need utility for web login when required

[NickHark]

I am looking for a utility, or to write a batch file, that can log me in to a web site when I need to.

This site requires re-login in random days.

I have an automated recording program recording a web program and I miss it occasionally because I haven't gone to the site and verified I am still logged in. This runs on a dedicated machine.

The utility will only have to
1, load the web page,
2, determine if my name appears and
3, if it doesn't, go to the text entry boxes and enter my login and password.

I have tried to write batch file but I can't locate an easy one to search for my name on the page and give result codes so the program can proceed.

Any help is appreciated.

[TomXP411]

you can't really do that with a batch file... but you might be able to do it with a Firefox addon.

But having said that... I've never written a FireFox addon, so you'll have to go over to the Firefox site and poke around.

[gambitpvr]

Autoit would probably be a better choice to automate this process. You should be able to do all that you need and the scripting for Autoit isn't hard to learn, plus they have tons of example scripts out there already. You can even compile the script into a standalone exe file, if you need to.

http://www.autoitscript.com/

[Cal]

This is simple with something like Autoit.

But its a full language. There will be a steep learning curve. But its well worth it. I've written a few apps that interact with web pages. But web pages are only a small part.

If you do look at it, you will want to look at the ie.au3 functions to interact with web pages. However, what your looking for may be doable with just a few of the basic windows commands. It sounds simple enough.

I used the basic stuff for some simple web stuff before learning the more advanced ie functions.

A simple select/copy to clipboard of the screen. parse for text. a couple send keystrokes and your done.

then look at the ie functions after to learn how to interact fully and directly with the web without having to rely on keystrokes or macros or anything even showing on the screen.

and one last thing. Its completely .... Free.

[Mike DiBella]

Basic authentication (dialog box prompt for username and password) or forms-based authentication (username and password on the webpage itself)?

If the site uses basic authentication, you can probably automate using CURL in a batch file, launched by task scheduler.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CURL

If not, you may still be able to use CURL to retreive the response HTML, parse it, and build a HTTP POST or other reply to the challange.

[NickHark]

The Mind Reels.....

Great food for thought.

[Nick Burns]

Have you tried passing the username/password in the url all the time? IE no longer supports this (unless it's a setting that can be changed), but Firefox does. the format would be:

http://username:password@website

If the website works with that, it would essentially log you in each time whether you need to or not. Then the rest can be taken care of as needed.

[NickHark]

Originally Posted by Nick Burns

Have you tried passing the username/password in the url all the time? IE no longer supports this (unless it's a setting that can be changed), but Firefox does. the format would be:

http://usernameassword@website

If the website works with that, it would essentially log you in each time whether you need to or not. Then the rest can be taken care of as needed.

Fascinating. Thanks!

I found this @ Microsoft:

How to disable the new default behavior for handling user information in
HTTP or HTTPS URLs

To disable the new default behavior in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer, create iexplore.exe and explorer.exe DWORD values in one of the following registry keys and set their value data to 0.


For all users of the program, set the value in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_HTTP_USERNAME _PASSWORD_DISABLE


For the current user of the program only, set the value in the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_HTTP_USERNAME _PASSWORD_DISABLE

I will give it a try, later.

[Mike DiBella]

I'm pretty sure the password passing URL format only works for basic authentication, which is standardized and passed in the HTTP headers. Forms authentication is not standardized and each web publisher will use different names for the values passed from the authentication form.

[Nick Burns]

Originally Posted by Mike DiBella

I'm pretty sure the password passing URL format only works for basic authentication, which is standardized and passed in the HTTP headers. Forms authentication is not standardized and each web publisher will use different names for the values passed from the authentication form.

True, it's just another option to try. If the website supports it, then he's good to go.