<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div>Thanks. And as it is available for Chrome, and is a plug-in, it seems to avoid some of the pitfalls of external tools. <br><br></div>
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-------- Original Message --------<br>
Subject: Re: [ale] How to drive Linux browser to make a campground<br>
sniper?<br>
From: Alex Carver via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>><br>
Date: Sat, January 13, 2018 2:32 pm<br>
To: <a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a><br>
<br>
Greasemonkey is the most frequently used scripting plugin for Firefox<br>
<br>
On 2018-01-13 11:20, Pete Hardie via Ale wrote:<br>
> I have used a Firefox extension that could script both butting presses and<br>
> field entries, and I believe it could check data form the page. I will see<br>
> if I can look up the name<br>
> <br>
> On Sat, Jan 13, 2018 at 2:16 PM, Neal Rhodes via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
>> Boring "Real-World Details":<br>
>><br>
>> So, we are planning a summer trip to Glacier National Park in Montana.<br>
>><br>
>> We would really like to camp at Many Glaciers Campground in the park.<br>
>> However, at present, all the sites are already reserved. They are<br>
>> reserved through <a href="http://recreation.gov">recreation.gov</a>, starting 6 months to the day from today.<br>
>><br>
>> But we have a really strong impression that people initially book a long<br>
>> stretch, then later either reduce the duration once they get more specific<br>
>> plans, or cancel.<br>
>><br>
>> SO, we really want to detect if/when sites become available over the next<br>
>> 6 months and jump on it before someone else does.<br>
>><br>
>> There is someone who offers this as a service for $40 a reservation,<br>
>> irrespective of whether they are successful.<br>
>><br>
>> Exciting Technology Application:<br>
>><br>
>> Initially I looked at the HTML for their search page, with the thought of<br>
>> using "wget" to simulate the reservation request. That increasingly looks<br>
>> like a fool's errand, assuming that they may have session cookies related<br>
>> to sign-on and other magic handshake crap that would be difficult to<br>
>> simulate. And what happens when they alter their data fields?<br>
>><br>
>> Then I thought: All I want to do is:<br>
>><br>
>> Setup a browser window on our Centos 6 desktop, any browser that<br>
>> understands https;<br>
>> Run that browser through the responses to get it to the search window on<br>
>> this campground, and put in all the dates and related input.<br>
>> Then:<br>
>><br>
>> Run SOMETHING that will automate:<br>
>><br>
>> Hit the Search Submit button;<br>
>> See if the resultant page contains "No Suitable availability"<br>
>> IF Not: Email me<br>
>> Sleep 15 minutes<br>
>> Rinse, Later, Repeat<br>
>><br>
>> This sounds to me like a very elemental application of a test/control<br>
>> manager for a GUI interface. If I can automate an existing browser, we<br>
>> can eliminate all the complexities of trying to fake out their web server.<br>
>><br>
>> Since this just sits on my desk in the basement, I can live with<br>
>> hard-coded screen coordinates.<br>
>><br>
>> What tools exist in Linux to do this?<br>
>><br>
>> regards,<br>
>><br>
>> Neal Rhodes<br>
>> MNOP Ltd<br>
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