Automated download of the latest TCMD build

[rfaquino]

Hello,

I have an automated script that copies JP Software's download web page to a file, parses it and then decides whether there is a new build available for download or not.

The line of code that performs the copy is this:
Copy /q "http://jpsoft.com/all-downloads/downloads.html" %TCBuildFile%

This always worked fine, although sometimes I had to change the parser code to adjust to changes in the web page format.

Recently the command above is failing with the following error message:

TCC: C:\Batch\TCBuild.btm [94] HTTP protocol error. 403 Forbidden. "http://jpsoft.com/all-downloads/downloads.html"

I googled HTTP error 403 and learned there is some security feature on the server page that is preventing me from copying the page, although I can see easily the page source using browser tools on Firefox or IE.

Has something changed in the website security or am I doing something wrong?

This is absolutely no big deal, but I would like to understand the reasons why the script is failing. I know I can also check for updates using the TCMD window, but this requires manual intervention.

Thanks in advance,

Renato

 

[JohnQSmith]

If you use the Google Chrome browser, there is an AWESOME extension called "Page Monitor" by Max Shawabkeh. I use it to track updates on over 25 pages. Easy to use and very configurable.

 

[rfaquino]

Hi John, I tried Chrome in the past and didn't like it. I'm a Firefox guy. Thanks for the tip, anyway.

 

[rconn]

The site security was changed to block some vulnerabilities.

Unfortunately, the jpsoft.com web site is seeing more than 20K attempted illegal accesses *a day* now, so we've had to lock things down a lot more than in the past.

 

[rfaquino]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the quick reply, Rex.

 

[JohnQSmith]

I've only tried it a little, but the Update Scanner by sneakypete81 appears to be an addon for Firefox comparable to Page Monitor.

 

[Charles Dye]

The line of code that performs the copy is this:
Copy /q "http://jpsoft.com/all-downloads/downloads.html" %TCBuildFile%

I can download that page using wget instead of COPY.

 

[rfaquino]

John and Charles, thanks a bunch for the suggestions. I went with GNU's wget, which did exactly what I was able to do with TCC's internal Copy command.

 

[dcantor]

I was able to download the web page to a file using LYNX, with a command line

lynx -dump http://jpsoft.com/all-downloads/downloads.html > x.tmp

The result is very parseable.

 

[Steve Pitts]

Seems kind of ironic that it is possible to access pages within the 'locked down' site using third-party tools but not via TCC ;)