Tournament Registration Timing Problem Solved

[trishan]

What's with all the people being negative. AJG has written a piece of software that solves a problem people have been having the whole season - a simple thanks would have sufficed.

Just touching on this...

Nothing wrong with Aaron putting in some effort and making the program. I'm sure it's a good idea and has merit.

But I'll trust whoever/whatever I want to, thanks very much.

Yeh that's cool Pete - just didn't see what your comment added to the thread.

[BigPete33]

Perspective

[AJG]

Pete: As you can see from the source code, it is just a series of timed, automated mouse clicks...
If you think I am after anyone's passwords then YOU are DREAMING! Perspective indeed...

So, as from benny the cunt's idea, here is a version that is slightly different. It asks from the start time of the tournament, and will register you 2 hours before that. This one can also click the login window for you, but obviously cant log you out, or it wouldnt be able to unregister you if required...

AutoReg2.jpg (15.71 KiB) Viewed 544 times

The 'Details' (lower) dialog pops up when you click 'OK' on the main (upper) window, and will also auto disappear after 60 seconds if you don't click OK...
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It will then wait for you to click a confirmation button. If you do not, it will unregister you 15 minutes before start time...

AutoReg2 Confirm reg.jpg (3.93 KiB) Viewed 544 times

Also, clicking confirm prior to registration will terminate the whole process...

Unfortunately, I can write a version that supports multiple tournaments, but not with this feature of unregistering if you are not present within 15 minutes of start (Well I can, but too much effort) , but that shouldnt be an issue, as you can manually register for any subsequent tournaments...

If anyone really wants one that is the same as first version, but supports multiple tournaments, I will post one...

EDit:: Removed exe download

Please Note: Due to the way AHK does (not) handle time manipulations, Ive had to code some simple stuff myself, so this will only work with the evening tourneys.
Also, given the time based nature of testing this, I have only done so twice, but it worked flawlessly both times...

No more deadstacks from this utility!

[bennymacca]

using this tonight to get into the early game. hopefully it works

[AJG]

Seriously though Pete, I don't know if you are familiar with Auto HotKey, but from other threads where you have discussed your profession, you really should have a look at it if you aren't. It could (will) save you a HEAP of work...
There's also a good editor specifically for AHK scripts called SciTE (AHK does come with scripts to add syntax highlighting to other editors, but this one gives you tools like 'Tools->Run', 'Tools->Compile' and better error output), and of course the compiler, but you'll need to download v2 of the compiler for it to work (well I did anyway)
Check it out! (< 2Mb dl)

And for all: AHK has been used extensively in the online Poker world. From using the keyboard to multitable, to Scripts which will automatically maintain a certain number of SnGs playing on your machine and much much more. The 2p2 forums are full of AHK scripts/programs for different poker sites and uses. Then there's also this page of links, entirely dedicated to AHK related poker code!

Its a pity that the 888 client gives no dealer info in the chat like other sites, cos AHK could be much more useful with it if it did!

Edit: benny the cunt, would I let you down? It will work... are you using the 2nd version?
Code in that to register is exactly the same as v1, just added some logic to unregister and automatically work out times etc, which was a bit of a pain, as AHK doesnt convert between strings and numbers, but a function to take a string, say "1234" and return 1234 is only a few lines of code...

[AJG]

No I see you using v1, no one has downloaded v2 yet.
There seems to be a misconception in its use (v1) I wish to clarify.
DON'T enter the tournament start time, enter the time you actually want to register for the tournament...
Example: Tournament starts at 7:00 PM, registration begins at 4:00 PM, input 4:30 PM and it will register you AT 4:30...
As you can see, v2 IS different, you DO enter the start time of the tournament.
I chose 2 hours earlier to register so you most likely will get a seat, and 15 minutes before start time to unregister so if you don't make it and its full, hopefully someone else has time enough to get in...

I am working on a more functional version, that will allow more control over things (except the 15 minute unregister period), and also perform more robust testing.
When this is completed and posted, I would ask a moderator to remove the original version, so that the deadstack problem will not exist?

[Swanky]

Nice work AJG, very nice indeed.
Now work on registering for a specific tourny number or you're fired!

[AJG]

Unfortunately old man Swanky, with AHK that is far too much effort (I had already thought of it ). Thats why you need to have the Tournament Lobby open for it to register.

I have refined it even further, giving you the ability to specify exactly how far in advance you wish to register. It is still hardwired to unregister you 15 minutes before the start time if you don't confirm you are there.
During testing I noticed twice (out of about 50+ trials) it would not click the OK button once you were registered, leaving that window active over the tournament lobby. This made unregistration impossible, but luckily this is the one window which allows keyboard input, and with only the one button, I rewrote the script to send the Enter key instead of a mouse click, so it is guaranteed to work. Also, I coded a time 'manipulation' function, allowing arbitrary amounts of time to be added or subtracted from another time (ie 4:30 PM - 3hrs, or 1:30 AM - 90mins) and it functions correctly across midday/midnight, so now the script will work with ANY tournament. You can now specify a start time of 12:30 PM, and to register you 2 hours prior (10:30 AM) and it will work, so there is no limitation on the tournaments this version works with. So you can register for a 6am tourney and sleep until its almost time to play!
(Yes I know, get a life, but actually I really enjoy doing things like this... Almost as much as playing poker!)

I am currently just putting together some documentation for it, so there can be no misunderstanding how to use (input formats etc), and will include the source scripts in this distribution, if anyone wants to just run them if they have AHK installed (see link previous post) or modify them for whatever reason, or just look at them...
Be posted by early tomorrow...

[bennymacca]

with all that time manipulation guff, why don't you just make it a 24hr clock? simple solution

[AJG]

benny the cunt: Already done, plus I like a 'challenge' (more like something to do! 10 minutes and 40 lines of code) Also, code reuse... Will probably come in handy in other scripts I might write in the future (for personal use, not neccessarily Poker related) I prefer the elegant solution to the simple one Old habits die hard!
Edit: also it wouldnt work for all times benny the cunt, ie 1am - 2hrs?

The version run from the script through the AHK interpreter runs perfectly. However, the compiled version behaves like I always input midnight as the tourney start time??? Looking into the problem now, but won't post the exe until it works obviously. If anyone wants to download AHK (<2Mb) and run the script version let me know, but I will still resolve the compilation issue. Frustrating more than anything!
Previous version (that unregisters to) still works fine, just has the start time limitations of between 3:00-11:55 am or pm.