Stalker

I was actually talking about sqllite command-line tool.

Softpedia is quite tricky to be "templated" easily. I'm working on a template for and almost got the apps hosted on SoftPedia itself to download.

Now try the method I suggested. Basically as far as I can see it everything goes like this: 1) Ketarin downloads a file 2) PreviousKnownLocation is updated with a path to downloaded file 3) User renames the file from outside Ketarin 4) User updates PreviousKnownLocation entry in the db 5) User initiates the update 6) Ketarin checks the PreviousKnownLocation and sees that the file is indeed there and up to date 7) Ketarin reports the file as up-to-date

Oh, it was a bug then. Because I was frozen for a few seconds thinking "Ehhh..." before I found out there was page 2 in this discussion already

Could you please be more elaborate concerning "some errors"? What errors exactly? It is very hard to debug a problem when the only detail you have is that something doesn't work.

That exactly why I have suggested a batch script which updates DB entries. No, the idea is that after renaming the file with some 3rd party tool you modify the "last know location" entry in the database to point to the new file. Of course there's also a possibility to make it like uTorrent. When the file is not found it shows that it's missing and you have to locate it manually which will trigger a has check. The obvious con of this method that it's neither a small change nor automatic.

A batch script which after renaming will update app's last known location in the database ? Well, if an application was designed for the task of updating apps and not as a general purpose updater you can't really expect it to have all the features of Swiss Army Knife Updater. While useful for a few this additional functionality (and I'm talking in general here, not about MD5/SHA1) would mean more confusion/bloat for the others.

You do realize that MD5/SHA1 checksums are in no way unique ? They cannot be used to track renaming because there's a possibility that two absolutely different files will have the same checksums. While I do agree that Ketarin's renaming may be limited for some uses it work perfectly for what it was built for - maintaining an application distro.

Shiny ! Thanks.

Would it be possible to post a changelog with each release of Ketarin ?

You're welcome. Just don't forget to do it in the code above

Yes, for {url:ext}. Basically {url} must point to the actual file URL, not what is scraped. So if you scrape something which redirects someplace else into{url} you'll get some useless link in the variable and {url:ext} with {url:basefile} won't work. Actually I don't think implementing {extension} is even needed. Just don't allow people to override some variables. Basically the rule of the thumb with variables should be not to override built-in variables unless necessary (like {version}) and try to give them as descriptive names as possible. Copy-paste will save you all the hassle of typing them down and you'll thank yourself later on for not being lazy and naming your variable {application_id} instead of {appid} for example. I really don't see what's so magic in {url} that people prefer using it instead of {link} for example.

Another thing I would suggest against is using global variables unless absolutely necessary. In such case name your global variable to something descriptive and which will associate the variable with your template to avoid naming conflicts. For example {majorgeeks_prefered_mirror} but not {myvar1}.

See this thread for more info.

I mean creating a new job entry from templates.

Regarding templates. Would it be possible to force the user to update some variables on template creation too ? For example for Firefox Addons you need addon ID. Another idea would be to allow uploading the templates to online repository (after thorough review though) and show the user these as options when adding new entries.

Like I said earlier I strongly advise against using {url} as your variable due to the problems with {url:ext} and alike.

Please note that this template does not work with addons which require you to either log in or accept a license. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?> <Jobs> <ApplicationJob xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <DownloadBeta>Default</DownloadBeta> <DownloadDate xsi:nil="true" /> <CanBeShared>true</CanBeShared> <ShareApplication>false</ShareApplication> <HttpReferer /> <Variables> <item> <key> <string>addon_id</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>Textual</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url></Url> <TextualContent>1865</TextualContent> <Name>addon_id</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> </item> <item> <key> <string>version</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>StartEnd</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/{addon_id}</Url> <StartText>title="Permanent link to this version">Version </StartText> <EndText></a></EndText> <Name>version</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> </item> <item> <key> <string>filename</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>RegularExpression</VariableType> <Regex>(?<=/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/\p{N}*/).*\.xpi(?=")</Regex> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/{addon_id}</Url> <Name>filename</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> </item> </Variables> <ExecuteCommand /> <Category>Firefox Addons</Category> <SourceType>FixedUrl</SourceType> <DeletePreviousFile>true</DeletePreviousFile> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <FileHippoId /> <LastUpdated xsi:nil="true" /> <TargetPath>{DEST_DIR}\{category}\{appname}_{version}.{url:ext}</TargetPath> <FixedDownloadUrl>http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/addons/{addon_id}/{filename}</FixedDownloadUrl> <Name>AdBlock Plus</Name> </ApplicationJob> </Jobs> Variables you need to modify: addon_id Type: local Content: ID of addon on Firefox Addons site. Example: hxxps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7661 DEST_DIR Type: global Content: Destination directory of the download Example: D:\Distrib Additional info: You can modify the save path as you see fit.

