Hi there,
I just want to give a brief update on the current status of development of the new HoT Tracker.
It took me longer than expected to come this far and I'm still not finished. Nevertheless I managed to get a whole lot done in the last few days but now my vacation ends and I will have less time to develop.
However, I still think that the tracker will be out before the end of this month. When I release the Tracker I want it to be as good as possible.
So what can you expect?
Thus I will have to write some documentation also.
Installation of the tool should not be too complicated. There will be a ZIP file containing all files. All you'll have to do is to create a folder on your webspace and copy all the files in there.
However, the HoT Tracker will need a MySQL database to run.
So you will have to make some small adjustment in a configuration file (MySQL login information, pubstat ID key, premium access ...)
So let's see how long it takes me to finish this. I will do my very best to make it easy to install and to use. I will also try to write a good documentation since I will not be able to give a lot of support. My hope is that the community will help itself.
Kind regards,
Timo
I just want to give a brief update on the current status of development of the new HoT Tracker.
It took me longer than expected to come this far and I'm still not finished. Nevertheless I managed to get a whole lot done in the last few days but now my vacation ends and I will have less time to develop.
However, I still think that the tracker will be out before the end of this month. When I release the Tracker I want it to be as good as possible.
So what can you expect?
- HoT Tracker Control Center - This will be the central page to maintain the features of you installation of the HoT Tracker. You will be able to LFS color replacements for your web site, ingame names of racers, groups of racers, ingame team tags and more.
- User Management - Only registered users will be able to use the control center. There has to be at least one user which is called "super user" and has all authorizations. There can also be administrator users, event manager and ordinary users, all having different authorization profiles.
- LFS World Data:
- Local copy of LFS World team information.
- Local copy of world records.
- Personal bests, Hotlaps, Personal statistics and fuel consumption of selected racers can be stored locally.
- Update script for LFS World data
- Local copy of LFS World team information.
- Colors, LFS Colors, Style
- Specify your own colors.
- Assign these colors to LFS color codes.
- Create styles to change the look of displayed tables
- Specify your own colors.
- Server Status Configuration
- Create configurations of server status (which fields you want to show and in which order)
- Create configurations of server status (which fields you want to show and in which order)
- Online Racer Configuration
- Create configurations of online racer table
- Create configurations of online racer table
- Tracker Configuration
- Specify configurations of tracker lists (which fields you will show and in which order, sort criteria).
- Specify configurations of tracker lists (which fields you will show and in which order, sort criteria).
- Racer and Team Database / Ingame Names
- For every existing LFS World Team you can maintain a ingame team tag that will be used on you web site.
- Maintain a list of racers that are "known" to the HoT Tracker. Specify the ingame name of each racer (using the ingame team tag if relevant).
- Assign these racers to self-defined groups, for example you might want to have a group "Team Mates" and a group "Friends". But also if you plan to organize an event you might want to create a group "Registered Racers for Event X".
- For every existing LFS World Team you can maintain a ingame team tag that will be used on you web site.
- Event/League Database (not yet designed, so the following are just preliminary thoughts)
- Set up leagues.
- Assign a group of racers to a league
- Assign a group of racers to a league
- Set up events (independent or assigned to a league)
- Assign a group of racers to an event
- Set a date for the event
- Set a list of race information for the event, including a combo and so on (we'll see ...)
- Assign a group of racers to an event
- Set up leagues.
- Tracker
- There will be a tracker script which can be called directly or included anywhere.
- Specify a style, configuration, event, combo and a group of racers in order to determine the resulting tracker list.
- There will be a tracker script which can be called directly or included anywhere.
- Server Status
- There will be a server status script
- Specify a server name, a style and a config.
- There will be a server status script
- Online racers
- There will be a online racer script
- Specify a configuration, and a style and a group of racers.
- There will be a online racer script
Thus I will have to write some documentation also. Installation of the tool should not be too complicated. There will be a ZIP file containing all files. All you'll have to do is to create a folder on your webspace and copy all the files in there.
However, the HoT Tracker will need a MySQL database to run.
