VerCheck 4.8 build: 9639 released: 2015-11-30 compiled with: Java 1.8.0_131 Jet jet12.0-pro-x86/1.8.0_131
Check the web for new versions of software..
Copyright: (c) 2007-2017 Canadian Mind Products.
signed Java Applet (that can also be run as an application).
Download from: http://mindprod.com/products1.html#VERCHECK
View HTML to run this program online at: http://mindprod.com/applet/vercheck.html
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Notes:
You must install the Java JRE to use this program.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jgloss/jre.html
This hybrid program is mainly designed to be used as an Applet in a
browser but is can also be used from the command prompt, e.g. under
Windows command.exe or JPSoft tcc.exe, formerly called the DOS box. Just
clicking the programs in a directory listing will not do anything useful.
Just typing the program names at the command prompt will not either.
This program requires a manual install! See below.
I put out an avalanche of free software into the world, and submit PAD
files to hundreds of distribution sites, but I rarely hear back from
anyone. What's happening? Does it all just work fine? It is so
complicated nobody can figure out how to use it and they give up on it?
It is it useful? Since everyone has the source, do people just fix the
programs to their liking themselves? Did you have trouble installing? Do
I presume you know too much? I would be happy to hear from you about your
experiences, positive or negative and your requests for improvements. A
one-line email to roedy@mindprod.com would be great.
===> Free <===
Full source included.
You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified
in free/commercial open source/proprietary programs that you write and distribute.
May be used freely for any purpose but military.
For more details on this restriction, see
http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html
If you include any Canadian Mind Products code in your own applications,
your app too must be labelled non-military use only.
http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html
All Java jars and source code are included. If you need the class files or Javadoc, you will have to build them yourself. To streamline the zip downloads, class files and Javadoc have been removed.
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Prerequisites:
This program runs under any OS that supports Java,
(e.g.W2K/XP/W2003/Vista/W2008/W7-32/W7-64/W8-32/W8-64/Linux/LinuxARM/LinuxX86
/LinuxX64/Ubuntu/Solaris/SolarisSPARC/SolarisSPARC64/SolarisX86/SolarisX64/OSX/AIX...)
so long as you have
<><> Java version 1.8 <><> or later installed (32-bit or 64-bit Java).
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html for details.
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Installing on a PC:
Download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application or Applet
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
To install, extract the zip download with WinZip
(or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please,
often J:\ -- ticking off the use folder names option.
To run as an application, type:
java.exe %JAVA_OPTIONS -ea -jar J:\com\mindprod\vercheck\vercheck.jar {put any parms here}
adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.
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Installing on a MacIntosh:
Use Safari to download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application or Applet.
Safari will automatically unpack the zip into ~/Downloads (version 10.5)
[or on the Desktop (version 10.4 and earlier)].
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
You may optionally move the download tree to a permanent home.
I don't have a MacIntosh, just a PC, so I can't test my Java programs for Mac compatibility.
In theory they should work without problems, but in practice that does not always happen.
If you have problems please, let me know, preferably with screenshots and complete verbatim error messages.
To run as an application, without parameters, just double click the jar file.
To run as an application with parameters, in bash shell type:
open Terminal.app
cd ~/Desktop
java.exe -ea -jar com/mindprod/vercheck/vercheck.jar {put any parms here}
adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.
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Rebuilding:
The zip already contains the necessary jar files, so unless you modify
the program, there is no need to recompile the source or rebuild the jar.
Configure.java basedir="E:/" in rebuild.xml to the drive where your files are.
Configure.java your certificate name with environment SET cert=mindprodcert2017rsa
Configure.java your certificate password with environment SET jarsignerpassword=sesame
Use ANT and rebuild.xml, not build.xml, to recompile and recreate the jar.
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Use:
WHAT IS VERCHECK FOR?
