Gixen Desktop Manager

[mario]

A simple Gixen Desktop management tool is now available for Windows at:

http://www.gixen.com/gdm/GixenDesktopManager.zip

Couple of notes:

1) Gixen Desktop Manager is free.
2) Gixen Desktop Manager runs on Windows only. I tested it on Windows XP only, but expect it to work on Vista & 7. If you use Vista or Windows 7, please let me know if it works on your system.
3) This is an alpha version, hence you can expect serious bugs, and it's functionality is quite basic.
4) It's using Gixen API, hence the communication is completely secure (SSL).
5) It's available to mirror subscribers only.
6) One real advantage of Gixen Desktop Manager over web interface is that item price updates are done every 5 seconds, as it doesn't require Gixen servers to do that.
7) Doing operations (adding, deleting) is still relatively slow.
There is nothing unsafe in the software, I made it and compiled it myself.

Please try it and post the feedback here.

[Cupid]

I've got it running on Vista, no issues at all so far... looks really good.

I'll let you know how it goes in the next few days.
_________________
Mark

[mario]

Thank you Mark.

[cpcnw]

Just testing here in UK and all looks good apart from ;

"Refreshing Current Price...." never completes and Current Price Field remains empty.

Also, there is an odd ascii char just to the right of the year [2010] in the end time field!

[Cupid]

[Canadianweasel]

No issues with mine so far. Added a snipe and it seems good, available in my web interface.

Though my first reaction was. "Gixen Desktop Manageer. OK, but what is it, what does it do?". It's function shouldn't be in doubt, but the description was rather cryptic.

Manager your snipes with Gixen desktop client.

[camerasforeyes]

No issues so far on windows 7 x64..

Thanks again Mario!

[mario]

[at0micandy]

running it on Windows 7 in UK - seems aok so far, will run it and if i get any funnies, i will post as much info as i can.

keep up the excellent service

cheers

andy

[Joe]

Nice! Working fine on my Windows 7, 32x. Created a shortcut and pinned it to the taskbar so it is always available! Great that is not an installed program and just runs from the .exe. Request/suggestion: How about a 'gadget'? (Somebody always wants something different !) Thanks for all of the great features that come with a very affordable upgrade to the mirror service!

Joe

[mario]

Thank you Joe.

What do you mean by "gadget"?

[unheardofinstruments]

downloaded and unzipped
clicked on the image and got this message;
Error reading image1->Picture.Data:Access violation at address 0049E8F in module `GixenDesktopManager.exe', Read of address 00000000.

[Guest]

I'm not sure substituting each letter for the one before in the alphabet is a good encryption for the data in the ini file...

[mario]

[Cupid]

[nochkin]

[mario]

[Joe]

[mario]

Thank you Joe... The truth is - I have no idea how to make a gadget. I may learn later on though - the truth is that a few months ago I had no idea I would be able to make a Windows application at all. So there is hope.

[tigting]

I just installed Gixen desktop manager and each time I start the manager, I get the error "Could not get price: error code 358" for item 150418822310, the last scheduled snipe (at the moment). Each time the prices are refreshed, I get this error in a pop-up window.

[mario]

[mario]

[mario]

Version 1.0.2 has been released now:

A few changes since version 1.0.0:

1) Fixed a few bugs and increased reliability of prices being fetched (see the problem above).
2) Added offset fields (main & mirror) to the interface
3) Double click on the item in a grid will now start a browser and display the listing clicked on.

[mario]

Version 1.0.3 has been released now:

A few changes since version 1.0.2:

1) End time is now shown as "time remaining", and updated continuously. Note that your desktop system time has to be accurate in order for this field to be accurate. Most newer Windows desktops use a time server to synchronize time, so this should not be a big issue.
2) Added offset (main/mirror) in the grid, forgot to do this previously.

[camerasforeyes]

Using version 1.0.2 on windows 7 x64

Working good so far, however the new offset column only displays both main and mirror offset for the first snipe listed.

The snipes below only have the main offset listed.

Not sure if this is on purpose?

How hard is right click to edit functionality? I imagine its pretty tough..

Once again thanks for a fantastic service!

Viva La Gixen!

[camerasforeyes]

Sorry meant to say using 1.0.3

[mario]

[tigting]

Awesome work, Mario. The Gixen Desktop Manager is first rate! No problems at all.

