...

Don't worry, I'll get and use this!

"I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - Voltaire

Squirm

10-08-2001, 01:23 PM

Well Hand, I kinda canibalised some of the code (very little, only the basics) to put into a new bot for #Extreme-VB, which will inform us IRC users when the forum's state changes....... and of course, I'll be adding a host of other functions, any requests? images/icons/smile.gif

Volte

10-08-2001, 01:49 PM

I have it in my Startup folder! images/icons/smile.gif

If at first, you don't succed, call it version 1.0.

Mill

10-08-2001, 02:06 PM

The only change that you suggested that I might actually implement would be the Double-click to jump to the forum idea.

Anyway, it's definitely a cool idea, and one that I wouldn't have even considered. Very appropriate these days too! Although I wonder what the BIG GUY would have to say about it. LOL

"The LORD is my strength and my shield" - Psalms 28:7

Garrett Sever

10-08-2001, 04:13 PM

Well guys, I'm procrastinating working on a presentation, and I started implementing some of these modifications.

New version will be out soon.

Perhaps tonight.

It will also show:

1) Who's online
2) New posts count seperated out by board

(see attached screenshot for a ROUGH idea! It hasn't been "Hand"led yet) Thanks to dcl3500 for these ideas.

Regards.
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Keltus

10-08-2001, 06:52 PM

I like the idea of having the bot on #extreme-vb to inform us of the forum status :) maybe he should detect server splits to

"AAAHHHHHHH!!!! I can't stand this "junior contributor" title. Self esteem is going down....

Garrett Sever

10-08-2001, 10:53 PM

Well, it seems that Spike has run with my code. Good.

I've updated the program to include all previously aformentioned upgrades. See them in the attachment. Look in the Code Library section here (http://www.visualbasicforum.com/bbs/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=CodeLib&Number=54564&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&part=) for the latest version.

I've done some substantial beta testing. Hopefully it will work without too much of a problem.

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Mill

10-09-2001, 06:57 AM

Awww... I was looking at the code and realized that you didn't include the alert.wav file with the zip...
images/icons/frown.gif

"The LORD is my strength and my shield" - Psalms 28:7

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 07:06 AM

The alert.wav I had took up 60K zipped ALONE!! images/icons/wink.gif

I couldn't have posted it if I tried.

Anyways, I figured you all would want to personalize the alert anyways, so I leave it up to you to put Alert.WAV in there.

I had to upload a new version of the app due to two little details that escaped my attention last night. There are also some important comments regarding firewall apps and the audio alert, so please download the new version and take the time to read my comments.

Enjoy!
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gifEdited by The Hand on 10/09/01 08:44 AM.

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 09:02 AM

Man, I just thought of another great addition.

The program could check for <img src= "images/newpm.gif" in the page code and notify you if you have any new private messages. It could pop up a little mail icon next to the VB icon in the status area.

I need to quit while I'm ahead. My wife already makes fun of me enough.

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

orufet

10-09-2001, 09:04 AM

Hey, that's a great idea! Why don't you just recode the whole forum? That would be a project some bored, poor soul...

"I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - Voltaire

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 09:10 AM

I already coded it.

1) Add a new Image box into the project, put a mail icon in it, and call it "imgPM"
2) In the updateInfo subroutine in frmForumCheck, add the following line:

imgPM.Visible = (InStr(mURLString, "images/newpm.gif") > 0)

That's it. I'm such a goober. images/icons/frown.gif

I have no desire to recode the from, but having a tool that tells me if I should kill some time on there is definately worth while.

-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Mill

10-09-2001, 10:04 AM

Thanks a lot for making this. I've never used the Inet control so I'm still trying to figure out how a few things work.

Does the GetChunk method basically use the same cookies or whatever that your browser would use (to determine, for example, that there are 3 new Threads in the Visual Basic Help forum and 10 new Messages)?

