donderdag 2 september 2004

Windows scheduler
Okay, stupid me. I didn't realise that Windows has a scheduler of its own, which can be used to let the iPodder scan every hour. I could have thought of that myself..

On the other hand, Frontier is so much more than just a scheduler, so maybe there are ways to expand it. Anything should be possible.
  7:30:28 PM    comment []  trackback []

Using Frontier's scheduler for the iPodder
It's possible to use Frontier as a scheduler for the i-podder.js by Pieter. This scheduler can make sure it scans for new enclosures hourly. I'm of course sharing this with you guys.

The current version of Frontier is not open source yet, so the one I'm playing with is Frontier 5.0.1, downloadable at userland.com. It works just fine. Let's go through what I did:

First, I needed to modify the script a bit, because when you run it from Frontier, it cannot seem to find the feeds.txt and memory.txt anymore. The modifications are these:
  • Find the three pointers to the .txt files in the script. They should be somwhere near the end, and look like this:
    f = fso.GetFile("feeds.txt");
    f = fso.GetFile("memory.txt");
  • Note: there are three places where you need to edit. The first and third occurences point to memory.txt, the other points to feeds.txt.
  • Change these two into this:
    f = fso.GetFile(path+"feeds.txt");
    f = fso.GetFile(path+"memory.txt");
  • Mind that the difference between these lines, and the lines mentioned above, is the 'path+' part. That's a variable that is going to tell the script where to look for the files.
  • When you've done that, put this line at the very top of the script (before the 'function'-part):
    path="F:\\Mijn Documenten\\iPodder\\";
  • Of course, this is my local path. Make sure you put yours in there, and mind the double backslashes.
That's the first thing. If you've done this, the script should work as before, and do nothing new. Now you need to schedule the thing, using Frontier. Do this:

  • Choose Main -> Scheduler -> Add an Hourly Task from the menu
  • Enter this line:
    launch.application("F:\\Mijn Documenten\\iPodder\\i-podder.js")
    Of course, in this line I have put my location for the script. If you're going to use this, make sure you put your own path in there.
  • Press OK
Now the task is added to the Hourly Scheduler.It should run the iPodder within one hour. if it doesn't, it's probably my mistake, so please let me know. If it does work, I am glad to have helped you schedule your iPodder.
  6:14:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

iPodder related question
I'm digging into MP3 players right now, checking specs and all that. Is it true that some (or better: all) MP3 players, and I'm asking this because I simply don't own one myself, can act like those removable USB disks?

The reason I want to know is this: when it's true, an MP3 player will be accessible by the filesystem, so any script you're making that's able to work with the filesystem can write to the MP3 player.

So the question is: do they act like a USB disk, or don't they? Maybe it's very obvious, and are you thinking "ofcourse, what else do you think?", but as said: I just don't know. If anybody would give me some info, thanks in advance.
  1:35:12 PM    comment []  trackback []