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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

[Just In Case] JC Backup Tool - Threads/PMs

Discussion in 'Communications' started by DarthXan318, Apr 23, 2010.

  1. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    In case people want to back up stuff before the move, I've written a small program to automagically download and save stuff from the JC... :D

    All you have to do is supply it with a thread (link or ID) or forum ID. If you supply it with a thread, it only saves that thread; if you supply it with a forum ID, it then prompts you to enter a start and stop page, and then it saves all the threads on those pages of the forum. It should also be able to 'continue' downloads - that is, if you asked it to download a thread, and it crashed halfway for whatever reason, the next time you download that thread it'll attempt to continue from where it left off. If you ask it to save your PMs, it'll just ask you what pages you'd like, and take it from there.

    Please don't feed it illogical input like negative page numbers and stuff. It will likely just complain/crash if you do so.

    You can download it here:
    JC_Backup.win64.zip (Windows 64bit)
    JC_Backup.win32.zip (Windows 32bit)
    JC_Backup.mac.zip (Mac)

    Download, unzip, and double-click the .exe (Windows) or .app (Mac) and follow the on-screen prompts. If you login (rest assured it does not save or record your password in any way), it will use your posts-per-page settings when saving threads and be able to save PMs; if not, it'll use the default (15 ppp).

    I should emphasize that this is a backup tool - all threads and PMs should hopefully make it across the move without any trouble. This is just in case you'd like to save any stuff to make sure.

    Any bugs/problems, post in this thread or PM me.

    Enjoy. :D
     
  2. Slowburn

    Slowburn Jedi Youngling star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2010
    Very cool, man. Good work.
     
  3. NYCitygurl

    NYCitygurl Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2002
    Awesome tool, Xan - thank you so much!! [:D]
     
  4. Darth Gangrenous

    Darth Gangrenous Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2005
    I can't find anything marked with a .exe and what says something like "JC Backup" won't open. I get an error saying that it won't open because it is incorrect(or something like that).
     
  5. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    "JC_Backup" is the one you want (if you can't see the .exe extension, it's because later versions of Windows turn off file extensions by default). I'm not sure why you'd have that problem though. Are you downloading the right version? The 64bit one won't run on 32bit computers.
     
  6. Darth Gangrenous

    Darth Gangrenous Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2005
    I chose the one listed as "JC_Backup.win32.zip". *shrugs* Oh well, if I can't get it to work, maybe I can talk Skiara into backing up my game thread.
     
  7. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Hmm... well it works for me, so I don't know what's wrong. Sorry. :(

    Maybe try re-downloading it? Could be the file got corrupted somehow.
     
  8. Darth McClain

    Darth McClain Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 5, 2000
    Thanks, Xan! I'll be using it later today.
     
  9. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
    I would like some assurance that this is secure, as it is sending my password out
     
  10. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    It's as secure as a web browser. It sends your password to the JC - nothing more.

    Although if you like (and if you are a Python coder, and if you promise not to do dastardly things with it) I can send you the code and you can see for yourself.
     
  11. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
  12. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    This is great, thanks a lot Xan. :)
     
  13. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Not to be paranoid, but has anyone tried this to make sure it works? I'm also a little concerned about the password issue.

    -sj loves kevin spacey
     
  14. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    I tested it at least five times during the development process, it works. Also, the password information is secure, and unless you're archiving PMs you don't need it anyway.
     
  15. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    You can still save threads without logging in (choose Skip Login). The thing is doing that will display threads at 15ppp as it would for anyone not logged in. If anyone is really concerned about their passwords then I think logging in with a sock would be the best way for saving threads at least.
     
  16. Jedi_Liz

    Jedi_Liz Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 24, 2000
    how long does backing up the PMs take? how can I know the PMs are being backed up? I have a little box that says READ PM BACKUP but it doesn't say anything else.
     
  17. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Er... you do?

    That's weird. Let me check. I might've broken something with the latest version.

    EDIT - Yeah, I broke it. [face_blush] It's fixed now - re-download and you should see more than a "Read PM Backup" box.
     
  18. Salty

    Salty Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 24, 1998
    Just saved 16 threads with this program. It worked like a charm.
     
  19. G-FETT

    G-FETT Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 10, 2001
    Can someone save all the Comms threads from 2000-2003? We can't lose all of that drama! [face_laugh]
     
  20. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
    Another way: Use Internet Explorer (gasp!), load up the page, do file->save as and choose "Web Archive, single file (*.mht) " in the Save As File Type dialogue.

    This will save the page and all the pictures in one mht file, rather than a whole bunch of separate stuffs. You'll have to do every page, so its best to change your JC options to 50 posts per page.

    There are FireFox addons that support this too.
     
  21. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    Flare the whole point of this tool is so that you don't have to go to each page and save them individually. You just enter in the thread ID and it saves all the pages for you in a jiffy.
     
  22. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    I think this tool only saves the HTML though.
     
  23. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    All picture files work and that includes icons, faces, and images (provided that the links to them are still active).
     
  24. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
    If so, thats cool. I just hate not knowing where each file is unless I have specifically put it there and I haven't specifically named and want it all nice and tidy *eyetwitch*
     
  25. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    Hmm well if you're concerned about file names then there may be a problem. :p

    When it saves a thread it'll make a folder with the thread name and ID but each file (thread page) in the folder is simply labelled "1", "2", "3", etc.