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#1201 2021-05-28 11:32:04

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,813
Website

Re: Housekeeping

Two power supplies can be tricky. Ground loop issues. You would have to connect ground of one power supply to ground of the other.

I went to a local store for used computer parts. The person there said they have a run on used motherboards. He had one he was testing for sale. It did have an AMD processor socket, but when we checked the exact model of processor that I have, it wasn't compatible. I have ordered an adapter power cable over Amazon. With shipping it's CAD$24.86; a lot for a cable, but eh! It'll get me going. Now just waiting for it to arrive in the mail.
41JcEkwA-oL._SY90_.jpg

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#1202 2021-05-28 11:51:36

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For RobertDyck re #1201

First, thanks for the feedback (pun not intended) .... I agree that the grounds should be tied together.

Second, thanks for the ** great ** news that someone saw the market opportunity to offer an adapter cable, and went to all the trouble of engineering, testing, manufacturing, advertising and distributing cables like that!

it is ** that ** kind of demonstration that shows the ongoing potential of the Capitalist system!

The critical question (in this case) is whether the manufacturer is able to sell enough of those to achieve a return on the investment.

(th)

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#1203 2021-05-28 12:48:58

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

Switching power supplies are tricky when tying grounds together as some need to be isolated in order to sense current while others have a low resistance in the sense line for the purpose of detection.

Glad to hear progress is getting made as the computer industry is leaving many that can not afford a new machine behind...

even the refurbished machine I am on is no dream too with the current windows 10, edge browser causing all of the others to slowly have issues....not to mention the 64 bits are truly not being used....

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#1204 2021-05-29 05:56:03

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ... ID Recovery report

Last night's run to 6700 appears to have succeeded.

I'll set up the verify run shortly.

***
The Mouse Position Utility work yesterday revealed a possible pathway to improving the accuracy of the WBA at run time, if I can get it to work.

As reported in earlier posts, AACKeys (which delivers the mouse pointer to locations on the target screen) uses a coordinate system that is generic in nature, because it is written to work with any of hundreds of combinations of hardware and operating system that may exist or be developed in future years.

To use the system for WBA, it is necessary to align the generic coordinate system with whatever "real world" coordinate system is at hand.

A (small) complication is that the window used to capture location data (I call it a Frame Form) is (probably) NOT aligned with the main form.

During setup, the program needs to find the Frame Form, and determine as precisely as it can where the upper left corner may be, with respect to the physical screen 1,1 point.  I'm planning to write code today to perform that "find and fix" activity today.

One of the aspects of this situation that came to me over night is that the physical coordinates (used by Operating System) can be recorded, and saved for use later in conjunction with the generic coordinates used by the AACKeys program.

The result is (again, if I can get it to work) is that the WBA could (possibly) use the physical coordinates as an accuracy check on the performance of the AACKeys program to place the mouse pointer at run time.

If the target is [Submit] on a given web page, for example, then the generic coordinate system might have a value of 100 X and 100 Y, while the physical coordinates might be 433 X and 237 Y.  The AACKeys program can be instructed to place the pointer at 100,100.  A Click can be requested.

In conjunction with the click the Operating System can (and seems to) deliver the physical coordinates of the click site to a subroutine set up to capture that data.  If the physical coordinates associated with 100,100 were saved, they can be compared to the actual site of the click.

If the actual site was 433,237, then we have independent verification that the requested Click took place at the intended site.

In addition, we already have in place verification of the expected text at the address bar.

Completed Sequence for ID: 6700


Total Command Lines found: 95
Total input Lines in script: 260
  Total input Lines in data: 1529

  Total input Lines in data: 1529

  Number of ID's processed: 100

Starting Number: 6601

Last Number of Run: 6700

Summary for Web Automation Report for 05-29-2021 at 08:41:00
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:02:55
19 Date Exceptions were recorded.
157 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 04:54:39

Total time Program was Active: 11:06:58

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally
157 Skip Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

Will set Verify to look out 400 Usernames again ...

Verify Run ahead of 6701 Update ...

Query reported Not Found: Piano
Query reported Not Found: PlimusO

These names will be removed from the input file ... 1398 user names remain.

Completion by Flag Day (US) seems assured, if runs continue at the present pace.

Update at 16:09 local time ... work on the Mouse Training Utility continued today

Code is installed to find the Frame Form, which could be anywhere on the physical screen available to the operating system.

The Frame Form is needed to provide a reference point for the operator to use when selecting targest of interest on a browser.

The Frame Form is set to 20% opacity, so it is just barely visible when laid over the area of interest.

It is necessary to help the AACKeys program to know where the upper left of the Frame Form is, so I've completed a procedure to find it.

The Hunt procedure was already in place, but it was modified to (now) start working at the upper left of the Frame Form, instead of the upper left of the physical screen landscape.