*********************
I used to check over a dozen websites each night to see if
new versions of the software I use had been released. This
was time consuming and error prone. VerCheck automates this
process by checking the websites of the programs you use to
see if the version numbers have changed. It comes from the
factory with 112 applications pre-configured. Vercheck could
be described as a version watcher, version monitor, page
watcher, change detecter or a web page monitor.
USE IT 3 WAYS
*************
1. You can simply look at http://mindprod.com/jgloss/utilities.html to
see its results posted fresh each day. This won't let you add your own
applications though.
2. Run it at as applet at http://mindprod.com/applet/vercheck.html
without installing it.
3. Download and install it and run it as a Java utility.
HOW IT WORKS
************
For each application, you give the URL of a page to check.
You also specify some string that is on the page, usually
containing the version number. If this string is not
present, presumably something has changed. You have to then
manually figure out what, and install the new software, then
adjust VerCheck to look for the new version number.
GOTCHAS
*******
You have to be careful designing your string to search for.
If you searched for "1.0", and the version chanced to "1.0a"
VerCheck would not notice. Similarly if the string "1.0"
appeared on the page in some other context, e.g. the version
of some other program, or part of a price, again Vercheck
would not notice, since the string it is mindlessly looking
for would still be on the page.
You have to use your browser's View Source to get the exact
string, including HTML tags, to look for. So you might for
example have to look for "version 10.2" not "version
10.2" which is how it would appear on screen. Sometimes
something you see on the screen is bafflingly not in the
HTML. If you can't see it in view source, you can't use it
in VerCheck.
You have to be careful to pick a string that will be
guaranteed to disappear when the new version comes out.
Sometimes the author (Apple often does this) leaves links to
old versions or mentions the old version. This usually means
including sufficient context around the version number. In
general you want to include a bit of text both before and
after the version number.
Sometimes the version number won't appear on the page at
all, but you can put the current version number in the URL
and get different messages if the version has
changed/unchanged.
Some webmasters get silly and and needlessly bury the text
in layer upon layer of JavaScript. Sometimes you can
download some JavaScript and scan it to look for the version
number. Sometimes you can find the version number displayed
plainly on some other page. Use Google to help you find one.
Search for [someprogram released 99.99] to find the release dates.
Sometimes a program has a special new version check in the
help menu. You can watch what it does and whe response with
a sniffer like WireShark. See
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/wireshark.html. Then you can work
out a URL and expected string to simulate what the program
does.
Abobe Flash and Adobe Shockwave run some code on your
machine to determine your platform, what you have installed
etc., then it sends that information to the server bundled
up in a cookie which then returns the version for your
particular platform. Vercheck is not bright enough to
compose cookies, so it is not capable of simulating this
process.
TopStyle does not post the latest version anywhere on the
web, but the program itself does an HTTP POST to ask if
there is a new version. VerCheck does not have the ability
to simulate this.
Sometimes you will get a false "new version". This happens
if a webmaster modifies a page to remove your marker, but
does not issue a new release of the software. You have to
find a new marker, perhaps on a different web page, that
will be more stable. Often the names of download files are
a good bet.
Sometimes you need to look for two separate pieces on the
page with variable text in between. Use a regex, e.g. begin
the string with regex: then compose a Java regex Pattern to
match the version.
You can add utilities to the defaults.csv, run prepare and rebuild,
or you can enter them on the screen. Utilities you add on the screen
will not be reflected in the defaults.csv. They will be written
only to the registry.
SIGNED APPLET
*************
VerCheck is a signed Applet. You don't have to install it on
your computer. It stores your list of application in your
registry using the Java Preferences mechanism.
You must grant permission to let it poll the various
websites.
Alternatively you can download and run the program locally
as an application with:
java.exe -jar VerCheck.jar
However, if you do that, you won't hear any of the verbal
error messages. They require the browser AudioClip support.
USE
***
To add a new application hit (+), then enter an application
name, an URL and the "marker" -- an expected response string
that will be embedded in the web page returned if the
version has not changed.
Click "Check for New Versions" to check the entire list of
applications to see if any have changed.