So you will have to make some small adjustment in a configuration file (MySQL login information, pubstat ID key, premium access ...)
So let's see how long it takes me to finish this. I will do my very best to make it easy to install and to use. I will also try to write a good documentation since I will not be able to give a lot of support. My hope is that the community will help itself.
Kind regards,
Timo
Yes. In one or two weeks from now there's a good chance you be able to get the new stuff.
I will also get in touch with haelje (well I should better say he already contacted me). He is the guy who took over my first HoT Tracker (and improved). Maybe he should also contribute ... but it's to early now, as I first want to see a clear picture of what this is going to become ...
As of now I can already say that the new tracker should be more easy to setup. For online mates and server information you still won't need MySQL but for all other features you will.
This project is going to be far more than a simple tracker I hope. My vision is to have an admin panel where registered users are able to maintain the tracker.
Things that will be maintainable:
But this clearly would mean a whole lot of work which I do not know if it is worth the benefit ...
We'll see. Be patient. I have some ideas, but I cannot promise anything (unless you guys start paying me :nod
.
I will also get in touch with haelje (well I should better say he already contacted me). He is the guy who took over my first HoT Tracker (and improved). Maybe he should also contribute ... but it's to early now, as I first want to see a clear picture of what this is going to become ...
As of now I can already say that the new tracker should be more easy to setup. For online mates and server information you still won't need MySQL but for all other features you will.
This project is going to be far more than a simple tracker I hope. My vision is to have an admin panel where registered users are able to maintain the tracker.
Things that will be maintainable:
- Users: There will at least always be a super user with full rights. On top of that there can also be admins (being able to maintain the database of known racers), event admins (to be able to maintain event-trackers) and ordinary users (which will be able to only see data if you choose to keep the data private)
- Known racers: A database of racers that the HoT Tracker know (along with ingame names, team assignment, group assignment (e.g. for events ...) and so on).
- Events: At a later point in time (maybe not in the first release) I can think of a event database where you might create events (by specifying a combo, assigned group of racers, grid size, ....). Anyway, I'm not exactly sure at the moment how this shall work in detail.
But this clearly would mean a whole lot of work which I do not know if it is worth the benefit ...
We'll see. Be patient. I have some ideas, but I cannot promise anything (unless you guys start paying me :nod
.It is absolutely the right decision to go for quality and not for quick release dates.
1000 Teams?
I just queried LFS World and found exactly 1000 team entries ...
Is this correct?
Is this correct?
For non-premium access, there is always a 5 second sleep.
I think, there should only be a 5 second sleep if necessary.
For example for my tracker I need to query a lot. I don't want the 5-second sleep for the first query (since I have my own timestamp to check that delay), for all further queries the sleep is ok.
So i modified the constructor a little bit:
And in the make_query function:
I used 6 seconds in the sleep-command since 5 would sometimes not be enough ...
It seems to work at the moment for me but I have not tested it a lot at this early stage of the new tracker.
I think, there should only be a 5 second sleep if necessary.
For example for my tracker I need to query a lot. I don't want the 5-second sleep for the first query (since I have my own timestamp to check that delay), for all further queries the sleep is ok.
So i modified the constructor a little bit:
<?php
// Constructor
function LFSWorldSDK($idk, $ps = false, $initial_sleep = true ) {
$this->ps = $ps;
$this->idk = $idk;
$this->compression = (function_exists('gzinflate')) ? 3 : 0;
$this->timestamp = time( );
if ($initial_sleep == false) // this will cause the first query to be done immediately
$this->timestamp -= 5;
}
?>
<?php
if (!$this->ps){
$delta = time( ) - $this->timestamp;
if ($delta < 5) // only sleep if necessary ...
sleep(6 - $delta); // ... and only as long as necessary (up to 6 seconds because 5 will fail occasionally)
$this->timestamp = time( );
}
?>
It seems to work at the moment for me but I have not tested it a lot at this early stage of the new tracker.
I guess I will be finished somewhere between christmas and new year.
To be honest, I have some suggestions for you SDK, too. I'll post them in the other thread, soon.
