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#1226 2021-06-05 19:53:58

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,433

Re: Housekeeping

Well just did a check to see how many pages of zero post names there are and its not until 360 to which I finally get to the single post names....and at 50 names to the page we have quite a few to remove....I have stopped at page 65 for the time being....

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#1227 2021-06-06 04:51:54

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1226 and ID Recovery in general

Last night's run only produced 27 new usable ID's out of 403 candidates.

The program halted when the list of candidates ran dry.

Thanks for your hard work at the beginning of the alphabet.

Last night's run was from the end of the alphabet.

That section appears to have been pretty well scoured.

I ** think ** what I picked up last night were usernames with spaces, which I had missed the first time.

This evening I'll be starting with ElsieWhitt and continuing to work down so hopefully I'll find more eligible candidates.

One thing last night's run revealed was a counting error ...

The program reported 777 skips but there were only 403 names in the input file.

Subtract 27 from 777 >> 750 / 2 >> 385 + 27 >> 412

The count is close to twice what it should be .... 403 - 27 >> 366

I'll add a review of the skip count procedure to the todo list for WBA.

Another tweak already on the todo list is to NOT add zero length usernames to the array.

Zero length names are coming out of the utility to prepare input by removing duplicates.

Another item for the todo list.

I'll start a new Verify run shortly.

***
Best wishes for a pleasant day there in New Hampshire!  The Sun is out here.

Update at 14:35 local time ...

WBA just completed a verify run that lasted 7 hours.  1228 Usernames were checked.

Extract Lines For Help Context ID Report for 06-06-2021 at 14:31:58
   Version 2021.6.1

Input File is Open as C:\DataDell\WebBrowserAutomation\WebRunlog_06-06-2021_07-02-27_25347.txt

Search String One is: query
Search String Two is:
Search String Three is:

Query reported Not Found: EdwardER
Query reported Not Found: Devwbro34
Query reported Not Found: DavidHip
Query reported Not Found: dapjaict
Query reported Not Found: ColinHalle
Query reported Not Found: Cesarjfysg
Query reported Not Found: Butler
Query reported Not Found: beatssqqqkj

Total Input Lines 5,041
Total Output Lines 24
  Lines containing String One 8
  Lines containing String Two
Lines containing String Three
Successful Run. No Warning Errors.

The names listed above can be removed from the Bans table at some point.

I'll set up an Update run tonight, around 22:00 local time.  There should be some Zero Posts in the batch.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-06 12:38:13)

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#1228 2021-06-07 05:33:50

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

Last night's run was uneventful ... the list of ID's ready for finishing is now capped at 8,000.

***
I've been watching the program as it (gracefully) handles existing members with multiple posts who are banned but considered important to save.

It was reassuring to see Dook (as just one example) come up for review, pass review, and slide into the saved category)

Still, I'm thinking about improving the safety factor even more ... The existing Verify script can be tweaked to find Zero Posts usernames in the Bans table.

The Verify script does NOT perform updates.  I'm thinking of modifying the Verify script to a Candidates script that would produce of list of candidates that can be fed into the Update script.

Completed Sequence for ID: 8000

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 336
  Total input Lines in data: 1171

  Number of ID's processed: 90

Starting Number: 7911
Last Number of Run: 8000

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-07-2021 at 06:55:58
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:29

11 Date Exceptions were recorded.
7 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 02:14:39
Total time Program was Active: 09:12:56

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-07 05:48:48)

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#1229 2021-06-07 06:50:14

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ...

NewMarsMember wrote:

We received a problem report from a member this morning.

I'd like to take this opportunity to note that SpaceNut agreed to give this portal a chance, and this message is an example of how it can be useful to existing members, as well as an entrance pathway for new members....

Gary Johnson
Jun 6, 2021, 12:07 PM (20 hours ago)
to tahanson43206

TH:

I have run into a problem I have never seen before.  The forum lets me log in,  but will not allow me to post.  I tried 4 times without success.  It says some nonsense about "bad referer" and seems to think I got onto the page from an "illegal site" or something like that.

