Downloader does not work

[blueapples]

I have added some debug output to the downloader, and this is the response that is returned by the website when attempting to login:

**********************************************************
Welcome to the 4e data downloader. Please choose an option
by pressing 1, 2 or d, or press any other key to exit.

For more details on this program, please see the 4e user
manual (Hero Lab -> Help menu -> 4th edition manual).
**********************************************************

1. Download data (no D&D insider account)
2. Download data (with D&D insider account)
r. Restore previous data (if present)
d. Delete existing data
x. Exit

IMPORTANT NOTE:
The downloader does not save your login information
anywhere - it is only used to log in to D&D insider,
and then discarded.

Enter your D&D insider username (email address) and press enter: xx.xx+xx@gmail.com

Enter your D&D insider password and press enter:
Connecting to server...
Response: iPlanetDirectoryPro2 - invalid - 2/1/2012<br/> <font face="Arial" size
=2>
<p>Response object</font> <font face="Arial" size=2>error 'ASP 0158 : 80004005'<
/font>
<p>
<font face="Arial" size=2>Missing URL</font>
<p>
<font face="Arial" size=2>/global/dnd_login.asp</font><font face="Arial" size=2>
, line 78</font>
<p>
<font face="Arial" size=2>A URL is required.
</font>
**** Login error - username / password not recognised.


Press any key to quit.

[Colen]

That's odd - I just did some tests and I don't encounter that error message. If you try to run the downloader again, does the same thing happen?

What happens if you go to the D&D Compendium:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Tool.aspx...ool/compendium

And try to log in with that username and password?

[blueapples]

Yep, I just tried and my login worked correctly in the Compendium directly.

I noticed that the path that is used by the downloader doesn't seem to match what the Compendium is currently posting to:

http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/co...gonpath&id=391

The error message mentions "/global/dnd_login.asp" rather than this path.

I'm not sure what the page and id parameters are for here, but I tried updating the LOGIN_URL constant as follows:

#define LOGIN_URL "http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/login.aspx"

And this *seems* to now be downloading the items. The response text that was printed by my debug code printed out a login form, however, so it seems a little weird that it's working. I also didn't modify the START_URL value which is still pointing to a classic .asp file instead of a .aspx file. If they've moved everything to .NET then this part might not work either anymore.

[blueapples]

So, I finally got the downloader "fixed" by changing it's LOGIN_URL constant, I have been running it basically non-stop ever since. It's been two weeks and the thing is still not done. Unfortunately Windows finally decided it really needed to install an update and restarted the VM that I run it under, so it appears that I have to start over from scratch.

I find this sort of incredible and extremely frustrating. Is there any way that you guys can modify the downloader so that it will not attempt to download items that it already has? It would be really helpful if it were possible to stop and start the downloader at will as may be needed in and not lose all progress.

[blueapples]

Actually - I take it back. I do not believe it is working at all and now I'm even more frustrated. It appears that the sequence of "!" that I see on the screen are not in fact an indication of progress, but of an error state that the downloader does not attempt to recover from.

I understand that you guys have limited resources and that screen scraping is difficult, but I find the state of this program to be really inadequate given the fact that you charge quite a bit for it.

Is there any way that this could possibly be fixed? The program does not work at all the way it currently is.

[blueapples]

Can a mod merge this thread into my original one? (http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=16734) I thought this was a separate issue but it does not appear that it is.

[Colen]

Sorry, I thought you'd resolved this based on your previous post. I'll reply to the email you sent me about it.

Is anyone else having this issue with the downloader? If so, please post in the thread and let me know. Thanks!

[yanko128]

I have managed to complete the download "successfully", however when I select 4e from the menu I get an error message during the compiling process.

Data files could not be loaded due to the following errors;
Thing 'ftLearnSpe' - Bootstrap thing 'fWizRitCas' does not exist

When I hit Ok it continues compiling until it gives me this error:

The following errors have occurred:
Thing 'ftLearnSpe' - Bootstrap thing 'fWizRitCas' does not exis

I have run the ddidownloader twice now, and I got the same error both times.

[Colen]

This should be corrected by the new version of the downloader, which was released last week.