Just Starting Out (Again) & Need Some Help

[oldefoxx]

I'm 74, and used to code a lot in script languages, assembler, and a number of Basics. I quit programming pretty much in 2002, after being forced to retire because of 9/11 and a long expired security clearance that nobody would pay to renew, then suffered a setback with a brain injury in late 2008, right before I first heard Obama speak as he ran for office (turned me off completely, but that's another topic).

What I'm saying is that I know programming in some respects, but now have to learn to do it again in a Linux flavor, as I've dropped Windows in favor of Ubuntu in the last decade. There are only two flavors of Basic that I know of that walk both the Windows and Linux paths, one being PureBasic and the other HotBasic, which you probably never heard of. It's still around, but drastically short on documentation, good example code, and participants. It also depends on one man for any change or improvement, and he isn't giving it his all, since he has other interests that demand his time.

So it looks like it is PureBasic. This is one dialict that I'm noy comfortable with, and it's been uears since I took a fling with it, so it os almost like starting over from scratch. But I am here not to just learn, I have two objectives in mind.

I want a web process that follows designated URLs and checks for new information for me. One goes to specific threads at places like ubuntuforums.org and pulls up the thread in the URL, then follows it to the last post on that thread, and collects the contents of that last post. It checks information in that post against some stored data, and if there is no match, it updates the stored data and notifies the PC user of the new post, it's contents, and provides a link back. The user notice can either be by email or by messaging on the desktop.

The second objective is very similar, but it is to webmail accounts like gmail.com, yahoo.com, and others, where it checks the contents of specific folders, such as the inbox, and reports back if any have new messages in them, or if existing messages meet certain criteria, such as having attachments, or are from certain sources.

So much time is eaten up by trying to keep up manually, and at my age, time is a bit of a luxury item. But it effects everybody. I spent hours writing and testing message filters to get my email client under control, but with that done, I am no longer hampered by too much email to screen at once. I can just see what a difference doing something like that would make to how I deal with forums and locations where I have mailboxes.

Those are my two reasons for getting back into a bit of programming, but now I have to figure out how to do it. I may have to emulate a terminal window to issue commands to the bash shell interpreter, act like a browser in dealing with a URL, anf manage a database when it comes to checking what's there compared to what I find out there now.

Some ideas would be appreciated, and possibly some pointers to existing sample or example code that could serve as a starting point for some of the development needed.

I know rhat with Windows' programming, you have recourse to built-in DLL routines. I imagine there is something similar for most flavors of Linux, but I have absolutely no idea of what is there or how to make use of it. Some ideas along that line could help as well.

This do not have to be GUI applications. They just have to run on schedule and get the job done.

[sq4]

A bit younger fox here

Purebasic should've all the libraries needed for your project :

• database support
  http-library
  regular expressions library
  mail library

I don't think you will require third party lib's / addon's...

[Deluxe0321]

Depending on how you plan to implement, respectively code these "daemons" you have multiple options while using Purebasic.
Personally - at least until the next version of Purebasic is released I would recommend to use third party libs.

Purbasic is awesome and powerful but the network protocol capabilities ( everything else than http + smtp - without cryptography) are limited to a certain point.

Regarding your planned projects:

> I want a web process that follows designated URLs and checks for new information for me.
That is, if the Forum/Board doesn't use "HTTPS" entirely possible with Purebasics standard commands ( as sq4 wrote ).

> [...] where it checks the contents of specific folders, such as the inbox, and reports back if any have new messages [...]
Well, if there *is* an API ( http based ) to check then yes, but as far as I know (& had implemented in several projects so far) - the best option is to use imap / pop protocol. .. and to be honest implementing multiple http API's from different vendors can be fun... but it's not very effective

Luckily, most, if not everything is possible with Purebasic - if you "import/use" & the right libraries (cURL for example or from some one in the community).

