AutoBSA++ - App Preview (Development)

You guys are using a txt file? Ahhh.... Not too good lol. Without being provided with that link I could probably find it quite easily on my own and download it just like anyone else. So with that being said, you can imagine how insecure that would be. I don't know how Laxer set up the DRT but I assumed he was using a database for information storage.

With the way the DRT is currently set up, I can actually get the information I need directly from the DRT without a txt file, I was just wondering though what I should be using. If I don't get an answer, i'll make it configurable somehow.

There is information on which are and aren't 3rd party drivers in the DRT though? I didn't know that. Before I just had a text file that was updated by the user. But this would eliminate that too if I could retrieve that information from the DRT. I haven't used it much though, so i've been at a standstill until I get to do some further research on how the DRT can be used, and how it works.

Prior to what you said though, I was able to retrieve the driver name, and description as well as the link from the DRT directly fairly easily. I think I might have posted my example on that around here too... But I cannot remember.

Thanks writhziden :)
 
You did post the example. I have a similar app I made for parsing the DRT info from the html file, and it will parse out the 3rd party drivers based on whether the driver is colored red or not. Red = Windows, but you probably already knew that.

The problem with using the .html instead of the .txt file is the download time for it is significantly longer. The .txt file is quite a bit smaller and easier to manage than the .html file. The .html parser I made never was integrated into the apps for that reason.

Anyway, hope the above give you some ideas.
 
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That may be true, it all depends on how much they want to cloud the page up with extra fancy images and whatnot. Otherwise the HTTP request to the actual driver page would take less time. The only advantage of using the text file is that only ONE HTTP request needs to be made to gather multiple driver's information. So balancing out, I would agree that the size of a text file loaded over an HTTP request would take less time.

I guess it comes down to security? Or speed? One thing that may be worth mentioning for jcgriff and usasma's decision on that.
 
In addition to the above, I'd also like to post my ideas that I currently have for this application:

Code: 
-Add Variables/Constants to Personalize Tab for output templates
-Add more to the output Tab?
-FlashWindow on activity
-LoggingOutput Class? (Output to .log file for application assistance/help and debugging)
-Make webrequests to the DRT: Test for valid InternetConnection first
-Updater system
-Plugin system

Any further ideas are encouraged. I'd appreciate other's feedback to help me make the best out of my development time on this application.
 
Thanks for the information about security. I've removed the name of the .txt file from my previous post so the average user does not see it. Hadn't thought of that... The information on the site is copyrighted, so if it were to leak out, there could be legal ramifications.

You should probably PM usasma since it is his site. He'd probably appreciate the head's up about possible security issues.
 
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AceInfinity said:
In addition to the above, I'd also like to post my ideas that I currently have for this application:

Code: 
-Add Variables/Constants to Personalize Tab for output templates
-Add more to the output Tab?
-FlashWindow on activity
-LoggingOutput Class? (Output to .log file for application assistance/help and debugging)
-Make webrequests to the DRT: Test for valid InternetConnection first
-Updater system
-Plugin system

Any further ideas are encouraged. I'd appreciate other's feedback to help me make the best out of my development time on this application.
Click to expand...

For the logging, I would recommend using a time-based output so you can track what is going on and how long it takes. It appeared in your first rendition of the application that you had that, and that is very helpful with these blue screen applications if they interface with the kernel debugger (kd). It is sometimes difficult to tell if the kd is hanging or a bug in the app is causing problems.
 
writhziden said:
Thanks for the information about security. I've removed the name of the .txt file from my previous post so the average user does not see it. Hadn't thought of that... The information on the site is copyrighted, so if it were to leak out, there could be legal ramifications.

You should probably PM usasma since it is his site. He'd probably appreciate the head's up about possible security issues.
Click to expand...

The information on the site is copyrighted, so if it were to leak out, there could be legal ramifications.
Click to expand...

This is what I was looking for :) That makes things MUCH better. I wasn't giving you heck for posting the name of the file though lol :lol:

It's just that even without the filename, I could scan the website and find it anyways. I sent a message to jcgriff about this, I'll see what he says and probably include usasma on this as well. I just don't want to make my app become obsolete because it's using an information location that is no longer being used or updated in the future. So I have that in mind for sure.

I do enjoy your feedback though. You've got a great mind, and that comes with good insight and ideas in the form of feedback; I appreciate it.

~AceInfinity
 
Got the Taskbar Window to flash during any kind of activity completion if the application is minimized. Reference to function used below...

FlashWindowEx - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms679347(v=vs.85).aspx

edit: Some current image screens:
NPQwn.png


xbO5l.png


QwZFU.png


6hvSg.png
 
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edit: updated last post with more image updates...

writhziden said:
The Activate function also works, doesn't it?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.form.activate.aspx
Click to expand...

It's not the same as FlashWindow. That's just giving the form focus. I'll show you what FlashWindow does:

Normal:
m4MnN.png


FlashWindow:
GuZJs.png


When the form gains focus again it goes back to normal. But it phases in and out, that light yellow color in the taskbar to catch the user's attention. Kind of like mIRC.
 
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I believe Activate does the same thing from my use of it. If the apps are not in focus, the taskbar button for it will flash until opened again.

Thanks for the idea for the browse button for kd.exe; I should have thought of that weeks ago, and it is so simple to implement. :-}
 
Tested with:
Code: 
this.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized;
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(500);
this.Activate();

It doesn't seem to do the same thing for me.
 
Hmmm, guess I'll have to try each method and see what the difference is.
 
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With the way I have the other function set up, I can use it as an extension too for convenience:
Code: 
this.FlashWindow();
 
I thought about doing the window flashing, but for most users, it is much easier to get status updates through MessageBox windows. Those are a little more attention grabbing than the flashing task bar button.
 
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writhziden said:
I thought about doing the window flashing, but for most users, it is much easier to get status updates through MessageBox windows. Those are a little more attention grabbing than the flashing task bar button.
Click to expand...

Sometimes can be annoying though, and they halt anything else from happening unless you don't have anything else to run after the call for the MessageBox to show, or, you run it on a new thread. But then you also have to close the window. For me when I used mIRC, that flashing bottom taskbar button caught my eye 99% of the time :)

Personal preference, but if any other window is focused at a point in time just after the MessageBox is shown, then you won't see it until you want to have a look back at the application manually. Another way is to just pop the main application window to the front of all other windows when finished, even from minimized.
 
Some of my "MessageBox" windows are actually the same Windows forms Window closing and then opening with buttons and checkboxes re-arranged, hidden, or shown depending on what I want available. That way, things can continue to run in the background while the forms window is open for the user to see.
 
writhziden said:
Some of my "MessageBox" windows are actually the same Windows forms Window closing and then opening with buttons and checkboxes re-arranged, hidden, or shown depending on what I want available. That way, things can continue to run in the background while the forms window is open for the user to see.
Click to expand...

You can do that much easier with multi-threading if you want me to give you an example? No need to make a custom windows form for it, unless you really want a customized 'message box'. Forms can act like a messagebox where the new form must be closed first before you can do anything with the background form depending on whether you use Show() or ShowDialog().
 
I don't think I need an example anymore. A few months ago, I would have. With all the threading I do now, I understand better how to create new classes to implement a method on a different thread. Most of the forms editing stuff I did was to condense things down so it fit on one form and keep the apps from growing too large. If I used separate forms for each of the screens I give, the apps would easily be over 10 MB by now and would probably load in 10-15 seconds instead of the 2-3 seconds they do now.
 

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