If so, how does it peek at them to see that they exist without actually turning them into read? I mean, if I log into the board and then log out, I think it changes all of the threads and messages to be not new anymore whether I read them or not. Am I making sense? LOL

Thanks for taking the time to explain the program that you took the time to make.... images/icons/laugh.gif

"The LORD is my strength and my shield" - Psalms 28:7

Banjo

10-09-2001, 10:15 AM

I think (correct me if I'm wrong Hand) the program does its stuff in anonymous mode and so does not affect your personal settings.

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 10:41 AM

To tell you the truth, the Inet control is still Voodoo in my book. images/icons/smile.gif I know relatively little about it.

As for the post count, that is not affected until you actually ENTER one of the boards. So what my program does is sit just outside and keep track of the new counts... as soon as you double click on one of the forums, and the link is shelled and you enter that board... the count gets wiped out.

As for the GetChunk method I use, that simply reads in the page bit by bit... I simply have it grab everything and append it into one huge string (mURLString)... after its all read in, then I parse thru it and grab the User names and topic counts.

Hope that helps!
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Thinker

10-09-2001, 10:44 AM

Very good points. This basically means it isn't possible to check for PMs.
The Inet control doesn't know about cookies. It might still be possible
to log in though, depending on whether the forum requires cookies to be
passed holding the login state.

I think therefore I am... sometimes right. images/icons/wink.gif

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 10:49 AM

Thinker -

Actually, as I posted above, parsing that same code for "images/newpm.gif" does allow you to detect if you have a new private message... that bit is only present when new PMs are around images/icons/smile.gif

Of course that only tells you that you have something. It doesn't tell you who and what and how many images/icons/wink.gif

I already modified my proj in the manner posted above to check for new PMs.

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 11:08 AM

Now I'm going to get a little silly.

You could also pretty easily add a popup menu when you right click on the "Online" listbox that lets you do the following for the selected person:

1) Show their profile
2) List all their posts
3) Send them a PM

You can do all of these things by shelling out PMs to the command line, just as I do when you double click on the board names.

For example, to send dcl3500 a PM, you would shell out the following:

http://www.visualbasicforum.com/bbs/sendprivate.php?Cat=&User=dcl3500&Board=&Number=&what=online&page=&view=&sb=&o=&part=&vc=

For anyone else, you just replace the stuff between &User= and &Board=.

Same thing for the list topics and show profile (of course the links would be different).

This should work because the pages are brought up in the browser, so all relavent cookies are used (i think).

But again, you could do this yourself very easily. Perhaps if the checker requires another release, I'll include this in it.

-The Hand

I did these changes to my proj in under 5 minutes, and it works brilliantly.

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gifEdited by The Hand on 10/09/01 12:25 PM.

Test

10-09-2001, 12:09 PM

This is great. Reminds me of the Arstechnica forum browser that one of the users there made.
When you get it to the point where you are happy the functionality, I know that might never happen programmers are always adding new features to every app they make, package it with the components, and I'll add it to the main page and make a tools section of the site for this tool and any others. I know there is also a source code posting tool and if possible who ever made it, I don't remember who it was, package that and send it as well.
EDIT>> I changed the upload to 1 meg. So you can add the .wav file.
Edited by Test on 10/09/01 01:11 PM.

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 12:16 PM

* The_Hand glows with pride

I'm so glad that you like the work I've done so far. I was actually worried that you would be concerned about the extra traffic, or might think that I was trying to replace the forum code or something.

Hopefully more people will beta test and help improve it over the next few weeks. Once we know that it works for most people and has the functionality we want, let's put it in a tools section! That would rock.

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Test

10-09-2001, 12:26 PM

No worrys at all. We have a pretty big data pipe. Your tool would make it easy for users to get the freshest content and makes our job easier.
Is there anyway to integrate a search feature? Might be helpful for new users and cut down on some of the redundant posts. I'm working on making search of the forum more efficient. With the changes to the algorithem I'm adding and search as part of the tool we should cut down on redundancy.

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 12:39 PM

Of course we could integrate a search feature... I guess I should start a "suggested upgrade" list.