I'll attempt a shakedown run tomorrow.

In the meantime, tonight's run to 6800 is queued up and ready to go at about 22:00 local time.

***
Thinking ahead .... After we complete the first pass through the Bans table, we will have picked off the 0 posts ID's.

If you are interested, I could investigate to see if it might be possible to determine if the ID's with 1 post reported in the Users table have actual posts.

If there is a way for the program to confirm that a particular ID actually has no posts, then we could process it as we are doing now, but it will show up as a test ID with a post.   You would still have to reduce the post count to 0 while doing whatever other finishing touches you are doing.

However, we won't be done with the current phase until Flag Day if the present rate of progress holds.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-05-29 14:18:27)

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#1205 2021-05-29 18:29:18

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re Mouse Training Utility

The program is "sortof" working ... the mouse moves from upper left until it reaches the Frame Form.

Unfortunately, I did not realize it would click on objects along the way .... for some reason I thought that a computer generated mouse click would just flash on the screen, but ** of course ** it causes whatever it is above to respond to a click ... At least NOW I know (approximately) what the AACKeys coordinate system "thinks" is inside the frame form ...

601 X and 61 Y compared to 1000+ in the System coordinate framework.

Thank goodness the WBA program is working reliably using simple tabs!

This mouse  business is proving to be more challenging than I had imagined.

I'll have to spend some more time thinking about how to approach this.

One ** possible ** option is to take screenshots of the browser screens, and display those for training purposes.

Or (come to think of it) I don't need ** anything ** on the screen during the setup phase, when the program is clicking many times in an effort to find the borders of the Frame Form.

***
The run to 6700 should start around 22:00 local time.

(th)

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#1206 2021-05-29 20:33:01

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

Tonight's run from 6500 through to 6700 has been dispatched with for the unban and are cleanly in the user list.

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#1207 2021-05-30 05:59:40

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1206

Thanks for catching up with all 200 of those pending ID's.  I was happy to see that when I started the latest run last night.

The run stopped at 6778.  I'll go check it shortly.  At this point, I'm fairly confident the program is working well, so the halt is like to be due to an Internet hiccup.

***
Overnight I rethought the Mouse Utility setup procedure.  The automatic concept I started with has disadvantages that outweigh the potential convenience.

I'll add a new form for the purpose of finding the Frame Form and locating a point to align the AACKeys coordinate system to the System one.

I'm tempted to experiment with "driving" the mouse pointer with commands provided for the purpose.   If that works, the operator can steer the mouse pointer to the desired location without performing any clicks.

I'll post here with any updates for today.

***
I'm continuing to enjoy and appreciate Mars_B4_Moon's exploration of the archive!  You'd been the only one doing that for a long time.  It is fun to have someone else bringing those ancient threads back into view.

We're coming up on Memorial Day in the US .... hope the weather's decent where you are.  We've had a lot of overcast lately.

***
This next item is weather related, but it's ** larger ** than local news ... Looking out at the gloomy morning sky reminded me we (and much of the Nation) are short on rain.  I saw a report in the past day or so warning that the US is facing an extension of a severe drought that may lead to really serious issues.

The Earth is tossing plenty of water up into the air, but the air currents appear to be steering away from where that moisture is needed, and generally dumping it where there is already too much.

With all the argument about whether solar power is good for anything, this is a good time to remember that solar power is what delivers ** every ** drop of fresh water to the entire Earth, 24*7*365. 

Humans ** know ** how to use solar power to make fresh water, but the incentive has not been available to "persuade" most of us to make the investment of time and attention to detail to employ manmade solar power to create manmade fresh water.

Inertia is SO powerful in human thought, it seems unlikely to me the obvious solution to the problem if smoothing out Nature's random activity will gain acceptance in time to make a difference.

However, there ** are ** examples from human history of calming nature with sufficient effort over a long enough period.

The Mississippi River has been (largely) tamed in the US.  China has made similar efforts to calm it's river systems, but I understand their systems may have been overwhelmed of late.  The Colorado was tamed in the US, and now it is a whimpering ghost of it's former self.

Update at 8:42 local time ... Run report

2021/05/30 Halt at 6778 -- 1306 left in file

TestID06778 completed manually >> MVODenisha
92 usernames 78 completed 14 skips

The cause of this halt is unclear and may be unknowable ... the failure occurred after 22 tabs

Resuming the run at 6779

Update at 10:00 local time ... the push through to 6800 went without further incident...

