How to make a web bot to check for updates

Question

How can I make a program that checks for updates on this site or facebook, etc.

Answer 1

You need to use the WebClient class to create HTTP requests.

If you want a more specific answer please ask a more specific question.

Answer 2

You either need to use WebClient or implement the HTTP protocol directly in your application. Can you be more specific as to what you want to do?

Answer 3

Hi there.

Say your app saves the string for any given website today. You would use the WebClient class to .DownloadData(). Correct?

Then say, next week you want to see if the tag has changed, .DownloadData() again and compare with the string you saved last week. If it is different, save the string (overwriting the previous value) and you're done.

This is just a basic outline on the steps necesary for something like this. At least, this is how I would do it. :)

Check out the WebClient class and specifically the DownloadData method. Works like a charm. :)

*Note that when using DownloadData your GUI will freeze. If you want to avoid this, you must use DownloadDataASync() method.

Answer 4

Stackoverflow.com provides RSS feeds. The simplest solution is download Argotic, an RSS framework for .NET/C#, and use this with your application to get the latest feeds.

Point Argotic at:

• http://stackoverflow.com/feeds

For Facebook you could use the Facebook toolkit.