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roland vilett // User Search
roland vilett // User SearchBuild 13 upgrade now requiredFeb 19, 1999, 4:07am
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------=_NextPart_000_0010_01BE5B8B.09CF12A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Baggis, no unfortunately I don't have a way yet for people to easily check what = the current build of the SDK is...I'll need to come up with something, = probably an additional universe attribute or something like that. -Roland [View Quote] ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01BE5B8B.09CF12A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000>Hi Baggis,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>no unfortunately I don't have a way yet for people to easily check = what the=20 current build of the SDK is...I'll need to come up with something, = probably an=20 additional universe attribute or something like that.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Roland</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 solid 2px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: = 5px"> [View Quote] ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01BE5B8B.09CF12A0-- Build 13 upgrade now requiredFeb 19, 1999, 4:22pm
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------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BE5BF1.C19D25A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The local DLL version is provided by the #define AW_BUILD in the aw.h = file. You'll know that AW_BUILD is the same as the DLL build if aw_init = (AW_BUILD) returns 0, since aw_init() will fail if the build number = passed in is not the same as the DLL's build number. If there was a universe-level attribute available called say = AW_UNIVERSE_SDK_BUILD, then you could easily make sure your you are up = to date with something like the following code: if (aw_init (AW_BUILD)) { printf ("DLL version mismatch\n"); exit (1); } if (aw_create (0, 0, NULL)) { printf ("Unable to create instance\n"); exit (1); } if (AW_BUILD < aw_int (AW_UNIVERSE_SDK_BUILD)) printf ("Note: There is a newer version of the SDK available.\n"); [View Quote] ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BE5BF1.C19D25A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML = PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000>The local DLL version is provided by the = #define=20 AW_BUILD in the aw.h file. You'll know that AW_BUILD is the same = as the=20 DLL build if aw_init (AW_BUILD) returns 0, since aw_init() will fail if = the=20 build number passed in is not the same as the DLL's build = number.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>If there was a universe-level attribute available called say=20 AW_UNIVERSE_SDK_BUILD, then you could easily make sure your you are up = to date=20 with something like the following code:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>if (aw_init (AW_BUILD)) {</DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2> </FONT> = <FONT=20 color=3D#000000>printf ("DLL version = mismatch\n");</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000></FONT><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT=20 size=3D3> </FONT></FONT><FONT size=3D3> <FONT color=3D#000000>exit=20 (1);</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT = size=3D3>}</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D3>if (aw_create (0, 0, NULL)) {</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D3> <FONT color=3D#000000> printf ("Unable to = create=20 instance\n");</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT = size=3D3> exit=20 (1);</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D3>}</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3>if (AW_BUILD < aw_int=20 (AW_UNIVERSE_SDK_BUILD))</FONT></FONT><FONT size=3D3></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT = size=3D3> printf=20 ("Note: There is a newer version of the SDK=20 available.\n");</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 solid 2px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: = 5px"> [View Quote] ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BE5BF1.C19D25A0-- Security issueFeb 21, 1999, 6:25am
Hi Baggis,
I think the concerns you raise are valid, however as others have pointed out here, they apply to any program of any kind, from any person. The SDK program might be stealing your privilege password, but for that matter it might be installing viruses on your computer, reading your email, or deleting files randomly. This is the risk you take every day whenever you run any executable program. At some point you just have to trust that the author is legit and isn't trying to screw you over. Either that, or you just don't run the software. I think it goes without saying that one should never, ever run any executable program provided to you by someone who you don't know or don't trust. This is just common sense. It seems like lately at least once a day I receive an email from some random person containing and attached .exe file and an invitation to "run this to see something funny" or something like that. I am amazed that they think I actually would. Yeah, like I really need to have Netbus installed on my computer. No thanks! In short, there is no way to guarantee to this person that your program isn't stealing their information. You just have to say "look, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to trust me. If you don't trust me, don't run the bot." You could conceivably provide the source code to them as "proof"...but if they aren't a programmer that won't help them much. To answer your question about what the universe server does, whenever an SDK program starts, the server does log all the information it provides on login, including owner number, privilege password, bot name, as well as the IP address the bot is being run from. I'm not sure how exactly this would help you in the case where you though that the program was stealing your privilege password, though... -Roland [View Quote] Security issueFeb 21, 1999, 5:28pm