Completed Sequence for ID: 6800


Total Command Lines found: 95
Total input Lines in script: 260
  Total input Lines in data: 1306

  Total input Lines in data: 1306

  Number of ID's processed: 22

Starting Number: 6779

Last Number of Run: 6800

Summary for Web Automation Report for 05-30-2021 at 10:08:54
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:02:35
1 Date Exceptions were recorded.
23 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 00:59:30

Total time Program was Active: 01:22:59

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally
23 Skip Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

The fact that the existing way-of-doing-things is vulnerable to hiccups is helpful (to me for sure) to sustain motivation to keep moving toward harnessing the mouse movement commands of the AACKeys repertoire. If the tab count on the way to the target is reduced (because the FluxBB server added a tab stop) or increased (because FluxBB took OUT a tab stop) can make a BIG difference in what happens next.  I'd rather (try to) avoid the risk altogether, which the mouse position capability would appear to allow.

I've opened a new form dedicated to finding the Frame Form.  My current intention is to (try to) learn how to "drive" the mouse pointer in progress toward the Frame Form.  I've written a (modestly sophisticated) educational game in the past, so this should be (somewhat) familiar ground, although using the arrow keys will be a new wrinkle.

Starting the Verify run for 400 Usernames now.

Update at 13:48 local time

Update for Web Automation Report for 05-30-2021 at 10:13:20
  WebBrowserAutomation
Version 2021.5.25.1

Verify run:

  Total input Lines in data: 1283

  Number of ID's processed: 400

Query reported Not Found: RobertQH
Query reported Not Found: ronnykingp
Query reported Not Found: Rshop2018

The schedule of starting after 22:00 local time seems to be working, so I'll start 6801 then.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-05-30 11:49:50)

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#1208 2021-05-31 06:07:54

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

The run to 6900 was smooth. 

Completed Sequence for ID: 6900


Total Command Lines found: 95
Total input Lines in script: 260
  Total input Lines in data: 1280

  Total input Lines in data: 1280

  Number of ID's processed: 100

Starting Number: 6801

Last Number of Run: 6900

Summary for Web Automation Report for 05-31-2021 at 07:49:14
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:02:50
11 Date Exceptions were recorded.
139 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 04:46:28

I'll start the Verify run shortly.

Work on the Mouse Position Utility is coming along.  The program is (probably) only about 70% finished, but even at this stage it delivered useful results.  Last night I captured location data for every significant tab destination in the existing script.  If there is time today I'll add more of the remaining 30%, to generate actual script commands.

One detail that I found interesting/surprising is that the AACKeys program consistently requires repeat transmission of a position command. I'm not sure, but it is ** possible ** the program is going to an "anchor" point before it goes on to the location I've requested.  Since I haven't provided an anchor point, it may just make one up.

Update at 10:41 local time ... the Verify run ended at 307, due to (what appears to be) an Internet anomaly.

However, that is well over the likely range of skips for tonight's run to 7000.

No missing Usernames

***
Work is underway to bring the Mouse Position Trainer closer to usability.

Update at 14:55 local time ...

Update for Web Automation Report for 05-31-2021 at 14:44:52
  MousePositionTrainingUtility
  Version 2021.5.31.1

#
# Userlist php Username field
<esc>,goto,450,185.
# User List Query Results Username field
<esc>,goto,425,270.
# Essentials username field
<esc>,goto,520,183.
# Admin Button on Essentials Page
<esc>,goto,425,235.
# Ban User Button
<esc>,goto,510,175.
# Ban Page Username field
<esc>,goto,600,175.

The next step is to merge/replace these into the existing tab oriented script, to see if they work in practice.

Update at 20:14 local time

I just ran a test of the Verify script using the new Mouse Position command ...

Run time for a loop dropped from 28 seconds to 19, or a 30% improvement.

I'm not sure how well that serves as an indication of what to expect from the update script.

The verify script only has one Tab sequence, whereas the Update script has six.

One thing I was happy to see was the Smart Wait got a chance to show me it's stuff while I was fine tuning the script.  It worked correctly, and would have halted the run if I'd not issued a manual stop.

***
Update at 21:07 local time ... Mouse Position commands are installed in a new version of the Update script.  i'll run tonight's dash to 7000 using the tabbing version that is well broken in, and test the new version in Step mode after the run finishes tomorrow.
***
Hoping your Memorial Day went well.  CSPAN is covering the events of the day in the usual quiet, thorough way.  I was surprised and pleased to learn that there is a World War II museum with working examples of war machines collected from most nations and most wars, restored and kept in operating condition. This museum is based upon a collection assembled by a private individual and then donated.

This museum is somewhere up your way, although I failed to note the location because there's NO way ** I'll ** get to see it.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-05-31 19:13:46)

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#1209 2021-05-31 21:52:19

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

More than memorial day on the TV for the Homefront as Tulsa race massacre airing.
A mass grave with the bodies of 215 Indigenous children was found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Yesterday was a trip to the family cemeteries the members that fought in WW1 and WW2
Just go my internet service back that is using the 4G network for the cellphone carrier.
Its late so will try to catch up tomorrow night...