To be honest, I have some suggestions for you SDK, too. I'll post them in the other thread, soon.
For you out there wanting to use such a tracker: I'm currently working on version 2.0 of the HoT Tracker. It will be released at the beginning of the new year, maybe even earlier.
Let me just explain my motivations.
First of all the original HoT Tracker was developed by me "just for fun" and for exclusive use by my team (Hell on Tyres) only. Back then I wanted to try out this whole LFS-querying stuff and ended up with the tracker.
Since it was not designed to be "shipped", but was shipped anyway, the installation and configuration of the tracker was not as simple as it could have been ...
Due to a lack of spare time I also denied to do any support after it was released. I was happy to see the tracker was used by lot of teams anyway and the community (mostly german community) helped itself with all the issues.
Then there came out the LFS World SDK, which I didn't use in my old tracker.
So last weekend, I just tried the LFS World SDK out and again - I ended up coding all Sunday long and starting a new HoT Tracker.
So the difference now is that the HoT Tracker v2.0 will use the LFS World SDK for all LFS World queries. Furthermore, the new tracker will be designed to be "shipped", which means that I will do my very best to make it easy to install and to setup.
In fact, I will try to design the new tracker to be an SDK also. You will be able to use it as you want. For some feature (online status of racers and servers) you will not even need a MySQL DB, for other features (like the PB/HL team tracker) you will have to setup MySQL on your server.
So I will try to make it as modular as I can, easy to maintain for you, easy to support for me, easy to extend it's functionality in future times.
The first release of the new HoT Tracker will basically only cover the features of the old Tracker:
Being a professional software developer (well, not in the area of PHP/MySQL, but who cares) should help to create something good.
So, do not nail me down on any features or release dates, since this is still a spare-time-project for me. But I will try to finish it.
Kind regards,
HorsePower
Let me just explain my motivations.
First of all the original HoT Tracker was developed by me "just for fun" and for exclusive use by my team (Hell on Tyres) only. Back then I wanted to try out this whole LFS-querying stuff and ended up with the tracker.
Since it was not designed to be "shipped", but was shipped anyway, the installation and configuration of the tracker was not as simple as it could have been ...
Due to a lack of spare time I also denied to do any support after it was released. I was happy to see the tracker was used by lot of teams anyway and the community (mostly german community) helped itself with all the issues.
Then there came out the LFS World SDK, which I didn't use in my old tracker.
So last weekend, I just tried the LFS World SDK out and again - I ended up coding all Sunday long and starting a new HoT Tracker.
So the difference now is that the HoT Tracker v2.0 will use the LFS World SDK for all LFS World queries. Furthermore, the new tracker will be designed to be "shipped", which means that I will do my very best to make it easy to install and to setup.
In fact, I will try to design the new tracker to be an SDK also. You will be able to use it as you want. For some feature (online status of racers and servers) you will not even need a MySQL DB, for other features (like the PB/HL team tracker) you will have to setup MySQL on your server.
So I will try to make it as modular as I can, easy to maintain for you, easy to support for me, easy to extend it's functionality in future times.
The first release of the new HoT Tracker will basically only cover the features of the old Tracker:
- Online Racers (friend, team mates)
- Server Status
- HL/PB Tracker (MySQL needed)
Being a professional software developer (well, not in the area of PHP/MySQL, but who cares) should help to create something good.
So, do not nail me down on any features or release dates, since this is still a spare-time-project for me. But I will try to finish it.
Kind regards,
HorsePower
I think I can answer that. When you make a query to LFSW, you sometimes get NO data (e.g. when a racer has no hotlaps ...).
I suppose you use the returned $data without checking it is actually a non-initial array.
Just do this:
I suppose you use the returned $data without checking it is actually a non-initial array.
Just do this:
<?php
if (is_array($data)){
foreach($data as ....){
...
}
}
?>
I often play Carom3D where you can have that kind of conversation at any time! Sometimes I hate it, but more often I really enjoy the stupidity of the people! 
They make me laugh and I really love to make them go through the roof by saying the right things at the right time.