Hi Baggis,
okay thanks for re-stating your question. The answer is...nothing happens. It is merely logged. The case you describe is quite common and can occur legitimately all the time. Of course, everything is logged - so if it does turn out later that someone has stolen and abused a password or a privilege password, it's pretty easy to go back through the server log and figure out precisely who did what, and when. -Roland [View Quote] Security issueFeb 23, 1999, 5:43pm
Again, this is true, and again, the answer is - there is no way to be
absolutely sure. But I still don't see how this is somehow different for bot programs. The same issues apply to any software from anyone that you ever run on your computer. -Roland [View Quote] Bot help neededMar 16, 1999, 9:26pm
Well, mass spamming is *one* of the things I am worried about, however there
are also several technical issues that would need to be resolved in the client and server before bots could be able to send telegrams at all. -Roland [View Quote] Re: aw_object_click()Jul 26, 1999, 4:28pm
Since there is no response message sent from the server back to the client
issuing an aw_object_click(), there is no way to validate the arguments or return a failure code to the client. This is true of any SDK method that does not have an associated callback. The only way that a function like aw_object_click() can return failure is if there is a local network communication problem that prevents the sending of the message in the first place. -Roland [View Quote] Re: What's wrong with this code?Jul 29, 1999, 4:12pm
This doesn't look right to me:
>char *reply[255]; /* Used in MANY of the bots messages */ You are declaring reply as an array of pointers to char, when I believe what you want is an array of char. I notice that later on in your code you cast reply to (char *)...presumably this was to circumvent compiler warnings...if so, a good rule of thumb worth mentioning is: always pay close attention to compiler warnings! They are there for a reason. However, I don't think this is causing your problem. I think your problem is this: > int nWhois=aw_int (AW_CHAT_SESSION); You are declaring nWhois as a local in this routine. You also have it declared as a global. By declaring it locally, it is "masking" out the global identifier of the same name in this context, so when you try to "save" the value of AW_CHAT_SESSION here you are in fact just throwing it away. >If AW_AVATAR_ADDRESS didn't write to : >aw_int (AW_AVATAR_SESSION) --- I'd be able to use : I don't understand this. AW_AVATAR_ADDRESS is just a pre-defined constant, it doesn't write to anything by itself. -Roland What's wrong with this code?Jul 30, 1999, 4:22pm
>Calling AW_AVATAR_ADDRESS changes the value for AW_AVATAR_SESSION . . .
Okay, I still don't quite understand...AW_AVATAR_ADDRESS is just a constant, you don't call it. Do you mean calling aw_address()? It is true that the reply to aw_address() uses the attribute AW_AVATAR_SESSION to return the avatar's session number, but so do many other SDK methods and events...this is the way the SDK works. The values of the attributes are not designed to persists across multiple API calls, they are there to communicate data back and forth between your code and the SDK. If you need to remember a particular value, such as an avatar's session number, across more than one call, then you need to store it in a variable and retrieve it later. This is a fair standard approach to API design...I hope that you don't find it too limiting! -Roland Re: TagsApr 25, 1998, 9:59pm
Not a bad idea...except the whole "tag" thing would probably just be
redundant. Why not just create a search engine that searched based on the contents of all "description" fields? All you'd have to do is put the description "Jdal's place" on an object, and then a search for "Jdal" would turn it up. A search engine that allowed you to search the entire world, better yet the entire AW universe, would be a very powerful tool. Protag proposed such a thing long ago. It would not be extremely difficult to create a bot based on the AW client/server communication code that roamed around the entire AW universe (except for closed worlds of course) looking for objects with "Description" fields on them and building up an index. Then you could go to a web page, type in what to search for, maybe allow ways to restrict your search (e.g. look in one world, or several worlds, or the whole universe) and the output would be a bunch of AW teleport URLs to all matching objects found. Pretty simple! Conceivably you could also search by owner name or number to help people locate their lost property, a frequent problem in AlphaWorld... This whole idea ties in somewhat with another ongoing discussion about the "world list" and how it's getting too long and whether or not it should be broken down into categories. A common complaint is that it's getting difficult to know which world are about what, and finding worlds about a particular theme is becoming impossible. It seems like the above search engine idea might go part of the way towards addressing these problems. Instead of hunting around through a list of hundreds or thousands of worlds, just type in what you are looking for into the world search engine. I know not everyone is a big fan of search engines, but again if they are done well and their coverage is complete they can be very powerful tools. -Roland [View Quote] Re: TagsApr 28, 1998, 6:29pm
