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Automated Sleuth Helper complete!
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Pidgeot
Pidgeot

Jan-30-2007 12:13

Hello, fellow Sleuths!

Over the last two months, I've been working on a brand new Sleuth helper. You might not think that sounds all that special - after all, great helpers are already available - but what makes this one different is that it's automated!

What it does is monitor your progress in the game, and extract relevant information from the pages. The information is stored and analyzed, in order to help you determine who did it, and who didn't.

It's heavily inspired by Evita's JavaScript-based Sleuth Helper, so a special "thank you" goes out there.

The application is made with Delphi 2005, and should run on any machine with Windows NT/98/ME/2K/XP/Vista and Internet Explorer 4 or later. Additionally, source code is included (ZLib license) in case someone wants to port it to another platform and/or language (such as Java).

The program can be downloaded from http://download.birdiesoft.dk/SleuthHelper.exe (330 KB), and a screenshot of the program can be seen at http://download.birdiesoft.dk/sleuth_helper.png.

Please take a look at the help file before using the program (it's very short), so you are familiar with how the program works.

(Disclaimer: The application depends heavily on the current structure of the game pages, and changes to this may break the program. Although the application is designed in such a way that it should fail entirely if something goes wrong, this cannot be guaranteed. Use of this program is entirely at your own risk, and any cases lost because of errors in the program should not be blamed on the program or the author.)

Replies

Sophie4
Sophie4
Gopher to the Sleuth Gods

Jun-18-2008 08:25

Hey, * running after you all like a bratty little baby sister*.........Hey.... how 'bout me? I asked Huglover to work on it .............Hey..........*trips, falls, and skins her knees and runs home to mommy*

"Serves you right you little narcisist", says mommy. Careful not to drop a hair, thread, or leave a footprint or note Sophie pulls out a pearl handled single shot .22

ija
ija
Sleuth About Town

Jun-18-2008 13:59

(Huglover in disquise)
Sophie: It's true that you asked in the way that you mentioned my name....
- and that made me make the reply.

- but the real incitement for me to actually do something with the helper was the reply from lilangel, where she was willing to dig the thread for the information I needed.....

I am sorry to say, but if it were only for you, I would not have bothered doing anything. I still remember all too well how you have rebuked me (and a friend of mine) for being critical on the board and by that making me partly responsible for people leaving sleuth, (is actually the true reason why I don't read the boards so often anymore, or try to involve by giving my opinions) and for not wanting to be involved with somebody like me, who only are a lousy "part-time player"....

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-18-2008 14:56

Huglover, I think you could have left your last paragraph out, as this is not the place for calling people out. This thread is a thank you thread and should be left as that.

In any event, thank you for making the sleuth memebers happier with the helper. :)

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-18-2008 15:01

Also, thanks to both for updating it..it seems to run a bit better an doesn't get as many errors forcing myself and others to constantly restart.

ctown28
ctown28
Huntsman

Jun-18-2008 15:24

I've had others tell me it's not making as many errors, but the only thing we really did was add the people on the ship, I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but as long as its working I think we are all happy.

I haven't heard back from Pidgeot yet but he mentioned he would recompile this weekend on his site. I think none of us realized what a great tool it was until we couldn't use it! lol

Sophie4
Sophie4
Gopher to the Sleuth Gods

Jun-19-2008 03:54

Reminds me of when there was a system failure at the library. They had to bring in one of the directors because the younger people didn't know how to check books out manually, lol.

Bridget Bard
Bridget Bard
Well-Connected

Jun-19-2008 19:45

I haven't tried the Sleuthetania yet, but thank you in advance for updating the Helper!

I have one question, though-- for the last several days, with both the original helper and the new updated helper, my toughness/smarts/charm stats have been showing up as tags rather than as numbers. Is it just something on my end, or are others having that problem?

Lady Jas
Lady Jas
The Chosen One

Jun-19-2008 20:47

It does the same exact thing for me Bridget.

ctown28
ctown28
Huntsman

Jun-19-2008 21:51

I jsut noticed that this morning, didn't realize it was doing it with the original as well. I'll take a look this weekend and see if I can figure it out. It's just a minor inconvienence but it is something that I have come to use myself!

Pidgeot
Pidgeot

Jun-20-2008 12:06

V1.18 is ready. It includes the fix by Huglover, and fixes this latest issue with adjustments.

Download at http://download.birdiesoft.dk/SleuthHelper.exe. Sorry, I'm not able to provide mirrors.

The adjustments bug is due to the nature of the program - it's very sensitive to changes in the HTML, even though there may be no visible difference. In this case, Ben has reverted from using Amazon to host some transparent 1x1 images - images I rely on.

Normally, I'd be doing that task differently, in a more foolproof way (using a regular expression), but there's no regex engine bundled with Delphi for Win32, and I'd prefer not requiring a (more or less) random 3rd-party component for this particular program. If someone thinks of a better way of finding the data, feel free to let me know.

To get around the problem, I've put the current URL back in, while still retaining the Amazon URL.

Note that my situation in terms of supporting and updating the helper have not changed. I am happy to help people who want help with the source code, and I'll compile test versions if you need it - as well as "official" versions, if relevant - but I just don't have the time to work on this on a "regular" basis. Use e-mail to contact me - address is in the help file, as always.

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