Helper script

[-Tj-]

I don't know if there is a paper troubleshooting guide in the manual or anything, but most electronics I buy have a troubleshooting chart at the back. Stuff like:


- the unit does not turn on -


....- charge the battery


....- reseat the battery


....- (insert other possibility)


- pnd does not run -


....- download may be corrupt. try re-download


....- sd card not seated properly; remove and reinsert sd card


and so on. Usually these cover most of the common potentially user-caused problems, or if not it gives an address for online help or a phone number.


While an online guide may help, or even one like the help guides that come with Windows, clueless users will never check a paper manual or online help (I know two people like this... my parents...).


Sometimes RTFM is the best advice.

 

[Alec]

Hello,


To get something to concrete to work with I went ahead a wrote a python script. You can see it in action here: http://alec.mooo.com/ts


It reads small text data-files, one for each question.


It then can generate a page either dynamically (index.py) or create static pages for distribution ("./tsutil.py html"). It should be possible to easily make a local user interface, but I don't know PyQt/pyGTK.


It can also check for errors such as loops and missing files ("./tsutil.py verify")


The data files look like this:

[Question]

Q: Here's a question.

   If it has multiple lines, they should be indented.

   Links are done like in Wikipedia: [http://example.com like this] or like this: [http://example.com]


[Options]

next-page.txt = That works

too-bad.txt = I don't like it

You can download the glorious 142 lines of code here.


So, now that we have something, we can discuss what else might be needed, and what questions should be asked

 

[Alec]

URL Blocked


The URL that you are attempting to access is a potential security risk. Trend Micro OfficeScan has blocked this URL in keeping with network security policy.


URL: http://alec.mooo.com/ts


Risk Level: Dangerous


Details: Verified fraud page or threat source

I was so gonna scam you with that trouble shooter demo!!! Hahaha!


*Sigh* I should really buy my own domain sometime...


If you can't access that page, you can download the code and pre-generated html pages here: http://stalker.openpandora.org/ts.zip