Calling Skycams From ARC

Question

I wanted to bring up skycams after directing my robot to show them. The following code brings up the skycam I want, but I would like it to scroll down 2 clicks, and close out after a time period, returning to ARC. Steve S
$ISUcam = "https://www.cinewsnow.com/weather/skywatch-cameras/illinois-state" Browser($ISUcam) say("I have opened a browser on your computer to I S U") sleep(3000) $attributes = "/F /IM dllhost.exe" sleep(3000) Exec( "taskkill", $attributes )

fredebec · Accepted Answer

@SteveS, the exact name of the application is: iexplore.exe

WBS00001 · Answer

You need to change the "dllhost.exe" part to the name of your browser. For example:
 $attributes = "/F /IM firefox.exe"

Steve S · Answer

WBS000001, Thank you for responding. I tried $attributes = "/F /internet-explorer.exe" I think we are close, but sure about exact wording. Steve S

Steve S · Answer

This is difficult because 2 ARCs helped me, thank you both. fredebec gave me the exact wording. Maybe Ez Robot can have an option for 2 that helped?

fredebec · Answer

@Steve S, you're welcome.

Steve S · Answer

Is there any way to have the script scroll down 2 clicks to slightly increase view? Steve S

CardboardHacker · Answer

You would need to figure out how to get a command to trigger the down scroll button for the camera, if thats the way the way the control works. You could make ARC open the link the down button has, though it could cause other problems. Try and see.

fredebec · Answer

@Steve, I think you could use AHK (autohotkeys) to scroll down the IE window. There is keys for "mouse scroll down" or "keyboard down" (https://ahkscript.org/docs/KeyList.htm). Rich is the expert of AHK, and I think you may find some examples in some of his posts by searching in the forum.

bhouston · Answer

@Steve S, I have tried out your code and have it working so far as it opens up the skycam but it doesn't shut down after a specified time. Did you get it working so that it will close out after a time period and return to ARC ?

Steve S · Answer

Technpro and fredebec, Thank you, I have not tried the scroll down yet, but I appreciate your help. Having it scroll down would be great. bhouston, Yes, it returns back to ARC. I had to use the correct wording for my browser. I am running windows 8.1
$ISUcam = "https://www.cinewsnow.com/weather/skywatch-cameras/illinois-state" Browser($ISUcam) say("I have opened a browser on your computer to a sky camera at I S U") sleep(4000) $attributes = "/F /IM iexplore.exe" sleep(5000) Exec( "taskkill", $attributes )

EDIT- the ; is not suppose to be at the end of line one. Not sure why it showing up, make sure you delete it if you copy and paste.

bhouston · Answer

@Steve, When I run it, it opens the page and then the Command Prompt window flashes on my screen and that's it. The browser page stays up. By "returns back to ARC" do you mean that it shuts down the browser and ARC comes back up on your screen?

fredebec · Answer

@bhouston, are you using the exact same code than Steve? Just to be sure, is Internet Explorer your default browser ? Because, ARC will open the default browser, not specifically Internet explorer...

Steve S · Answer

bhouston, That is how mine acted before I had the right browser wording. This is how it acts now.

bhouston · Answer

Yes, I am using the same code. The browser is the probably the problem, I am using Google Chrome.

bhouston · Answer

I have tried changing to this: $attributes = "/F /IM googlechrome.exe" No Luck. Any suggestions? Thanks

thetechguru · Answer

The name of Google Chrome is chrome.exe, not googlechrome.exe (open task manager on your computer to see the name of running tasks). Now, an issue you might have is that when Chrome starts, it opens numerous instances of the chrome.exe process, one for every plugin, plus one per open tab. It is part of the "sandboxing" that keeps the entire browser from crashing if you have an issue with one extension or tab. I am not sure if taskkill will take out all instances, or just one of them, or if it will simply fail. edit: Just tried it. It kills all instances. The next time you open Chrome it will show an error that it was not closed properly last time with the option to restore the previous session. You can just ignore the error and it will go away as soon as you go to a new page. Alan

bhouston · Answer

Ya, I did look in task manager and it said google chrome. Anyway, it's working now. Thanks for your help Alan. Here's a link to an Abbey Road Skycam I got from Luis awhile ago. https://www.abbeyroad.com/Crossing

thetechguru · Answer

Quote: Ya, I did look in task manager and it said google chrome  The description field is Google Chrome, but the image name is chrome.exe /IM is the taskkill flag that says the next item is image name. Alan

Steve S · Answer

thetechguru, Still curious about having the screen scroll up. I tried looking at some of files that Rich posted, and AHK information, but no luck. Thanks, Steve S

thetechguru · Answer

AHK would be a good solution, but I have had very poor luck getting it to work consistently on Windows 8. Haven't tried yet on Windows 10. Alan

JustinRatliff · Answer

From a command line you could use -k to tell Internet Explorer to open full screen. This does not work directly in ARC script as you can't pass attributes, but you could create a .bat batch file with the following code:
 "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -k https://www.cinewsnow.com/weather/skywatch-cameras/illinois-state

For me, the full screen show the whole image of the sky-cam. It's not a scroll down, but shows a better fuller image I think. In ARC in your script you would run the batch file like so:
 Exec("C:\pathofyourfile\yourfilename.bat")

Then use the pause and kill commands you already have in your script.

Steve S · Answer

Thanks Justin, I am @campground w/phone only. Will try later this weekend. So I can call sky cam w/batch from ARC using -k for full screen, and use my sleep and ending commands in ARC? Thanks

JustinRatliff · Answer

Yes indeed. You're welcome. I hope it gives the screen view you want.

Steve S · Answer

Justin, Yes, it shows the full view and works great. I have not done a batch file in many years. Thanks, Steve S

Steve S

Calling Skycams From ARC

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