The diagram you want for "weight vector within footpad polygon" was Figure 20 in my "exrocketman" article "Reverse-Engineering the 2019 Version of the Spacex Starship/Superheavy Design",  posted 22 October 2019.

GW

Todo items:

1) For GW Johnson ... please capture data from the error and forward it to the portal (text to Notepad is good. Screenshots are good).
2) For SpaceNut ... please alert JBurk of the problem ... there may be (must be) a problem with an index
3) I will start an inquiry at FluxBB to see if anyone else has run into this.

It should be noted that the ID Recovery project is placing a strain on the server.

I will stop work on Id Recovery until we have an all-clear from JBurk.

(th)

Have you seen this problem before?

***
The FluxBB.org web site is unreachable ... I am not surprised ... it has happened before.  The site attracts a crowd of hackers, in addition to those who are just trying to set up or to maintain a FluxBB site.

However, the outage ** does ** mean that line of inquiry is blocked for the moment.

Related: Is anyone else seeing a problem similar to the one that GW Johnson reported?

Use the portal to let the Admins know.

(th)

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#1230 2021-06-07 07:17:50

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For GW Johnson ...

Edit at bottom of post ...

In the (temporary) absence of SpaceNut and ...

in the (hopefully temporary) absence of FluxBB.org ...

I called up your login to see what would happen when I used a fake password (since I do not know (or have any way of knowing) your actual password)

The behavior of the system was normal at ** that  ** point ..

Here's a todo item for you to try ...

Start a login but enter a fake password

It will be helpful to know if you get the normal response ...

You ** should ** get an error: Wrong username and/or password

If you get something else, then I would suspect a problem with the computer you are using ...

If you have another device, such as a Smartphone or a Tablet, you might try logging in with that.

However, if you ** do ** get the normal response, then see if you can request assistance by the system using email.

The system will ask for the email address with which you registered.

If your Profile record is NOT damaged, the system should be able to find your email address and send you a temporary password.

Try that.  If ** that ** works then we might conclude the exercise of writing a new password will clear up the login problem.

It is annoying to have to change a password, but I've had to do that recently because some clever person in a country in Eastern Europe decided to see if he could hack into my accounts. 

Edit at 12:30 local time ... after re-reading the message from GW Johnson, I finally absorbed the information that GW Johnson is able to log in!  The issue is refusal of FlubBB to allow him to post a message.

My earlier advice about collecting data for problem analysis remains valid, even though the problem area is ** inside ** a logged in state.

If anyone else sees a problem like this, please collect as much information as you can and forward the collection to the Portal.

Edit at 14:46 local time ...

For GW Johnson .... your last login is shown as "Last visit: Yesterday 12:02:24"

I don't know what time that was .... it might have been your time, or Universal Coordinated Time, or something else.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-07 12:47:50)

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#1231 2021-06-07 07:29:24

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ...

I'll hold off on ID Recovery until we have GW Johnson logging back in ...

However, in the ** mean ** time, I am able to report that a test of a new script was successful.

The new script is able to identify candidates for upgrade, and write their usernames to an output file.

That file can then be used as input to the Update script, which means the usernames with posts will not be visited by the update script.

(th)

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#1232 2021-06-07 16:55:43

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,433

Re: Housekeeping

The day has seen bad certificates even on edge on the msn.com site at work.

Even tonight's lag is quite a bit even on a different computer and browser.

I would clear the browser and do a restart.

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#1233 2021-06-07 17:14:07

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re GW Johnson unable to post ...

Your advice to clear the browser is good whenever a strange problem crops up on the Internet.

Your suggestion of trying a different piece of equipment (ie, Smartphone if GW has one) is particularly good, because the Internet provider will (usually) be different as well, in case the provider is involved.

However, I'm hoping we can also keep in mind that there might actually be a problem with the server.  The server will have log files that can be studied to see if GW Johnson's attempt to post shows up as an exception.

I have not heard back from GW Johnson since this morning, although I've checked the Portal several times throughout the day.

(th)

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#1234 2021-06-08 06:20:51

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For GW Johnson re Problem Report ...

