Auction Notifier Tool (Text Message)

[salimoneus]

This is a little tool I created to notify me via text message if an item I am looking to buy shows up in an auction. Basically you just enter in your search items, configure the text/email, and let it do it's thing.

This comes in handy when I'm working in the garage or around the house, or doing something out in the yard, or even working in a different window or virtual desktop at the office (purely hypothetical ofc), but I'm available to come back to the computer in the event someone posts the item for sale.

Here you can see it's configured to look for fungi tunics and insignia protectors, and in case I am also posting WTB periodicaly, I added "You auction," in the exclude box to ignore those log statements. You could also optionally add "WTB" in the exclude box to filter out those as well as others' WTB posts matching the items:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]



Here is what the text/email Config tab looks like:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]


Note that the "Enabled" checkbox must be checked in order for texts to get sent out. This can be unchecked for testing to make sure your search filters are setup correctly, or just to temporarily disable it. Even if transmissions are disabled, they will still be logged to the Sent tab so you can see exactly how your filters are working.

To have the program stop processing after the first text goes out, make sure the "Stop after first match" checkbox is checked.

I would recommend creating a new Gmail account just for use with this tool, but it doesn't really matter what account it gets sent from it just needs a valid account on an SMTP server in order to send the text emails out. The reason I would use a new account is because most servers limit the number of emails that can be sent in a time period, so the account might get blocked if it gets too spammy. I have not tested all providers, only Verizon, but I used fairly standard email -> text mappings available for all providers so they should work.



When a text gets transmitted it gets added to the Sent tab:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]



If there are errors at any point, the application stops processing and indicates an error status and adds an entry into the Sent tab:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]


Please note that this tool can result in a shit-ton of texts getting sent if the search terms are too broad or general. I also have not added logic to filter out repeated auctions by the same sellers, that may be added in the future. Ideally you would get to the computer and disable the notifications once the first one was sent so that's probably not really an issue.

Another way which I imagine this tool being useful, would be if you had EQ running in a remote desktop or on a virtual desktop (or both) at work, and were trying to sell a few items. You can quickly post your WTS messages, switch to another window or desktop, and wait for a text to show up from a potential buyer. You can configure it as follows to get notified anytime someone sends you a tell, although this may not be ideal if you are receiving friend tells on that particular mule. I use a completely anon mule to do this:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]



I'm sure there are other clever ways that this can be used, and it's not specific to auctions or even Everquest in general, it can be configured to watch any live logfile you have access to on a running system.

The application does save your preferences, so in between each run it will remember everything, EXCEPT for your email password. It never saves or stores or uses your password in any way aside from the actual sending of the text email message.

This tool does require EQ to be running, and a mule parked in EC so it can process the live auction data being logged. It does not try to impersonate an EQ client, nor does it log into the P99 servers.

This tool requires that logging be enabled, so make sure Log=TRUE in your eqclient.ini file.

This tool also requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4 so if you do not have that please install using the link provided.

I am providing the complete C# source code, built with VS2010, as well as a zip file containing a Win32 executable. On Windows7 it will save your settings to an XML file in the c:\users\myusername\AppData\roaming\LogNotifier folder, and the location will vary on other versions of Windows. It is open source code with no viruses or ads, nothing but the code.

Latest release on GitHub: https://github.com/salimoneus/LogNot...eleases/latest

I hope someone finds this tool useful. Feel free to post feedback and/or any issues you may have.

[Oleris]

this is pretty cool for rare items.

[Byrjun]

Gonna use this for some obscure items that rarely come up for auction, thanks.

[salimoneus]

Yea I see it being a bit more useful for something that may not come up all too often. And say it does come up but the seller is price gouging, or you can't agree on a price, you can just add their name to the exclusions list and it will immediately stop sending alerts for their postings.

Texting can definitely be super useful, but I dislike spam as much as the next guy.

[Callon]

Very cool, A++

[scythic]

I use this for swords of skyfire. $3,023.12 phone bill. (No unlimited texting)

[salimoneus]

Originally Posted by scythic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I use this for swords of skyfire. $3,023.12 phone bill. (No unlimited texting)

Yes, we already know why the short bus was invented.

[scythic]

Adults don't ride short buses, genius.

[Potus]

This is a great program and all, but have you thought about a catchier name, say Jack Wilson's Auction Tracker?

[salimoneus]

Originally Posted by Potus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is a great program and all, but have you thought about a catchier name, say Jack Wilson's Auction Tracker?

Hah, I saw that and was very tempted...