DPChallenge Vista Sidebar Gadget...

02/14/2007 05:50:17 PM · #1

For those of us that are now running Vista, I can't think of anything I would rather have more than a DPChallenge Sidebar Gadget to display my current Challenge Entry Score and Voter Data... So, Langdon/Drew, when can we expect this download to be available? ;)

02/14/2007 06:01:08 PM · #2

Vista gadgets are actually just web pages. They're completely written in HTML and JavaScript, so theoretically, you could write this yourself (or I could write it for you, if I were so inclined).

The issue then becomes getting the right information from the website. The only way I can see is by screen scraping using JavaScript. Ouch. If the admins were to supply our user data via GET requests, it'd be a lot easier, i.e., your current score for challenge "foo" with id 999 might look like this:

//www.dpchallenge.com/?user=123&challenge=999&data=score

02/14/2007 06:09:51 PM · #3

Well heres what they could do. They can create a RSS feed with a tag for each uder that can be read.

BUT THINK ABOUT IT. If you can see your score through a link or an RSS feed. SO can everyone else!

02/14/2007 06:16:15 PM · #4

Ummmmmm, okay... I just want a gadget! LOL!!! Don't care how it work but would be nice if it was created correctly (however that may be) by Drew or Langdon. If it's really that simple it seems like it would be something can can whip up rather easily. Then only offer it to Members and possibly bring some paying Members on board. Just a thought. I hope it becomes a reality!!!

Thanks!

02/14/2007 06:25:08 PM · #5

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

Yes, I already considered that, but retrieving your data from either a web browser or gadget is essentially the same thing. You still need to be authenticated. In the former case, a cookie is used; in the latter, you could pass authentication data in the GET request. Anyway, GET strings needn't be the only way to write a gadget. As mentioned, you could just screen scrape. Messy, but doable.

02/14/2007 06:27:25 PM · #6

...and it very well could be that gadgets use the same cookie handling mechanisms as Explorer, in which case, so long as you're logged in to the site with Explorer, you're logged in with a gadget. So it becomes a non-issue.

02/14/2007 07:42:35 PM · #7

What is the release date? I'll be a Beta tester... ;)

02/15/2007 01:05:57 AM · #8

Originally posted by Louis:

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:
Well heres what they could do. They can create a RSS feed with a tag for each uder that can be read.

BUT THINK ABOUT IT. If you can see your score through a link or an RSS feed. SO can everyone else!

Yes, I already considered that, but retrieving your data from either a web browser or gadget is essentially the same thing. You still need to be authenticated. In the former case, a cookie is used; in the latter, you could pass authentication data in the GET request. Anyway, GET strings needn't be the only way to write a gadget. As mentioned, you could just screen scrape. Messy, but doable.

Well you dont actually need a screen scrape. Froegt the crude methods you once knew!. C, C++, Pascal, Java, (javascript in browser) alot of things can be used to scrape. But anyways outside of using a browser all you do is load the source into a strings variable and scrape the tags. Its not a screen scrape because their is no screen no window no view. Either way im sitting here thinking it kind of needs to be a web browser but im assuming it has full acces to all ie dlls. There for access to all calls.

sorry to be an a and get techincal.

02/15/2007 01:06:37 AM · #9

Originally posted by W.R.Miller:

What is the release date? I'll be a Beta tester... ;)

There is no release date. No ones actually saying thier gonna do it. Let go of your sausage and relax for a few years!

We SHOULD NOT even make it. Why you say...... a side bar gadget would only take u away from us you lazy lazy silly silly person!

Message edited by author 2007-02-15 01:07:13.

chimericvisions

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70 2.8L II

02/15/2007 01:21:53 AM · #10

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

The technique is still referred to as "screen scraping", however, because you're taking data that was meant to be rendered on screen and processing it for another use.

Anyway, yes, authenticated RSS is possible, but many readers still don't support it. (I work in the RSS business. :p)

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

02/15/2007 01:46:25 AM · #11

Originally posted by chimericvisions:

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:
Well you dont actually need a screen scrape. Froegt the crude methods you once knew!. C, C++, Pascal, Java, (javascript in browser) alot of things can be used to scrape. But anyways outside of using a browser all you do is load the source into a strings variable and scrape the tags. Its not a screen scrape because their is no screen no window no view. Either way im sitting here thinking it kind of needs to be a web browser but im assuming it has full acces to all ie dlls. There for access to all calls.

sorry to be an a and get techincal.

