Various (redundant)

[Tombs]

An early Xmas present for some users. Now OBSOLETE.

WARNING - If you don't already have the dependencies listed below, then this program will not work for you.


TheViewer (for want of a better name ... I'm not very imaginative in this area)

This is a viewer for the list file that pcspeak's program creates, so his program is required.

That program and all its dependencies can be found in a zip file listed here. NOT ANY LONGER

IMPORTANT - To use TheViewer with the Dropper, you not only require v4.5 or newer of URLDown Dropper, but you also require ryley's version of youtube-dl.exe, which can be found here NOT ANY LONGER. If 'Use the PY download method' is enabled in the Dropper (Other Options right-click menu), it needs to be deselected.

Once again, we are indebted to pcspeak and ryley for making this possible, etc. Thanks guys.

NOTES - How to use the program (Viewer) should be self evident, but here are some steps anyway, plus some hidden settings you can change.

1. Make sure that pcspeak's program and TheViewer.exe share the same folder location.
2. Run pcspeak's program and wait until it has finished ... might take a few minutes.
3. Run my TheViewer program and click the LOAD button ... should take only a few seconds to finish loading.
4. If you want to use the links (URLs) with my other program, then enable the URLDown Dropper option in the COPY section (right of Clipboard button).
5. Or if you are using pcspeak's full setup, leave the URLDown Dropper option de-selected.
6. Select an entry you want, and click the Clipboard button, to have the details you need (URL etc) added to the clipboard.
7. Paste the result into URLDown Dropper or wherever you need it with pcspeak's setup.

Hidden Settings
(1) By default, a Splash shows when loading the Video List. This can be disabled by modifying an entry in the Settings.ini file.
Change use=1 to use=4 in the [Splash Screen Window] section.

(2) Video List font size can be changed, by entering a different number in an entry in the Settings.ini file.
Change size=8.5 to size=10 for example, in the [Video List Font] section.

(3) The same can be done for the Video Title input field, in the [Video Title Font] section.

If you ever want to restore default values for all, just delete the Settings.ini file found in the TheViewer program folder.

[Tombs]

My apology to the two people who downloaded the faulty version of my new program TheViewer ... I have re-uploaded.
I made a dumb copy & paste error (twice) and it has now been fixed, and the program is now working properly ... very embarassing.
And I cannot blame Xmas Drinks ... not had any yet (last night excepted).
Well at least that allowed me to include an Information.txt file in the zip, which I belatedly thought of afterward, and which has a 'Thank You' to pcspeak in it.

P.S. Note To Self - Check even the littlest (straight forward seeming) things before uploading.

[Tombs]

Shortish Note
Once again, apologies to perhaps 8 more people, I just discovered I had forgotten about spaces in the urls that needed replacing with dashes, etc.
This only effects URLDown Dropper users I imagine. Will do a fix after Xmas, when I have fully checked my replacement notes and tested properly.
I thought this was gonna be quick & simple ... I should have known better ... it is never like that.
Now I will go and hide behind the Xmas Tree and hang my head in shame ... and sneak some of Santa's plonk & cookies to drown my sorrows.
What an Idjet.

Recreated Here Due To Removal At Whirlpool Forums
Guilty By Admission .... A true story.

The HDD I use for my downloads usually has just over 10 Gb free, but when I was developing TheViewer it was choc-a-bloc, with just over 700 Mb free. That meant I did not have any space free to actually test a link (URL) produced by TheViewer with URLDown Dropper, and I just took it on faith that all would be ok. Clearly a big mistake, and my bad.

It was gonna take a while to free up that space, and so I did not get around to it, until late on Xmas Eve, and that was when I discovered that all was not rosy with the links being produced. I'd used my small window of opportunity to develop TheViewer that morning, and was busy mostly for the rest of the day ... it being the type of day it was.

Just before going to bed that day, I decided to do two downloads, and both failed. It was at that moment, that belatedly I remembered about the site having spaces replaced by dashes in the URL, plus a few other replacements. Being quite tired at that point, I just removed the download at the Video Help Forum, and left a shortish note there (see start of this post).

Now today, I have just spent some time doing what I thought would be a simple fix, only to find it is not as easy as I thought. The site is very fussy when it comes to names.

And things were not helped by one of those test downloads no longer being available .... supposed to be available for 14 days, but aired on the 18th and then became unavailable after the 25th, for some dumb reason ... clearly 7 days not 14.

Anyway, I am just letting all of you know, that I am working on things, but are at a bit of an impasse at the moment, with regard to the title in the URL. It seems I would be better off not using a title at all, rather than a wrongly formatted one, but then URLDown Dropper will complain and fail, as it needs a unique title.

Perhaps pcspeak can adjust his program to return the original URL as well as the ID and Title. That would certainly make things much easier. Including the Aired Date would also be a great addition, as that was one thing, aside from Summary, that I badly missed while using TheViewer.

EDIT
Failing pcspeak's intervention, I do have it in mind, that I could invoke one of URLDown Dropper's more recent abilities .... where a title can be placed after the URL, separated by a pipe character. It would mean some adjustment to URLDown Dropper code, but should work well.