On that list I'll include "user defined background texture". It would take all of 5 lines of code images/icons/wink.gif

As for the Alert.wav I was using, it could be downloaded here (http://www.notfrisco.com/palace/sounds/itsalive.wav) and renamed to Alert.wav. I just figured people would want to customize this to suit their own tastes.

Thanks again,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Garrett Sever

10-09-2001, 01:41 PM

I would like to take this time to say the following:

Even though our posting size has been significantly upgraded (1Meg), everyone should make an effort to minimize their attachment sizes. This means watching the .WAV and .JPG and .BMP file sizes you include and use.

If your attachment is needlessly big, it will discourage those who have slower modems from downloading your code, and you'll essentially be shooting yourself in the foot.

Not to mention I might have to call you out. images/icons/wink.gif

Regards,
-The Hand

All your code are belong to us... images/icons/tongue.gif

Garrett Sever

10-10-2001, 06:50 AM

Hey guys...

As you can tell, our beloved forum is undergoing a facelift!!! YAHOOOOOO! It looks really awesome. It'll probably take us a while to learn these new features.

As a result, I'm going to have to change the E-VBCheck app to fit the new format.

Thinker has also provided me with some very good upgrades which I will be implementing... Perhaps I'll even have time to implement the "Search" feature that Test mentioned.

Of course I'll do all this at my own peril and at risk of divorce images/icons/wink.gif but hey, you guys are worth it right?

So look for the next incarnation sometime in the next few days.

Regards,
-Garrett [aka The Hand]

Mill

10-10-2001, 06:58 AM

I have a couple more questions for you regarding your code.

First, what does On Error Goto 0 do? I've seen it in other people's code but never really understood the purpose of it.

Second, why did you use VBA.Mid$ instead of just Mid$? Is it because the Mid$ function is in the VBA class? Does adding the VBA in front make it more efficient?

Third, was there a reason that you didn't just use the Replace function for this block of code?
<pre>
Do While InStr(trimStr, "%20") > 0
' replace %20 with a space
trimStr = VBA.Left$(trimStr, InStr(trimStr, "%20") - 1) & " " & Right(trimStr, Len(trimStr) - InStr(trimStr, "%20") - 2)
Loop

</pre>
would become:
<pre>
trimStr = Replace$(trimStr, "%20", " ")

</pre>

Thanks for answering my numerous questions, but I've been too involved in VBA lately so I'm trying to regain some actual VB knowledge. LOL

Thinker

10-10-2001, 07:53 AM

On Error Goto 0 doesn't do much except reset the err object and turn off
error handling. In VB6 at least, this happens automatically at the end of
a sub/function. All the string functions are part of the VBA library so it
doesn't hurt to qualify them that way, although it really doesn't change
the compiled code at all. The Hand is still working with VB5 (mostly
because he would have to upgrade a client if he upgraded himself) and
it has no replace function.

Garrett Sever

10-10-2001, 07:53 AM

Ah Mill.

On Error Goto 0 turns off error trapping.

I used VBA.Mid$ just to be more specific. Its not really necessary.

As for Replace, I DON'T HAVE THAT FUNCTION! Its not included in VB5.

Actually, at this point I despise the Replace function and I hate opening VB6 projects that use it. It requires me to code Replace into Left$ and Right$ and really annoys me.

So, that's the scoop. Hope it helped.

-The Hand

Mill

10-10-2001, 07:55 AM

Wow, you two timed that well. I got the notification message literally about 2 seconds apart. LOL

Thanks.

Volte

10-10-2001, 08:02 AM

You could either write an add-in that automatically replaces Replace$ with Left$ and Right$, or code in your own version of Replace. The first one probably would be more fun. images/icons/smile.gif

Thinker

10-10-2001, 08:05 AM

Just as long as we all know who is first. images/icons/wink.gif

The forum checker will bomb out now. This change to the code will get
it working (temporarily)
Find this line
<pre>
newStart = InStr(newEnd, boardLine, sFontStart)

</pre>
and change it to
<pre>
If newCount > 0 Then
newStart = InStr(newEnd, boardLine, sFontStart)
Else
newStart = 0
End If

</pre>