Housekeeping

SpaceNut · 2021-06-23 19:09:48

Have unban the 7401 through to 7500 and they are now in the user list awaiting growth in real members...

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-24 05:28:37

For SpaceNut re #1301

Thanks for carrying forward with finishing touches!

The recent request by OF1939 for peer assistance with the 17 Person Expedition could lead to an outreach effort, and that could lead to applications for membership. There are many thousands of scientists (with education, credentials and experience working and teaching) around the world. Hopefully a few of them would be interested in helping to shape the 17 Person Expedition vision. This would be independent of space agencies, and thus a useful alternative for comparison of plans that may develop in coming (Earth) years.

The run to 9800 finished without a hiccup last night. I'll be reporting the summary shortly.

Meanwhile, the first (stuttering) run of Virtual Ports by WBA took place last night. I've been struggling (a bit) with the subtle differences between physical ports and virtual ones, but data finally flowed across a pair last night. I've made adjustments to improve the setup, and will test those today.

One aspect of the situation that is unique to the design of the current system. The physical structure of the hardware (in this case the monitor) determines how the AACKeys program sends Mouse position actions. The coordinates for the current Dell laptop cannot and will not match the requirements for the 64 bit machine I'll be testing on today. That means I'll have to fall back to a "tabs only" navigation method, which will increase run time dramatically.

The ** good ** aspect of this is that it provides motivation to improve the Mouse Position Trainer to more quickly and easily set up the script commands for mouse clicks.

Glad to see 7500 ... it is as mini-milestone on the way to 8,000 and close to the My Hacienda target of 7,800.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9800
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 1082
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9701
Last Number of Run: 9800
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-24-2021 at 00:36:30
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
12 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:22
Total time Program was Active: 02:32:00

Update at 16:07 local time ... the mouse trainer is working with a virtual port.

However, there is a challenge if a computer only has one monitor. In the workhorse Dell system with the physical serial port connection, there are two monitors. The browser is expanded to fill the one on the right, so its physical coordinates are constant from one session to the next. The machine with Virtual Ports has only one monitor. The location of points would vary from one session to the next.

however, in the current time, it is more likely (by far) that a given computer will have the capability of driving a second monitor, than that it will have a serial port, let alone two.

WBA itself had only a partial success .... it delivered the first set of data to the browser via AACKeys (via Com0Com), and then nothing flowed through after that. On the bright side is that the Clipboard capture worked, so the program halted when the clipboard contents did not match what had been sent.

One more work session should put WBA over the top.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-24 14:13:43)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-24 11:28:34

For RobertDyck .... Bingo!

Perfect!

Just ONE message popped up when I tried your new tag:

Index
» Search
» Posts containing 'searchterm: and cabin', by robertdyck
Pages: 1
#1 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Large scale colonization ship » Today 13:07:09
RobertDyck
searchterm: cabin

Bravo!

Now I'll be able to find the specs when (I am hoping) you have Fusion 360 installed and are ready to start tossing drawings back and forth.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-24 19:44:29

Thanks for the posting in the "How's the Society doing right now?" of the activities which they are hosting.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-25 04:47:11

For SpaceNut re #1304 and ID Recovery

Thanks for noting the Mars Society postings ... the email connection seems to be the main benefit of joining the Mars Society with a small donation. I figure some members of the forum are not official members, and in any case, readers outside the membership are likely not receiving those emails.

The conference certainly seems to be shaping up as substantial. I ran out of free time to "attend" last year's conference by watching the videos, but did manage to watch about half of them.

Last night's run was flawless ... the most recent tweak may have improved mouse placement accuracy.

It's a good thing the Recovery does not depend upon the Virtual Port working! It is still giving me a hard time, but at least I got a hint of future success. The program delivered a command to the browser yesterday, but nothing came through after that. I suspect that the Virtual Port cannot be turned off between sends. The physical port is routinely opened for a send and then closed immediately afterward. I tried NOT closing the Virtual Port in the Mouse Trainer yesterday, and it continued to work.