I save all my files to {DEST_DIR}\{category}\{appname}_{version}.{url:ext} as "Save to file" path. In case category contains spaces and the such folder does not exist Ketarin will show an error "Unable to find part of path <path>". When the folder is created manually everything's shiny.

http://ketarin.canneverbe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=62 - already discussed in depth here.

If you ask me the "wow" feature of Ketarin is pressing an "Update" button and in a few minutes having an up-to-date repository for a few hundred applications (Experience may way depending on the connection speed ).

1) When I first requested this feature a while ago Flo came up with global variables idea which I actually like better. I can't continue to love the fact that you just define some global var like {DEST_DIR} and then save all your apps to {DEST_DIR}\{appname}_v{version}.{url:ext} (which can be easily copypasted from entry to entry) and voila ! Instead of something like Vista_R123.zip (Realtek Audio HD Driver package name) you get Realtek HD Audio Driver_v123.zip. Easy to use, easy to read, easy to find. 2) Since using Ketarin implies having constant internet access I think it could be implemented via dynamically retrieving tooltip content from kb page. That way help is always up to date.

Oh, I didn't notice that it was actually getting something I thought it was just a composite variable with no function rather then to collect all other variables into one string.

I would actually suggest against redefining any of built-in variables except {version}. This could, and probably would, show problematic when trying to use something like {url:ext}. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't just enter the contents of {url} variable directly to the link field.

I think it would be a nice idea to have a forth option when creating a new app entry and that is "Import from template". That way there's a possibility to add more download sites then just FileHippo. Template would be an XML similar to app entry XML but without application name. For example consider this for a template to Firefox Addons site (please note that it may not actually be functioning right now if you create your app entry based on this template but this is my best guess from 15 minutes of looking at how the site is structured Don't judge harshly. And because I could really remember HTMLs equivalents for < and > I assumed &qt; was < and < was >): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?> <Jobs> <ApplicationJob xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" Guid="b5f78f98-af27-41ba-ac00-377321fdba96"> <DownloadBeta>Default</DownloadBeta> <DownloadDate xsi:nil="true" /> <CanBeShared>true</CanBeShared> <ShareApplication>false</ShareApplication> <HttpReferer /> <Variables> <item> <key> <string>addon_id</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>StartEnd</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search?q={appname:replace: :+}&cat=all</Url> <StartText>&qt;h3 class="name"<&qt;a href="/en-US/firefox/addon/</StartText> <EndText>" <</EndText> <Name>addon_id</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> <key> <string>version</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>StartEnd</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/{addon_id}</Url> <StartText>title="Permanent link to this version"<</StartText> <EndText>&qt;/a<</EndText> <Name>version</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> <key> <string>link</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>StartEnd</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/{addon_id}</Url> <StartText>&qt;p class="install-button platform-ALL"< &qt;a href="</StartText> <EndText>"</EndText> <Name>link</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> <key> <string>sha1</string> </key> <value> <UrlVariable> <VariableType>StartEnd</VariableType> <Regex /> <Url>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/{addon_id}</Url> <StartText>addonHash="</StartText> <EndText>"</EndText> <Name>sha1</Name> </UrlVariable> </value> </item> </Variables> <ExecuteCommand /> <Category>Firefox Addon</Category> <SourceType>FixedUrl</SourceType> <PreviousLocation></PreviousLocation> <DeletePreviousFile>true</DeletePreviousFile> <Enabled>true</Enabled> <FileHippoId /> <LastUpdated></LastUpdated> <TargetPath>{DEST_DIR}\{category}\{appname}_{version}.{url:ext}</TargetPath> <FixedDownloadUrl>https://addons.mozilla.com/{link}</FixedDownloadUrl> <Name>INSERT YOUR APPLICATION NAME HERE</Name> </ApplicationJob> </Jobs> Basically you insert the name of your addon and it will find the closest match on Firefox Addons site. It is a bit trickier then FileHippo due to the fact that you need to know addon ID (which is a number and has no visible relation to addon name) to download the addon and thus such computations. Automatic retrieval of ID can be done in the same way Ketarin now handles FileHippo (paste a link and parse the ID from there) but I don't know how to do it in a generic way (maybe with some heavy use of regex) so currently the example contains flaky variable way. Same templates can be added for other sites, like even FileHippo instead of having its own entry in the Add app dialog, to make Ketarin more robust.