[VB6] Problem With Ban Command

[Dyndrilliac]

Lately to kill time I've been rewriting parts of my bot's code. I got to the commands today and decide to finally implement wildcard support.

Here's what I have:

Code Select Expand

Case "ban"
 If HaveOps = False Then
     AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: I am not currently an operator."
     GoTo Ending
 End If
 Dim Name As String
 Name = Split(Text(1), " ")(0)
 Do Until Left$(Name, 1) <> " "
     Name = Mid$(Name, 2)
 Loop
 If Name = vbNullString Then
     AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: Invalid Username!"
     GoTo Ending
 End If
     Splt() = Split(Text(1), " ", 2)
     Dim sBanMessage As String
     sBanMessage = Splt(1)
     If InStr(Name, "*") <> 0 Then
       Dim x As Integer
       x = 1
       For x
           If Match(frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x), Name) = True Then
             If GetList(Access(), frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x)) = True Then
                 AddQ "/w " & UserName & "Error: That user is in the database."
             Else
                 AddQ "/ban " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x) & " " & sBanMessage
                 If bIPBan = True Then
                   AddQ "/ignore " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x)
                 End If
             End If
           End If
       Next x

It errors when it gets to the beginning of the For ... Loop I'm pretty sure most of it is correct, I'm also pretty sure I'm checking in the wrong place for the full username to compare the wildcard to.

Any help would be appreciated.

[warz]

Might want to go ahead and insert a "exit function" at the end of that first if statement so it doesnt do all that work for no reason. you might also want to look into the like operator.

Code Select Expand


wildcard = (name Like searchstring)


returns a bool value

[tA-Kane]

I have decided to write a document (in my spare time) on how to write a custom wildcard matching function, similar to my parsing a BNI file document.

Hopefully I'll have it done in a week or two. If this thread isn't still on the first page of these forums when the document is finished, I'll create a new thread.

[Dyndrilliac]

The matching function to compare the 2 strings works, and everything there works except the place where im looking for the string to compare the wildcard to and the for loop... However, I look forward to reading it nonetheless.

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Public Function Match(ByVal uName As String, ByVal Check As String) As Boolean
   Call PrepareCheck(Check)
   If uName = Empty Then
       Match = False
       Exit Function
   End If
   If LCase$(uName) Like LCase$(Check) Then Match = True
End Function

Public Sub PrepareCheck(ByRef Check As String)
   Check = Replace(Check, "[", "§")
   Check = Replace(Check, "]", "¨")
   Check = Replace(Check, "§", "[[]")
   Check = Replace(Check, "¨", "[]]")
   Check = Replace(Check, "#", "[#]")
   Check = Replace(Check, "-", "[-]")
End Sub

Warz, that doesn't help me at all. I already have the actual checking mechanism. See above.

[Fire]

Rather then doing For x, I would do something like For x = 0 to ChannelList.ListCount - 1.  When you find the name, add a statement such as Exit Function or goto ending in your case.
Hope that helps

[Gangz]

Here is an example of how the like operator could work for you.

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       argSplit = Split(message)
       If UCase(argSplit(0)) = Form1.varTrigger & "BAN" Then
           templen = Len(argSplit(0) & argSplit(1)) + 1: If templen <> Len(message) Then temp = Mid(message, templen + 1)
           If InStr(argSplit(1), "*") Then
               For X = 0 To Form1.ul.ListCount - 1
                   If UCase(Form1.ul.List(X)) Like UCase(argSplit(1)) Then Form1.cboQueue.AddItem "/ban " & Form1.ul.List(X) & temp
               Next X
               Else: Form1.cboQueue.AddItem "/ban " & argSplit(1) & temp
           End If
       End If


its a little messy but you should be able to understand it.

Edit: After more throughly reading the above posts. Having the match function is just adding more trouble for yourself. Doing it by the method above, is less coding then what you have just on the ban command, not including the function too. Its easier to find problems if you dont relay it to so many different parts.

[Fire]

Most likely he uses this method and style of coding throughout his program.  It is in his best interest to simply add a For x = 0 to ChannelList.ListCount -1 check, and Exiting/Goto the end of a function.

Such as:

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Dim x As Integer
       For x = 0 to frmMain.ChannelList.ListCount - 1
           If Match(frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x), Name) = True Then
             If GetList(Access(), frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x)) = True Then
                 AddQ "/w " & UserName & "Error: That user is in the database."
             Else
                 AddQ "/ban " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x) & " " & sBanMessage
                 If bIPBan = True Then
                   AddQ "/ignore " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(x)
                 End If
             End If
           End If
       Next x



Code Select Expand

If InStr(argSplit(1), "*") Then

I would recommend against this type of check, there is no contraint on the position of the wildcard operator/amount of * there are.
Example: $ban **abc*

I would simply do a compare using the Mid(argSplit(1), 6,1), assuming your command
is as follows:
Example: $ban *abc

[tA-Kane]

I have decided to write a document (in my spare time) on how to write a custom wildcard matching function, similar to my parsing a BNI file document.

