Endorsement Scanner

Ermarian

Ermarian

TNPer
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[/lurk]

I'm aware that there are already tools that scan a region for endorsements (or at least I seem to remember that), but I was bored and couldn't find them. I made a script for this a year and a couple of months ago, but that sucked.

Since then, I learned PHP/MySQL, and now I've made a new scanning tool that actually works! Here's a sample I got from unleashing the scanner on TNP. The nice bit is that it also tracks top endorsers. :yes: Perhaps it could even come in useful in the recent trouble - last week I counted about 5 unendorsement letters in my inbox.

In other news... I guess I'm back. Sort of. ;)

Edit: *looks at badge* I'm in the Regional Assembly? Whoops, how did I miss that... :unsure:
 
That's a very cool script.....
Could I make a request???
What would be really useful would be a script that can track Nations that are currently in the UN...and crossrefence them with who the delegate has endorsed....and who still needs endorsing....
And also who has or hasn't endorsed the delegate back....this would be a great help to endotarting for the delegate and for delegate candidates....
As the current method of trawling through 350 pages of nations to find UN nations and then crosschecking them against the endo list of my nation means I'm constantly missing nations who drop in and out of the UN for whatever reason....
It would also make it easier to do follow up TG's to those nations who haven't endorsed the delegate yet....
If it's not plausible or possible please let me know....
 
I already made a primitive endotarting "assistant" - which lists all nations a given nation has not yet endorsed.
What the script definitely can't do is automatically endorse or send TG's - but it can list the Spotlight Page links for all UN nations, so you just need to click your way through the list and endorse each nation. That should already make things a bit easier.

Here's an example:

I do hope this is still within the script rules. But even if it is, it might be a good idea to put some security on it - we don't need to make endotarting easier than it already is for the multitude of invaders. :eyeroll:

Edit: What I haven't yet made is a page that shows who a nation endorsed and who didn't endorse it back. But it'd be no big deal...

Edit: here.
 
No problem (if possible I'd like my name on them somewhere...). Note that they require a MySQL database to run.

I'll clean the code up a bit (I have the tendency to make a mess when nobody sees it) and comment it, and then email it to you. If you send an email to ermarian@gmail.com, I can reply to that with the scripts attached. :)
 
Very, very nice. Like DD, kudos on being able to script. It is something that I'd like to dabble in someday.

I love the script that shows what nations a nation hasn't endorsed.

From the looks of my list, I'd better get busy. :pinch:
 
Would you mind sending me a copy of the scripts as well? I've sent my e-mail addy to you.

Those look like they could be very useful to the Security Council. Nice work.
 
Not to imply anyone requesting the script isn't trustworthy, but as an advocate of paranoia it is my duty to remind you that you're spot on...scripts like this shouldn't be given out to a lot of people, just because that increases the chances of it falling into the wrong hands...particularly hands that have abused similar scripts in the past. Anyway, if it is going out to a lot of people, just make sure you all keep a tight lid on it, especially if you play NS with other people you know or use a shared computer (protect your accounts/where you keep the script, etc). There are always those occasional rogue brothers or sisters that get in the way and start international conflicts, after all. :P
 
Ator People: Responded to your PM. I'm a bit confused now because of Hersfold's and your comment: Is "Strangelove" (mentioned to me by Sei) not more widely used then (especially by the Security Council?)? Since it's a lot better than my script...

Byard: "Agent" wakes fond memories. SAFARI... and how we went after that multiple-UN noob... and plotting and maneuvering, and in the end Pixiedance resigned from the UN anyway. And that's when the wrangling started. :lol:

Pope: It's a good point. I'm password-protecting the folder for now, and giving out access to people who need it.

Daimiaena and everyone who requested a copy: I realized that reworking the spaghetti code to work on other servers (and to be reasonably easy to install) will take a day or two. Stay tuned. ;)

--

Edit: I just noticed - is there any reason I'm getting 10 virtual dollars for every post made here?
 
Ermarian:
Ator People: Responded to your PM. I'm a bit confused now because of Hersfold's and your comment: Is "Strangelove" (mentioned to me by Sei) not more widely used then (especially by the Security Council?)? Since it's a lot better than my script...

[...]

Daimiaena and everyone who requested a copy: I realized that reworking the spaghetti code to work on other servers (and to be reasonably easy to install) will take a day or two. Stay tuned. ;)

--

Edit: I just noticed - is there any reason I'm getting 10 virtual dollars for every post made here?
Click to expand...
I've responded to your PM.

You're getting ten "TNP" dollars per post because of an idea someone came up with to have currency on the forum where you can "buy/sell" things with your TNP dollars. There's a forum catagory specifically dedicated to it, I think it's called Bank of TNP.

It's here: http://z13.invisionfree.com/TNP/index.php?showforum=66
 
Continuing off-topic: If you want to transfer any money around, let me know and I can take care of it for you.

On-topic:
Pope: It's a good point. I'm password-protecting the folder for now, and giving out access to people who need it.
Click to expand...
:clap: Still waiting for that e-mail... ;)
 
Sorry for letting all of you wait; I had a few busy days at work, leaving only the evenings to work on this. The installer works now, meaning the script can set up its own config file and database tables without requiring the user to fiddle with the code. The main summary page, the first part of the scanner and the log-in for "admin mode" (required to gather data) works fine. The second part of the scanner (which gets the endorsement data from each UN nation the first part found) still needs to be fixed, but once that is done the script is ready for use. You'll have it before the end of the day, I hope.

--

As I told Ator People, it might make sense if the script continues to run on my webspace even when used: If everyone installs it on their own server, the traffic burden on NS will multiply needlessly. However, if you want the source for setting it up elsewhere, I have no problem with releasing it. ;)

Edit:

Update - the scanning part works nicely now. The only page missing is the one that lists nations a specific nation has/hasn't endorsed and has/hasn't been endorsed by.

Edit2:

I didn't think it could be done, but somehow I did manage to finish this evening. The beta version of the script has now been sent out to those who asked; if you wanted it and I forgot you, just drop me another email. :)
 
Update: The program is now up to version 2.2.2 (the version I sent out to most of you was 2.2). I noticed quite a bad problem in the deleting function, which made it impossible to delete only one region at a time (in order to re-scan that region). v2.2.2 fixes this. Also, the claim to "XHTML Compliancy" the pages make is now actually deserved - I didn't have time to fix all the little markup errors before.

Instead of mailing out attachments again, I'll put the zip file up for download on my site, protecting it with a password you can PM me for. ;)
 
rules for scripts can be found here

Finally my browsing of the Tech and Mod forums came in useful :P
 
Yeah, I know those, but they're very vague.

Anyway, I guess there is no special clause about accessing the UN happenings, and it's sure not "excessive" server usage. Unless special rules apply during the regional updates, when the server is already busy, but it doesn't say so.
 
Well, this is the way I think about it:

Scanning an entire feeder pretty much requires 5000-6000 queries (one per nation) at a single time. I sorta figure that to be a "cap" on how much server load you're allowed to generate with scripts.

What you propose amounts to 600 queries (the UN page only keeps track of the last 10 happenings at any one time, right?) spread out over 2 hours. Personally, I think that you'd be able to stay beneath the radar.
 
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