John's HTR Downloader

[Rick]

John's HTR File Rat is ready for HTR members to give a try.

I think you are going to love it.

Post your suggestions, comments and any problems here.

http://www.homebased2.com/km/filerat.htm

Graphic is wide so on IE6 or older it may not look right. Should look OK on IE7, Firefox and Opera.

[Rick]

If you downloaded before seeing this post, there is a version that is build 1011 that was just posted.

John sent me a small bug fix.

You have to uninstall previous version to install this version.

[MikeDee]

John and Rick, Just installed and tried "the RAT" WOW Must of taken all of 10minutes to get the program running:) and it is extremely easy to use.

This will make getting weekly (monthly) results and charts a snap!!!

Great job John, thanks for making it available to us.

One thing to look out for. When you install the program it puts the program in the program folder under a folder named HTR. This is not the HTR folder that we use since the HTR folder for most of us in under the c:\

This means that if you are using C:\htr as your folder for downloads you need to be sure to set it as the down load folder, before you do your first download or your files will not be where you expect them to be.

[Rick]

Just a bump. Mike's reply wasn't showing up as unread on my end.

I don't like that behavior in vBulletin.

[Donnie]

SWEET!! Just set it up....I don't know what Mike was doing that it took 10 minutes, but I had it grabbing all of this month's files within 2 minutes.

Rick: I realize this is Beta, but I think this post needs to be moved to the top of the General Discussion in a "sticky".

One suggestion to John (VERY MINOR mind you!): swap the 2 date fields. I think in terms of Beginning Date first, Ending Date second. Your work is appreciated! As you will probably be enhancing this, it would be cool to be able to drop each file type into their own path....something to consider in the future. But you have just saved everyone here HOURS of time!!

Those of you who download and use this new utility, I hope you all go out and Paypal John a token of your appreciation. That is my next stop! Please remember that Paypal removes approximately 3% for all transactions.

NICE contribution John!!! VERY NICE!!!

[Rick]

Donnie - Thanks for the suggestion to move this thread and stick it. Will make it easier for new members to find out about it.

I also added the File Rat to the menu bar under Downloads.

As expected, in IE6 you have to page down to get to everything. I'll try to fix that today without messing up the other pages. Not an easy task in IE6.

[Donnie]

wow...in 15-20 minutes the program grabbed everything in Oct. I first put in Dates back to Aug and since there no files back to that date, the program stops.....but that is what the older downloader did as well. Very nice....start it and forgetaboutit!

[tbrown]

Fantastic!:)

[km]

nice interface, excellent options including the newsletter!
thanks alot John, very handy utility, especially when you need piles of files at once - PayPal on the way - i suggest $25 everyone

[John]

Thank you all for the kind words and I’m glad you find the program useful.

Here is what I have on my list to change so far:

1) Switch the order of dates selected where the starting date is on top and the
ending date on the bottom.

2) Having the install make the default download directory
C:\HTR

Is there anything else you can think of?

Whenever a new release comes out, make sure you uninstall your current version before installing the new one.


John

[tbrown]

Can you get the result files a day earlier? :D

[Huguenot]

I set it up in the default directory --

attempted to change download directory to C:\HTR\Oct2007 but it wouldn't take. Everytime I reopened the download box, it still read c:\programfiles\htr\htrfilerat.

Then I tried to download files anyway and although it looked the files were being downloaded, I couldn't find them on my PC -- even after I did a search.

What could I be doing wrong?

[MikeDee]

When I change the folder it puts the path and folder in the lower left corner of the screen in blue.

when you click on the set download path it goes back the the default path of "program \htr" and you have to then select the path.

Look in the C:\program\htr\folder and see if your files are there.

[Rick]

Since the default directory is C:\Program Files\HTR\HTR File Rat\

Check there.

When doing the search did you click on "All files and folers" > "More Advanced Options" > Search Subfolders ?

[Donnie]

I think what Andy is asking.... is there a metric version?? :D

(He lives in England now!)

[John]

I set it up in the default directory --

attempted to change download directory to C:\HTR\Oct2007 but it wouldn't take. Everytime I reopened the download box, it still read c:\programfiles\htr\htrfilerat.

Then I tried to download files anyway and although it looked the files were being downloaded, I couldn't find them on my PC -- even after I did a search.

What could I be doing wrong?