A truly functional enhancement would be to add snipe editing capability to the desktop manager, perhaps through an "edit selected" button (or similar). I don't know how easily this might be implemented, but it sure would be handy.

[camerasforeyes]

They are grouped but the first one is not.. Attached a screen print so you can see it clearly.

//i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/elvisthechicken/gixen.jpg

[Cupid]

[mario]

Gixen Desktop Manager version 1.0.4 is now released (same download link).

Among other small improvements, price refresh time is now reduced to 2 seconds (from 5), and "Edit" function is added.

Mario.

[vinnychase1]

i downloaded the desktop manager
and i have windows 7
its gave me a error code
API (error code)
does not work
i tried it 3 times

[mario]

[Guest]

[juangrande]

Please note #5 in the original post:

[tigting]

Another first-rate job, Mario. Every feature in the desktop manager is so very excellent-- well conceived and implemented.

A tiny tweak remains-- The column heading for end of auction countdown should be changed to "Time Left" or "Time to End".

The last feature to incorporate would be to add the comment field to the grid and to the edit box. If that were done, I would not use any other interface to view and edit snipes.

Gixen & Mario rock!!

[Bron]

Tested on my Vista machine and seems to work fine. Notice comments don't show, though.

May I suggest allowing the price refresh cycle to be a user controlled setting? I find the constant refreshes a bit annoying. With Gixen, I don't really feel the need for such constant updates. I'd be happy with every 30 seconds or even longer. But everyone will have their own prefrecnes, so a user setting might be the best solution.

Nice work. Another reason to love Gixen.

Thanks, Mario!

[mario]

tighting, Bron, acknowledged. Expect to see in 1.0.5 (I estimate mid next week, but make no promises):

1) Comments
2) Setting for refresh time, possibly more settings
3) "Time To End" - forgot to change the name of this.

[redsniper]

Nice Interface Mario - downloaded & installed Version 1 which refused to
refresh "High Bid" column beyond the first entry. Have just installed Version
1.0.4 & it too will not fill the "High Bid" column beyond the first entry either.
Even though the action line on the bottom left of the main panel is telling me
that it is "Refreshing price for item xxxxxxxxxxxx..." it never gets there.
Even switched my firewall off in case it was interfering, no luck.

Hope this sheds some light on the issue...

Cheers Geoff

[Cupid]

[redsniper]

G'Day Mark... I'm running Xp

[anatolcom]

Hello! I receive Socket Error # 10060
Connection timed out? What mean this
PS: I have a broadband internet connection! Thanks! Help me please as i really need it.

[mario]

[mario]

[mario]

Gixen Desktop Manager 1.0.5 is released. The comments are not implemented yet, as this was an emergency release to address time() Windows bug that happens in some timezones.

What is new:

1) The current time is now fetched from Gixen servers. If found that the difference between time on your desktop is less than 2 seconds compared to the fetched time, your desktop local time is used. This is because an assumption is made that if the difference is so small, you probably use NTP, and the small discrepancy is caused by network latency.

2) Price refresh interval is now configurable (though not saved when you exit the application).

3) Minor thing, but in the past irritating to many: "End Time" finally changed to "Time To End" in the grid.

[asab36y]

Hello Mario,

under XP SP3, even after deleted an item that I was outbid on, an empty line remains, with the High Bid and Time to End cells filled with previous data.

after adding some items to Gixen through the web, this 'empty' lines gets replaced with the first current item.

[mario]

[Helmuts]

Hello, friend!
Thank you for your work!
But I sent it to virustotal.com and Symantec reported - Suspicious.Insight
Could you please check it out?
Thank you

[Cupid]

[Helmuts]

Thank you for fast reply. I hope, that is as you told.
But I'd like to suggest 2 improvements
1. Is it possible to set it up like IExplorer or Firefox, when you add price, it remembers that, and you can choose one from previous
2. Possibility to change group for multiple items? Usable, when one of item has been won and others after that cancelled, but you want continue bidding (to avoid edit one by one, which is slow)
By the way, I run Vista, and it works

[Helmuts]

That could be some check box to Edit, Change group or Delete selected.
And one more thing - like Offset drop down menu saves value for next item the same, Group drop down menu also could keep the same value untill I change it manually

[Cupid]

The next feature on my wish list would be some highlighting of items where my maximum is less than the current auction price, as in the web interface.
_________________
Mark

[mario]

Helmuts, it's true that GDM communicates via SSL, and I wouldn't be surprised if Symantec flagged everything it can't understand as "suspicious".