SearchTerm:Problem report suggestions
SearchTerm:Report problems posting

As a follow up to a suggestion offered by SpaceNut and earlier request for text of error messages anyone might receive....

Before you try the suggestions to clear cache and other measures, please be ** sure ** to capture all the data you can about the immediate problem.

The address bar of your browser display is a valuable source of historical information.

It is easy to capture that information by copying it and pasting it into a text program such as Notepad.

The procedure is as follows:

1) Avoid disturbing the display that shows the error until you've captured the error message
2) Copy and paste the current address bar
3) Now use the Left Arrow button at the upper left of your browser (to the left of the address bar)
4) Copy and paste the address bar after each actuation of the Left Arrow button.

This procedure allows an analyst to follow the sequence that led to the failure.

If you have a Screen Capture utility, you can use that as well to record the actual screen at the time of failure.

After all information has been captured and saved as a Notepad (or similar) file, you can try the suggestions offered by SpaceNut.

Send the collected notes and recordings to the NewMars Portal when it is convenient.

(th)

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#1235 2021-06-08 06:34:42

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ....

I'll try a run of the new Candidates script today ... I'd been holding off pending hearing from GW Johnson, but since nothing new arrived at the Portal this morning, I'll proceed with the script.  It does NO updates, but instead looks to see if possible candidates in the Bans table have posts.

The Usernames without posts are reported to the log file.

***
FluxBB.org is still offline.

For SpaceNut ... snegirobjk was online this morning.

***
Update at 10;50 ... The Candidates run stopped after 160 usernames had been reviewed.

The halt was caused by a mouse positioning error.  The Y was correct but the X was off by enough to miss the target.

Of the 160 usernames reviewed, 153 have Zero posts. 

I'll launch an Update run this evening using the set of names that were reviewed today.

There should be no skips coming out of that run

Update at 19:27 local time ... still haven't heard from GW Johnson at the portal, and he has not logged into NewMars since the last time noted previously.

I hope the situation there is resolvable without too much difficulty.

***
The outage at several major Internet sites reported earlier today was apparently not caused by hacking.  According to a report I picked up over the radio, apparently a third party who provides caching services to improve response times for these major players had a hardware outage of it's own.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-08 17:29:29)

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#1236 2021-06-08 18:12:13

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,433

Re: Housekeeping

Seems like the typical spammer just biding time as the email and the ip are both suspect.
Zero post message sounds about right....since you do not need an account to lurk and read our content...

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#1237 2021-06-08 18:21:40

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ... multiple items ...

SearchTerm:TroubleShooting posting error see Post in Recruiting topic by SpaceNut.

The tips are in a post in the Recruiting topic with today's date (2021/06/07)

SpaceNut wrote:

Some other thoughts on the login to post issue could be due to the session key so try login 'ing out and closing the browser as well.

Also if is a corrupt page the alignment of the submit button on the quick reply may not be showing correctly. Try making a post with the post reply link instead as it will open a clean page with a much larger box to post in as well. Its just above the subscribe to this topic in the lower part of the page just above the quick reply box.

Thanks for adding suggestions for things for a member to try if a posting error occurs.

And! Thanks for noting the curious login by a non-poster ...

***
Update on ID Recovery process

The present system relies upon a hardware solution to the serial port data transfer problem.

I investigated a commercial Virtual Serial Port package but the help desk personnel gave up on trying to get their package to work with WBA as it was written, using a Microsoft RS232 sample program, merged into the project.

Today i finally got to first base using an Open Source program called Com0Com.

The approach I took was to start with a fresh copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2019, which is available for free for students and supporters of non-profit organizations, such as NewMars.   The program I wrote (using samples from helpful Internet resources) is successful in passing data through the Com0Com port pair to AACKeys, and through AACKeys into Notepad, which is filling in for the browser.

If anyone ever asked for a copy of the program, the hardware limitation is removed.

I'll keep using the existing solution as long as I am the only one running the program, but if anyone ** out there ** were interested in automation of Browser activity, then a pathway forward is available.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-09 07:26:34)

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#1238 2021-06-08 19:47:44

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ...

Another interesting visitor was logged in just now ...

snegirosxb

I'll be starting a run for 153 Id's shortly.