Thank you,
Deluxe

[oldefoxx]

I'm struggling with it. Not sure what 3rd party libraries are being referred to. I've downloaded a fair amount of example code from PureArea,net. It takes time, though, as I have to add new folders manually and do a "Save link as..." selection by hand for each one. Be nice if it were all zipped together with the folder structure included.

Thing I haven't found anywhere yet is support for using HTTP cookies with PureBasic. That's key to doing many things online. I did find that it's all covered in RFC 6265, but that is an overview, not in code form. I also learned that older RFCs may still be in play in the real world.

At least four browsers now rely on Blink, which has replaced the webkit library. It's stated in the Chromium documentation that they wanted to keep close to webkit, and yet things evolve. Quite frankly, I am in way over my head on this. but I tracked the matter of actual API calls down to one location, which is here: https://docs.coronalabs.com/. It claims over 1,000 APIs are in its SDK.

How Corona and Chromium are tied together is unclear. Chromium also has ties to Java and to DOM. Trying to find out what APIs are associated with Chromium keeps running up against the same blank wall: They want you, a presumed developer, to explain to them why you want this information (what do you intend to use it for). I certainly don't rank as a developer. Far from it. I'm just trying to learn the feasibility of getting an HTTP application to do a few chores for me.

I am working, a bit at a time, on an adaptation of WebBrowser.pb. For one thing, I increased the screen size dramatically. You not only see more, but you seem to have less problems. I havn't verified this yet, but a site I could not communicate with in small size quit fussing after I went large size. Something else might be involved to make the difference. I also found some Internet stuff at PureArea.net, and I got that now to look at for more ideas.

I spent a couple of days just prowling around the network, looking for likely sites. I found about 200 that I am adding as alternatives in my version of WebBrowser.pb. They break down into multiple categories, like PureBasic-related, US News, World News, Regional News (US, UK, EU, and Asia). For specific countries, I had google search for news about them by name, then took that as my URL to go back there. I have financial URLs, including the stock market results and commodities charts, various investment firms, technical and scientific news, more search sites, and where to go if you are seeking a new job. I can pinpoint exactly where I am, see a satellite view of the spot, and get the exact coordinates as well.

What I've always found interesting is that there is no place that I can go to that lists URLs collectively. If I have an idea that a site might exist, I would be better off typing in what I think I know into a search engine, and hope the web crawling that goes on behind the scenes caught something from someplace that matches up. I have a section on finding jobs as well.

There are many ways to search for a new job. The most common are: Consult publications like newspaper classifieds, or get in touch with a job placement firm and have them look for you. Go to a job fair. Or, if you know of a firm where you might like to work, try and contact them directly

Using online searches, you might be able to stretch out these approaches further. Search more sources, find more placement firms, look for job fairs or hiring events and include the word calenda. Or search by company name, industry, or the job description you want to fill. What key word(s) to narrow your search down even further? You can add three offhand: salary, hiring, and resume.

As to placement firms, the general practice is to have you fill out some paperwork and submit a resume. They either try to match you up with current job openings, or let the firm that is doing to hiring look at their records for a best match. Many allow you to apply at no charge, as they will be paid by the hiring firm. Job placement firms can be regional, national, or even international in scope. They may specialize in some way as well, like technology, executives, aerospace, or the medical field. Dice.com is a national tech placement firm, but you can look for jobs locally or wherever you want to relocate to. Another firm that is less well known now is Monster.com.

I'm not working. Don't plan to look for a job either. And I'm not physically fit to work most jobs now anyway. But I only spent about a year pf my adult life NOT working, and how to find that next job was a real challenge to me. Back then, you did not have the internet to help find that next job. Now you do. So it interested me to see how much difference it makes.

And it makes quite a bit. It's the ability to search that gets you where you want or need to go. It's well known that if you are out of work, you are less appealing as a candidate to another employer than if you were in a job. Nobody has ever been able to explain that to me, except to point out that if working, you were apparently meeting your job objectives to your employer's satisfaction. If not working, it might be evidence that you were an unfit employee. With many candidates to pick from, why gamble when you don't have to?