Here's the website https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/fo ... ouncementsgregster wrote:If the change is reflected in the HTML, UrlDownloadtoFile or one of the UrlDownloadtoVar user functions should be fine. So that would be the first thing to determine. If you then compare the whole variable/html contents or just parts of it, depends on your goal... the COM interface of Internet Explorer is another option, especially if you are checking for specific details (via the DOM).
But I guess there could be some webpages with javascript that cannot be handled that way. The solution might has to be customized, perhaps even OCR is needed.
I would recommend to tell us the URL, or, if that is no option for you, to take an example URL that has a similar HTML structure.
Btw, there are websites that don't like constant reloading. Every 10 seconds might be ok, but there is no way to be sure. I know websites where you will run into cloudflare protection pages, if you reload them several times a minute over some time. But sometimes there are other solutions, like APIs that might be provided by the site owner.
Code: Select all
UrlDownloadToFile, https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-Announcements, myip.txt
FileRead, originalip, myip.txt
;save ip when script was launched to originalip
SetTimer, checkip, 10000 ; checks ip every 10seconds, anticipating change.
return
checkip:
UrlDownloadToFile, https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-Announcements, myip.txt
FileRead, newip, myip.txt
; saves ip to newip
If (newip = originalip)
return
;if ip has not changed, return.
Else
{
SetTimer, checkip, off
Msgbox Website Updated!
}
return ; or ExitApp
Esc:: ExitAppOkay thanks a lot!gregster wrote:This website doesn't have an API, I'm a afraid. But it is not surprising that its source code is constantly changing. Alone the line "There are currently x users browsing this forum." probably changes a lot.
Perhaps it would be enough just to compare a subset (the beginning ?) of the source code to check for changes. Let's say you cut away the end with the users online line (via string functions), but keep enough of the topics related html code to check for a change. But that would have to be tested... there might also be changes in the html that are not visible in normal browser view.
If that doesn't help, it get's more complicated. So, you probably want to look if the newest (non-sticky?) thread changed?
That means, you have to analyze and compare the source code by using string operations, or - more sophisticated - analyze the DOM structure and access it via Internet Explorer's COM interface. Joe Glines' website has a lot of information about webscraping that could help with understanding how it works (http://the-automator.com/web-scraping-with-autohotkey/). But there are also a lot of forum threads about this techniques. If I have the time, I will try to take a closer look at the website today - but I can't promise.
It is too long ago that I used (some basic) OCR, but there should be some topics on the forum - that said, it is not the easisest topic and most probably not suitable for this problem (working with html should be much more reliable). For some games it may be ok, depending on multiple factors like needed speed and accuracy.
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url := "https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-Announcements"
html := URLDownloadToVar(url)
orig_array := strSplit( html, "There are currently")
orig := orig_array[1]
;SetTimer, checkip, 60000 ; 60 secs
return
#a::
checkip:
html := URLDownloadToVar(url)
new_array := strSplit( html, "There are currently")
new := new_array[1]
If (orig != new)
{
SetTimer, checkip, off
Msgbox Website Updated!
}
else
traytip, Changed?, No!
orig := new ; needed, if you would keep the timer running instead of ending it after the first encountered change
return ; or ExitApp
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esc:: ExitApp
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------
URLDownloadToVar(url,ByRef variable=""){
try
{
hObject:=ComObjCreate("WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1")
hObject.Open("GET",url)
hObject.Send()
variable:=hObject.ResponseText
return variable
}
}
(or do a lot more string operations)Oh no I'm not interested in the main forum. Just this subforum for announcements: https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/fo ... ouncements.gregster wrote:I guess, there are the reported views that change often in the main forums - so no luck. You will have to look into the more sophisticated approaches
Either of them. Both new topics and updates should warn me.gregster wrote:Just for clarification... the post you are looking for will be a completely new topic and not an updated one?
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#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#SingleInstance, Force
arrOldItems := [ ] ; create an empty array
wb := ComObjCreate("InternetExplorer.Application") ; create a IE instance
wb.Visible := false ; make Internet Explorer run in background
url := "https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?44-Update-Discussions" ; "https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-Announcements"
gosub, check ; get some start data
; SetTimer, check, 60000 ; 60s
return
;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#a::
check:
arrItems := [ ] ; create an empty array
wb.Navigate(url) ; Load URL
While wb.busy ; wait for the page to load
Sleep, 50
elements := wb.document.getElementsbyClassname("time")
; collect first 10 post creation times
loop 10 ; % elements.length
{
item := elements.item[A_index-1].innerText
arrItems.push(item) ; add item to array
}
; Compare times with last time
if(arrOldItems.length() > 0)
{
loop 10 ;% arrOldItems.length()
{
item := arrItems[A_index]
item_old := arrOldItems[A_index]
if(item != item_old) ; compare times with last check's times
{
msgbox "New post or topic!"
arrOldItems := arrItems.clone()
return ; Or ExitApp?
}
}
TrayTip, New?, No!
}
else
Traytip, First turn, Nothing to compare
arrOldItems := arrItems.clone() ; copy ("clone") array object for later use
return
;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esc::
wb:=""
ExitApp
Thanks a lot dudegregster wrote:Ok, now the IE COM/DOM approach:
This script looks at the creation times of posts (the 10 topmost ones) and their sequence. Then it compares two snapshots (saved in arrays), again.
If a new post or topic was added, at least one time should have changed. This script looks also at the sticky threads. For testing, again a hotkey instead of a timer and another subforum - where there is a little more action!!
Tested only superficially!
In rare cases, there could be a new post that gets accidentally an "old time" and therefore goes unnoticed- not very likely, but possible. But this should get you started, if you want to add improvements
Edit: removed a little bug. Find the other bugsCode: Select all
#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases. SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability. SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory. #SingleInstance, Force arrOldItems := [ ] ; create an empty array wb := ComObjCreate("InternetExplorer.Application") ; create a IE instance wb.Visible := false ; make Internet Explorer run in background url := "https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?44-Update-Discussions" ; "https://www.growtopiagame.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?43-Announcements" gosub, check ; get some start data ; SetTimer, check, 60000 ; 60s return ;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #a:: check: arrItems := [ ] ; create an empty array wb.Navigate(url) ; Load URL While wb.busy ; wait for the page to load Sleep, 50 elements := wb.document.getElementsbyClassname("time") ; collect first 10 post creation times loop 10 ; % elements.length { item := elements.item[A_index-1].innerText arrItems.push(item) ; add item to array } ; Compare times with last time if(arrOldItems.length() > 0) { loop 10 ;% arrOldItems.length() { item := arrItems[A_index] item_old := arrOldItems[A_index] if(item != item_old) ; compare times with last check's times { msgbox "New post or topic!" arrOldItems := arrItems.clone() return ; Or ExitApp? } } TrayTip, New?, No! } else Traytip, First turn, Nothing to compare arrOldItems := arrItems.clone() ; copy ("clone") array object for later use return ;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esc:: wb:="" ExitApp
Edits 2+3: small improvements: once it found a difference it wouldn't look anymore...
.. You're a dang genius. 
Thanks