On the OTHER hand, the Mouse Trainer experiment showed the need for a system to have two monitors. The browser needs to be anchored to the hardware, in order for the mouse position commands to work reliably, and the best way to achieve that is to expand the browser to fill one of two monitors, while WBA runs on the other.

Completed Sequence for ID: 9900
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 982
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9801
Last Number of Run: 9900
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-25-2021 at 06:27:09
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
4 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:37
Total time Program was Active: 09:37:16

Tonight's run will be for the Milestone of 10,000!

I told a relative we are making widgets, and that we are about to reach a count of 10,000.

They wouldn't be interested in the details, so round numbers are sufficient.

Update at 20:27 local time

The Mouse Position Utility is working nicely with Virtual Ports... I visited a local computer store and discovered an inexpensive adapter that allows the Windows 7 machine to drive two monitors in HDMI, so now the Mouse Position Utility has a fixed landscape to work with, and the position tools work as they did before ... crude but acceptable.

One of these days I'll try to improve the GUI ...

However, WBA did NOT improve when I made a change to try to facilitate flow of data ... previously I got ONE transmission ... now I'm getting nothing.

Tonights run with the tried-and-true physical ports will start around 22:00 local time.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-25 18:28:57)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-26 05:03:24

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

We have another round number in the bag!

Completed Sequence for ID: 10000
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 882
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 9901
Last Number of Run: 10000
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-26-2021 at 06:46:53
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
9 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:26:30
Total time Program was Active: 07:46:16

Work with Mouse Position Utility on Virtual Ports is progressing nicely. It functions and delivers locations to a file.

There is a ** lot ** of touch up needed. For example, it would be helpful to be able to "drive" the location of the cursor using arrow keys, but the operating system intercepts those keys before I can get them, and it was not a priority to find out how to gain control of those inputs earlier.

In addition, I would like to get the physical coordinates recording feature working. That would allow the WBA program to know if the AACKeys position requested was actually achieved.

The WBA itself took a step backward yesterday .... it ** had ** been delivering one set of data and then stopping. Now it delivers nothing.

Fortunately, the physical serial port system is steady and ready for tonight's run to 10,100.

Update at 12:11 local time

Mouse Trainer took a small step forward today ... I'm attempting to improve the GUI on the way to providing physical mouse position to match the AACKeys generic coordinate system position. The new feature to increment the Guess fields did not work, but the physical position report ** IS ** working.

It's a long way from that small progress to having a robust mouse position verification system running in WBA, but it is a necessary step.

Update at 15:30

Mouse Trainer is coming along ... it is now possible to "steer" X toward the desired location.

Y steering needs one tweak to start working.

Output of the Physical coordinates to file is working

Virtual ports are continuing to work flawlessly.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-26 13:38:05)

NewMarsMember · 2021-06-26 06:13:34

FluxBB.org is offline again.

I had intended to report reaching 10,000 recovered Spammer ID's.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-26 20:35:32

Just finished the 7500 series of ids removing the duplicates and double checked the user list to ensure all accounts moved correctly and are ready to use.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-27 06:31:22

For SpaceNut re #1308

Thanks for all the time and attention to detail you put into this effort! The program can help a little, but it can only do the simple procedures.

It is good to see 7600 showing up as a member! Meanwhile, WBA pushed through to 10,100 without a hiccup.

***
In a recent post you mentioned having well water that your family could not safely drink.

I'm wondering if you might be willing to take the lead in a new project/focus here in the forum, to document all possible ways of purifying water. Potable water is a clear and present need for (literally) billions of people on Earth, and it will be a clear and present need for ** every ** person who relocates to Mars or is born there.

While this forum environment is not ideal for documentation, Moderator RobertDyck has just begun investigating a possible online data storage opportunity that might become available for deserving forum projects.

You are probably aware that the inventor of the Segway, Dewan Kamen, also invented a method of cleaning water using a form of distillation that is more energy efficient than pure distillation.

A study of water purification methods could be of interest to members of the forum who have formal training in chemistry.

A study of water purification methods could be of interest to members who have practical knowledge and share the need for potable water with other humans.

Many of us (humans) and perhaps most of us, have benefited from the water purification services provided by Nature for millions of years.