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#1210 2021-06-01 06:53:59

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1209

Thanks for mention of your family visit to fallen ancestors .... Our family has only one member to keep in mind. All served in WW II but survived.  One in 10th Mountain Division came closest to loss.  One in marines, one in navy, several in army. The one loss was from Viet Nam. Name is on the Wall. 

***
The run ended early last night ... 6928 completed.  I'm thinking of trying the new Mouse Position script now. The failure was a tabbing failure. 

Update at 9:37 local time

The new script with Mouse position is running ... performance is better than I'd been hoping for ...

Old: Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:02:50

The new time is hovering around 1 minute .... The new procedure is in use in 8 locations.

To insure accuracy of mouse placement the revised script asks for the placement twice ... occasionally AACKeys needs that second request to get its act together. 

Update at 9:49 .... the latest average is 1 minute 26 seconds, or just about half of the previous average for 100 ID's completed.

The average is thrown off by skips ... the time for a skip is counted against the ID that succeeds.

Update at 10:23 local time ... The average time for 35 completed ID's is showing as 1 minute 33 seconds.

Update at 11:19 local time ... 7000 is in the ready column. 

Average time for 72 ID's was 1:30 ...that included 107 skips

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-01-2021 at 11:21:45
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:30
11 Date Exceptions were recorded.
107 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 01:48:18

Total time Program was Active: 01:53:16

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally
107 Skip Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

There were more skips (on this occasion) than there were ID's accepted.

Update at 12:38 ... The Verify run is taking only 20 seconds per Username ... I decided to Verify all remaining 1000+ Usernames today.

The run should finish by 20:00 local time.

Update at 18:11 ... The run finished and the list of missing Usernames is being accumulated

Verify run for 1034 Usernames

Query reported Not Found: Sanarb
Query reported Not Found: sluclict
Query reported Not Found: Stanislawa
Query reported Not Found: tertfkzazvs
Query reported Not Found: tertgsccpte
Query reported Not Found: terthanh03041993
Query reported Not Found: tertheelix1
Query reported Not Found: terthepcsoft
Query reported Not Found: tertheresaoe3
Query reported Not Found: terThimonW
Query reported Not Found: terThomas3886
Query reported Not Found: terThomasBarr
Query reported Not Found: terThomasErode
Query reported Not Found: terThomasfex
Query reported Not Found: terThomasFluts
Query reported Not Found: terThomasmup
Query reported Not Found: tfeluebcEndOfTestIDSeries
Query reported Not Found: Tom
Query reported Not Found: Upd:
Query reported Not Found: Winniectxi
Query reported Not Found: Writers
Query reported Not Found: Writing

A number of those citations are artifacts caused by my procedure for collecting usernames ...

I collected all the names in the Bans table into a text sequence, and then fed that into a spreasheet.

I told the spreadsheet to use "space" as a delimiter between columns,

At the time, I had NO idea the FluxBB system allows spaces in User names ...

No harm is done, because the Usernames from which the artifacts were derived are undisturbed in the Bans table.

I'm thinking of increasing the size of tonight's run, since the performance has increased by about half.

A run of 400 ID's would take 600 minutes or 10 hours if there were no skips ...

I think I'll try 200 and see how it goes.  If you see this and prefer I stay at 100 per day, I'll check before starting.


(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-01 17:26:14)

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#1211 2021-06-01 08:46:42

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ... current script with Position commands

