Javascript/VBScript + XML

[pablissimo]

Right.

I have made a verra simple page which refreshes itself every minute or so á la JScript (though I can stretch to using BVScript if the next bit requires it).

The idea was to have the page load an XML document, which contains server info from QStat (which can output XML), I'm toying with something on the Edinburgh Uni network like.

Anyway, I've looked about and there don't seem to be any decent tutorials or example source about dynamically creating a document using XML and one or t'tother of the scripting languages. I can see doing it in ASP form being easier, but I don't want this to rely on using IIS.

So, there's two questions (almost there, for those of you who're glazing over):

1) Is there a good XML tutorial you know of regarding parsing and using the information in an XML document either in JavaScript or VBScript
2) Short of document.write-ing the whole thing each time, is there a way of creating HTML elements on the fly that'll parse? I've tried the object.insertHTML, insertAdjacentHTML etc functions, but when they output things like tables, images related to them don't bother themselves to load etc.

Question 1 is 'the main thing' though, 2 is insignificant.

[Structural Integrity]

We're running an XML project at school ATM. But since we've only started with this project I don't know that much XML yet.

Anyway, do you want this information to be parsed on the client side, or do you have a server that will parse it?

At school we use a Tomcat server with Cocoon, and as far I've seen cocoon can import ANY XML source (if you write a driver for it (a simple java class)) and has it's own logic through interpreted Java.

If you mean client side - I have no idea.

[pablissimo]

Originally posted by Structural Integrity
We're running an XML project at school ATM. But since we've only started with this project I don't know that much XML yet.

Anyway, do you want this information to be parsed on the client side, or do you have a server that will parse it?

At school we use a Tomcat server with Cocoon, and as far I've seen cocoon can import ANY XML source (if you write a driver for it (a simple java class)) and has it's own logic through interpreted Java.

If you mean client side - I have no idea.

I basically want a static .htm file on the client-side (there will be no server) to read and parse a given XML file. I got 'somewhere' with it, using Microsoft.XMLDOM as an activex object, but it wasn't overly successful.

All the tutorials on the net seem to be excellent for telling you how to write an XML file, but once it's in XML form they're not so hot on telling you how to get data back out of it again =/

[wu_trax]

so you want to tranform the xml-file into, lets say xhtml and display that in the browser?
that should be somehow possible with this xsl-stuff, but dont ask me how

[MT]

i could be very wrong, but doesnt IE (and modern browser) apply XLST transformations automagically? Just ensure that the file references a valid XLST innit.

[wu_trax]

Originally posted by MT
i could be very wrong, but doesnt IE (and modern browser) apply XLST transformations automagically? Just ensure that the file references a valid XLST innit.

yes, they do, i just wasted a few minutes of my life and tryed it. (well, IE does, opera doesnt) i dont know if i undestood the problem correctly though

[MT]

An example for you pabbeh

http://www.vbxml.com/xsl/tutorials/i.../peoplexsl.xml

http://www.vbxml.com/xsl/tutorials/i...t_1/people.xsl

(click view souirce on the first, you will see its just a straightforward xml file with a

<?xml:stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="people.xsl"?>

type mcjobby

[queball]

Originally posted by pablissimo

1) Is there a good XML tutorial you know of regarding parsing and using the information in an XML document either in JavaScript or VBScript

http://www.w3schools.com/dom/default.asp looks good.

2) Short of document.write-ing the whole thing each time, is there a way of creating HTML elements on the fly that'll parse? I've tried the object.insertHTML, insertAdjacentHTML etc functions, but when they output things like tables, images related to them don't bother themselves to load etc.

XSLT (with msxml:script) like wu_trax mentioned, either from (Java|VB)script or an <XML> tag.

[pablissimo]

Cheers chaps, didnt think of that XSLT, it's exactly what I'm looking for.

[pablissimo]

Right, that's working swimmingly.

However, I now have a new query.


