21 replies to this topic

[VirtualForce]

I am trying to find a piece of software that would allow me to say ping an IP addy 4 times every thirty minutes to see if it is up and then to let me know if it does recieve the echo, email would be nice of just a popup aswell.

Googling is cranky as I get all kinds of software that does traceroutes and what not.

[VirtualForce]

So far I have found : PingInfoView

[DiSSaRRaY]

LOL, I've been wanting to make a widget like that for myself, where I can have the important servers pinged and checked if they're working (mainly all those pR0n sites I seem to visit).
In the mean time, you could run a *.bat/batch file on a scheduler, delete the old log file (if it exists), and pipe the output to a file... and have a browser shortcut to view said file.

[Zizzy]

Hmmm, it's easiest if you write a little app yourself I would say. Just use cmd's ping.

[VirtualForce]

Sweet idea Diss!Thanks! Will also have fun doing and setting it up.

[DiSSaRRaY]

Zizzy, on 26 February 2013 - 05:06 PM, said:

Hmmm, it's easiest if you write a little app yourself I would say. Just use cmd's ping.

Yup, it's quite easy

VF, just get a compiler (Visual Studio Express is good) for VB/VB.NET or something (I say VB because it's easier to use than most languages), and Google a bit.
Soon you'll be able to have written your own little app to do the job.

[VirtualForce]

hehe, there you go, woooooosh over my little head. But yeah, would be fun and probably beneficial to learn it.

[DiSSaRRaY]

I've started with an app... I wanted to make it very basic, but that idea flew out of the window.
I'll send you a copy when I'm done one day.

[VirtualForce]

Well, I've installed Visual Studio Express, just need to get flippen time to start the learning process.

[Wolvebain]

I think this is what DiSS was referring to, when he mentioned doing the ping check via command/batch file and using taskMngr?

@echo off
set ipaddr=127.0.01

ping %ipaddr% > %tmp%\%ipaddr%.txt
find "TTL=" %tmp%\%ipaddr%.txt> nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 doStuff.cmd

To test... create a cmd file called doStuff.cmd
and put the below code inside, to open notepad:

start Notepad.exe

Naturally, you would change the localhost/home IP address [127.0.0.1] to that of the machine you want to ping, and change the doStuff.cmd to what needs to be done... If an email needs to be sent, use blat, and write what you need as commands in this cmd/bat file

Alternative, if you want to pass the IP address as a param/value to the cmd/bat file:

@echo off
set ipaddr=%1%

ping %ipaddr% > %tmp%\%ipaddr%.txt
find "TTL=" %tmp%\%ipaddr%.txt> nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 doStuff.cmd

Once again, to state the obvious, you'd run it like
<<cmdfilename>> <<IP_Address>>
.. for.example, if the cmd/bat file was called WolvesCall.cmd and the IP you wanted to ping was 192.0.0.1 then you'd execute:
WolvesCall.cmd 192.0.0.1

[Zizzy]

Visual Studio... mmmmmm. Why c?

[DiSSaRRaY]

Zizzy, on 13 March 2013 - 04:37 PM, said:

Visual Studio... mmmmmm. Why c?

Why not? It's a powerful and quite easy to understand language (that's C#, not C++ which is a lot more complicated).
VB is a bit easier, because the syntax is easier to understand.

VF, the other thing you might want to consider, especially when pinging web servers, is that it might be a sort of shared server. If you want to ping a hostname, and it returns alive, it doesn't mean the service you're looking for is available.
The best way to check its availability will be to have data returned to you, to make sure it actually exists.

If this is just to ping servers on the local network/intranet, it'll work fine. You'll also have to cater for a longer TTL
if it's a remote server. Also, don't use popups (trust me), they'll start annoying the living crap out of you).
If you want a visual response, rather batch results and have them display every 5 minutes or so.

[Zizzy]

I would have suggested Java. Then again, c# is just as easy (and almost identical in some ways).

It's just so super quick to create a .jar file after you are done with the quick app.

Anyway, c++ (or rather c) is a great way to learn to understand coding (like in c where you have to create your own bool variable type). As long as we don't go as far back as cobalt.

Anyway, hope all goes well.

[Katswink]

I dont know if you want to have a look at this solution.

http://edp.co.za/pro...ce-manager.html

I use to work for this guy and the software works pretty well.

[Wolvebain]

My 2cents?
@VF: Since you're in the field, I suggest focusing on command/batch files & PowerShell for windows, and shell scripting on Linux...  It's important to get used to these things, as you'd gain experience on the commands being used, and can used them independently on consoles.

@Zizzy & DiSS: C++ is still king [ personal bias, yes, but I can back it up too :) ]  Regarding VB.NET & C#, well fundamentally, they should transform to the same/similar CLR code.. However, there are some benefits in fav. of each of them; For example: VB.NET supports XML literals & C# not, or C# supports unsafe code & VB.Net not....  However, due to the nature of C# being C#, it's easy enuff to workaround anything that it doesn't have compared to VB.Net

@Zizzy: Cobalt?  You mean Cobol, right?

[Zizzy]

Yes that's what I thought I typed... Lol, don;t even ask how it got to cobalt.

Man dude, I dislike c++. ESPECIALLY the 'dialect' when it get's to creating forms (gui). The sudden change of they way you code things.. pffft. Might have been different if it was the first language I learnt, but it wasn't. And I still doubt it. Java is king. Bonus, Android apps use it too. Obviously this is an opinion and not a fact (there ain't no superior language). I fell in love with java from the day I used it.

[DiSSaRRaY]

Wolvebain, on 15 March 2013 - 11:38 AM, said:

@Zizzy & DiSS: C++ is still king [ personal bias, yes, but I can back it up too :) ]

I agree with you there 100%!

[Wolvebain]

@Zizzy... There is so much I'd like to say about your comment.. But I digress... All I'll say two things:

• With the time constraints of most projects, it's hard to beat C++ from a speed & resource utilization perspective and actually producing working code
  
  
• Decoupling front-ends and processing logic has happened since the early days of component based architectures, and even more so with SOA/EDA.  Java, VB, etc. as your front end? No... HTML5 bastiches!!!

@DiSS...

@ VF.... Seriously, forget about apps, etc... I strongly suggest focusing on cmd files & shell scripts... it will benefit you much more in your current path.

[VirtualForce]

Wolvebain, on 16 March 2013 - 04:25 AM, said:

@ VF.... Seriously, forget about apps, etc... I strongly suggest focusing on cmd files & shell scripts... it will benefit you much more in your current path.

yeah, I'm thinking that aswell, I've got some much on my plate.

[DiSSaRRaY]

Wolvebain, on 16 March 2013 - 04:25 AM, said:

@ VF.... Seriously, forget about apps, etc... I strongly suggest focusing on cmd files & shell scripts... it will benefit you much more in your current path.

VirtualForce, on 16 March 2013 - 05:24 PM, said:

yeah, I'm thinking that aswell, I've got some much on my plate.

That's why I said I'll send you what I have when I'm done with it
I'll probably finish it up this weekend (whoohoo 4-day long weekend back to back )

So much time to do so much stuff.