SuperBot Operators Manual

Contents

Quick Start

To start downloading your first site with SuperBot, follow these easy steps:

1. Download and install SuperBot from the Sparkleware website.
2. Start SuperBot from the shortcut in the Windows Start menu.
3. Select the desired job (Download a single file, Download entire website, etc) from the Common Jobs menu.
4. Enter the address (URL) of the site you want to copy in the Starting Address box, and press the Download Now button.
5. SuperBot will automatically download the website you selected, and fix the links so that you can browse the copied site on your computer.
6. Double-click on any of the items in the Progress or Log windows to view the copied files.

For more information about SuperBot features, please read the rest of this manual.

About SuperBot

SuperBot downloads entire websites automatically, and saves them on your computer. Thanks to SuperBot's HTML rewriting technology, the copied websites look and feel just like the online versions. Unlike other offline browsing tools, SuperBot is both powerful and easy to use.

System Requirements

To run SuperBot, you will need:

• An IBM-PC or compatible computer, running Windows 98 or newer;
• A connection to the Internet.

The sites copied by SuperBot can be viewed on any computer with a web browser, regardless of whether SuperBot is installed on that computer.

Common Download Jobs

The Common Jobs menu provides easy-to-use templates for quick downloading. To use one of these predefined templates, you only need to select it and enter a starting address; other configuration steps are handled automatically.

You can add your own customized templates to this menu:

1. Press the Show Details button.
2. Set the download filters and options as desired for the new template. For descriptions of these options, see Creating a Download Job below.
3. Save the job file onto your Windows desktop.
4. Choose Open jobs folder from the Common Jobs menu.
5. Drag and drop the job file into the jobs folder.
6. Close and restart SuperBot.

Creating a Download Job

To copy a website with SuperBot, you will create and run a "download job". A download job consists of:

• A starting address;
• A set of restrictions that determine which files SuperBot can download;
• A folder on your computer where SuperBot will save the downloaded files;
• A set of rules that determine how files will be processed after downloading.

An ideal download job instructs SuperBot to download all the files you want, and nothing more. A overly permissive job results in too many file downloads, long job completion times and wasted disk space. An overly restrictive job fails to download some desired files, making it difficult to browse the copied site while offline.

The default job settings will create a good copy of most sites, and novice users should try these settings before making customizations. To restore a job to these defaults during job editing, select Reset Job Defaults from the drop-down menu on the Start window.

Each job can be saved to a file (select Save Job... from the drop-down menu). Use of job files can simplify automatic or repetitive site copying.

• Drag and drop a job file onto the Job Queue window to queue or run the job. Drop it onto the Start window to edit the job.
• Right-click directly on a saved job file, and select Edit or Add to Queue from the context menu.
• Run a job from the command line or a batch file, by specifying the job filename. (See Automation below.)

The options available for each download job are listed below.

Starting Address

Job Name

Entering a unique name for each job can help you to identify the job, when viewing the Job Queue and Job Log. However, this name is optional.

Starting Address

This is the first file SuperBot will download in the job, and the file SuperBot will scan for links to other files. It the starting address is not a web page, SuperBot will stop the job after downloading this file.

The starting address should start with HTTP://, HTTPS://, or FTP://. If a username and password are required to download from the starting address, they may either be entered directly in the address, or in the Passwords window (see Passwords below). Some examples of valid starting addresses are:

• https://home.myserver.com/PersonalWebPages/home.html
• http://cia.com:81/ghetto/crack/plans.doc
• FTP://DownloadArchive.co.uk
• http://MyUsername:MyPassword@207.136.80.38/~elite/secure/

Destination Folder

All files SuperBot downloads during the job will be saved in this folder on your computer. This folder and its contents can be moved after the job is completed, without breaking the links in downloaded pages (if the Fix Links feature was enabled; see below).

Destination Folder Structure

SuperBot can save the downloaded files within a folder tree corresponding to their original online locations. For example, with a starting address of http://MySite.org/index.htm and a destination folder of C:\My Copied Sites, the first file would be saved on your computer as C:\My Copied Sites\MySite.org\index.htm.

Alternatively, SuperBot can attempt to save all downloaded files into a single (flat) folder, even if they were downloaded from multiple sites and directories. Under some circumstances, this option can make the files easier to organize, view and manipulate. However, when jobs are run with this option, links cannot be fixed, and the files cannot be selectively updated later (see Fix Links and Update Previously Downloaded Files below).

When saving a job into a flat folder, use of the Save each job to separate subfolder feature is recommended (see Managing the Job Queue below). A flat destination folder is most appropriate when downloading a single folder, less so when downloading an entire site or set of sites.

Fix Links

When this feature is enabled, SuperBot will rewrite the HTML and CSS links in each downloaded page, so that the links continue to function when the copied site is browsed. The links to other downloaded files are written in a relative way, so that the destination folder can be moved. The links to files that were not downloaded are written in an absolute way, so that they can be followed on a computer with an Internet connection.

When this feature is disabled, the links on downloaded web pages may appear broken, even though the HTML source code has not changed. This is a consequence of moving the pages to a new location (i.e. from the web server to your computer) without updating the links.

Update Previously Downloaded Files

When this feature is enabled, SuperBot will send conditional download requests for those files that were previously downloaded. Only files that have been updated since their previous download will be redownloaded; this is usually much faster than a redownload of an entire website. Some servers do not support conditional requests, and in these cases all files may be redownloaded.