In fact, I think I will now give up on my earlier fruitless approach of fixing the title (doomed to fail I reckon), and just modify URLDown Dropper code, and make sure that TheViewer only includes the title after the URL, separated by a pipe character.

It would still be lovely though, to have the Aired Date for each show and maybe even Summary ... unless there is some string I can send to the site to get them dynamically on request (when an entry is selected).

[Tombs]

My new program TheViewer has been fixed and uploaded again.

See the IMPORTANT notes at the download post (3 above). Further detail can (no longer) be found here ... see below (next).

Recreated Here Due To Removal At Whirlpool Forums
I am now finally getting somewhere it seems.
I have made one minor change to TheViewer, and several to URLDown Dropper.

TheViewer now exports a link (URL) for the Dropper like so -
URL|Video Title
Note the pipe character after the URL, before Video Title.

URLDown Dropper now supports two versions of youtube-dl.exe, the official and ryley's.
The official version is the only one updated by that in-program option, and works for all sites except the problem one ... but that too, if ryley's version doesn't exist.
The ryley version is used from a sub-folder called 'Ryley', and if found there, is used for all the problem downloads.
Specifying a Video Title after the URL, with a pipe between, as exampled above, is supported for both instant downloading and Batch List downloading.
You can even now specify a Video Title manually in the Batch List for an SBS URL if you wish, which will take precedent over the URL based Video Title.

IMPORTANT – ryley's version of youtube-dl.exe is required for the problem site. It can replace the official one, and be used for all video downloads, or if you just want to use it for that site's downloads only, then place it in a folder called 'Ryley' in the URLDown Dropper folder. The beauty of using the folder method, is you can update the Official version when desired, and use it for all other sites ... plus no risk of ryley's version being overwritten by an official update.

URLDown Dropper v4.5, when first run, will automatically create the Ryley sub-folder, but it is up to the user to place ryley's youtube-dl.exe file in that folder. Restart the Dropper once you have done that, so it is detected.

I just need to do a little more testing of URLDown Dropper v4.5, then I will upload that and the latest version of TheViewer, which requires that version of the Dropper.

Other Removed Posts
I see that youtube-dl released an update on the 23rd, but it does not include ryley's fix or any other fix for the problem site videos.

Very frustrating when testing and a download fails near completion, but works on a repeat.
Too many of those happening today.
I am guessing it is because every Tom, Dickory & Mary are home using the web today, and the crappy NBN is not coping as usual ... with bottlenecks all over the place causing speed fluctuations and dropouts.

[Tombs]

URLDown Dropper updated to v4.5. See Post #52.

NOTES - Added improvements to better support a Video Title that is specified outside the URL. This can be seen in the Batch List, as any text following a pipe character '|' which comes after the URL. It is also now supported for URLs when not in Batch Mode, in particular when using my new TheViewer program to get the URL to pass to URLDown Dropper. The Video Title if specified, takes precedence over any title found in the URL.
An example is URL|Video Title
This means, that you can now add an SBS etc URL to the Dropper (in Batch Mode), that doesn't contain any Video Title, provided you then modify the Batch List entry, before downloading is started, to include a title (after a pipe after the URL). WARNING - You cannot use it when Batch Mode is off, unless the pipe and video title are included in the added (pasted) URL string. TheViewer will export the URL in that correct state. IMPORTANT - For the TheViewer export to work with the Dropper, you need to deselect 'Use the PY download method' as mentioned in the last Dropper update (if enabled), and then download and use the version of youtube-dl.exe by ryley, which is required. https://ryleyangus.com/youtube-dl.zip NOT AVAILABLE ANY LONGER. It can replace the official one, and be used for all video downloads, or if you just want to use it for the problem site downloads only, then place it in a folder called 'Ryley' in the URLDown Dropper folder. The beauty of using the folder method, is you can update the Official version when desired, and use it for all other sites ... plus no risk of ryley's version being overwritten by an official update.

Further detail can (no longer) be found here ... see above (previous post).

Also see posts above in regard to the problem site and TheViewer.

[Wahroonga Farm]

Thank You!

[Tombs]

Alas, both ryley and pcspeak have decided to take down their posts and links.
I am hoping that one or both will eventually have a change of heart, and at least provide working links in a post here.
You can read about the situation here.

P.S. I am seriously considering closing up shop soon, as I am having more important considerations happening in my life this next year.

Here is a little gift for Whirlpool Forum users
This program is for use with Whirlpool Forums posts, that no longer display an EDIT option.

1. Run the program.
2. Drag a 'Reply to this post' link (URL) to the drop field.
3. You will briefly see the link, and then the word 'Delete' will appear.
4. The correct URL for editing the post, has now been copied to the clipboard.
5. Paste into your browser's address field and click Enter.
6. You should now be able to edit that post.
7. If you are removing all content, you could leave behind the word 'Delete'.
8. To save on typing, click the dropbox exit button while holding down the CTRL key.
9. The dropbox does not close and the word 'Delete' has been copied to clipboard.
10. Paste into the post's Edit field, and save.

Just a simple program to save on repetitive typing etc.
Especially handy if you need to do a lot of that.

Thanks to pcspeak for providing the info about changing 'reply&r' to 'edit&e' in the post URL.

Please use responsibly & Enjoy!