There is nothing in the code that should cause concern, even though I was worried that Google might drop Gixen's pagerank when it finds an executable inside of a zip archive. Fortunately that hasn't happened.

As for your suggestions, I decided for now to reset the settings - it seems less likely that some users will make mistakes that way.

Mark - just released version 1.0.6, with highlighting! It looked like you were reading my mind when I saw that message.

[mario]

Version 1.0.6 is now released. What's new:

1) Highlighting of items that have max bid less than the current high bid.
2) Comments are in now, shown as "hints" when you click on an item in the grid. I am aware this is not a perfect solution, but it's a start. Note that you must have comments enabled through your web interface (settings page) in order to see them, and be able to add them, in GDM.
3) A few minor bugs fixed.

[anatolcom]

Hello! I receive Socket Error # 10060
Connection timed out? What mean this
PS: I have a broadband internet connection! Thanks! Help me please as i really need it.

I have the same issue with v.1.04 05 and 06...none of them worked on me(windows 7 x64)

[Cupid]

[mario]

[nochkin]

Just a wild guess to check if you are not blocking the software in your firewall.

[redsniper]

Mario - I've carried out all your suggestions re my high bid update problem without result until a short while age when i deleted a finished item from the web-based interface (can't use GDI as the action panels are greyed out while the software tries to update the high bid column) then the high bids began to arrive till it reached item 230445423872. It stuck here again trying to refresh the item. Removing the item saw it stick on the next... 330411234442. Removing both items restored the interface to working order but adding them caused the fault to return.

Any ideas?

Regards
Geoff

[Cupid]

[anatolcom]

[anatolcom]

[anatolcom]

i removed all the files and downloaded again the application. now opened it wrote my username and passoword...and it stops on: "Connecting to Gixen" nothing happens anymore. where is the problem? i tried also to a public wifi network and i have the same problem.

[mario]

[mario]

[mario]

Geoff, 1.0.7 is released to address this issue and couple of other bugs.

Just re-download it using the link at the top of the thread.

[Cupid]

[Henk]

Hi,

it looks like that the tool doesn't work with german Ebay Accounts.

I'm not able to add german auctions

[mario]

[mario]

[mario]

Gixen Desktop Manager 1.0.8 is now released, and it contains a fix for the issues in the previous two posts (German auctions & "grayed out" bug).

Please let me know if you notice any issues.

[redsniper]

Thanks Mario - your'e last release has cured the problem - much appreciated! Thanks also to Cupid for your oversight - I value you're input & interest in Mario's project - it benefits us all.

Cheers Geoff

[Helmuts]

Hello again
Windows Vista 32bit
After closing program in Task manager Processes, GixenDesktopManager.exe is still alive.
That happens mostly.

[Helmuts]

And still...
I hope you will think about some checkbox to select multiple items to manage them (delete or change group for cancelled or even change price at one click )
Also currencies tab could be very usable (because I bid the same item from different sellers with different currencies USD, AUD or GBP on the same time)
Any way, thank you for your work, and keep go on!!!

[mario]

[Bron]

At first, I did not think I would have much use for this. I'm pretty happy with the browser interface (and still prefer it overall). But I am finding the Desktop Manager to be pretty useful, especially to do quick checks or updates.

One suggestion would be to have the item number as an active link that will open up the auction in your default browser. Oh, and making the settings permanent between sessions.

Thanks, Mario!

[Bron]

[ray]

Hi,
Downloaded this all ok, but error message non subscriber cant get snips,
I am from GB.

[mario]

[mario]

[Bron]

[redsniper]

I spoke too soon Mario - my high bid update problem with GDM has returned with this item...290415029385 Can you check it out please when you get a minute (or an hour?)

[redsniper]

The item in my last post has ended but these 2 are giving trouble too...360243955287 & 130375981967

[mario]

[mario]

[redsniper]

I think it might be sorted Mario...

My target sites were both set to Australia - changing that to USA, deleting
& restoring all snipes made no difference with version 1.0.6. But a complete delete of my current version & re-install of version 1.0.8 resulted in an immediate success!!!