Hopefully I'll have it done in a week or two. If this thread isn't still on the first page of these forums when the document is finished, I'll create a new thread.

I suddenly got extremely lazy and unmotivated when I found some bugs in the code that I was going to base my document off off (code of mine that's just under a year old).

So, against my better judgement, I'm just going to paste my wildcardcompare() function instead. It's not like it's hard work, anyways...

Code Select Expand

Function WildcardCompare(WildcardStr As String, CompareStr As String) As Function
 Dim WildLoc, CompareLoc, NextCompare As Integer
 Dim CurrentWild, NextWild, CurrentCompare As String
 Dim WasMassWild As Boolean
 Dim Count As Integer
 
 'Please, if you MODIFY this code, do send me the changes you make (even to an
 'email at [email protected]), and the reason. Feel free to USE the code as
 'you wish.
 
 WildLoc = 1
 CompareLoc = 1
 Do
   Again:
   CurrentWild = Mid(WildcardStr,WildLoc,1)
   CurrentCompare = Mid(CompareStr,CompareLoc,1)
   Select Case CurrentWild
   Case "*"
     FoundWild:
     NextWild = Mid(WildcardStr,WildLoc+1,1)
     If NextWild = "" Then
       'last char is a masswild, all chars before match; so must match.
       Return True
     ElseIf NextWild = "*" Then
       WildLoc = WildLoc+1
       GoTo Again
     ElseIf NextWild = "?" Then
       WasMassWild = True  'For the case of recovering from "*?"
       WildLoc = WildLoc+1
       'CompareLoc = CompareLoc+1
       GoTo Again
     End If
     NextCompare = InStr(CompareLoc,CompareStr,NextWild)
     CurrentCompare = Mid(CompareStr,NextCompare,1)
     If NextWild <> CurrentCompare Then
       Return False
     Else
       WildLoc = WildLoc+2
       CompareLoc = NextCompare+1
     End If
   Case "?"
     If CurrentCompare = "" And WasMassWild = False Then
       Return False
     ElseIf CurrentCompare = "" And WasMassWild = True And Mid(WildcardStr,WildLoc+1,1) = "" Then
       Return True
     Else
       WildLoc = WildLoc+1
       CompareLoc = CompareLoc+1
       NextWild = Mid(WildcardStr,WildLoc,1)
       If WasMassWild = True And NextWild <> "*" And NextWild <> "?" Then
         WasMassWild = False
       End If
     End If
   Case ""
     If CurrentCompare = "" Or WasMassWild = True Then
       Return True
     Else
       'end of wild string, compare string has more; DOESNT MATCH
       Return False
     End If
   Else
     If WasMassWild = True Then
       GoTo FoundWild
     End If
     If CurrentWild <> CurrentCompare Then
       Return False
     Else
       WildLoc = WildLoc+1
       CompareLoc = CompareLoc+1
     End If
   End Select
   Count = Count + 1
   If Count > 255 Then
     Beep
     MsgBox "Infinite loop"
     Return False
   End If
 Loop
End Function

WildcardStr is the string with the wildcard, and CompareStr is the string to compare it against.

If it returns false, then CompareStr doesn't match WildcardStr, and the contrary for true.

A neat thing with this is that you can have a wildcard with a minimum number of characters by using "(? times minimum characters)+*" ... so for "?*", you would have a wildcard with a minimum number of 4 characters... anything less than that won't match.

Additionally, you can have a maximum number of characters, as well. Simply move the asterisk to the front of the question marks, instead of having it after them.

Even more, you could specify both a minimum and a maximum by using "?*?" (whereas the minimum would be the number of quetsion marks in the left set of question marks, and the maximum would be the minimum + the number of question marks in the right set of question marks).

One of the bigger bugs is in specifying both a min and a max... if you have a string both before and after (so, for example, "asdf?*?adsf"), it always uses the maximum instead of having a minimum as well.

I'm sure it'd be an easy fix (hey, the code's very simple), but I'm just too lazy. Maybe if I had a reason to update this?

FYI, this function specifies a maximum length of 255 characters. You can easily remove that by removing the Count variable, and then removing the bottom-most 6 lines of code within the loop (so, everything between End Select and Loop).

Have fun.

Please, if you MODIFY this code, do send me the changes you make (even to an email at [email protected]), and the reason. Feel free to USE the code as you wish.

[Grok]

Dyndrilliac, if your bot is not an operator, and someone tells it to ban, it looks like it immediately does an AddQ "/w " & UserName & " I am not currently an operator."  Bad idea.  Check security before deciding to respond.  Don't let unauthorized people make your bot do much of anything.

[Dyndrilliac]

Dyndrilliac, if your bot is not an operator, and someone tells it to ban, it looks like it immediately does an AddQ "/w " & UserName & " I am not currently an operator."  Bad idea.  Check security before deciding to respond.  Don't let unauthorized people make your bot do much of anything.

I just posted the section of code that has to do with the code for the ban command, it doesnt do any thing anyone tells it to unless they are on the user list - then it chacks for trigger, number of commands being issued, the names of commands, and then splits everything after that into an array.