However, on Mars it is unlikely that the generous stores of fresh water, lightly enhanced with minerals we humans need for good health, that we used to find on Earth are going to be present.

If you are agreeable, and consider an effort along these lines to be within the scope of whatever the forum is "about", then a topic might be created for collection of links to relevant resources online, as well as posts with details collected from reading or from experience.

The goal/purpose of the topic would be to provide a resource for anyone wanting to study the subject, whether on Earth, on Mars, or anywhere else that humans are likely to find themselves in centuries to come.

Such a topic could go into the Technology topic, for sure. Perhaps it would fit well into another topic.

The amount you are paying for drinking water reminds me of the time when our family lived in a rural setting where the water could not be trusted, so the solution was to bring 5 gallon (US Army surplus) cans of water home from the nearby city.

Edit#1: There ** is ** a nanotechnology connection ... While no one is presently pulling water molecules from solution molecule by molecule, the field of nanotechnology offers the promise that small machines can be designed to pluck water molecules from a solution and transport them to pick up sites, where they would be delivered to stores of pure water for use or sale.

The same machines can collect other kinds of molecules that may have economic value, such as phosphorous, which is vital for human life.

A member of the forum with a background in chemistry may know of methods of separating molecules in solution in the mass methods characteristic of the chemical field.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-27 06:37:19)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-27 07:19:05

For SpaceNut ... ID Recovery report ...

Completed Sequence for ID: 10100

Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 782

Number of ID's processed: 100

Starting Number: 10001

Last Number of Run: 10100

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-27-2021 at 09:15:05
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
13 Date Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 02:25:44

Total time Program was Active: 11:13:03

***
Tonight's run will be planned for 10,200.
***
Work on the Mouse Position Trainer is coming along ... a new "steering" feature is working

Update for Web Automation Report for 06-27-2021 at 09:27:54
MousePositionTrainingUtility
Version 2021.6.23.26
# Username field in userlist form on Dell
<esc>,goto,459,184.
<esc>,goto,459,184.
<esc>,click.
# System X = 1215 System Y = 487

The physical position is recorded as a comment for the time being.

A lot of work would be needed in WBA to implement a verification procedure.

A detail is that the reference frame used by Mouse Trainer to locate the physical position of the cursor would have to be implemented on the screen where the browser resides.

However, by design, the reference frame intercepts the mouse click.

The implementation would need to display the reference frame over the browser ahead of mouse movment.
Then the mouse movement would be attempted, followed by the physical mouse location request.
If the mouse position returned is correct, then the reference frame would be removed and the mouse click repeated so it takes effect in the browser.

While there would be some busy work on the computer, the actual time required to achieve 100% verification of mouse position would be measured in milliseconds.

If this system were going into production somewhere, the extra effort would be worth while.

As things stand, the addition of a third repetition of the mouse movement to the Administration button seems to have cleared up the occasional halts that were occurring at that location.

Update at 12:24 local time ...

I decided to work on the Mouse Trainer a bit more, since it is coming along so nicely ...

Tweaks are in place to improve "steering" performance (manually relocating the mouse pointer via keyboard input), and I've started the "Hunt" feature.

I had given up on "Hunt" earlier but recent success with "steering" provides encouragement to try "Hunt" again.

The advantage of "Hunt" (if I can get it to work) is that the operator can click on a target screen and instruct the program to find the matching AACKeys coordinates. That would be a definite time saver.

***
This is Housekeeping .... here is an item that (most likely) only SpaceNut will see, but (of course) all could see it since this is public

From time to time our active members run into situations that are challenging.

I'd like to encourage Administrators and Moderators to drop a line to GW Johnson if you have time.

I think he'd appreciate your interest and support.

This is NOT about the monitor failure.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-27 10:30:21)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-27 15:26:13

For SpaceNut ....

Does your local library have computers for use by the public?

Some libraries in the United States offer computer access to patrons. I have taken advantage of that service upon occasion, such as when the Internet service from my ISP is down.

I ask because the WBA is in process of being upgraded so it will run on an ordinary computer without special hardware.