See how it goes from here.......

Cheers...geoff

[gezz]

Hi Mario,
Have you any plans to make this tool available for Mac users?

[mario]

[Drew]

Hello, second year with the Gixen subscription! Thanks for a great product.

Just downloaded the GDM. Version 1.0.8. When I enter my username and password, the application states that it is "Fetching snipes from Gixen main..." then returns with an error message box:

"Could not get item list, API returned: <html><body>ERROR (101): COULD NOT LOG IN"

I've tried repeatedly. Even moved the app folder from my desktop, to the root of C:, to Program Files.

I'm running WinXP SP3

Admittedly, I do have a period (".") in my eBay username. Could that be the issue?

[mario]

[Drew]

[Cupid]

[Drew]

[yakster]

Mario,

Thanks, works great on XP.

[mustash]

Hello Folks
Running XP SP2
Avast Pro AV and Malwarebytes Pro (Got no Warnings)

SP3 will not install on my box. AMD Processors seem to have an issue with this. I tried the MS work around with no joy at all.

GDM was downloaded and successfully installed (or so window says)
It works fine for that session and then goes away.

I saw nothing in Program Files or IE plugins that was identifiable as GDM.

Any sage advice?

[mustash]

I'd love to be able to sort columns especially by Groups.

Thanks Mario.

Mustash

[Cupid]

[Mustash]

[OnlyMe]

Hi,
Nice program, but a couple of constructive comments if I may (Sorry I'm a programmer so a fussy bugger!). I think you wrote this in Delphi, so I'll use Delphi phrasing.

The top panel (although I don't think it is a panel above the list, it's just a gap) needs to have a fixed size and the bottom item list needs to be the one that gets resized to fix the screen. At the moment they are the other way round, so if you maximise or just resize and make the program taller you get a huge top panel of no use, and an auction list no bigger than before. I think all you need to do is anchor the top of the list. You'd probably want to set a minimum height/width on it too to prevent it being squashed.

The logon box needs to be displayed in modal so the main app form doesn't interact with you when you're not logged on. Also would be nice if it appeared centred on the main app screen (owner centred).

Sorry to sound like a fuss pot, the program works really well, I'm just a perfectionist, and they're only really minor things to tweak. For someone who is new to windows programming, you've done well.

[Drew]

Mario,

I downloaded the 1.0.9. I launch and enter my username and password and receive the error:

Error: Could not get item list, API returned: <html><body>

I click "OK" and I just have a blank GDM window. I currently have a snipe scheduled, so it should be pulling something. If I try and add an item, I receive the same error message.

What's interesting is that when I exit and re-launch the GDM, after entering my username and password I get the previous error message:

Error: Cold not get item list, API returned: ERROR (101): COULD NOT LOG IN

If I click OK, I just have a blank GDM window. If I go to "Settings:" and "Username and Password" and try to log in again, I get the ERROR (101) again. I repeatedly get that error now.

Just wanted to keep you posted.

Drew

[mario]

Drew, what is your ebay username? I don't see any bids under the username you previously used. Post here or email me.

[Drew]

[lomdel]

I get error message saying " Could not load SSL Library" I use WinXP 64-bit.

[Cupid]

[mario]

Unfortunately I don't have a 64-bit Windows to test this on, but I suspect this might be causing problems. Any other users using GDM on 64-bit Windows?

[Cupid]

[A Friend]

Just a few enhancement requests / ideas.

1) Could you add a column for the seller's name?

2) Would it be possible to add a link that would go to the item (open the user's default web browser?)

3) In order to speed up performance, and lighten the load on the Gixen servers, it might be good to put the ability to limit the number of snipes displayed at one time. This way, when a user is refreshing the list, they are only loading just a few snipes, rather than 100 or more at a time. I am a heavy user of the site, and when I have more than 70 or so snipes queued up, it REALLY takes a long time for any of the provided interfaces to reload. For that reason, I had created my own interface to quickly add snipes, but I still don't have a way to quickly delete snipes.

4) Would it be possible to delete multiple snipes at the same time? For example, a way to select multiple auctions at once (by check boxes or highlighting the rows), and then to press the delete button once? This would work great for this new desktop interface, as well as the web interface.