SearchTerm:Script for Update of User records found in Bans table with Zero Posts

# 2021/05/31 (th) Replace Tabs with Mouse Position commands
#
#  Original output from Mouse Trainer is adjusted: (a) double position and (b) add Click
#
# 2021/05/24 Revised - eliminate comments
#
# 2021/05/22 Revised to add Smart Wait for arrival at Bans page
# 2021/05/21 Revised to use new Smart Wait command WaitForEventAddressMatch:abcde
# 2021/05/20 Update to compare right in userlist request
# 2021/05/10 This script will read Username values from a Data Array at run time
#    Updated to report Username to log after fetch from data array
#
#    This script processes User ID's with these characteristics:
#    Banned (in Bans table) <<== Achieved by starting with Bans query
#    Zero posts (posts < 1) See Ctrl/A Ctrl/c section
#    Registered date = Last_Visit date See Ctrl/A Ctrl/c section
#
#
# Userlist php Username field
#<esc>,goto,450,185.
# User List Query Results Username field
#<esc>,goto,425,270.
# Essentials username field
#<esc>,goto,520,183.
# Admin Button on Essentials Page
#<esc>,goto,425,235.
# Ban User Button
#<esc>,goto,510,175.
# Ban Page Username field
#<esc>,goto,600,175.
#
# Ban Page Username field
#<esc>,goto,600,175.
#<esc>,goto,600,175.
#<esc>,click.
#
#    Storage Assignments:
#    Clipboard 0: Used by Smart Wait feature
#    Clipboard 1: The Name of the User to be upgraded
#    Clipboard 2: The new User Name (eg, TestID#####)
#    Clipboard 3: The new email address (eg, testid#####@test.com)
#    Clipboard 4: The full Profile page text with Posts and dates
#
#Starting Over: Wait at the top allows operator to set focus on browser
#
Wait:5000
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#Ctrl/l
#
Text:http://newmars.com/forums/userlist.php
Wait:1000
<esc>enter.
Wait:1000
#
#    We should now be on the userlist page
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:newmars.com/forums/userlist.php
#
#    If there is a match, continue the run, otherwise stop now.
#    Note that WaitForEvent tries multiple times before halt
#
#    Adding ctrl/l to reset for tab operation
<esc>,combine,control,l.
wait:1000
#tab:15
# Userlist php Username field
<esc>,goto,450,185.
<esc>,goto,450,185.
<esc>,click.
#
#    Advance to the Username field. Username will be pulled from a Data Array
#
#    Note that this mechanical operation could fail
#
GetDataPutClipboard:1
#
ReportClipboard:1
#
PasteClipboard:1
#
#    Deliver and report the Username for the record we are working on
#
<esc>enter.
#
#    We should be on the query results page for this user
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/userlist.php?username=
#
#    If we have a match continue. Otherwise stop the run.
#    Now tab to the username field in the search results
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#
#Tab:20
# User List Query Results Username field - Replaced 2021/06/02 with Mouse to Username field and Tab:5 from there
<esc>,goto,425,270.
<esc>,goto,425,270.
<esc>,click.
#
#<esc>enter.<<==don't need enter here! Click initiates request for Essentials page
#
#    We should NOW be on the profile page for the ID in work: Username - Essentials
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/profile.php?id=
#
#    If we have a match continue. Otherwise stop the run.
#    Tab to the Username field in the Profile record
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#
#tab:22
# Essentials username field
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,click.
#
# Click does NOT highlight the field
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
<esc>,combine,control,c.
ReportClipboard
#
#    Is this a username? Write the current value to the log for record
#
CompareClipboardSaved:1
#
#    End the job if the field does not match the one saved in Clipboard1
#
#    These notes and procedures assume we are on the profile page
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#
Tab:1
#
#    The tab here takes us out of the address bar onto the full page
#    The capture below is intended to collect all text on the page
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
StoreClipboard:4
#
# At this point we need to perform a series of operations in code
# The function here is specific to FluxBB but should work for any FluxBB site
# Note that the parameter is of the row in the clipboard array where data is stored
#
PerformFunction:4
#
#    The function will signal if the user does not qualify for upgrade
#
#    Proceed to update this record or skip this Username and try the next one
#
#    Restart at the top of the page because we performed the Post/Dates validation
#
#    Tab back to the Username field on the Profile page
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#
# Tab:22
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,click.
#
# Click does NOT hightlight the field
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
#Insert new TestID
Text:TestID
Number:5
# The field is not highlighted after input of new ID Username
# However, the focus remains in the field, so Ctrl/a will capture it
<esc>,combine,control,a
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
StoreClipboard:2
ReportClipboard:2
#
#     Above: Capture the new TestID for use later in Clipboard2
#
tab:2
#
#Insert new email
Text:TestID
Number:5
Text:@test.com
#
# As before, the focus remains in the active field so Ctrl/a will capture it
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
StoreClipboard:3
ReportClipboard:3
#
#    Above will capture new email address for use later in Clipboard3
#     Leaving the tab run from email to note field in place (th)
tab:10
#         tab:10 was replaced with Mouse Position on 2021/06/02
Text:Updated
Date:yyyymmdd
Text: by moderator
#
#    We have completed update of the Profile pages for the current ID
#
#    Enter below will submit the updated page to FluxBB for database update
#
<esc>enter.
Wait:1000
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/profile.php?section=essentials&id=
#
#    Exit (stop run) if there is a mismatch.
#    On Profile page, advance to Username field to confirm update
#
#tab:22   need user name field here
# Essentials username field
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,goto,520,183.
<esc>,click.
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
CompareClipboardSaved:2
#
#    The value saved in Clipboard2 is the current TestID
#    That same value should be present at Tab 22
#
# If this ID was already banned then banning is redundant ... however, there is an opportunity to make adjustments to the Ban record
#
#    Advance to Tab 21 to activate the Administration button
#
<esc>,combine,control,l.
#
#tab:21
# Admin Button on Essentials Page
<esc>,goto,425,235.
<esc>,goto,425,235.
<esc>,click.
#<esc>enter. <<== don't need Enter because Click will initiate launch
Wait:1000
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/profile.php?section=admin&id=
#
# We are still on the profile page and will now ask for the Administration function
#
#    End the run if we have a mismatch
#
#tab:22
# Ban User Button
<esc>,goto,510,175.
<esc>,goto,510,175.
<esc>,click.
#    Advance to Ban User button
#<esc>enter.<<== don't need Enter here
Wait:1000
#     Revising 2021/05/22 to check the Address bar here
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/admin_bans.php
#
#    End the run if we have a mismatch
#
#    Now tab to the Username field
Tab:1
#
#    If all has gone well, highlight will be on TestID##### (current)
#
#    field may not be highlighted so perform Ctrl/a
#
<esc>,combine,control,a.
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
CompareClipboardSaved:2
#
#    End the run if there is a mismatch with value in Clipboard2
#
tab:1
#
#    Clear the IP address field
#   
backspace
#
tab:1
#    Report the current email address - it may need update
#
#    highlight the field
<esc>,combine,control,a.
Wait:1000
<esc>,combine,control,c.
# ReportClipboard removed per SpaceNut request
#
PasteClipboard:3
#
# Paste the current email address regardless of previous contents
#    The current email address was saved earlier in Clipboard3
#
# The current date is substituted for the pattern shown below
#
Tab:1
#    Insert Upd text
Text:Upd:
Date:yyyy/mm/dd
#
<esc>enter.
Wait:1000
#
WaitForEventAddressMatch:http://newmars.com/forums/admin_bans.php
#
# Look for exact match
#
# Done with one ID
#
#    Update as of 2021/04/13 (th) An experiment with NewMars shows
#    that Ctrl/A can capture the entire Profile page for a user
#    The captured text can be pulled from Clipboard
#    The result is a nicely organized collection of text
#    The number of posts, registration date and Last Visit date are clear
#    2021/04/24 (th) completed 4459 in step mode