The backlog of ID's to be finished is a possible focus, if you are at all interested.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-27 18:26:31

Have cleared the 7601 through to 7700 id's from the banned list and they are now in the user list for use.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-27 19:35:34

For SpaceNut re #1312

Thanks for all that hard work and persistence!

WBA will be churning out the next 100 shortly.

I just dropped off a snippet about pulling water from the air and adding minerals to provide healthy content for drinking water.

I hope someone has time to follow up and report whether it is "real" or just a concept.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-27 21:34:34

Decided to clear another 100 out of the banned list from 7701 through to 7800 and they are now ready for use.

added a few more posts and links to the water out of air postings....

at sunset it was 90 plus in the house but at almost 11:30 its cooled a bit to 83 inside.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be a very hot day with the following days to begin going down followed by several days with rain.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-28 05:58:00

For SpaceNut re #1314

The research you did on water extraction was ** awesome ** ... I was here in 2019 and wonder how I missed that flow of discussion !!!

I'll try to remember to offer a search term for that topic ...

Congratulations on stretching all the way to 7800 .... that is the "magic" number for My Hacienda ... << grin >>

WBA reached 10,200 last night.

***
Today I'm planning to continue enhancing the Mouse Trainer to operate automatically in matching AACKeys coordinates to Physical ones on a given machine.

I decided that the key to making the Hunt operation efficient is to determine the XRatio and the YRatio between the coordinate systems.

With those numbers in hand, it should be possible to ** very ** accurately compute the AACKeys coordinates to deliver a given Physical location.

The procedure to capture a set of script commands would be something like this ...

Start program
Deploy Reference Frame (this is a form that is barely visible that sits above the target form)
Use mouse to click any point inside the reference frame as the Target site (save TargetX and TargetY)
Use Guess windows to initialize the AACKeys X and Y values for search and match procedure
Launch Ratio (this is a new button to be created)
Ratio will send Click commands to AACKeys using the starting position numbers
Ratio will compare the physical coordinates generated by the click to the TargetX and TargetY values
Ratio will adjust the AACKeys guess values and try again until physical coordinates match Target ones
Ratio will record the ratio values
***
Operator will now be able to click on the target form and generate AACKeys position values directly.
***
Use existing Hunt button to match target position to AACKeys position and save the results in script file
***
Add feature to allow address bar values to be saved in the script file
***
There is already a button to hide the Reference Frame. This button allows the operator to advance the target form to a new location.
***
Restore the Reference Frame
Click the Target location
Hunt again to deliver script commands
***
Repeat until entire process to be scripted is covered.
***
Edit the script to add features such as text to be inserted into fields
***
Edit the script to perform confirmation comparisons (eg, address bar contains requested string)
***
Run a test in test mode (output is simulated by delivery to log file)
***
Run a test in step mode (live but one command executed at a time)
***
Run a test in loop mode (live but sequence is performed once)
***
Live run against a small set of real data
***
Live run against full 100 data rows

Completed Sequence for ID: 10200

Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 682

Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 10101
Last Number of Run: 10200
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-28-2021 at 09:03:13
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
12 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:26:11
Total time Program was Active: 10:41:42

Update at 11:44 local time ... work on an update of Mouse Trainer to deliver ratios of X:X and Y:Y between AACKeys and physical coordinates is progressing. The GUI changes ** appear ** to be in place. In the next work session I'm hoping to add functionality, as described in an earlier update.

*** the Bans table is showing 82 pages of 50 items

Of those, 49 pages are reported to be TestID records pending upgrade to full Member status.

As you have time to process the TestID's, the number of Bans pages should drop to 33, unless you are adding more, which is possible.

At some point we'll run out of Zero Post Spammers, but (I suspect) that day is far in the future.

The total number of usernames with Zero Posts is given as 360, but many of those are TestID's

The number of TestID's is given as 204. That result implies we still have 360-204 or 156 pages of Zero Posts left to process.

If the count is a full 50 per page, the total would be 7800 ... that's amazing ... 10,200 + 7,800 >> 19,000

The total Userlist is 19,633 ... that would imply there are only 633 ** real ** people registered over 20+ years.