Click "Restore Defaults" to restore the factory setting
URLs, and markers. Your own app settings won't be affected,
but any of the factory apps will be updated. This happens
automatically every time you run VerRheck. You would use
this is if you screwed up the factory settings.
You can adjust the widths of the columns by dragging the
separator lines between the column headers.
This utility is an implementation of the Version Checker
student project described at
http://mindprod.com/project/versionchecker.html
If you are happy to just monitor the factory set of 63
applications, you don't need to run the Applet at all. Just
use your browser to have a look at the results of daily
running this utility with the factory settings are posted
at: http://mindprod.com/jgloss/utilities.html
ADVANCED USE
************
You can use Java regular expressions in the marker field for
matching. Just prefix them with the string "regex:" without
the quotes. e.g. "regex:version[- ]+9\.9"
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/regex.html for more
information on regex pattern finding.
When run as an application, it will export the data in HTML
format in a file called vercheckexport.html in the current
directory. You can embed that in an html page to display
current status of all your apps.
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Version History:
1.0 2008-01-25 initial release
1.1 2008-01-25 new Opera beta, add VerCheck itself
1.2 2008-01-26 automatically restore default apps on every use, to automatically keep them up to date.
1.3 2008-01-29 4NT incremented build number 8.02:102 to 8.02:103
1.4 2008-01-30 4NT/TCC now repackaged as Take Command. Better thread isolation. Goldwave 5.23
1.5 2008-02-01 new Take Command, new Opera Beta
1.6 2008-02-01 remove obsolete entries. better check for Corel and Safari
1.7 2008-02-03 new version Take Command, add iTunes
1.8 2008-02-06 new version Take Command
1.9 2008-02-07 Firefox 12.0.0.12 and SeaMonkey 1.1.8
2.0 2008-02-09 Adobe Acrobat 1.1.2, requires regex and new Take Command
2.1 2008-02-11 BitTorrent 6.0.2, new Take Command
2.2 2008-02-14 new version FastStone 6.0
2.3 2008-02-16 new version Take Command. New icon for apps released in last week.
2.4 2008-02-27 new Take Command, Boot-It, iTunes, Copernic, Opera
2.5 2008-03-03 fix bug causing user apps to disappear, redo persistence, reorg way icons computed.
2.6 2008-03-09 remove restore defaults button, many version change marker changes.
2.7 2008-03-26 new firefox, SeaMonkey, intellij
2.8 2008-04-17 many version detection string changes.
2.9 2008-05-06 reorder columns so date last updated more visible.
3.0 2008-08-20 new look under Vista with native fonts, and easier to read background.
3.1 2008-08-31 all user to add a description field to each app. Export all data to HTML.
3.2 2008-09-02 make sound work on Vista/JDK 1.6.0_11+ and in application mode.
3.3 2008-11-17 retry probes of apps that could not connect.
3.4 2008-12-17 add DONE sound (kettle switch clicking off) when all apps checked
3.5 2009-01-11 arrange that two copies of VerCheck running at once do not interfere with each other.
3.6 2009-02-20 refactor to use new HTTP library
3.7 2009-03-20 define default sand obsoletes in files rather than hard wired into the program.
3.8 2009-03-31 change order of fields in defaults.csv
3.9 2009-05-18 now check in three passes so see interesting results sooner.
4.0 2009-06-03 extra status information about how the check went.
4.1 2010-02-01 now display date and time last probes all sites.
4.2 2010-03-24 user selectable Look and Feel.
4.3 2011-09-22 suppress autoscrolling to avoid conflicting with the user scrolling.
4.4 2012-03-23 sometimes bypass rechecking when we have done it recently
4.5 2014-06-06 app names and descriptions may now contain entities.
4.6 2014-06-15 changed order of columns in defaults.csv to make version URL more accessible.
4.7 2015-01-04 do probes on multiple threads for speedup
4.8 2015-11-30 countdown status, ensure important result visible at end.
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