10.17.06
Posted in Updates at 3:39 pm by Todd Wilson
Just a few little bug fixes in this one. There was a pretty annoying problem that would cause the GUI to freeze up from time to time. It turned out to be a bug in Sun’s Java code, but fortunately there was a relatively painless workaround.
The usual caveats apply–this is alpha software, so use it at your own risk. Thanks, though, to anyone willing to help us test.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.18a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
You’re done!
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10.10.06
Posted in Updates at 4:21 pm by Todd Wilson
Our to-do list is empty! This version contains all of the bug fixes and features we’ve had planned for the next version of screen-scraper. I suppose you could consider it to be more of a beta, or maybe even a release candidate. There really isn’t anything earth-shatteringly new in this version over 2.7.1.16a–mostly just bug fixes and some clean-up.
The usual caveats apply–this is alpha software, so use it at your own risk. Thanks, though, to anyone willing to help us test.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.17a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
You’re done!
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09.28.06
Posted in Updates at 10:50 am by Todd Wilson
Yeah, we kind of silently released 2.7.2.15a, for those of you who are keeping track. We didn’t do as much testing on it as we normally do, so I didn’t want to make it known too broadly. 2.7.2.16a is performing nicely, so feel free to have at it. There are a few new little doo-dads and minor fixes in this one. The auto-scroll on the log panel seems to be getting high marks around here. Provecho!
The usual caveats apply–this is alpha software, so use it at your own risk. Thanks, though, to anyone willing to help us test.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.16a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
You’re done!
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09.13.06
Posted in Updates at 4:44 pm by Todd Wilson
Not too much new in this one. It more or less just cleans up some annoying bugs that crept into the previous versions.
The usual caveats apply–this is alpha software, so use it at your own risk. Thanks, though, to anyone willing to help us test.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.14a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
You’re done!
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09.07.06
Posted in Updates at 11:33 am by Todd Wilson
Come ‘n get it! Several clean-ups in this one, as well as a few new features. screen-scraper will now back up its database automatically. It’s rare, but we still get reports occasionally of corrupted screen-scraper databases (which can often mean loss of work). We use a database called Hypersonic, which can be amazingly fragile if its process crashes for some reason. With the automatic backups, hopefully nobody loses their work (or much of their work) in the event that their database gets hosed.
The usual caveats apply–this is alpha software, so use it at your own risk. Thanks, though, to anyone willing to help us test.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.13a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
You’re done!
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08.31.06
Posted in Updates at 10:34 am by Todd Wilson
I think we’re getting awful close to a public release. This one looks to be pretty stable. Not too many major changes this time around. You’ll discover a few little niceties, along with some bug fixes and clean-ups to minor issues that have probably been annoying you. As always, please let us know of any trouble you encounter.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.12a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
Serve chilled and enjoy!
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08.10.06
Posted in Updates at 2:19 pm by Todd Wilson
Just took version 2.7.2.11a fresh out of the oven. This one contains some overdue GUI enhancements that I think will delight you. I’d especially recommend the context menus (try right clicking on items in the tree).
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a or higher you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.11a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
Provecho!
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08.03.06
Posted in Updates at 2:23 pm by Todd Wilson
For those of you who have noticed some of the annoying quirks in 2.7.2.9a, try 2.7.2.10a. It should clear up a lot of them. Nothing too major in this release; mostly minor bug fixes.
If you’re currently running version 2.7.2.9a you can upgrade via Options -> Check for updates. If you’re using anything else, follow these instructions (see this page for details on why you need to follow these steps):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.10a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
Enjoy!
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07.20.06
Posted in Updates at 4:31 pm by Todd Wilson
Pfew. Well, sorry it’s been so long. We’ve been swamped with work lately, but I’m happy to report that we’ve recently carved out enough time to get a new alpha version of screen-scraper out the door. For the impatient, here are some quick install instructions (which differ from the usual):
- Back up your scraping sessions (check here for help on that).
- Ensure screen-scraper isn’t currently running (close the workbench and server, if running).
- Download this file, and unzip it.
- Copy the contents of the zip file on top of your existing files in the screen-scraper install folder. For example, the zip file contains a “screen-scraper.jar” file which should be copied on top of your existing “screen-scraper.jar” file.
- Edit your “resource\conf\screen-scraper.properties” file in a text editor. Change the “Version” property to “2.7.2.9a”.
- Launch the screen-scraper workbench.
- If all of your scraping sessions have disappeared, don’t panic!
- Close the screen-scraper workbench.
- Re-open the screen-scraper workbench.
At this point everything should be hunky-dory and you should see a few new features (such as folders).
As to why you need to update screen-scraper in this odd way, we discovered a bug in the updater. It’s surprising that it’s never surfaced before, but hopefully we’ve permanently squashed it so that you can easily update via the standard “Check for updates” menu item in the future.
As always, feel free to send along any feedback. You can post a comment to this blog posting, a message to our forum, or send us a support request.
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05.18.06
Posted in Updates at 1:13 pm by Todd Wilson
We’ve been swamped lately, but I’m happy to report that we’ve finally completed a version of screen-scraper that includes folders. This has been one of the most oft-requested features, so I hope it makes using screen-scraper just that much more pleasant. Upgrade your instance via the “Check for updates” option from the “Options” menu.
Hopefully it’s obvious how they’re used–click the folder icon to create a new folder. To drop an item into a folder, select it, then drag and drop it on to the folder. Right-click a folder to rename it (as well as any other object).
Right now it seems pretty stable, but there are definitely some features we’ll be adding in the not-so-distant future:
- Right now it’s a little obnoxious that you have to select an item and allow it to load before you can drag and drop it. We’re planning on making such that you can just click an icon and immediately begin to drag it.
- It would be nice to have a bunch of context menus on a folder. That is, you right click and get options like: “Import into…”, “Add scraping session to…” That way you don’t have to create or import a bunch of items to the root folder, then drag them into the folders where you really wanted them in the first place.
- Copying and pasting of scraping sessions, scripts, etc. This one’s also been requested a fair amount. At times you want to be able to create a full copy of a scraping session so that you can experiment with it without nuking the original. You may also want to copy a scrapeable file from one scraping session to another.
Any others you can think of that would be helpful?
As always, let us know of any bugs/issues. We’ve been using this version internally for a few days, and it seems quite stable. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help us test.
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