So "feeding" these trolls can sometimes be really fun. (But maybe in LFS it mostly sucks since you most likely have a wheel in your hands and cannot type messages ... :tilt
They make me laugh and I really love to make them go through the roof by saying the right things at the right time.
So "feeding" these trolls can sometimes be really fun. (But maybe in LFS it mostly sucks since you most likely have a wheel in your hands and cannot type messages ... :tilt
@Maranello46: I can assure you that Bawbag is also fast in races. He dominated the OLFSL when I was active there.
At least I heard so ... because my skills never were sufficient to race on server 1 where he usually competed with the other fast guys.
At least I heard so ... because my skills never were sufficient to race on server 1 where he usually competed with the other fast guys.
Wow, nice to see that my HoT Tracker is still alive (somehow).
Unfortunately I really did nothing with it the last year(s). And I really don't have the time to support it anymore.
I would really be glad if someone could create a similar "tool" maybe based on the LFS World SDK. I didn't use the SDK because I just wanted to play around with LFS World a little bit. I guess the SDK was also not really known to me back then.
Today, I would use of course.
Anyway, if someone out there creates a user-friendly, easy-to-install, PHP-based Team Tracker, I would appreciate that (and maybe also use it myself).
Maybe the HoT Tracker is still good as an example for learning.
EDIT: @haelje: I now remember we shared PN's. Thank you for further developing and supporting the old tracker. (I took a quick look at the one at your teams website). If you manage to create an install script for a new version of the tracker, I would like to give it a shot on our new homepage.
Unfortunately I really did nothing with it the last year(s). And I really don't have the time to support it anymore.
I would really be glad if someone could create a similar "tool" maybe based on the LFS World SDK. I didn't use the SDK because I just wanted to play around with LFS World a little bit. I guess the SDK was also not really known to me back then.
Today, I would use of course.
Anyway, if someone out there creates a user-friendly, easy-to-install, PHP-based Team Tracker, I would appreciate that (and maybe also use it myself).
Maybe the HoT Tracker is still good as an example for learning.
EDIT: @haelje: I now remember we shared PN's. Thank you for further developing and supporting the old tracker. (I took a quick look at the one at your teams website). If you manage to create an install script for a new version of the tracker, I would like to give it a shot on our new homepage.
Last edited by HorsePower, .
Pah, Jason. You were just looking at his avatar picture!
Congratulations, Mate.
Sorry for double posting.
Fixed. I copied my settings to a new LFSLapper.cfg ...
Maybe the program didn't like any (hidden?) characters? Whatever ...
Maybe the program didn't like any (hidden?) characters? Whatever ...
It works with the original config file ...
... so I guess I have to figure it out by myself.
... so I guess I have to figure it out by myself.
Another Problem I have and I don't understand.
1) I set up a dedicated server (on my home PC)
2) I start LFS Lapper, everything runs fine.
3) I start LFS and join my brand new, exclusive and private server.
4) I get a welcome message (so LFS Lapper obviously still is running)
5) Now I push "T" and type "!help" and LFS Lapper crashes. I see the chat message "!help" and the console for LFS Lapper sais:
1) I set up a dedicated server (on my home PC)
2) I start LFS Lapper, everything runs fine.
3) I start LFS and join my brand new, exclusive and private server.
4) I get a welcome message (so LFS Lapper obviously still is running)
5) Now I push "T" and type "!help" and LFS Lapper crashes. I see the chat message "!help" and the console for LFS Lapper sais:
Wow, that is fast work! Respect and many thanks!
I also have a feature request concerning the QualUsers (maybe it's just a question, if it's already somehow possible).
Suppose we have a server set up to gather qualifying times for registered user (in QualUsers.txt).
Now, the server allows 3 cars, but each driver has commited himself to drive only one specific car (or maybe two cars). Thus, I only want to use the times for the "registered" cars for this user to display the qualifying information.
Maybe a workaround would be to set authorizations for those users and to allow them only to drive their selected cars.
What are your thought's about that, G-L?
EDIT: I could also forget about the whole quali mode in LFS Lapper and use the new http feature. Nice work!