I think that requiring an object to be specially tagged before it could be
located would defeat the purpose of a search engine. This would be like requiring web sites to be specially tagged before search engines would pick them up...most people wouldn't know or would forget to tag their sites, and all those web search engines out there today would be next to useless. If anything the opposite would make more sense: create a "nosearch" command or something that specifically instructed the search engine not to index that particular object, if for some reason the builder is concerned about it being found by a search. But anyway, on a more general note I think that if you have built something in a public world you can't be concerned about people finding it, because people will inevitable find it at some point, some way. If you really want a private "secret hideaway" you would have to build it in a closed world...and the search engine wouldn't go into closed worlds as I said before. -Roland [View Quote] cross-postingMay 8, 1998, 5:03pm
Hi folks,
just a quick note about cross-posting. We've had a few well-intentioned (and some not so-well-intentioned) posts that have been cross-posted to most or all newsgroups on our server recently. The "beta" newsgroup is moderated and is for discussion of the current AW beta only. All off-topic posts are deleted from that newsgoup. Furthermore, it is not possible to delete a cross-posted post from just a single newsgroup and leave it in all the others. Thus, when I delete a cross-posted post from the beta newsgroup, it is deleted from *all* newsgroups it was posted to. So in the future if you could keep your cross-posting only to relevant newsgroups, that will make my job easier and also mean that your posts have a better chance of sticking around. ;) Thanks, Roland Marketing research(sort of)Oct 23, 1998, 1:38am
Please do not crosspost your posts to so many newsgroups. At least, please
don't crosspost to the SDK newsgroup when your post is not related to the SDK. Thanks! -Roland ps. if you are going to reply to this thread, please be sure to check the "Newsgroups:" field of your post and remove "sdk" before posting your reply. [View Quote] Marketing research(sort of)Nov 11, 1998, 3:01am
And I am totally opposed to this thread continuing any longer in the SDK
newsgroup :) -Roland [View Quote] Re: PRESS RELEASEJan 26, 1999, 6:30am
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------=_NextPart_000_000D_01BE48C3.2060F400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hmm, I don't think people are realizing that the original post, along = with all of the replies, are being cross-posted to every single = newsgroup on the AW site. Folks, this is why blanket cross-posting is = bad. Please make sure that when you make a new post, it only goes to = the relevant newsgroups. When you reply to a post that strikes you as = off-topic for that newsgroup, check the headers - it might have just = been cross-posted to all newsgroups by an irresponsible user, and if you = reply, your reply is also going to every single newsgroup as well by = default. If you do cross-post to 'beta' and/or 'sdk' you risk losing your entire = post since those newsgroups are moderated and off-topic posts may be = deleted. -Roland [View Quote] [View Quote] Is this a beta report??=20 [View Quote] =20 ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01BE48C3.2060F400 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"> <STYLE></STYLE> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Hmm, I don't think people are = realizing that the=20 original post, along with all of the replies, are being cross-posted to = every=20 single newsgroup on the AW site. Folks, this is why blanket = cross-posting=20 is bad. Please make sure that when you make a new post, it only = goes to=20 the relevant newsgroups. When you reply to a post that strikes you = as=20 off-topic for that newsgroup, check the headers - it might have just = been=20 cross-posted to all newsgroups by an irresponsible user, and if you = reply, your=20 reply is also going to every single newsgroup as well by = default.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>If you do cross-post to 'beta' = and/or 'sdk' you=20 risk losing your entire post since those newsgroups are moderated and = off-topic=20 posts may be deleted.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>-Roland</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 solid 2px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: = 5px"> [View Quote] ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01BE48C3.2060F400-- |