Well, that is still a significant number, considering the somewhat esoteric nature of the forum.

We're unlikely to average 100 ID's per day, but if we did, we'd be out of Zero Posts in 78 days (more or less) or by early September of this year.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-28 10:04:57)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-28 06:51:34

For SpaceNut re Water Purification ....

Here is a snippet Google came up with when I asked ... Dean Kamen water purification current status ...

Bargaining for Clean Water: Why Dean Kamen Invented the Coca ...
probiotic.com › 2018/12 › bargaining-for-clean-water-kamen-and-coke
Dec 7, 2018 · Kamen's water purifier uses vapor compression distillation system. · It uses less than one kilowatt of electricity per hour (less electricity than a ...

In a recent post in another topic, my recollection is you reported a budget of some number of dollars per day for commercially supplied drinking water.

My question is ... if you used the Slingshot system, given free water and whatever your current electricity cost might be, could you match the budget amount you re currently allocating?

For the purpose of comparison, please set aside the cost of the installation for the moment.

I'm just curious to know if the Slingshot system could provide potable water from your current ground supply at a comparable price per day.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-28 09:47:29)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-29 05:40:40

For SpaceNut re ID recovery ...

Last night's run was successful ...

Completed Sequence for ID: 10300
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 582
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 10201
Last Number of Run: 10300
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-29-2021 at 07:22:41
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
20 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:58
Total time Program was Active: 08:59:34

***
I am hoping to make additional progress with development of a Ratio feature for the Mouse Position Trainer.

The GUI is finished, and just action code is needed.

This new capability, if successful, should reduce the time it takes now to identify the AACKeys coordinates for a particular location on the target form.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-29 06:44:57

For SpaceNut re spammers constantly knocking at the door...

As reported previously, Dr. Dartnell handles spammers differently ... he allows them to register but never grants admission ...

Today's new member application was on the benign side ... the applicant appears to want work as a "flutter" developer.

I had not heard of "flutter" so asked Google, and it explained that "flutter" is a language developed by Google to create mobile applications.

Flutter SDK is Google's UI toolkit for crafting beautiful, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase.

That description catches my eye, because the system is (most likely) free, and the range of target sites covers the full range that I am aware of today.

Scientific or engineering applications may not be a good fit, but perhaps the code they need can run as subprocesses.

In any case, if someone with posting privileges is interested in learning about "flutter" and reporting to the forum, I would definitely be interested.

As things stand, I am waiting for RobertDyck to make many decisions about how he is going to proceed with Large Ship. I am currently busy enough trying to extend and refine WBA, which is working well but could run on more platforms, be easier to use, and be capable of more sophisticated tasks.

***
It is possible my earlier inquiry passed under the bridge without your notice.

Do you have a library anywhere nearby?

Does such a library (if it exists) have computer access for the public?

If so, and if the hardware is of sufficient power, WBA should run there, and you could automate some of your Administrative tasks.

I can (and would) work with the library IT administrator to install the software, so the library management is secure in knowing the software is not a threat.

You could (in this scenario) launch a run at library closing time so that the work would be performed overnight and the connection to NewMars closed automatically when the job ends, using the time-out feature of FluxBB.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-29 07:47:25

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

There are 7456 User ID's with Zero posts (not including 10300 TestID's).

I'd like to offer a suggestion ... why bother banning them?

That's just extra work on the front end and extra work on the back end.

I think WBA can convert those ID's directly to TestID without the extra work.

The way I would approach this is with safety uppermost in mind.

I would collect the user names in a single pass, using a script designed to work just with a query that shows ID's with zero posts.

The TestID's would be removed, which should leave 7456.

That list would be provided to you for your review.

There are some ID's that you want to preserve (for example, ones that block certain email addresses).

You would remove those and pass the approved list back to me.

Edit: an alternative is for you to send just the ID's to be saved back, since that list is short.

At that point, the list would be fed to WBA in the 100 per day process we are using now.

Update at 12:18 local time after testing Mouse Trainer ...