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-02 07:59:52)

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#1212 2021-06-02 07:03:45

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

WBA had a graceful failure in the run from 7000 to 7100 ....

Since the new mouse position feature is still (relatively) new, it turns out there is still something to adjust.

It turns out that all input fields are not the same, as implemented in php, by FluxBB.

Furthermore, response of an input field differs depending upon whether it is clicked (by Mouse) or activated by a tab.

The halt occurred last night because the position I had chosen for the Username field in the Query results list was in the middle of the field.  That position is perfect for a field that is set up to be sensitive to mouse input for it's full extent.  However, it turns out that the Query results Username field is only sensitive to mouse input in the region defined by the letters comprising the Username. 

The Smart Wait feature handled the unclicked field and stopped the run gracefully.

As a temporary measure, to get past the halt, I adjusted the X position for the Mouse command for that field.

However, a longer term solution is to Mouse to a field above the Query results, and tab 5 times to reach the Query results username field.  The tab is NOT bothered by the number of characters in the Username.

There is another location in the script where I'm using 10 tabs to reach a field, and I'm planning to replace that with a mouse position command, for a net reduction of 5 tabs for the script.

***
Looking ahead ...

After the ID's with zero posts are processed, there appears to be a large set of ID's with Post count of 1 but no posts.  I'm pretty sure the Ghost Post situation can be identified automatically, so those Id's would become candidates for recovery.

There will be no Verify run from now until the end of the remain 900 (or so) usernames, because the run to the end was completed yesterday.

(th)

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#1213 2021-06-02 07:36:30

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ...

By any chance, have you considered automating part of the work you are doing to finish the ID recovery.

I have no way of knowing what's involved ... You've seen what a script looks like, so you might be able to work up a draft I could review. 

The program requires special hardware (cables) to run right now, because the company I found that offers a Virtual Port program was unable to reach all the way back to 2008 to figure out how their program could run with mine.

I suspect the support staff are just out of college and unfamiliar with any software older than 2017.

There is a shareware/open-source program called Com2Com that might be worth investigating, but it has no support.

Update 2021/06/03 8:16 local time ... a test run of 200 completed smoothly.  Average time was just under 2 minutes per ID delivered.

Only 637 lines remain in the data file ...

Completed Sequence for ID: 7300

Total Command Lines found: 110
Total input Lines in script: 336
  Total input Lines in data: 894

  Total input Lines in data: 894

  Number of ID's processed: 199

Starting Number: 7102

Last Number of Run: 7300

Summary for Web Automation Report for 06-03-2021 at 06:48:29
Average time of Loop from Main form: 00:01:53
31 Date Exceptions were recorded.
314 Skip Exceptions were recorded.

Total time of Processing: 06:17:29

Total time Program was Active: 08:06:39

Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally
314 Skip Exceptions were reported. Run ended normally

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-03 07:16:07)

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#1214 2021-06-03 17:42:43

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery ....

We are getting close to exhausting the supply of usernames I collected from the Bans table a few weeks ago.