I just need to get this command to work...

Which it still doesn't.

This is what I have:

Code Select Expand

Case "ban"
               If HaveOps = False Then
                   AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: I am not currently an operator."
                   GoTo ErrCommand
               Else
                   Dim sName As String
                   sName = Split(Text(1), " ")(0)
                   Do Until Left$(sName, 1) <> " "
                       sName = Mid$(sName, 2)
                   Loop
                   If sName = vbNullString Then
                       AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: Invalid Username!"
                       GoTo ErrCommand
                   End If
                   Splt() = Split(Text(1), " ", 2)
                   Dim sBanMessage As String
                   sBanMessage = Splt(1)
                   '// * Wildcard support = not finished.
                   If InStr(sName, "*") <> 0 Then
                       Dim g As Integer
                       '// Error on For...Loop
                       For g = 0 To frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Count - 1
                           If Match(frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g), sName) = True Then
                               If GetList(Access(), frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g)) = True Then
                               Else
                                   AddQ "/ban " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g) & " " & sBanMessage
                                   If bIPBan = True Then
                                       AddQ "/ignore " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g)
                                   End If
                               End If
                           End If
                       Next g

[tA-Kane]

I just need to get this command to work...

Which it still doesn't.

Debugging! Examples of problematic usage!

Code Select Expand

Case "ban"
               If HaveOps = False Then
                   AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: I am not currently an operator."
                   GoTo ErrCommand
               Else
                   Dim sName As String
                   sName = Split(Text(1), " ")(0)
                   Do Until Left$(sName, 1) <> " "
                       sName = Mid$(sName, 2)
                   Loop
                   If sName = vbNullString Then
                       AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Error: Invalid Username!"
                       GoTo ErrCommand
                   End If
                   Splt() = Split(Text(1), " ", 2)
                   Dim sBanMessage As String
                   sBanMessage = Splt(1)
                   '// * Wildcard support = not finished.
                   If InStr(sName, "*") <> 0 Then
                       Dim g As Integer
                       '// Error on For...Loop
                       For g = 0 To frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Count - 1
                           If Match(frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g), sName) = True Then
                               If GetList(Access(), frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g)) = True Then
                               Else
                                   AddQ "/ban " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g) & " " & sBanMessage
                                   If bIPBan = True Then
                                       AddQ "/ignore " & frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g)
                                   End If
                               End If
                           End If
                       Next g

The first thing that comes to my mind is

Code Select Expand

If Match(frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g), sName) = True ThenCheck to make sure you're passing the correct paramters to Match(). I'm not familiar with with Match(), but I wrote *my* WildcardCompare() to have the wildcard string (in this case, sName) passed first.

Next up, I saw

Code Select Expand

If GetList(Access(), frmMain.ChannelList.ListItems.Item(g)) = True Then
ElseDoes GetList() return true if the user is allowed to use !ban, or return true if the user is not allowed? If it returns true if the user IS allowed, then there's your problem.

Also, you should check if the user is allowed long before you do any major processing... like, I would check if the user is allowed before I even check to see if you have ops, that way it doesn't even send the "I don't have ops" reply to the user if they're not allowed to use !ban.

Lastly, I saw this comment:

Code Select Expand

'// * Wildcard support = not finished.

You should try to finish your supporting functions before you write the functions that use the supporting functions. In this case, Match() (I assume) would be your supporting function that would need to be finished.

If your support functions are incomplete, it could return unexpected results.

[Dyndrilliac]

All the actual functions are complete, I just added that in there to remind myself I haven't fixed the ban/kick commands.

Here's GetList():

Code Select Expand

Function GetList(List() As String, Compare As String) As Boolean
   On Error GoTo ExitHandle
   
   Dim i As Integer
   i = 0

   Do Until List(i) = vbNullString
       If LCase(Compare) = LCase(List(i)) Then
           GetList = True
           Exit Function
       Else
           i = i + 1
       End If
   Loop
   
   GetList = False
   Exit Function
ExitHandle:
   GetList = False
End Function

Also, you should check if the user is allowed long before you do any major processing... like, I would check if the user is allowed before I even check to see if you have ops, that way it doesn't even send the "I don't have ops" reply to the user if they're not allowed to use !ban.

Did you even read my post?

I just posted the section of code that has to do with the code for the ban command, it doesnt do any thing anyone tells it to unless they are on the user list - then it chacks for trigger, number of commands being issued, the names of commands, and then splits everything after that into an array.

I check for that already -.-....

Code Select Expand

If GetList(Access(), LCase(UserName)) = True Then
       If Message = "?trigger" Then
           AddQ "/w " & UserName & " Trigger is: " & varTrigger & " (ALT + 00" & Asc(varTrigger) & ")"
       Else
           CommandRecognition tmp, Message
       End If
   End If

The ban command, as with all my other commands, are in the CommandRecognition Sub. I just chose to post only the RELEVANT pieces of code...

And I already posted my Match function.

[tA-Kane]

I blame the Like operator.