Update for Web Automation Report for 06-29-2021 at 12:10:52
MousePositionTrainingUtility
Version 2021.6.27.29
# Test on Dell Username 1213 490 vs
<esc>,goto,460,185.
<esc>,goto,460,185.
<esc>,click.
# System X = 1218 System Y = 490

The top line shows the target physical coordinates, which would be used by the Hunt feature (not yet available)
The bottom line shows the actual physical coordinates achieved by guessing at positions using the existing feature.

X is very close and certainly inside the target field. Y is on the money.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-29 10:24:51)

SpaceNut · 2021-06-29 20:43:01

Towns typically have small libraries and computers that match plus since these are not always funded y the towns they have limited hours of operation.

The spammers knocking on the door is why we had to close and lock it as the software would not allow for just letting them go through the motion of registering as its automated by its vendor to allow it to complete.

edit
took care of the ids in 7801 to 7900 with the unban and making sure they have gone back to the user table.

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-30 02:40:07

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

The run to 10400 had a hiccup at #55 ...

Completed Sequence for ID: 10400
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 427
Number of ID's processed: 45
Starting Number: 10356
Last Number of Run: 10400
Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-30-2021 at 04:15:45
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:26
4 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 01:05:59
Total time Program was Active: 05:15:19

***
Thanks for your reply about town libraries ...

Many Americans are members of their local library ...

The open hours may be adjusted to the needs of the patrons.

In this case, if weekdays are not convenient, perhaps week ends are available.

The process of finding a resource to help starts with the physically closest facility.

Another similar and perhaps more appropriate option is a nearby high school. The science teacher may well have decent computing equipment and perhaps an interest in supporting the Mars Society indirectly.

Finally, there may be someone in the community willing and able to share computer power with a worthy cause.

In the course of making these contacts, you may discover that powerful older equipment is sitting unused.

This software was developed on a 2008 vintage development package, and it runs on a system that dates back to 2000, with the only modification being conversion of the hard drive to flash drive.

***
Glad to see the addition of another 100 ID's to the "Ready for Customers" column!

***
Last night a test of the Ratio feature delivered an encouraging result.

The process of computing the Ratio between the AACKeys generic coordinate system and the physical coordinates that are unique to a particular computer and set of monitors starts with a click on the target screen. That click is captured by the "invisible" Reference Frame and the coordinates are shown as System X and System Y.

The operator then copies those values to Target X and Target Y, which will become the goal points for the Hunt procedure. The Hunt feature will (when developed) try AACKeys coordinates until the resulting physical coordinates match the Target ones.

Last night, the program successfully made the first attempt to find the target. Given the target values, it computed a test of 1/2 of X and 1/2 of Y, and the resulting location was within the Reference Frame. That means that work from here should proceed smoothly, since a (relatively simple) loop (with a timer for safety to escape infinite loops) can bring the AACKeys coordinates into coincidence with the physical ones.

Once that happens, it is possible to compute the ratio between the X:X and Y:Y values.

It is ** that ** set of numbers that will (hopefully) permit rapid generation of script commands.

***
Congratulations with keeping up with all the posts by Mars_B4_Moon and many others in recent times.

I was amazed to see Edward Heisler's calm response to the unnecessary provocation that took place recently.

I'm hoping this forum might be suitable for family reading, but an outburst like that is discouraging.

I cannot in good conscience recruit anyone to a forum where such an outburst can occur.

You are the custodian of the culture of this forum.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-30 02:42:09)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-30 09:55:38

This post is about development of the Mouse Position Training Utility ...

With the thought in mind that someone else might want to use the Web Browser Automation Utility, I decided to implement a level of self-documentation that I've never attempted before. Traditionally, operator guidance and training are provided as separate products from the main software in development.

In this case, while working on the Mouse Trainer, I've added a dialog feature that can be turned on or off at any time using a menu button.

The dialog screens will (as I am thinking of them now) provide both guidance for actions to be taken by the operator and explanation of the underlying issues to be addressed. For example, there is no (or vanishingly small) probability that a person seeing this system for the first time would have a clue that the AACKeys coordinate system used for mouse positioning is built upon a generic structure that has to be re-defined for every hardware configuration it runs on.

