ASK Public Beta 0.9.4

[epiktetus]

Well, the time is here. If you're not sure what this is, take a look here:
http://www.avlis.org/viewtopic.php?t=46916

ASK Public Beta 0.9.4 is available here:
http://avlis.betaspace.net/ASKInstall.zip (147k)

Please let me know if you find any bugs or have any suggestions on how it can be improved. My ultimate goal is that this is the only program/script/batch file you will ever need. (Besides the Required Haks of course)

And after you've run it a couple of times, let us all know what you think. Be brutal, I can take it.

[Toman Nouwen]

Only a couple minor things, Epik... and I mean minor

- The 'www.Avlis.org' link is not centered over the 'Avlis Fanfiction' information in the upper-right hand corner. (I warned you... minor)
- I was going to say that there was no place to find the version number of ASK, but I just saw the little (0.9.4) information in the status bar.

Possible Additions??
-----------------------------------------------
- Minimize to the System Tray, with right-click capabilities to launch/connect to the servers?
- Maybe a counter of some form, to keep track of how many hours/days you've been playing total, and/or on a particular server...
- Follow up for the above suggestions, is a timer that plays a WAV file letting you know you've been playing for x amount of time, and that you should really consider eating, sleeping, spend time with your spouse, etc...


Just my 2 cp

[Dark_EK]

Minor feedback, when putting on more servers than one window can handle, i think it woud be better to scroll up/down instead of left/right for these thing.. just a minor thing, on which not everyone might agree

[beezel_bug]

i agree with the up/down scrolling solution...more "windows" userbility that way

[jaythespacehound]

err got a prob, it's not logging, and gives me the error that it can't find the log file when I hit the launch log button... DO I have to create it manually? *grins*
Otherwise it works well
EDIT:
Ah realised it has the path wrong..it thinks it's on c drive
anyway to change where it thinks nwn is?
EDIT 2:
You can change hwere it saves the log in the options, but it doesn't work. clicking the browse button always brings up the old location again, as does clicking the launch log button

[Garumn]

no problems so far

[Toman Nouwen]

New small bug/tweak...

Per the announcement of the Outlands server, when I added the information in, the tab order is not quite linear...

It currently goes:
-Name
-Address
-Port
-Password
-Cancel
-OK
-Additional Options

Suggestion would be that it goes:
-Name
-Address
-Port
-Password
-Additional Options
-OK
-Cancel

[methuselah]

Great program It's working great for me, and I havent had any problems with it yet.

Will there be a log parser added to its list of functions in the future? Or is that what the "Other Options" field is for?

Granted I've only used it 4 or 5 times so far, and may not have found that feature if it already exists.

Everything everyone else said sounded good too.

[apandapion]

And after you've run it a couple of times, let us all know what you think. Be brutal, I can take it.

Brutal? Ok!

Do you realize that you could make the program download missing hak packs, and have you taken any steps in that direction?

The way it might work is that each server has a web page with a list of the necessary hak packs and places to download them, and the client (your client) can download them if they are missing or changed.

It's the logical next step of any booting program...

[Toman Nouwen]

Sounds like an awsome idea... downloading the Hak packs. Although, ASK would only be as good as the sites that it links to. The CoPap web sites would have to be very consistent in the name of their 'Hak Download Page' such that they shouldn't change the name of the pages that reference the downloads.... Plus, it still relies on that CoPap information being correct. It took me nearly two weeks to get the Haks for Hala because the download page pointed me to dead mirror sites, and old version of the file....

[Stolen Thread]

If there was one central repository for all the CoPap haks, and all CoPap servers placed their Haks there in a standard format (including version numbers on the filename).
Maybe something like:

ftp://<ip to CoPap ftp site>:

/General Downloads
---/Portraits
------/Etc

/RequiredHaksForAllCoPapServers

/Avlis
---/Haks
---/Development
------/Scripts
------/Mods

/HalaHaks
---/Haks
---/Development
------/Scripts
------/Mods

Of course, before something like this could be setup, it might be good to know how much bandwidth would be used....

*looks at his ISP service level agreement* Hmmmm

[/Stolen Thread]

[epiktetus]

the tab order is not quite linear...

It currently goes:

*Slaps forehead*
Duh, tab order, I haven't paid any attention to that. I'll fix it for the next version.

Will there be a log parser added to its list of functions in the future?

Yes. Next full version, like 1.1. After I fix the bugs of this one. I have grand plans for it too, it should be better than any other parser you've seen yet.

Do you realize that you could make the program download missing hak packs, and have you taken any steps in that direction?

I have considered that for future versions, but as Toman said, it would only be as good as the info available and reliable download sites. It's also something for the distant future as there is a LOT of work that would have to go into it.

[jaythespacehound]

More info on the bug.
It does create the log file where specified in the options,
it just tries to find it on C: drive when you hit the conversation log button

[Zebranky]

What language is it written in, and do you plan to release the code? Especially if it's C#, I would love to get my hands on that...

[methuselah]

Will there be a log parser added to its list of functions in the future?

Yes. Next full version, like 1.1. After I fix the bugs of this one. I have grand plans for it too, it should be better than any other parser you've seen yet.