The technique is still referred to as "screen scraping", however, because you're taking data that was meant to be rendered on screen and processing it for another use.

Anyway, yes, authenticated RSS is possible, but many readers still don't support it. (I work in the RSS business. :p)

Will vista's RSS sidebar gadget or mail reader support it?

dacrazyrn

Nikon D300

02/15/2007 04:19:26 AM · #12

A gadget??? Oh, you mean like a Widget that has been in Mac for how many years now. :)
Been looking at trying to figure those out for Mac to do just this. Never enough time.
BEWARE!!! You will get addicted to those things. Lots for Mac and photo I have found. Cool ones like Gas prices, weather, ESPN, Google image search (which works good for trying to find your images someone is usuing) and web addresses. FUN FUN!!

Message edited by author 2007-02-15 04:23:01.

Wobble

Sony DSLR-A350

Konica Minolta AF 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6(D) DT

02/15/2007 04:34:59 AM · #13

As a matter of interest, why should anybody be wanting to use Vista yet?

OK, it may look good if you've the memory and graphics capability but it's memory hungry, Aero will kill a laptop's battery power, it doesn't have the driver support for all the peripherals out there, the new user account permissions is apparently a real drag and, finally, it's capable of breaking our photos metadata!

Cheers :)

skylercall

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

02/15/2007 04:36:28 AM · #14

Originally posted by Wobble:

As a matter of interest, why should anybody be wanting to use Vista yet?

...it's capable of breaking our photos metadata!

Care to explain?

chimericvisions

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70 2.8L II

02/15/2007 04:38:26 AM · #15

Originally posted by skylercall:

Originally posted by Wobble:
As a matter of interest, why should anybody be wanting to use Vista yet?

...it's capable of breaking our photos metadata!

Care to explain?

It only happens if you use the tool that modifies your photo data by adding categories. If you do that, you deserve to have your metadata destroyed. ;)

It's not "Vista", it's one of the tools in Vista.

skylercall

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

02/15/2007 04:39:36 AM · #16

The same happens in Win XP if you right click on a thumbnail and tell it to rotate the image.

02/15/2007 09:32:39 AM · #17

Originally posted by Wobble:

As a matter of interest, why should anybody be wanting to use Vista yet?

Instead of doing this here, please use one of the other myriad threads dicussing how lousy Vista is.

02/15/2007 12:49:23 PM · #18

I agree with Louis regarding the Vista bashing to take place elsewhere but I wanted to reply to your comments...

1. I want Vista because I like to try the newest things out. I don't mind bugs every once in a while and I understand that there will be some because of my early adoption. It's simply a personal preference...

2. You are right, it does look good. Excellent in fact...

3. I must say though that what I have experience so far, it is no where near as memory or CPU hungry as XP Pro was. Programs are launching much faster and operating with greater efficiency than XP Pro did. I'm not at all disappointed with it's performance and I do NOT have a monster system. P4 2.8Ghz w/2GB Memory and 256MB AGP Video. No issues.

4. I'm not running it on a laptop, I'm running it on a desktop PC.

5. Unlike XP Pro, Vista installed all of my drivers. I mean, it installed ALL of my drivers without me having to install any manually. With XP I would have had to install my Motherboard Drivers, Sound & Video Drivers, Printer Drivers, etc. Vista installed all of them. That is quite impressive in my opinion. So, this isn't an issue for me because I don't have ALL of the peripherals that are out there, I have the ones I have and Vista did a great job with those.

6. Account User permissions are not a drag if you know your way around and how to use, disable, enable what you want. Not an issue...

7. I have a great work flow so that when I download my photos to my PC, my photos are always in 4 places at once for backup. Not an issue if by chance some meta data gets screwed up, I have the backup to recover it from. So, this makes this a non-issue.

Cheers :)

Originally posted by Wobble:

02/15/2007 12:52:04 PM · #19

Ive been testing Vista since June of 2006....

Beta 2 had 90% of my drivers and RC-1 had ALL of my drivers including my video input card!

I never got RC-2 but RC-1 ran fine for me... less bugs then windows 98 se!

(BTW Ive never had to install a motherboard driver for any pc with any operating system sure they werent optional? Im running an ASUStek Stingray board at the moment forget which revision)

Message edited by author 2007-02-15 12:53:09.