In times past (certainly within ** my ** memory) storage was limited on computers (memory and permanent) so documentation ** had ** to be provided on paper separate from the software. With modern equipment, even with full dialog as I am thinking of it, the Mouse Trainer is still very small when compared to most software that runs on modern systems.

Taking a break after building the structure and opening dialogs ...

Update at 15:26 local time ... Implementing code to perform the Ratio procedure is left for tomorrow ...

The work session just concluded added touchups to improve the flow for the operator, including preventing errors when the RS232 form is set to test mode, which is necessary if neither physical nor virtual ports are available. It makes no sense to try communication in test mode, but much of the setup procedure can be exercised so it's not a waste of time to start the program and learn how it works.

I've allocated time for a test session on the Dell this evening, before the regular update run.

Update at 19:38 local time: Testing Ratio procedure ...

Update for Web Automation Report for 06-30-2021 at 19:28:16
MousePositionTrainingUtility
Version 2021.6.30.1
X Target for Ratio Procedure: 1216
Y Target for Ratio Procedure: 488
target 1216 x 488 y (Username field)
After mouse click: System x 1616 System Y 648
Estimated AACKeys X 1/2 608 Y 1/2 244
Next, build loop to close in on target
Difference X is 400
Difference y is 240
Try reduce X by 1/2 >> 200
Try reduce Y by 1/2 >> 120

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-30 17:41:48)

tahanson43206 · 2021-06-30 13:41:25

For SpaceNut re next phase of ID recovery

In a recent post I suggested saving time by NOT banning users with zero posts.

It appears there are 7,594 accounts with zero posts, and in looking at them today, I didn't see any that might be ones you'd want to save.

I wonder if you could take a look at the query results I'm seeing ...

In Admin, with Posts < 1, I get 17994 rows back. Of those 10400 are TestID's.

If you can take a quick look at the 7594 query results, you might be able to give me an all-clear to work on them after the present set of Bans is finished.

If we stay on schedule, the last of the present batch will be ready for your attention this coming Sunday.

Edit: It's possible 381 of the 7594 are in the batch I'm working now. In that case, the new ID's would be 7594-381 or 7213, which is still a good number to work on for the next 2+ months. If we go this route, the amount of unbanning you'd have to do would be substantially reduced.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-30 13:45:03)

tahanson43206 · 2021-07-01 06:15:21

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

WBA completed a run to 10500 without a hiccup last night ... Tonight's try for 10600 will start around 21:00 local time.

Completed Sequence for ID: 10500
Total Command Lines found: 111
Total input Lines in script: 337
Total input Lines in data: 382
Number of ID's processed: 100
Starting Number: 10401
Last Number of Run: 10500
Summary for Web Automation Report for 07-01-2021 at 08:23:31
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:27
17 Date Exceptions were recorded.
Total time of Processing: 02:25:58
Total time Program was Active: 10:30:04

***
Will continue today to add functionality to the Ratio procedure. The mouse position loop is in place and tested.

I've been thinking about how to code the "hunt" for match process ... One sure way to avoid an infinite loop is to use a timer.

In this case, a simple counter should be adequate ... I don't have a good feeling for how many passes through the try-a-position compare-to-target cut-difference-in-half method will be required, although (come to think of it) a mathematician might be able to predict the number easily. Computer students will recognize this as the tried-and-true binary search method from the first semester.

In any case, 60 should be sufficient, with a one second delay between tries to avoid overwhelming the AACKeys server.

The number of tries needed could be reported to the log.

The Ratio only needs to be computed once for a given hardware configuration. Once computed, it will permit rapid development of mouse position commands for a given sequence that might be needed in future. The Ratio needs to be saved as a file that can be loaded by the Mouse Trainer.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-07-01 06:26:55)

SpaceNut · 2021-07-01 18:00:32

The ban feature shuts off the request for password to the accounts if the email was remembered while we are converting the account.

edit
completed the unban of id's 7900 through to 8100

Last night the power was out due to the storm for over 1 1/2 hours so never really did get into the mode for using the computer.

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