Way cool
Perhaps when you finally implement the parser you can make the output customizeable, like font type and colors for different chat text like whisper and stuff. Some of the parsers I found dont even work like their descriptions say they do

[epiktetus]

Way cool
Perhaps when you finally implement the parser you can make the output customizeable, like font type and colors for different chat text like whisper and stuff. Some of the parsers I found dont even work like their descriptions say they do

Yup, I am planning all of the above. Though some of it might be a version or two in the future. I think everyone will be happy

[epiktetus]

What language is it written in, and do you plan to release the code? Especially if it's C#, I would love to get my hands on that...

VB.net, and I'd be happy to release code to people, as long as it is controlled.

[epiktetus]

- Maybe a counter of some form, to keep track of how many hours/days you've been playing total, and/or on a particular server...
- Follow up for the above suggestions, is a timer that plays a WAV file letting you know you've been playing for x amount of time, and that you should really consider eating, sleeping, spend time with your spouse, etc...

Have I got a deal for you all: I can add a whole bunch of cool features including; tracking of total time per sever, remembering the last server you were on, and when the log parser is ready, filtering/colorizing per server.

All I need from you all is one thing. I need to know how to watch the connections that NWNMain are making. I'm pretty sure this should be relatively easy in VB.Net, but all of my searching has come up with nothing. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

[Krator]

oooh... neat

What about.. toolset stuff? It would be nice to have, maybe in another window/tab to not make the list too long for non-toolset freaks, the following things:
-nwtoolset.exe
-launch module from modules directory in nwtoolset.exe
-open http://www.nwnlexicon.com in default webbrowser
-and.. if it's possible.. run a single player module That would be neat. BTW, if anyone knows how to make shortcuts to single player modules like there are to Avlis, please tell me!

Would be nice to be able to add shortcuts to files on my computer myself, I can add things like the Grimoire, DnD Books, Psionics Guide, Avlis Map, Player Guide, etc.

[Themicles]

All I need from you all is one thing. I need to know how to watch the connections that NWNMain are making. I'm pretty sure this should be relatively easy in VB.Net, but all of my searching has come up with nothing. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

I think Papillon would be the most likely to answer this question really well.

-Themicles

[epiktetus]

oooh... neat

What about.. toolset stuff? It would be nice to have, maybe in another window/tab to not make the list too long for non-toolset freaks, the following things:
-nwtoolset.exe
-launch module from modules directory in nwtoolset.exe
-open http://www.nwnlexicon.com in default webbrowser
-and.. if it's possible.. run a single player module That would be neat. BTW, if anyone knows how to make shortcuts to single player modules like there are to Avlis, please tell me!

Would be nice to be able to add shortcuts to files on my computer myself, I can add things like the Grimoire, DnD Books, Psionics Guide, Avlis Map, Player Guide, etc.

I've considered having the links customizable. But I think I need to save that for a later version. There's a lot more important things to do first. Good ideas though.

[Hert Snyder]

Options window positioning is not sticky, i.e. it always appears in the same place regardless of where it was when you closed it..

[Albion]

I get a wierd bug when i use it. When i use it the first time no matter which server i try i get a could not translate address message. If i close it and immediatly and try again on the same server it finds the server with no problem.

It is not a case of the server crashing and starting up again as i always try again a couple of seconds later.

[apandapion]

All I need from you all is one thing. I need to know how to watch the connections that NWNMain are making. I'm pretty sure this should be relatively easy in VB.Net, but all of my searching has come up with nothing. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

If you're really interested in doing it, here's two ways you might go about it:

Read the source code of ethereal and find out how it does it (hard)
http://www.ethereal.com/

Run and parse the results of the netstat command. (easier) Netstat sits there and spits out data, so run it once and pipe the data into your process. Split out the ip and action, compare the ips to a known list, and if the ip is one you're interested in, note the action and if it determines a new connection or a closing connection. (This will probably involve having at least one thread, which may be something you don't want to mess with. I'd poll for real interest before you start.)

[epiktetus]

Run and parse the results of the netstat command. (easier) Netstat sits there and spits out data, so run it once and pipe the data into your process. Split out the ip and action, compare the ips to a known list, and if the ip is one you're interested in, note the action and if it determines a new connection or a closing connection. (This will probably involve having at least one thread, which may be something you don't want to mess with. I'd poll for real interest before you start.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's brilliant. I've done stuff like this before, but I didn't even think about netstat. Not only that, but I'm gonna one-up you on this one. There's an app called TCPView made by sysinternals.com. They actually have the source for how they made it. It's much simpler than the Ethreal source, and much closer to the language that I use.

I never would have thought of it without this suggestion... thanks again!

[apandapion]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's brilliant. I've done stuff like this before, but I didn't even think about netstat. Not only that, but I'm gonna one-up you on this one. There's an app called TCPView made by sysinternals.com. They actually have the source for how they made it. It's much simpler than the Ethreal source, and much closer to the language that I use.

I never would have thought of it without this suggestion... thanks again!

You're welcome. I've never used TCPview - generally I use netstat, or go all the way to ethereal, depending on what I want to do. But I usually use it for analysis and not as data input, so ethereal's complexity has never been a bother to me.

Make sure that whatever method you use, you don't have to install a packet sniffer driver (or whatever the technical term is for that thing that pretends to be a network device to catch packets) - most users probably arn't going to want to do that.