(th)

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#1239 2021-06-08 19:57:04

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,433

Re: Housekeeping

Both visitors have the same username and email name structure from that same fake domain....

Looks like they are noticing the bans for zero posting....
I need to do more banning....

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#1240 2021-06-09 06:40:56

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ... last night's run to 8153 was uneventful, after I corrected two setup errors I made.

I'll start the new Candidates script shortly, to collect names for tonight's run.

***
Thanks for your comments about the Usernames I've reported recently.

Those may be automated systems, probing to see what web sites they can access before launching a payload for a paying customer.

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 336
  Total input Lines in data: 142

  Total input Lines in data: 142

  Number of ID's processed: 141

Starting Number: 8013

Last Number of Run: 8153

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-09-2021 at 08:16:43
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
18 Date Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 03:24:02

Total time Program was Active: 09:40:59

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

The loop time has dropped to under a minute and a half now that skips are removed.

(th)

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#1241 2021-06-09 07:50:52

NewMarsMember
Member
Registered: 2019-02-17
Posts: 1,388

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re GW Johnson problem report

Once again,  I cannot post.  This is a copy of what it said:


Bad HTTP_REFERER. You were referred to this page from an unauthorized source. If the problem persists please make sure that 'Base URL' is correctly set in Admin/Options and that you are visiting the forum by navigating to that URL. More information regarding the referrer check can be found in the FluxBB documentation.


I tried again today,  and cannot post.  Not at all.  As to the meaning of the message,  I know those are English words,  but I do not share a common dictionary with the writer of those words.  It means absolutely NOTHING that I understand!

What I wanted to post and could not,  was that I just put a concept design analysis article about Starship landing legs up on my "exrocketman" site.  It deals with the simplest,  most straightforward update of the Falcon-9 landing leg idea reworked for Starship. It complements what I said about landing legs in the just-previous Evaluations of Starship/Superheavy article.

GW

I will write back to Dr. Johnson to pass along additional suggestions for things to try.

I offered to set up a replacement ID using one of the newly refurbished ID's, so perhaps he will accept that offer.

We need to find a solution.

Your opening position appears to be that the problem has something to do with Dr. Johnson's computer.

My opening position is that the problem is nothing to do with the computer, but instead is caused by a problem on the server.

An easy solution is for you to change the password for the GW Johnson account and log in as GW Johnson to see if you can post.

If you can, we can assume the problem is on the computer GW Johnson is using.

I believe (if memory serves) this is his wife's computer.

(th)

Last edited by NewMarsMember (2021-06-09 07:51:41)


Recruiting High Value members for NewMars.com/forums, in association with the Mars Society

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#1242 2021-06-09 08:10:02

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re GW Johnson post issue ...

Trying to post using Firefox ESR or normal - get the following error.

Bad HTTP_REFERER. You were referred to this page from an unauthorized source. If the problem persists please make sure that 'Base URL' is correctly set in Admin/Options and that you are visiting the forum by navigating to that URL. More information regarding the referrer check can be found in the FluxBB documentation.

There is some info about this on the FluxBB forum

Last edited by bin (2019-06-13 06:49)

As noted earlier, the FluxBB site is not available.

In email correspondence, I have asked Dr Johnson to assist with problem resolution by trying some experiments that are available to him.

One very useful insight would be provided if Dr. Johnson has access to a computer (or device) other than the one where the problem showed up. 

There is a hint that the problem has something to do with https vs http, but NewMars does NOT use https.

***https://forum.obarun.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1814&i=1

The thread at the link above discusses the problem ... one possibility seems to be that a third party is involved, though why that should only take effect when GW Johnson tries to post is a question.  Perhaps the issue is the attempt to ** write ** to the server, as opposed to simply reading from it. Security features would be in effect for updates.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-09 08:18:19)

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#1243 2021-06-09 12:24:36

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery and re Candidate Identification in particular ...

The Candidate Identification script is running at the rate of (about) 100 Usernames per hour.

The load on the FluxBB server should be light .... The output will be qualified usernames ...

1) Each username exists in the Users table and
2) Each username has zero posts.