I know it seems a horribly insecure feature to add to a scripting language, but is there any way of having a script file, embedded in a page or not, run a program (eg. QStat) every say minute or so without having to resort to some kind of Task Scheduler buggery?

I've not done any scripting in a while, I know in VB it would have been something like Shell "qstat.exe" 'or something', but I can't seem to find a VBScript or JScript equivalent.

Thoughts?

[queball]

Originally posted by pablissimo
Right, that's working swimmingly.

However, I now have a new query.


I know it seems a horribly insecure feature to add to a scripting language, but is there any way of having a script file, embedded in a page or not, run a program (eg. QStat) every say minute or so without having to resort to some kind of Task Scheduler buggery?

I've not done any scripting in a while, I know in VB it would have been something like Shell "qstat.exe" 'or something', but I can't seem to find a VBScript or JScript equivalent.

Thoughts?

You just need the right ActiveX object, check out http://www.google.com/search?q=wscript+shell+run
and learn to use google and MSDN.

[pablissimo]

Originally posted by queball
You just need the right ActiveX object, check out http://www.google.com/search?q=wscript+shell+run
and learn to use google and MSDN.

I tried MSDN, using what little knowledge of full VB I had, i.e. looking for a Shell method or function, and managed only to come up with standard functions such as printing or opening the Run dialog.

And I also tried Google to no avail, not having realised searching for wscript would be equivalent to wsh.

Thanks for the help. The attempt at patronisation was unnecessary, unhelpful and unsuccessful.

[(°>]

Depends on what sort of program and what sort of control you can have over it.
Simple VBScript

RUNTIMES=2
DELAY=5
PROGRAM= "C:\WINDOWS\NETSTAT.EXE"

FOR I=1 TO RUNTIMES
Dim oShell
Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject ("WSCript.shell")
oShell.run PROGRAM
Set oShell = Nothing

a=MINUTE(time)+DELAY
if a>59 then 
a=a-60
end if
while (MINUTE(now)<>a)
wend
NEXT

Just change the 3 variables to suit.Plus you can use Minute, Second and Hour or all 3 to get different delays.

[pablissimo]

Originally posted by (°>
Depends on what sort of program and what sort of control you can have over it.
Simple VBScript

RUNTIMES=2
DELAY=5
PROGRAM= "C:\WINDOWS\NETSTAT.EXE"

FOR I=1 TO RUNTIMES
Dim oShell
Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject ("WSCript.shell")
oShell.run PROGRAM
Set oShell = Nothing

a=MINUTE(time)+DELAY
if a>59 then 
a=a-60
end if
while (MINUTE(now)<>a)
wend
NEXT

Just change the 3 variables to suit.Plus you can use Minute, Second and Hour or all 3 to get different delays.

I ended up using Shell.sleep(millisecondInterval) in a loop, works well and keeps the thread idle

[(°>]

Originally posted by pablissimo
I ended up using Shell.sleep(millisecondInterval) in a loop, works well and keeps the thread idle

ah yes in pure vbscript you could use sleep D'OH

I grabbed part of this code out of ASP where i can't get .sleep to work so use this stupid loop.

[hinch]

pabs you need to parse the data and do **** with it? or just litterally display the thing on the page?

[(°>]

If Qstat gives out XML pages then it also probably has an object which you could work with it from vbscript.
You'd have to look in the registry under classes_root for the program identifier then use create.object(pid) to open it and get a handle on the object.
My brain is too fried atm to think it out.

[pablissimo]

Hinch:

I used the QStat template function in the end, it made more sense, and worked beautifully. I've now got a nice HTA app that displays current server info for the server's we're running at i15 in shiny fullscreen so you can leave it on the server running and at a glance see what's going on.

I got very, very bored =/

Making a quick server query bot in mIRC now, I'd do it properly but I've other things to get on with, I'm designing some CS bots as well and trying to get a decent heuristic going for the pathfinding algo =)