This evening I checked WBA and found/confirmed that I had not planned for that eventuality.  At the time of coding, the objective was to get the program to work at all, let alone deal properly with an out-of-input-data condition.  Code is now installed to (hopefully) gracefully close the program if the supply of user names runs out.  It is possible tonight's run will hit the limit, because such a high percentage of usernames have ghost posts.

In the unlikely event there is a picker of nits in the readership, the code omission was NOT related to reading from the source file  That is handled by a normal end of file process.  The usernames are loaded into an array and pulled from there at run time.  There is a count of names in the data array, so I added a line to compare the current pointer to the limit variable, and close down if appropriate.

(th)

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#1215 2021-06-03 18:09:19

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

There are plenty more names that could be banned as I stopped in the first page of the c's if I remember right.

So will do that instead of clearing the new names.

did the rest on those that did not have any posts and marked the accounts locked for the few which had the single post.

Made it through the c's to the beginning of the D's.

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#1216 2021-06-03 18:47:38

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1215

Thanks for your comments and for the outlook ...

The collection of more candidates from the Users table is exclusively something you are best qualified to handle.

I am content to work with the ID's that are already ** in ** the Bans table.

As a reminder ... about half the candidates in recent days have been ID's with ghost posts.

I'm ** pretty ** sure it would not be difficult to modify the existing script to look for ID's with ghost posts ... what I ** cannot ** do is to reset the post count.

I have no idea how much work it would be to clear the post count when you are banning candidates, but if it is not ** too ** much trouble, that would help the existing script to remain productive a bit longer.

***
Nice to see Calliban's continued interest in fission and fusion, and most recently, a hint there might be a hybrid concept that would allow fusion to breed useful isotopes from U238.  It's  a bit concerning (to me at least) that the intermediate product is Plutonium, but humans have been handling that element safely for decades, after some early mis-steps due to lack of familiarity with the dangers of the element.

(th)

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#1217 2021-06-04 04:33:37

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re ID Recovery

WBA reached 7612 last night, before it halted due to a mismatch during one of the verification steps.

7613 was in process, and the Profile page looks right, so I'll finish it by hand.267 lines remain in username file.

(th)

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#1218 2021-06-04 17:09:17

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut ...

There is no topic that contains both the words "air" and "force" ...

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/air- … 00399.html

Rocket Cargo, as the request states, will "demonstrate new trajectories and ways to fly large rockets, the ability to land rockets at austere locations, and design and test an ejectable pod for air drop." The rocket could theoretically fly supplies, equipment, and maybe even troops from the continental U.S. to pretty much anywhere else in the world within a matter of minutes.

(th)

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#1219 2021-06-04 19:29:49

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

Ah the void Dumbo drop to off load payload topic....

I started to look at an old spread sheet which was started back when I was a mod for topic id's that had been fixed and id's that had been used as I incremented the number to see what came back.
We have so many more topics but hopefully we can determine where the topic line is which would need fixing by a little trial and error from it.

I was thinking about the Bee topic and how we could create analog site here on earth that would simulate mars conditions of gravity, partial pressure and solar energy levels.

The venus blimp would seem to fit the high altitude design but what would be the criteria to which to design to. leverage from this post and others which are in the cloud city.

24342E9C00000578-0-image-a-8_1419182454519.jpg

So the levels of solar to go with is 430 w/m^2 for all operations within the human tank area (submarine terminology) with the remaining earth solar energy to keep the blimp at altitude and speed to stay in constant solar light as the earth turns under it.

So much like mars what is the level of energy per person thats required for all life support functions needs a real number. We know man can live in areas where the suns isolation matches mars but they in times of old would move with the food. That said its a number thats in between both that is the optimum for solar to get for each person with the unknown still how many meters are required.

So what's required for food, air, water in meters is the number we need as well as the levels of power that must accompany it.

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#1220 2021-06-04 20:00:27

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Offline

#1221 2021-06-05 05:49:50

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1220 and ID Recovery

Thanks for thinking about the Air Force initiative to use new rocket designs to deliver cargo to remote locations.

Your reminder of the dirigible topic is interesting, as is the Data Science collection of links.

***
WBA finished off the collection of Usernames we've been working with recently.  The total of TestID's is now 7878.

This is ** ALMOST ** half of 19,633 ID's in the User's table.  In the next run we'll cross the half-way threshold.

There are 59 pages of Bans table entries reported.  Of those, TestID's comprise 25 pages, so there are (approximately) 34 pages of Usernames in the Bans table.

Many of those are showing 1 Post but have no actual posts.

I cannot reset the posts count.  If you (as you ) find time, and can reset the posts on these the existing WBA will be able to process them.

I'll take a look to see if there is a script that can find ** just ** Usernames with zero posts from the remaining collection.  It might be possible to stretch the Verify script to perform that service.

An  alternative (thinking about the situation a bit further) would be to use the existing Collect Usernames script and simply process the collection more thoroughly than I did the first time.  In order to minimize time (at that point) I used spreadsheet software to pull the first names from the collection and sort them into ascending order.