The run completed with 905 candidates of 914 usernames.

Those surviving names will be fed into the Update script over the next several days.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-09 16:41:50)

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#1244 2021-06-10 06:26:41

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

The new high water mark is 8300.  We have 752 Verified Candidates remaining in the source file.

Prospects look good for reaching 9,000 in a few days.

Update run through 8300 (christianlr4)

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
  Total input Lines in data: 885

  Total input Lines in data: 885

  Number of ID's processed: 126

Starting Number: 8175

Last Number of Run: 8300

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-10-2021 at 07:29:40
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
15 Date Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 03:03:24

Total time Program was Active: 08:03:27

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

I'll queue up the next session at around 22:00 local time tonight.

(th)

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#1245 2021-06-11 05:33:31

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

I have converted FriendOfQuark1 to TestID08301.

The gent who I'd hoped might use FriendOfQuark1 decided to pass on the opportunity.

That Username caused a complication when I tried the experiment proposed for testing the GW Johnson account.

What I learned for a future Moderator or Administrator who might want to try something similar, is to run a scan of the email index before using an email address for the recovery attempt.  FluxBB did not tell me I had already used the email address I wanted to use for the recovery attempt.

Instead, it sent recovery passwords for ** both ** FriendOfQuark1 and GW Johnson accounts.

Neither password worked.  At this point, I expect GW Johnson will have to use the Lost Password procedure to regain access to his account.

There's a lot to learn about how FluxBB works.  We've just added ** one ** more data point.

***
I am pausing ID Recovery efforts until GW Johnson is back online. 

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-11 05:52:48)

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#1246 2021-06-11 11:07:42

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re GW Johnson recovery effort ...

GW Johnson wrote to say he expects to be able to try a different computer on Monday.

I'll proceed with ID Recovery over the weekend, and keep things quiet on Monday.

I've offered to be available for (voice) telephone consultation if GW Johnson is working with a computer "expert".

If your theory/expectation is correct, the alternate computer should be able to log in and post without difficulty.

Something you said in a recent post has been coming up in my thought process every now and then ....

It is possible that whatever the problem is can be seen in the address bar as we carry out our activities.

To prepare for that possibility I will take a few minutes to capture a normal session so I can compare it to whatever might show up if the problem persists for GW Johnson on Monday.

Edit after attempt to capture ... Well! That's not going to work.

The address bar changed when I clicked Submit, but the value I saw did not persist, and there is no history in the history record.

Chrome has a set of developer features that might provide a more persistent history.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-11 11:12:05)

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#1247 2021-06-11 11:14:14

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re Address Bar capture experiments

There is a difference between creating a new post, and editing an old one ...

This showed up after submit of an edit h t t p : / / newmars.com/forums/edit.php?id=180891

OK! The address bar shows a post.php line when a post is first created.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-11 11:15:34)

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#1248 2021-06-11 15:31:16

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,433

Re: Housekeeping

In the above post #1246 which has that id for the one you saw Todays time it gets made with the post reply command submit function happens. Each post is incremented from the previous used in the data base for its generation.

This was the last post GW Johnson was able to make and edit.

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#1249 2021-06-12 04:45:35

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re 1248 and other posts about past problems ...

Thanks for your notes about numbering of records at posts.  The glimpse of past problems is interesting as well.

***
last night's run was flawless ...

Update run 299 Usernames processed.
Last username: Carmenreors

Completed Sequence for ID: 8600

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 337
  Total input Lines in data: 759

  Number of ID's processed: 299

Starting Number: 8302

Last Number of Run: 8600

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-12-2021 at 06:22:59
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
33 Date Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 07:13:35

Total time Program was Active: 08:38:06

There are 459 usernames left in the Verified Candidates list.  Two more days should wrap it up.

***
I am (slowly) adding Virtual Port capability to WBA, so it will not be necessary to use hardware to carry signals from WBA to AACKeys.  The code is working in a test program, and today (if all goes well) I'll add it to WBA.

