URL Macro Enhancements

ssieloff
03/29/2006 07:02 am
It would be very beneficial to have a URL macro that would support a multi-character string increment like {:aaa.zzz} which would iterate aaa, aab, aac, ..., zzy, zzz.

The current alpha macro, according to the documentation only supports a single character argument. I am currently having to code 3 consecutive macros into the URL like {:a..z}{:a..z}{:a..z} to perform this function.

In addition, it would be nice to be able to have 2 independent macros in a single URL where they BOTH increment at the same time by the stated amount. For instance, if a URL argument list has a starting and ending record number (start=11&end=20) I would like to be able to code start={:11..101|10)&end={:20..120|10} and have it retrieve pages start=11&end=20, start=21&end=30,...,start=101&end=120. Right now I believe the product iterated the second macro occurence from 20 thru 120 while macro 1 is anchored at 11 -- is this correct? Any suggested work around (if OE Pro supported a URL generator with a save to file function I could generate a set of URLs for start=11-101, save it to a file, reread the save file with the "hard coded" start values and use the {:20..120|10} macro for the &end parameter value -- I currently do this with a 3rd party tool but is there an easier way?).

Thanks,

Steve Sieloff
ssieloff@aol.com
Oleg Chernavin
03/29/2006 07:02 am
Dear Steve Sieloff,

Frankly, I think that the current {:a..z} macro is enough for such things and I would not like to make code more complex unless it is really necessary. It is not often used in the {:aaa..zzz} format, so probably it can be left as-is. If you have any other reasons, I will be happy to discuss this.

Regarding the second type of macro - yes, it is impossible now. If there is a real need for that, I can do it for you. Something like {:11..101|10#1}... {:#1+19}

Best regards,
Oleg Chernavin
MetaProducts corp.
ssieloff
03/29/2006 07:02 am
> Dear Steve Sieloff,
>
> Frankly, I think that the current {:a..z} macro is enough for such things and I would not like to make code more complex unless it is really necessary. It is not often used in the {:aaa..zzz} format, so probably it can be left as-is. If you have any other reasons, I will be happy to discuss this.
>
> Regarding the second type of macro - yes, it is impossible now. If there is a real need for that, I can do it for you. Something like {:11..101|10#1}... {:#1+19}
>
> Best regards,
> Oleg Chernavin
> MetaProducts corp.
>

Oleg -

I agree with your first statement except that in many of the sites I download there is a limit to the physical number of records returned so a query for name = wildcard values like "%%%", while it would return the whole database if unrestricted, the site restricts view to first 1000 records. To get around this, I find myself coding for name=aa% -- zz% or name=aaa-zzz which return small enough chunks of data to defeat the limitations imposed yet allowing me to retrieve all the records in the database behind the form. If there is a better way to defeat such download limits please let me know your thoughts.

I would definitely like to have the second option, if possible. Many of my sites are sequence or page based queries where you have to increment both a start and end parameter in the URL at the same time. Please let me know if I can test the option for you. I was thinking more along the lines of {1:1..100|10} ... {1:11..111|10} where the numeric value preceeding the : represents the priority of the increment. In this example, both would increment from starting values at same time because they share a common value.

One last comment -- is there an easy way to start a date search at, say 01/01/2001 and have OE Pro generate/loop thru only the valid dates until current data (or whatever date is set using setdate)? Many public record sites are date based and provide a query form which lets a user retrieve data based upon a specified date -- I would like to automate the collection of many dates in a single run without having to stop after each month and reset day/month values.

As usual, your products and support are OUTSTANDING!

Thanks,

Steve
Steve Sieloff
03/29/2006 07:02 am
> > Dear Steve Sieloff,
> >
> > Frankly, I think that the current {:a..z} macro is enough for such things and I would not like to make code more complex unless it is really necessary. It is not often used in the {:aaa..zzz} format, so probably it can be left as-is. If you have any other reasons, I will be happy to discuss this.
> >
> > Regarding the second type of macro - yes, it is impossible now. If there is a real need for that, I can do it for you. Something like {:11..101|10#1}... {:#1+19}
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Oleg Chernavin
> > MetaProducts corp.
> >
>
> Oleg -
>
> I agree with your first statement except that in many of the sites I download there is a limit to the physical number of records returned so a query for name = wildcard values like "%%%", while it would return the whole database if unrestricted, the site restricts view to first 1000 records. To get around this, I find myself coding for name=aa% -- zz% or name=aaa-zzz which return small enough chunks of data to defeat the limitations imposed yet allowing me to retrieve all the records in the database behind the form. If there is a better way to defeat such download limits please let me know your thoughts.
>
> I would definitely like to have the second option, if possible. Many of my sites are sequence or page based queries where you have to increment both a start and end parameter in the URL at the same time. Please let me know if I can test the option for you. I was thinking more along the lines of {1:1..100|10} ... {1:11..111|10} where the numeric value preceeding the : represents the priority of the increment. In this example, both would increment from starting values at same time because they share a common value.
>
> One last comment -- is there an easy way to start a date search at, say 01/01/2001 and have OE Pro generate/loop thru only the valid dates until current data (or whatever date is set using setdate)? Many public record sites are date based and provide a query form which lets a user retrieve data based upon a specified date -- I would like to automate the collection of many dates in a single run without having to stop after each month and reset day/month values.
>
> As usual, your products and support are OUTSTANDING!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve

Oleg -

Any thoughts on the date range incrementing macro above? Am I missing something in OE Pro that would allow for automatic date range looping?

Steve
Oleg Chernavin
03/29/2006 07:02 am
What about the following approach. Say, you have a URL that includes a date:

http://www.server.com/dir/file01.05.2001.ext

The following would loop until the current date:

http://www.server.com/dir/file{:01..31}.{:05..12}.2001.ext
http://www.server.com/dir/file{:01..31}.{:01..12}.2002.ext
http://www.server.com/dir/file{:01..31}.{:01..04}.2003.ext
http://www.server.com/dir/file{:01..06}.05.2003.ext

Only four lines, as you see.

Oleg.
Oleg Chernavin
03/29/2006 07:02 am
I also made the {:11..101|10#1}... {:#1+19} - style macro. If you need it right now, let me know.

Oleg.
Steve Sieloff
03/29/2006 07:02 am
> I also made the {:11..101|10#1}... {:#1+19} - style macro. If you need it right now, let me know.
>
> Oleg.

Oleg --

Once again you come through! Your support is almost as awesome as the software :-)

Yes, I would like to gain access to the new style macro that will allow for incrementing 2 separate parts of URL at same time.

Thanks,

Steve
Oleg Chernavin
03/29/2006 07:02 am
> Once again you come through! Your support is almost as awesome as the software :-)

And what is more awesome? :-)

> Yes, I would like to gain access to the new style macro that will allow for incrementing 2 separate parts of URL at same time.

Sure. Here is the link:

http://www.metaproducts.com/download/betas/oep1200.zip

Oleg.