I hope this helps. When you open the download dialog it does default to the install directory. If you hit OK in the DL dir it will set it to the install dir. If you don't want to make any changes make sure you hit cancel. If you want to go ahead and make changes in the DL directory select it in the tree list and hit OK and that will set it to the selected path in the tree list.

Presently I'm working on giving the users a choice of downloading everything into one directory or they can select a directory for each file type.

John

[Rick]

John sent me an new version of his HTR File Rat.-Rick

"Here is v1.5 of the rat. I added an option where each file type can be downloaded into its own directory. In addition, the start and end dates were swapped positions so the beginning date is on top. Make sure you uninstall the previous version.

John

[dehere]

Rick, where is this new version? I deleted my earlier version and downloaded the one that is on the web site and dated October 31st, but it is the same one as before. If you look at properties for the program when you open it still shows version 1.01 or something like that - not version 1.5 as you indicated in your last post.

[Rick]

Thanks for helping keep me straight.

I really messed that one up.

I got the right one up now.

[Corey]

The program is great I do appreciate the time and effort.

The one issue I'm having is that I'm occasionally getting the message "username/password maybe incorrect" or somethign to that extent popping up. Sometimes it pops up in the middle of the download. The download proceeds and does download all the files. It appears I need to close the program and open it again to get rid of that message. I don't actually have to reenter my username or password.

thanks,

[Corey]

Also had an odd issue.

I used the HTR File Rat to grab the following.

Results and Charts
10/31/07
11/1/07
11/02/07

Race Files and Trainer Stats
11/1/07
11/02/07
11/03/07


Everything appeared to be downloaded. When I went into HTR however, the charts were not appearing for WO for 10/31 or 11/1 and the race file was not appearing for 11/2.

I went and redownloaded the files using the old conventional means and was prompted with a message asking if I wanted to replace the files. I selected yes and the charts and racefiles are now there.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the last alphabetical card on the day. I say this because the race card did not appear for WO on 11/2 - yet it did appear for 11/3. On 11/3 WO is not the last card as ZIA ran.

[Rick]

I just tried to duplicate the problem you had.

I did the download of results/charts for 31 Oct thru 2 Nov for all tracks.

I then did the download of racefiles/trainer files for 1 Nov thru 3 Nov.

I was using the 1.5 version.

I ended up with all the files.

[Corey]

The files did appear in my folder - however for some reason HTR wasn't importing them.

[Rick]

Sometimes you have to click on the folder option a 2nd time after you have downloaded new files.

[Corey]

I noticed when looking at the files via Windows Explorere the files I downloaded with the HTRFileRat appear as the following.

WO1031R.HTR - 22 KB
WO1101R.HTR - 23 KB
WO1102R.HTR - 24 KB

Yet when I downloaded the files the conventional way they appear as;

WO1031R.HTR - 7 KB
WO1101R.HTR - 8 KB
WO1102R.HTR - 8 KB

Is there anything to this?

[Rick]

I just downloaded the results/charts again and all of mine have the smaller file size.

[Corey]

Yes, since then I've redownloaded them using the FileRat as well and have gotten the smaller file sizes.

Not sure what happened the 1st go around as to why the files are that large. I do have them saved off if anyone wants to take a look.

[Corey]

I've been able to recreate the issue here on my end.

If I go into the FileRat and select to download "Results and Charts" 10/31 to 10/31.

With all tracks selected.

It downloads everything and all the file sizes seem correct. WO1031R.HTR appears as 7 KB

Then I go and select to download "Results and Charts" 11/1 to 11/1.

The file W01031R.HTR then becomes 22 KB. While WO1101R.HTR appears as 8 KB.

I've now done this 4 or 5 times with the same results each time.

[Corey]

Even more interesting. If at the end of my above post I go and delete out all files from my download folder - leaving nothing in there.

Then go to FileRat and just download "results and charts" for 10/31 again. It will download all the files for 10/31 with what appears to be the correct size. Yet file WO1101R.HRT appears as well with a size of 21 KB.

[Rick]

You will have to wait for John.

[John]

Hi Corey,

If you don't mind, email me your phone number and let's take this step by step so I fully understand. I'll download the samething as you download and see what happens.

John

[Rick]

John sent me a copy of ver 1.51 of HTR File Rat.

This file can be downloaded and saved to the directory where you have installed the HTR File Rat. Just overwrite the previous version of the program.

John should be sending me the Full Install version later in the day.

He says this version should fix the problem Corey is having.

Uploading files to site is always slow on Sundays. If you don't see the new link on http://www.homebased2.com/km/filerat.htm you can request a copy by email at

ricks231 @ suddenlink.net

I am still trying to get this uploaded.

[Rick]

Finally got the full install uploaded.

This web host really sucks on Sunday. Normally improves around noon, not 8PM.

[Corey]

Hi Corey,

If you don't mind, email me your phone number and let's take this step by step so I fully understand. I'll download the samething as you download and see what happens.

John

Hi John,

I tried to send an e-mail to you and received the following message, "Sorry! That user has specified that they do not wish to receive emails. If you still wish to send an email to this user, please contact the administrator and they may be able to help."

No big deal if you were able to see the issue I was encountering.

Thanks,

[Rick]

Corey,
Check the download page for the File Rat.

John's email address is listed there.

[Corey]

Corey,
Check the download page for the File Rat.

John's email address is listed there.

Thanks

[John]

Corey,

Let me know if v1.51 fixed your problems. Remember to uninstall the old version first if you use the install setup version or you can just copy the new exe over the present one. I'll be waiting to hear from you.

Regards,

John

[Corey]

Corey,

Let me know if v1.51 fixed your problems. Remember to uninstall the old version first if you use the install setup version or you can just copy the new exe over the present one. I'll be waiting to hear from you.

Regards,

John

Sorry I didn't get around to it sooner - but I just downloaded the new version and everything appears to be fine. Thanks.

[edw]

I finally had a chance to download and try this great utility this morning. I'll add my voice to the chorus of accolades. It surely saves a lot of time and is well deserving of a financial "thank you" to John.

I had one minor problem and have one suggestion.

I mention this problem only the chance it alerts John to something that may need to be addressed or triggers a response from other users who may have had a similar problem. I'm guessing this was more likely a normal "hiccup" that happens occasionally between any two parties when downloading anything. My first attempt to download ended after only about 25% of the files had transferred. I was downloading 4 file types (j,e,r,f) for 3 recent days (Nov 7,8,9), for all tracks when the process ended with a "Timeout" message. I'm using wireless at home which is usually pretty reliable but occasionally does have a rare momentary glitch. I was away from the computer so I don't have any other information. It could have been the program, HDW, or something on my end.

The suggestion. Both times I have tried to download, the program has downloaded the most recent date first and the oldest date last; i.e., downloaded November 9th first and November 7th last in my example above. It's not a huge problem but as the files get downloaded and created on the user's system a date and time stamp gets created for each file and since they are being downloaded "backwards" the times associated with the file creations don't allow the dates to properly sort chronologically when using Windows Explorer and other file utilities. They sort in reverse chronological order. Is it possible without a great amount of time to tweak the code to download the older files first?

Thanks for a great and very useful product.

[Rick]

Edw replied and its not showing as new post and last post.

[John]

Here we go,

Edw: I changed the order the dates will download for you. The timeouts isn't really a problem with the HTR File Rat. It happends with various servers for various reasons. The Rat will quit working for all of us anytime. I was using a trial component during beta testing and I think the Rat has progressed past beta. I bought the licensed component and I should have it today. I'll prepare HTR File Rat v1.52 to send to Rick and he will put it up when he gets a chance. EVERYBODY will have to download v1.52 and either copy the exe over the existing exe or use the full install. If you use the full install you will need to uninstall your present version first and then use the install package. I hope everyone is using and enjoying the Rat.

Kindest Regards,

John

[Pizzaman]

John,

HtrRileRat is terrific. The big plus for me is being able to download the result/chart files for all tracks for a span of time with a just a few clicks. What an effort and time saver!

thanks,

Gary

[edw]

Thank you, John. Life just got better!

One more question. Does the program do any error checking to compare the files that actually get downloaded vs. what it was supposed to download? Clearly when I got the "Time out" message I knew to check for what might not have downloaded.

I know a lot of HTR users will be using the RAT to download weeks or a month at a time. Do we have to visually confirm the results or does the program give warnings for errors or potential errors?

[Rick]

Version 1.52, dtd 13 Nov 07, of John's HTR File Rat is ready for HTR members to download.

http://www.homebased2.com/km/filerat.htm

It is possible to install this version without uninstalling, but you may end up with two icons on the desktop. At least I did.

[Donnie]

John--
Nice job!! I just love the fact that I can download all those files with just a few clicks of the mouse!!
Hope you you guys all toked John a few bucks for his efforts on this one! If time is money, this program has made me rich!!! (his paypal account info is on that page!)
Thanks again John!! This program is a keeper!

[tbrown]

I haven't been able to use the new version at all. Every time, it Times Out. Haven't had a successful download yet.

[Donnie]

Tom--
did you try uninstalling and reinstalling? The first time I used it after reinstalling I had the same problem, but turned out it was my internet connection....it is constantly dropping the connection! Since then...smooth as silk!

[MikeDee]

It has been Ok for me except for today. It timed out at RET. It was going very slow all during the download and then timed out. I selected the remaining tracks and re-downloaded and this time the RAT flew through the download.

I wonder if the Internet or HDW is having a problem?

[tbrown]

Thanks, guys...I'll try it.

[Donnie]

Mike/Tom--
Last night when I was downloading today's files the HDW website was extremely slow...I suspect all is not well in KY!! Hell, they're dumping $10,000 bottles of Jack Daniels down the drain!! Why they are not auctioning them off and putting the money towards what is probably a cash strapped county budget is beyond me....but I go back to "all is probably not well in KY" and we'll leave it at that! :D

[Donnie]

Ohhhhh ...also, I use the Rat for end of month downloading....I am still doing dailies the "old fashioned" way.

[tbrown]

OK, that baby is humming today. Faster than a fat man on his way to the buffet at the Belagio.:D

[Huguenot]

got it humming now -- just lovin it -- thanks john!

[John]

I would publicly like to thank Edw, Donnie, KM, Mike, Charlie, dehere, Kenneth and Tom for their generous donations. It is very much appreciated and really helps out. (I hope I didn't overlook anyone)

I would like to thank Rick for spending the time to beta test and enduring my crappy install packages and keeping all of you updated with the latest release.

Thanks again everyone.

Warmest Regards,

John

[tbrown]

Anyone having trouble using the file rat today?
Been working fine, then for some reason, it will no longer work - I keep getting a message my user name of password are not correct. I copied them right off the normal download page where they work fine, and still it will not accept them.

[Donnie]

Tom-
Just tested it. Mine seems to be working fine. But then again, I only use it at the end of the month.

[Rick]

Did you download and install version 1.52?

Maybe just need to download the exe file.

I think I downloaded the whole thiing and ran it and it did an upgrade.

I just tried running it and had no problem with logon.

[tbrown]

Yes, I have the latest, and have been using it with no problems since it came out - until today.
Tried reloading both the new version and the beta version - neither one work now.



I re-downloaded and re-installed - it work now. Must be the old one got "microsofted."

[John]

Tom,

Did you try going into the control panel and completely uninstalling your current version? After that, using the install package, install ver 1.52 Mine is working fine here. Let me know if you get it working. You can also just download v1.52 exe and copy that over your present copy. It must be v1.52 to have the password work properly. Let me know right away so you and I can get to work getting you up and running. You can always send me your phone number and we can take it a step at a time together.

Regards,

John

[John]

Tom,

These old eyes missed the bottom part of your message stating you had it working. Glad you got it working. If you have anymore problems feel free to contact me anytime and I will help you anyway I can.

Regards,

John

[tbrown]

Thanks, John...sounds like it is my computer - no one else has the issue, and the re-download worked fine. This is one nice program!

[tomcat]

Now mine is doing the same thing....and the track list doesn't come up. Maybe re-install?

[Rick]

The first thing I would try is uninstalling and installing latest version.

[edw]

If more than one person is having similar problems, the possibility that it is program related becomes greater. The number of people using this very good program is relatively small compared to the number of users of HTR in general and there have been times when only one HTR user has caught (or at least reported) a very hard to detect bug in HTR

Assuming the latest version was installed at the time of the problems, could there be an initialization file or something similar that gets corrupted or inadvertantly deleted or changed in some way?

[John]

Is anyone having any more problems? You can always send me an email found in the HTR File Rat download area. Everyone has to be using v1.52. Also, you can just overwrite the present earlier version with the v1.52 exe but my recommendation is..... You completely Uninstall the Rat using Windows "add remove programs" found in the Windows control panel. Then use the Rat v1.52 install file to install the new v1.52. Please email with any further problems after that. I'm more than happy to help.

Regards,

John

[John]

When you install the the v1.52 Rat you have to re-enter your password.

John

[tbrown]

John, I removed the whole enchilada and then re-downloaded and re-installed. Everything work fine since then. :D

[Donnie]

Just downloaded Nov files (all).....worked beautifully!! Thanks again John!!

[NC Tony]

When you install the the v1.52 Rat you have to re-enter your password.

John


Hi John,

Ive got your program loaded and running on my 2 laptops, but cannot get it to work on the desktop (XP). I keep getting message cannot write to local. I have to click on the same mesagge at least 10 times, close the program down manually and eventually a timeout error pops up. I have unistalled and downloaded the full file about 20 times now for this desktop.

Any suggestions what is going on? Like I said it works on my two laptops by the desktop is the base station so to speak.

Thanks
NC Tony

[John]

Hi Tony,

I really don't know what could be wrong. I never heard of a problem similar either. The only wild guess I can make is to make sure you have the download directory set and check if the proper directory is showing up on the status bar. I'm sorry to get back to you so late but you can always email me if you need faster help. Keep me updated as to what you've tried or if you solved it.... what was the solution.

Regards,

John

[NC Tony]

Thanks John,

I have not tried anything on the desltop since I wrote the email.

I do know and confirm it is going to the correct directory, so I am not sure why the desktop fails where the laptops are working perfectly fine.

NC Tony
Perhaps a set of personal email exchanges will work.

Tony

[John]

Anytime Tony.

John

[Gar-Bear]

I first off want to thank John for all of his hard work with this HTR rat file down loader. I have installed it successfully on my desk top and I am trying to install on my lap top. I have not been very successful with it yet. I have had the problem of where it could not write to the local file and I would have to click several times before it would disappear. I then would get a time out message several minutes later after I have exited the program. I am now getting object not found error. I have uninstalled the rat several times but I am still getting this message. I have the file path set for c:htr and I can not get past this message. Help please.

[John]

What version of the rat are you using? Did the rat accept your un and pw? It sounds like its not connecting to HDW. You have to enter your un and pw for each computer you use it on. I hope this helps. Is anyone else having these problems besides Gar-Bear and Tony?

John

[edw]

Gar-Bear,

Not sure if this is related to your problem or just a typo on the forum but the path should be: c:\htr not c:htr

[Gar-Bear]

edw-Thanks for the reply. That was just a typo by me. I meant the latter with \. John thanks for the reply and yes I entered in the un and the pw each time I reinstalled the full rat file. I am also using the newest rat V1.52. The rat file looks like it is connecting to HDW then it just stops. In the upper right hand box data is being transfered. I am trying to down load 12-22-07 through 12-25-07. Yes I understand that there was no racing on Christmas day so there should be no files to retrieve right? But it stops transferring data on 12-25-07. I even tried to change the end date to 12-24-07 in hopes that this might solve the problem, but it did not. I got the message that it could not write to the local file and the time out message. I hope this helps you more.

[John]

Gar-Bear,

The only thing I can guess is that it is not connecting. The timeout message and object not found messages indicate this. I honestly don't know how to help you. You might try calling HDW and see if they can watch you logon and see what is happening. Please let me know if you get it working.


John

[dehere]

I think its just a 12/25 error. I was having the same problem but when I set Rat up to download beginning on the 26th and ignoring the 25th altogether it worked fine.

[John]

dehere

Thank you. I tried the 25th and got the same thing.

[phil]

I first off want to thank John for all of his hard work with this HTR rat file down loader. I have installed it successfully on my desk top and I am trying to install on my lap top. I have not been very successful with it yet. I have had the problem of where it could not write to the local file and I would have to click several times before it would disappear. I then would get a time out message several minutes later after I have exited the program. I am now getting object not found error. I have uninstalled the rat several times but I am still getting this message. I have the file path set for c:htr and I can not get past this message. Help please.

Gar-Bear, I had the same experience as you did ( worked on the desktop and got errors on the laptop ). Got the problem to go away when I clicked on the set download path and then the top button "Set Download Path" and changed to the directory c:\htr. Hope that helps.

[tomcat]

John, I love your downloader!

The only thing we need to do the daily download automatically.

[Gar-Bear]

I would like to thank ever one who was trying to help me with the down loader error problem. I finally got it to go way when I followed Phil's instructions. However I do not understand why I had to do this on my laptop and not on my desk top. The download path was set to the c:\htr. Some times we do not know why but all is good for now. Thanks to all for there help. HTR members are the best.

[dehere]

Tomcat - i'm with you - i wonder if i can have multiple Rats on the desktop with different download paths?

[John]

Thank you everyone for teaching me about my software. :o I have to agree Gar-Bear, HTR does have a great group of folks.

dehere - I'm not sure exactly your reason for having multiple instances of The Rat. If you have version 1.52 you can download each file type to it's individual specified directory if you wish. If you need something else, I might be able to accommodate on the next version. Hopefully the next update will supply valet parking at all tracks in America.

Tom - I hope I can get to the seminar next year to meet some of you and learn something. Even after 37 years of handicapping I still listen to everything I can about handicapping.
I'm very happy that you are enjoying the HTR File Rat! I wanted to contribute something because HTR is the best.

KM doesn't dish out bullshit of any kind to the members!
The value of HTR is the best!
I love seeing a great place a new handicapper can come and learn the real deal about handicapping and not get fleeced.
I love seeing a great place where an experienced handicapper can come and learn new things, get quality handicapping data and not get fleeced.

Thanks again Ken and Happy New Year to Everyone,

John

[dehere]

John - i'm just nuts. Most HTR folks know that and now you're learning.

Here's the reason for the multiple Rat. I have Rat set up for my long term research downloads. I put the HTR data that I get through Rat to a separate folder for Charts, Profiles and basic HTR data. And I really love the fact that Rat remembers the date you've downloaded stuff so that the next time you just move the date thing forward to get races that have not already been downloaded. Okay, so, I don't wanna mess up with those paths and that date function cause I have alzheimers and cannot remember stuff.

Then I have my daily stuff where I need to download just current HTR data and it would need to go into a different folder (htr/daily) than what my research stuff goes into. So, I would need to change Rat's paths and dates and then have to remember what I had done so I could change it back for historic stuff.

Its no biggy - i just wonder if i could set up multiple Rats so that i would not have to do manual download of daily stuff.

And oh, yes, the program is superb.

[Rick]

dehere - I don't know if it would work but I would try installing the rat into two different locations.

The first thing I would try is just copying the rat file to a different folder and seeing if it would work that way.

I would set up two icons on the desktop.

I have no idea if it would work but that is what I would try.

[John]

Rick and dehere,

That won't work because the program uses the registry to store all the saved options. Therefore the second instance would just be a duplicate of the first. If the program used the current directory and saved to an ini file, that might be possible. I have another idea off the top of my head.

First of all dehere, at least you can remember you have Alzheimer's disease. I think I could add a check box where you can command The Rat to download to a daily handicapping directory and add a nn additional path to specify what your current daily handicapping directory is. This check box would not be saved so when you start The Rat it defaults to how it currently starts. I guess I would have to add another date picker as well.

My only concern is that you would be downloading the same data twice. Once for the historical paths and once for the daily handicapping path. I would have to ask Ken and Rick about this if I understood you correctly.

John

[dehere]

Yeah John, I discovered that the double download does not work. Really, its no big deal - but i do like the valet parking idea.

[NC Tony]

John,

I am going to give the Gar-Bear/Phil solution a try. I'll let you know how that works for my desktop. Hope to run into you sometime!!

NC Tony

[John]

I would publicly like to thank Bob and Jerry for their generous donations. It is greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year,

John

[MikeDee]

John Would something like this work.

What if you had (lets say) 2 or 3 profiles. In each profile you could have the list of files you want to download and the folder that you want to download them into.

If you could give your profile a name then all you would have to do is to click on the profile you want and then download.

This way you could have a daily profile for the daily race files and then 2 other profiles that you could use for down loading for longer term (race files, results and charts, etc. for studies.

[John]

Hello MikeDee

Thank you for the suggestion. Conceptually, I was thinking of something similar initially. I still see where it will be downloading the data twice therefore increasing the bandwidth from HDW. Thinking about how the current version's path configuration is implented, it could be accomplished as is. The only thing that would be needed is a notepad to note the last day downloaded for referencing in order to set the date to the last previous long term download.

With the current version you could do the following:

Use the individual paths for each file type and set them to your long term path/s. Then uncheck the "Single Download Path For All Files" box, set your dates on the main program dialog and roll.

When downloading the daily files for handicapping you simply check the "Single Download Path For All Files" box, set your dates on the main program dialog and roll.

In effect, checking or unchecking that checkbox and setting the dates, gives me two profiles since I save all the file types offered.

It's a little more work than a "one touch" method but again, it saves bandwidth.

Personally, I try to be careful and not misuse the bandwidth from HDW so they don't feel the need to lower it or send the files on floppies via pony express. I also try when possible to be mindful of when I download if I have a lot of catchup downloading to do. If I know it might be a busy time for HDW because of a special race date or when people might download several hours before postime, I will wait to do my catching up.

Currently I handle my long term management of files as such:

I download everything to my current handicapping folder. I will go back to the previous day at times and only check the file types for results and charts and download those files only.

I copy all files to a long term save directory. I'll run the export processes in HTR from there or from the daily download path depending on the use of the export. For long term, I backup the set of individual files and the exports. When all use of the files in the long term path is completed, I delete all those files.

I've only been with HTR a year so you guys might be able to help me out with other ideas.


Happy New Year,

John

[Rick]

A suggestion that should make daily downloading easier.

How about adding Yesterday's Results + Charts under the HDW File Settings.

That way one could download the results from yesterday along with todays racefiles without having to download the racefiles from yesterday again.

For instance today is 4 Jan. The results are in and I want to download the racefiles for tomorrow. I would be able to check Racefiles+Trainer Stats and Yesterday's Results + Charts and set the start and end date to 5 Jan and get the racefiles for tomorrow and the results for today.

[dan squillacote]

Hello MikeDee

Thank you for the suggestion. Conceptually, I was thinking of something similar initially. I still see where it will be downloading the data twice therefore increasing the bandwidth from HDW. Thinking about how the current version's path configuration is implented, it could be accomplished as is. The only thing that would be needed is a notepad to note the last day downloaded for referencing in order to set the date to the last previous long term download.

With the current version you could do the following:

Use the individual paths for each file type and set them to your long term path/s. Then uncheck the "Single Download Path For All Files" box, set your dates on the main program dialog and roll.

When downloading the daily files for handicapping you simply check the "Single Download Path For All Files" box, set your dates on the main program dialog and roll.

In effect, checking or unchecking that checkbox and setting the dates, gives me two profiles since I save all the file types offered.

It's a little more work than a "one touch" method but again, it saves bandwidth.

Personally, I try to be careful and not misuse the bandwidth from HDW so they don't feel the need to lower it or send the files on floppies via pony express. I also try when possible to be mindful of when I download if I have a lot of catchup downloading to do. If I know it might be a busy time for HDW because of a special race date or when people might download several hours before postime, I will wait to do my catching up.

Currently I handle my long term management of files as such:

I download everything to my current handicapping folder. I will go back to the previous day at times and only check the file types for results and charts and download those files only.

I copy all files to a long term save directory. I'll run the export processes in HTR from there or from the daily download path depending on the use of the export. For long term, I backup the set of individual files and the exports. When all use of the files in the long term path is completed, I delete all those files.

I've only been with HTR a year so you guys might be able to help me out with other ideas.


Happy New Year,

John





Should i leave the download directory your htr file rat sub directory
or should i change it to htr

i havent had much success either way


i tried downloading jan 30th to feb 01 files

no luck

dan

[Donnie]

I'm stuck....
went to use the RAT tonight and I keep getting the message "Your password may be incorrect". I tried re-entering it with no luck. Fully uninstalled and re-installed...same message. Anyone else run up against this?

[MikeDee]

I just ran the rat (sat 6:58am est) and everything ran fine no pswd problems???

[Donnie]

I loaded it on a machine that never had it and it runs fine.....on the other 2 I even turned off my firewall, cleared all my passwords and the cache...still a no-go!

[tbrown]

I had this a while back - had to completely un-install and then re-install to get it going.

[tomcat]

Donnie, maybe it's only meant to run on one computer per user.
It works fine on my laptop, but not on my desktop.

[John]

Donnie, maybe it's only meant to run on one computer per user.
It works fine on my laptop, but not on my desktop.


It's meant to run on any computer. I really don't know why this is happening. What operating systems has this been occurring on? The only thing I can think to do is experiment a little. After an uninstall and reinstall has anyone tried starting the program then closing it before using it? Maybe something is going on with the program accessing the registry. Sorry I can't be more help.

John

[edw]

FWIW, I've used it the same day on both laptop and desktop with zero problems.

Only current problem is the occasional timeout if I ask for too large a download. That may be on HDW's end, not the program.

[tomcat]

John, please don't think of our comments as criticism because I really like your program. I think the problem is ours be cause we can't figure it out.

[John]

John, please don't think of our comments as criticism because I really like your program. I think the problem is ours be cause we can't figure it out.

Thanks Tom,

I don't think of it as a criticism at all. I want everyone to benefit as fully as possible and I feel frustrated that I can't give immediate help. I can only guess its a registry problem. If that is the case, there are tools to backup then clean and optimize the registry. Make sure the program backs up the registry before any work is done on it. A complete description of the problem and feedback on how the File Rat reacts is helpful.

Even if it was criticism, I have an ex-wife and have been battle hardened.

I'm glad you're enjoying the program.

John

[Huguenot]

Has anyone else had this little quirk/annoyance?

When I download for the day, including the track profiles, (I don't download ALL the tracks, just a bunch of favorites I've selected), I often files for these tiny little tracks that sometimes includes just a single race.
They include FTP (Fort Pierre ), MPM (Mount Pleasant Meadows?) JRM (??), POD (???) and EMT

I get the FTP, POD and MPM files more often than the others. It's not a big deal to erase them but I'm wondering what it might be.

[tbrown]

Geez, Andy...it might a sign from above!
You better look closely at those tracks! ;)

[John]

I'm planning to do an update and look at these bugs a little closer. In addition, I plan to add profiles to assist in download management. This fall is looking like the time I will get to it and until then, I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone.

Johnece and I are looking forward to meeting everyone in Las Vegas and looking forward to learning a bunch from all the speakers.

John

[John]

Herman,

Thank you very much for the generous donation!

John

[John]

Roghaltz,

Thank you very much for your generous donation. It is greatly appreciated and I'm happy to hear that you are enjoying the HTR File Rat.

John

[Hovard]

I keep getting an error message when I try running the exe.file "not a valid Win32 application".
Any suggestions? Running XP home edition SP2. I have a laptop with Vista, haven't tried it there yet.

[Rick]

That error message generally means you got an incomplete download.

Check the file size. It should be over 3 MB.

Download again.

[Hovard]

having trouble with file rat. when I hit HDWdownload , I get a popup saying object not found. java issue? happens everytime. logged in, and set all parameters. SoCal, Del, pha. no difference.

help, thanks.

[Rick]

Did you set the download directory?

Even though it says C:\htr when you install it, you still have to set it.

Click on the Set Download Paths, click on Set Download Path For All Files, select C:\htr, click OK, and click OK.

John's File Rat doesn't use Java.

[Hovard]

I've gone through the entire process and I still get "Can't find object"

Is it the same user id and password as HTR downloads? Tried every combination. Maybe I should download the exec file again, but it seems to be in order except that it won't download,

[Rick]

Go to http://www.homebased2.com/km/filerat.htm and look for the email address for John where it says you can PayPal.

I am still looking but have not been able to duplicate the error you are getting.

[Hovard]

I was searching for dates outside (before) the available range. Because it starts on the earliest date, and that data was not in the warehouse, the File Rat was responding "object not found". I asked John if RAT stood for "Retrieve and Transfer", and he said it stood for rat.

[Rick]

Normally the only time that one came up is around Christmas. Last year there were no races on 24-25 Dec.

So if someone was trying to download the whole month of Dec 08 they would have to enter the period 1-23 Dec and then the period 26-31 Dec.

Thanks for letting us know what the problem was.

And that sounds like John. :)

[Rick]

John has upgraded his HTR File Rat to version 2.06.

You can download at http://www.homebased2.com/km/filerat.htm

[Texas Tornado]

HTR2 is able to login with HDW user/pswd and download files, but FileRat cannot. I have a space in my HDW login, ie:

bob jones

It worked before with File Rat now it no longer works. Also I verified FileRat has access via my MS firewall.:confused:

[Ron Tiller]

Texas,

This may be an issue with the problems we are having with the web server. I did not test the File Rat once we came back up but there are a few issues that might be affecting it, so let us get back on our feet and then give it a try. In the meantime, the HTR2 downloader does work.

Ron Tiller
HDW