A modestly more sophisticated program can study the data collected more carefully.  It might be possible to select just usernames that have no posts.

It still is necessary to run the Verify script, because many of the Usernames in the Bans table are NOT in the Users table.

I ** may ** be able to remove those names from the Bans table, and if so, that would take another small part of the work of dealing with the harvest from our spammers over many years.  I'll investigate that possibility.

All in all, I think this first series of runs with WBA deserves to be considered a (modest) success.

In particular, we've crossed the threshold of 7800 ID's available for new Users.  That is the number I've been working with to populate Sagan City 2018, which is the framework for My hacienda.

Update at 9:39 local time .... A fresh set of screen scrapes of the Bans table is collected.

A utility program to pull (real) usernames from the dump is set up for editing for this specific task,

I'm hoping the Verify script can be enhanced to not only find user names that do not exist in the Users table, but ** also ** find the usernames that have zero posts, so WBA doesn't have to waste time finding them at update time.

Update at 13:15 local time

1680 usernames came out of the extract utility today.  I'll run the list with the Verify script.

My expectation is there will be a number of missing User table reports.

Update after watching the Verify run for a while ... the output will include Usernames that contains spaces. 

Write My Essay <<== there are several of those, so we should be able to upgrade them ...

The Verify run is averaging 20 seconds per user name, so the run should finish at about 22:34 local time.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2021-06-05 11:29:31)

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#1222 2021-06-05 16:33:19

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,983

Re: Housekeeping

Did a large purge of zero post accounts for members in the user list placing them into the banned which has accounted for 53 pages of users. I still have not reached the end to get to those that have 1 post and up false accounts, yet which is 393 pages long for all users..

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#1223 2021-06-05 16:53:27

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For SpaceNut re #1222 and Recovery activity in general

Congratulations on all that work!  I'm looking forward to working with those new candidates.

I'm pasting a list of Usernames that need to be removed from the Bans table.

They will cause a halt if the WBA program hits one of them.  I've manually removed them from the list generated today, but they will have to be manually removed from the Bans table at some point.


Extract Lines For Help Context ID Report for 06-05-2021 at 18:47:20
   Version 2021.6.1

Input File is Open as C:\DataDell\WebBrowserAutomation\WebRunlog_06-05-2021_13-18-09_47889.txt

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

Query reported Not Found: Winniectxi
Query reported Not Found: Upd: 2021/03/0TestID03055
Query reported Not Found: terThomasmup
Query reported Not Found: terThomasFluts
Query reported Not Found: terThomasfex
Query reported Not Found: terThomasErode
Query reported Not Found: terThomasBarr
Query reported Not Found: terThomas3886
Query reported Not Found: terThimonW
Query reported Not Found: tertheresaoe3
Query reported Not Found: terthepcsoft
Query reported Not Found: tertheelix1
Query reported Not Found: terthanh03041993
Query reported Not Found: tertgsccpte
Query reported Not Found: tertfkzazvs
Query reported Not Found: Stanislawa
Query reported Not Found: sluclict
Query reported Not Found: Sanarb
Query reported Not Found: Rshop2018
Query reported Not Found: ronnykingp
Query reported Not Found: RobertQH
Query reported Not Found: PlimusO
Query reported Not Found: OzmafaKix
Query reported Not Found: MysteryBan
Query reported Not Found: MichaelSuery
Query reported Not Found: michael29
Query reported Not Found: mark0211
Query reported Not Found: lpascher11
Query reported Not Found: JohnnieWhiff
Query reported Not Found: Johnnierog
Query reported Not Found: johndupe123fdr
Query reported Not Found: ieltsproxy23
Query reported Not Found: hopsterO
Query reported Not Found: HiramNoill
Query reported Not Found: Harold03
Query reported Not Found: haojinming
Query reported Not Found: Hanjoggima
Query reported Not Found: Gmith56Q
Query reported Not Found: General?ontractorfotly
Query reported Not Found: Gaunormm
Query reported Not Found: Fiulaposk
Query reported Not Found: Ericagijo
Query reported Not Found: emersonetem
Query reported Not Found: Emeldatup

Total Input Lines 1,954
Total Output Lines 60
  Lines containing String One 44
  Lines containing String Two
Lines containing String Three
Successful Run. No Warning Errors.

(th)

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#1224 2021-06-05 18:03:51

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,813
Website

Re: Housekeeping

Finished installing an AMD Radeon HD 6870 video card. I can run Civilization IV using DirectX 11 (not DirectX 12). Installing Unreal Engine 4.26.2 ...

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#1225 2021-06-05 18:13:58

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 17,368

Re: Housekeeping

For RobertDyck 43 #1224

Congratulations on integrating that (impressive to me for sure) new card into your system!

(th)

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