Other than these minor issues (most of which are probably just issues for high volue snipers), the new desktop interface is great. It seems to load faster than the web interface, and I like how the aution end times are updated in real time. You did a great job creating this tool! Thank you!

[mario]

[A Friend]

[mario]

Thank you for the suggestion, that does sound interesting. Never used AJAX before, will look into it.

[Cupid]

If I remember correctly, AJAX allows you to push more of the processing back into the browser... So for instance you might be able to put the eBay price lookup code in there and forget entirely about the Gixen server looking up the prices.
_________________
Mark

[mario]

[A Friend]

With AJAX, you still do all of the work on the server, but you only reload small pieces of the page when someone takes an action. For example, if someone wanted to modify an exisiting snipe, you could make it so that only the one row on the list of snipes became editable. Then, the user would modify the snipe, and then only that row would reload (not the entire page). This would greatly reduce the amount of time it would take to modify (or delete) a snipe, and would greatly reduce the amount of work the gixen server and database has to do since the user would only be reloading one row of a page, and not the entire page of snipes. If someone has 100 or more snipes at a given time with the existing web UI, there is quite a bit of processing the Gixen servers have to do every time someone adds/modifies/deletes a single snipe since the current UI reloads EVERY snipe a person currently has in the queue. AJAX can GREATLY reduce the load on your servers, and it can greatly reduce the time it takes to make a small change to a webpage with lots of data on it.

If this was my site, I would make it a priority to update the web UI to use AJAX since it would save me a LOT of processing time and bandwidth (which would make my site seem MUCH faster, greatly reduce the possibility of database corruption, and save me a bunch of headaches)

Again ... that is, if it was my site ...

But ... since it isn't my site, and since I really like this site, I thought I'd share these ideas with you instead, and let you decide what is best

[Cupid]

One aspect that has always worried me slightly about Ajax is that it does rely more heavily on the browser technology and that it stays in line amongst them all.

Gixen must be able to cater to all the various browsers, and sometimes they do inevitably get out of line. It might place a higher burdon on Mario both in investing in more hardware and software in order to test the various permutations, and the extra time involved in that testing.

That said, I think this aspect has improved in the past few years and I think Ajax was developed with the aim of supporting many different browsers with a single code base, it taking care of the differences between them.

I agree that you can make decisions about just how much processing is transfered to the front end. However, even as a first step, leaving most of the processing at the back end still requires some redesign of the interface to the server side to cater for the differences in the requests that Ajax makes to it.
_________________
Mark

[nochkin]

[scootsah]

I am getting "Access Violation at address 0049A4AF in module 'GixenDesktopManager.exe'. Read of address 00000000." I am running XP SP2. GDM version 1.1.0. Any ideas?

[EVO]

my gixen is on the desk top ,when i open it ,it asks me for my ebay user and password so i put them in and it says at the bottom connecting to gixen and never goes any further ????????

any ideas please ?

[mario]

[not mirror subscriber]

Hey,
I'm not a mirror subscriber yet, as I don't use gixen very often, but I would like to.

Why not make the desktop application usable for non-subscribers during the alpha and beta stage?
This way more people can give feedback on what works and what doesn't, and once it's running wihtout bugs you can make it usable for only mirror users.
That would, if the program does what it claims, convince me to buy the mirror subscription.
Cheers[/b]

[mario]

[Cupid]

I think we should probably consider it to have passed beta testing now, shouldn't we?
_________________
Mark

[mario]

[scootsah]

Except for the crashing that I'm having on my PC, reported above ("Access Violation at address 0049A4AF in module 'GixenDesktopManager.exe'. Read of address 00000000."). No one else has experienced this? Anyone have any suggestions? I still can't run the DM!

[mohdmustafa]

[mario]

mohdmustafa, are you also running XP SP2?

scootsah, before trying anything else, I would update to SP3 (which is the latest I believe). It may or may not resolve the problem, but you should probably do it anyway.

I am running XP SP3 on my laptop, and have no such problem with GDM, so I suspect SP3 might resolve this.

[Guest]

Ok, sure. I've got SP2 on my laptop and using Windows 7 on my desktop, haven't tried it on the desktop yet.Cheers.

[Alex R.]