I also have a feature request concerning the QualUsers (maybe it's just a question, if it's already somehow possible).
Suppose we have a server set up to gather qualifying times for registered user (in QualUsers.txt).
Now, the server allows 3 cars, but each driver has commited himself to drive only one specific car (or maybe two cars). Thus, I only want to use the times for the "registered" cars for this user to display the qualifying information.
Maybe a workaround would be to set authorizations for those users and to allow them only to drive their selected cars.
What are your thought's about that, G-L?
EDIT: I could also forget about the whole quali mode in LFS Lapper and use the new http feature. Nice work!
Will the "Defgroup" pseudo-user work in a file for Qualification Users?
For example, if my QualUsers.txt looks like
I tried it, but when I use {Groupqual} in messages, I always get a "-" instead of a pool number.
PS: I searched this thread for "Defgroup" but didn't find anything useful.
For example, if my QualUsers.txt looks like
I tried it, but when I use {Groupqual} in messages, I always get a "-" instead of a pool number.
PS: I searched this thread for "Defgroup" but didn't find anything useful.
It's ok. Maybe it's a too big change now anyway. But I think there are some tools or libraries around to handle XML easily.
So you won't have to deal with much of the file handling and reading stuff ...
Thank you!
I would suggest to use a different "version indicator". It's kind of confusing to use "USERNAME", isn't? 
But no big issue. You're doing great work.
EDIT: Has anyone a good example for PB.txt with lots of data? I want to play around with some PB data ...
EDIT2: What about an XML file format for PB's? Just a thought ...
I would suggest to use a different "version indicator".
It's kind of confusing to use "USERNAME", isn't? But no big issue. You're doing great work.
EDIT: Has anyone a good example for PB.txt with lots of data? I want to play around with some PB data ...
EDIT2: What about an XML file format for PB's? Just a thought ...
Last edited by HorsePower, .
Hi,
I searched this thread but couldn't find an answer quickly and the readme file also doesn't help me.
First of all, I think this is a great piece of software.
Second, I tried out the Lapper today. Now this is my PB.txt:
Different to the format explained in the README, there is the line "USERNAME 02". What's it supposed to be?
Then, there are 7 times. I guess, it's the 3 splits, then the 3 splits again (identical times) and the another time which I don't understand.
Initially, I would have expected to find only the three splits of my PB for each combo.
Thanks for any enlighting answers.
EDIT: Maybe I figured it out by myself. Correct me if I'm wrong:
The first 3 splits belong to the current PB.
The second 3 splits are the best splits.
The last time is the best time driven in the last sector.
Thus, the "Theoretical PB" is given by the sum of the last 4 times.
Right? But still I don't understand the "USERNAME 02" thing.
I searched this thread but couldn't find an answer quickly and the readme file also doesn't help me.
First of all, I think this is a great piece of software.
Second, I tried out the Lapper today. Now this is my PB.txt:
Different to the format explained in the README, there is the line "USERNAME 02". What's it supposed to be?
Then, there are 7 times. I guess, it's the 3 splits, then the 3 splits again (identical times) and the another time which I don't understand.
Initially, I would have expected to find only the three splits of my PB for each combo.
Thanks for any enlighting answers.
EDIT: Maybe I figured it out by myself. Correct me if I'm wrong:
The first 3 splits belong to the current PB.
The second 3 splits are the best splits.
The last time is the best time driven in the last sector.
Thus, the "Theoretical PB" is given by the sum of the last 4 times.
Right? But still I don't understand the "USERNAME 02" thing.
Last edited by HorsePower, .
I can also hover with my FBM in FE Green. See attachment.
Im 100% german, but I love irish folk music (e.g. the Chieftains) and I have an Uilleann Pipe (only the small version, a practice set).
Oh, I wasn't supposed to post here ...
Oh, I wasn't supposed to post here ...
Thank You!
But, to be honest ... we never really were gone. It's just that we have reached a stable but low level of activity.
Don't expect us to become the new Andy(Ger)'s (Nearly always when I look on our homepage, he's online. He has driven more miles in LFS than all members of HoT together. :nodFGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG