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idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:15 am
by NewGuy
Hey there
i have been trying to figure out how to implement a banner system in my VB apps ... something like whats in MSN or other simular apps. - but with no success
the idea is that it should be dynamic .. and self updateable
I was playing with the idea that the app. was "born" with ex. 5 banners .. and when the app. was started up, it would test to see there was internet access .. and if there was.. it would go to a website ex:
http://www.myhomepage.com/banners
and download the banners from that homepage .. and start to display them in the app.
on the homepage there would be a range of banners, witch i would have given a number, ex. between 1 to 200
if no internet is present .. it just shows the banners that it was born with .. or the latest banners it dowloaded last time there was internet
and of cource in the VB app .. there also needs to be implemented a banner rotator/presentation
any ideas/suggestions for a super banner system ?
... i love VB and still in the starting pit
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:50 am
by CodenStuff
Hello NewGuy,
I think the quickest way would be to add a webbrowser control to your form and point it to your banner page URL (get a simple javascript banner rotation script and add it to the page).
Or a webrequest to read the page source then grab the images/links and maybe use a timer to loop through the banners and display them in a picturebox.
How are you currently doing it?
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:06 am
by NewGuy
Hi .. and thanks for a quick answer
i was thinking about the webbrowser control too .... i have been playing with that .. but i found a few things that makes webbrowser control maybe not the best way to go in my opinion :-)
1) Takes more resources
2) Looks a bit clumsy - and i guess it won't even display images if the feature is turned off in IE ?
3) Slow
the idea was not to show banners directly from the homepage - but to show the local included banner files .. maybe in a picture control ? .. and then download/add new banners, if new ones are available on the webpage
this way i rule out the nessesity to be on internet
the download of new banners should be "hidden" from the end user
i dont have much actual code right now, sorry ... just getting to know this awsome program :-) keeps me up at night ;)
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:18 pm
by Codex
You can make a text file, and add a direct link to a banner on each new line, and then you can use a timer to loop through them, each 2 minutes, display the next banner from next new line, using picturebox1.imagelocation = link
I can make a fast example for you.
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 1:11 pm
by NewGuy
ahhh ok .... yeah ... a text file .. cool idea
thank you ... i would love to see a example of that ... seems like a easy way to go for a novice like me
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:21 pm
by Zulf
Download text file.
Read url.
Go to url.
Download banner.
Show banner.
You can also use this for auto-updating:
Download text file.
Read file version.
Check if file version is greater than app version.
If result is yes:
Download new files (exe, dll, images, etc..)
If result is no:
Ignore.
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:19 pm
by MrAksel
I'll make a DLL for you check back on this post later, I'll edit and post the attachment .
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:22 pm
by Axel
Why don't you just make functions instead of dlls or whatever? Much easier to use and much more "pro" if you will
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:41 pm
by NewGuy
Axel wrote:Why don't you just make functions instead of dlls or whatever? Much easier to use and much more "pro" if you will
i am open for suggestions .. i have no pref ... could you maybe be so kind as to give a example of this ?
thank you !
Re: idea for a app. banner rotator w/ automatic Internet updates
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:43 pm
by mandai
You could use this:
Code: Select all Dim imageList As String()
Sub refreshBanners()
Dim wc As WebClient = New WebClient()
Dim banners As List(Of Image) = New List(Of Image)
For i As Integer = 0 To imageList.Length - 1 'downloads and stores the images in memory
Dim imagebytes As Byte()
Try
imagebytes = wc.DownloadData(imageList(i))
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox("Error downloading banner " & imageList(i) & ": " & ex.Message)
Continue For
End Try
Dim ms As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream(imagebytes)
Dim img As Image
Try
img = Image.FromStream(ms)
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox("Error getting image from " & imageList(i))
Continue For
Finally
ms.Close()
End Try
picBanner.Image = img
banners.Add(img)
Thread.Sleep(10000) 'starting delay per banner
Next
If banners.Count = 0 Then Return
While True 'loops through downloaded images
For i As Integer = 0 To banners.Count - 1
picBanner.Image = banners(i)
Thread.Sleep(10000) 'delay per banner
Next
End While
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim wc As WebClient = New WebClient()
imageList = wc.DownloadString("http://localhost/banners.txt").Split(vbCr)
For i As Integer = 0 To imageList.Length - 1
imageList(i) = imageList(i).Replace(vbLf, "")
Next
Dim t As Thread = New Thread(AddressOf refreshBanners)
t.IsBackground = True
t.Start()
End Sub
Where banners.txt could be something like this:
Code: Select allhttp://localhost/banners/banner1.png
http://localhost/banners/banner2.png