Hi
I recently googled for an ebay snipe program and came upon your site
I read most of the posts and well wanted to give it a try, and guess what
I tried logging in to ebay from GixenDesktopManager never worked - every time I had a failed login - Wrong password - message - but since I can log in directly into Ebay I thought there was something wrong. 5 min later I tried logging into my ebay (in the browser) and NOW I can't because my password was CHANGED - after a quick reaction and contacting ebay I managed to get control of my ebay account again, appearently my password was changed after I used it in your program. I hope this is an ISOLATED incident, but if it's not then your program is a serious threat to the privacy of Ebay users who opt to use your program.

Regards
Alex R.

[mario]

[Cupid]

I would also add that Gixen is secure in the way it receives your password from you, and secure in the way it is sent to eBay, so there is no way that a third party can detect your details either from using the site or the Desk Top Manager.
_________________
Mark

[3bmw25ise]

Hi, just downloaded GDM and extracted, when run from extracted location I get the following error:

socket error # 10060 connection timed out at startup

I can OK this and carry on but GDM never connectes to Gixen.

I am using Windows 7 Home Premium.

I am in Saudi Arabia and have a 512k adsl link. Unable to select Saudi Arabia in location settings, currently set to UK.

Have only just mirrored up so thought I would get GDM running....

any help appreciated.

btw, GDM is latest version downloaded today.

cheers.

[mario]

Try to open a command prompt and then type "telnet www.gixen.com 443". See what happens - whether you get connected or not and let me know.

[3bmw25ise]

[3bmw25ise]

just enabled telnet through add programs > etc

seems to log on to gixen, I have to ctrl c to exit

[3bmw25ise]

I have edited the desktop shortcut and have ticked the box to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 - runs correctly and connects and retrieves auction data.

Will consider this as the fix, though if you want further info for a future release please let me know.


Thanks!

[mario]

[3bmw25ise]

windows 7, 32 bit fully updated by windows update

[Guest]

Works straight away from Windows 7 64-bit from British location.

Thanks for that ;o)

Steve

[Jumbocruiser_UK]

I understand your concerns and I also had them at first but there is a whole community of very satisfied Gixen users here who can vouch for the legitimacy of the product.

It may be a coincidence that your eBay account had been tampered with when you tried out Gixen.

Steve

[Mr. Beck]

Version 1.1.x runs well and stable on Win XP SP2.
Nothing ominous to report... BUT

I really don't think we have a problem for your solution.

This is how I understand the gixen story ...
gixen allows us to snipe on eBay auctions.
these auctions are found in a browser.
classic gixen is loaded in a browser.
auction details are copied from eBay into gixen in a browser.
gixen is then closed so that we can go off and do something else.
end of story.

What I'm trying to say is that your DesktopManager doesn't solve any problems as far as I can see.
It also negates the whole gixen gain of not having to sit in front of an open auction which is updated in real-time by eBay.
What's the concept?
I don't get "it".

[mario]

Mr. Beck,

I agree that you can still live a full life without it, however... there are certain benefits some users appreciate:

1) No need for a browser - start-up is much faster.
2) Current price is displayed real-time. Not essential for sniping at all, but you would be surprised how important this is to many users.
3) In the versions to follow, there will be additional benefits, such as snipe history saved locally on users' computers.

GDM is not something you are forced to use; it's just an option.

Mario.

[Mr. Beck]

I see... your answer #2 makes me ask another question(s).

Could it be that loads of gixen users need to update their own views in their browsers so that they can see current prices?
In turn, does that mean that you're receiving loads of server hits/calls because users need to see real-time prices?
Further, would an increase in that type of behavior explain why gixen responds much slower than it did before? (I've noticed that when using gixen, its performance has suffered)

If all of these questions are answered positively, then it's obvious what you should do...
no! the answer is not alternative software with real-time prices
the answer is real-time prices in the classic gixen

[mario]

Mr. Beck, if you have a constructive idea how to implement real-time prices in classic Gixen without killing my servers, you're welcome to share it...

[Guest]

[Mr. Beck]

Mario,

I can't help you, I possess no programming abilities whatsoever.