I am also (slowly) enhancing the Mouse Position Utility.  Ultimately i'd like for it to act as a complete script writer. I don't know if I can pull it off, but what I have in mind is capturing the actions of a human operator working with a web browser, and generating a complete set of script commands (with comments explaining each one in context).

The immediate question is whether I can get the mouse position verification function working.  AACKeys uses a generic reference system for X and Y position of the mouse.  The generic reference system generates clicks that can be picked up by the system reference, which is unique for each combination of hardware and software of a particular computer. 

What i'd like to be able to do (if it is even possible) is to compare the location where the mouse clicked (as driven by AACKeys) to the required location using system coordinates.

The run last night showed that the AACKeys positioning system is accurate over 300 ID's, but an error can occur.

At present, I issue the AACKeys position command twice, and that method has failed only once over many hundreds of user names, so going the extra step is probably not necessary.  On the ** other ** hand, little lingering flaws like that nag at me, because inevitably, failure ** will ** occur, and GW Johnson's constant reminder about designing systems that don't kill people is burned into some remote section of my brain cells.

***
A third utility was enhanced to include a feature to extract user names from a dump of screen shots of the Bans table query output.  The utility finds lines that contain @ symbol, which means the lines contain email addresses. It then extracts the username from the beginning of the line while preserving any spaces there may be inside the user name.

Those names are then passed through the Verify and Candidates scripts, to find missing items (a) and (b) to find usernames with zero posts.

The output of ** that ** process is fed into the Update script, which can run over 300 usernames without a hiccup.

This is ** almost ** getting to be routine !!!

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-12 04:50:13)

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#1250 2021-06-12 09:18:19

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,450

Re: Housekeeping

This discussion was copied over from the Recruiting topic ...

SpaceNut wrote:

Do you know if the topic was
This was the last post GW Johnson was able to make and edit. or was it another topic as we may have discovered a forum software topic post limit?
The older software when it reached that limit would crash the topic and we would need to recover it from log or back up files and then close it from adding further posts.

I was curious about the post counter and if the front page were the same....

Total number of posts: 176,918 is at the bottom of the first page and before this post is was 176,917.
you post above mine was that last increment and my post was 180,940 to which since the crash we have the difference of count that had not been recovered.

Checking to see if the topic counter was on also Total number of topics: 7,606 from the front page and the last topic id was 9908 that was used or pretty close as I think it was Europe's long term vision & future ideas Medium-class missions. by Mars_B4_Moon yesterday.

The user table is also of since the restore as well....

Thanks for doing this research ...

We can discover the numerical limit for topic by studying the tables layout for the web site, which we've discussed in earlier posts.

Hopefully I set up a Search Term for Tables .... or perhaps for FluxBB ... I'll check

In any case, GW Johnson did not tell me precisely which topic he was trying to update.  I assumed from context of the post that was the landing topic, which is quite young as topics go.

I'm looking forward to the results of GW's experiments with his helper/friend on Monday.

Hopefully this person will be experienced working with computers and software, so we can dig more deeply into the problem if necessary.

At this point, I am inclined to favor your initial position that the problem was most likely on or associated with the computer GW was using.

No one else has reported a problem, and (if we think about it) the WBA program has performed hundreds of posts since GW encountered a problem.

However, I ** also ** note that the WBA posts are ** all ** Edits of existing records.

GW was trying to create a new record.

*** Here is a link to a post with search terms: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 11#p178511

*** Here is a link to a post with the actual link to the web site where table information is stored:
http://newmars.com/forums/search.php?se … =623761085

Following up after study of the source table documentation:

The fields of interest are all int ... I would have to double check to be sure, but I'm ** fairly ** sure a Linux int is 32 bits.

If that is the case, then the number of posts/topics/users would be up to: 4 294 967 296 (per Google)

Asking Google further:

64-bit UNIX and Linux applications
Name
Length
int
4 bytes

long
8 bytes

float
4 bytes

double
8 bytes

Standard data types on UNIX, Linux, and Windows - IBM
www.ibm.com › docs › SSFKSJ_9.0.0 › com.ibm.mq.ref.dev.doc
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This would seem to indicate the forum is unlikely to exceed the capacity of the database fields any time soon.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-12 09:30:05)

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