I'm in the user interface dept.
And what I see is that you've identified a real problem to solve - the vast majority of customers wish real-time price updates. Hey! you can't ignore that. None-the-less, a second alternative application is not the way to go. Let's improve classic gixen

Maybe some questions might help cast some light on the issue, maybe even help you solve the problem...

do all snipes need to be permanently updated?
or only those which end within a certain time? (the next three days or the next 24 hours or the next hour or whatever)
or maybe the closer the end of the auction is, the more frequent the price refresh? (your server logs might help you understand user behaviour)

I can see some sensible default settings here as a good compromise.
And just maybe these default settings for the refreshing interval could be configurable. (this could be added later)

Comments?
What do you think?

[daniela]

I am not really sure what is the point in real-time update. If someone is at the computer and if they really must, it's very easy to open the ebay site and check there. If someone is not at the computer, real-time is useless anyway.
This is a general comment. I don't use the gixen desktop manager. But there is something I wish to point out: lots of requests not only kill the servers of gixen (this is a problem but of course, if people are willing to pay, it's trivial to solve) but - worse - look pretty bad when looked at from ebay's side, and their systems may decide there is some attack going on, DoS or the like, and... guess what?
My 2c
Daniela

[mario]

[Mr. Beck]

Mario,

A great point made by daniela - real-time updates are only required if users are logged-in.

This insight has helped identify that classic gixen has not only one but two problems to solve (correct me if you think I'm wrong).

1./ the number of server hits needs to be reduced (we're all suffering under the noticable lag)
and
2./ the vast majority of logged-in users need real-time price updates in gixen (it seems that real-time prices in eBay isn't enough)

There seems to be a third problem. But there's nothing we can do about it - a huge number of users don't understand the term "sniping" or what gixen does or what gixen is for or even how to use gixen.

The prototypical user scenario that's appearing to me is as follow:
a user opens classic gixen
then opens eBay
finds an auction
copies the auction-nr into gixen
closes eBay and its real-time price-update
then watches gixen and forces it to update its prices in real-time


I'd really like to know how close to real-life this scenario is.
Because if that is how the vast majority of users actually use gixen then that's scary.

[Guest]

if that is true and people are hitting F5 in Gixen to update there prices then they are fools.
they should stick to EBAy.

and there blocking the servers for everybody else.

[mario]

[Cupid]

Real time updates in classic Gixen were a nightmare for the majority of Gixen users and totally unnecessary to the sniping process.

My suggestion for anyone wishing to implement it would be to use a technology that is browser based. like javascript or some of the higher level languages built upon it (Ajax?). It isn't possible to implement a solution to this that involves the Gixen servers retreiving updates from eBay and supplying them through the classic Gixen interface... the users computer would have to do it directly.
_________________
Mark

[mario]

[Cupid]

[Nigel]

Yea so wel i stumble upon you site recently after reading a lot about alternative softwares who help who "snipe" on ebay n stuff. So i end up downloading your software "gixen desktop manager". But unfortunately on entering my ebay login details its perma stuck on "Connecting to Gixen...". not frozen its just not progressing from there thats all. any1 els having similar experiences. Any help from marios side ? =)
thnkz in advance neway..

[mario]

Nigel, this probably means that something is wrong with SSL. Try installing win32 openssl library from scratch, and then delete all the *.dll files from the GixenDesktopManager directory. See if that helps.

[deception345]

Help meh D: I wanna use this program to buy myself some very cheap and good RAM off eBay But when i login with my details this error message comes up D: "could not get item list, API returned ERROR (171): COULD NOT LOG IN" I know my username and password are correct because I did it and logged into my eBay with a website and it works. I have Windows XP

[mario]

What is your ebay username? Post here or email me.

[Rapture]

[mario]

Can you log in to the regular Gixen web interface?

[A Friend]

Hi Mario ...

I was wondering ... is there any way that you could build in functionality to delete multiple snipes at one time to the GDM? I am a VERY heavy user of the site, and at times, I will have up to 200 snipes queued at any given time. This makes both the web interface and the GDM load slowly ... and makes managing my snipes very painful. Even if I could delete all of the closed auctions at one time, that would be VERY helpful - and greatly reduce the load on your servrs

Thanks again for the great program ...

Cheers!

[mario]

Oh, there has to be a way to implement that (e.g. checkboxes), and I should most definitely do something about it... Give me some time, I'll see what I can do.

[Guest]

Ok, downoaded it....but where is it?

[mario]

[mario]

Locking this thread, as its intent has always been to be an announcement thread, not support. Please use "Support" forum for the future support requests.