When this feature is disabled, SuperBot will not download files that are already present in the destination folder tree, even if their online counterparts have been modified since the files were originally downloaded.

Location Restrictions

These filters control which links SuperBot will follow and download, with consideration to each file's online location on a server and in a folder.

Folder Exploration

The Copy all files within this folder option will allow SuperBot do download only files in the same folder as the starting address (or one of its subfolders). For example, if the starting address is http://mysite.org/Members/list.asp, this restriction would prevent SuperBot from following a link to http://mysite.org/home.asp, because home.asp is not within the /Members/ folder.

If the starting address refers to the server's root folder, Copy all files within this folder has the same effect as Copy all files at this server.

The Copy all files at this server option will allow SuperBot to download only files at the same server as the starting address. For example, if the starting address is http://mysite.org, this restriction would prevent SuperBot from following a link to http://AnotherSite.org.

To ensure that images and sounds within the desired pages are downloaded, regardless of where they are hosted, select Apply this rule to web pages only. This option applies to all location restrictions.

To allow or block downloads from an entire set of folders or servers, you may enter the folder or server names as Address Restrictions (see below).

Depth Exploration

The depth of a file refers to the number of links SuperBot followed to reach the file, from the starting address. Examples:

• To download only the starting address and the images on it, set the maximum depth to 0.
• To download all files that you can reach with one click on the starting address page, set the maximum depth to 1.

When applying this restriction, SuperBot will consider the shortest link path discovered to each file. Note that this restriction is unrelated to the maximum file download count (see File Count and Size below).

Address Restrictions

This filter searches through the links for any occurrence of the given text(s), and allows or denies downloads based on whether the text was found in the link. The search is case-insensitive. Separate distinct sections of text with commas.

For example, the restriction Do not copy files from addresses containing "news, weath" would prevent SuperBot from downloading http://TheDailyNews.com/News/Today and http://TheDailyNews.com/Weather/home.php.

File Count and Size

Maximum File Download Count

This filter will block additional downloads after the given number of files have been downloaded during the job.

Minimum / Maximum File Download Size

This file blocks downloads of all files smaller and larger than the given size(s). Note that some servers do not report file sizes for some file types; these restrictions will have no effect on downloads from those servers.

• 1 KB = 1024 bytes
• 1 MB = 1048576 bytes

Maximum Total Download Size

This filter blocks additional downloads after the specified number of bytes have been downloaded. Such a filter can be useful when preparing to copy a site onto a fixed-size CD or DVD. When choosing a byte limit to fit onto a disk, keep in mind that file sizes may be changed slightly by Fix Links, Find/Replace and other features, and set the limit slightly lower than the actual disk size.

File Extensions

This case-insensitive filter blocks or allows downloads based on file extensions. Extensions should be separated by commas, and wildcards are allowed. Examples:

• To download only the JPEG photos on a site, enter Copy only files with these extensions: .jp*
• To prevent downloading of any sound files on a site, enter Do not only files with these extensions: .wav, .mid, .mp*, .aiff

When using Copy only files with these extensions, note that the extensions of the web page files on the site must be included; otherwise SuperBot will never download the pages and see the links to the other desired files.

MIME Types

This is similar to the file extensions restriction (see above), but uses the MIME type reported by the server(s). This filter is useful when copying dynamic sites, that return content without a standard file extension.

File Types List Builder

This dialog assists in the selection of appropriate file extensions and MIME types, by grouping the extensions and types into simple categories: Images, Sounds, Archives etc. Check or uncheck each category to quickly add or remove extensions and types from the filter.

Protocols

These filters determine whether SuperBot will download files from HTTP, FTP, and HTTPS servers. Each protocol can be enabled or disabled separately.

Timeouts

File download timeout

This filter determines how long SuperBot will wait for a server to respond to a file download request, before cancelling that individual request.

Stop downloading all files after specified time period

This filter cuts off all downloads once the specified number of minutes or hours have elapsed since the job was started. File rewriting features, if enabled, will cause the job to run a few seconds or minutes longer after downloading is finished.

Find and Replace

When enabled, this feature will replace a set of words or phrases with different words or phrases. The replacement is performed in copied web page files only; not in pictures, documents or other file types. Use this feature with caution: if you change the text found within HTML links, you may inadvertently break those links.

This feature can also be used to highlight words or phrases in the copied site; just select Highlight phrase from the drop-down menu.

HTML Header / Footer

SuperBot will automatically add your custom text or HTML code to the beginning and/or end of each downloaded web page. This feature can be used to add notes and watermarks to copied sites. (Note: there is no standard method used to display these headers and footers; depending on a copied site's design and the web browser used to view it, they may not appear at all.)

To add a footer to the end of the HTML body, as opposed to the end of the file, use the Find and Replace feature instead to replace "</BODY>" with "Your Footer Here</BODY>". Similarly, HTML header tags can be inserted by replacing "</HEAD>" with "Your Tags Here</HEAD>".

Cookies

Websites often control access to customized content through the use of cookies. This example illustrates how cookies work:

1. Alice goes to the Yahoo website to check her emails.
2. After entering her username and password, Alice clicks on the Sign In button in the web page.
3. Yahoo sends a cookie back to Alice's web browser, which contains a temporary access code.
4. Alice's web browser automatically sends that access code along with subsequent web page requests.
5. Yahoo returns web pages customized just for Alice (i.e. her personal mailbox), based upon the access code in the cookie.

When you attempt to download a website for which cookies are required, but not provided, you will typically see a warning message in the place of every web page. The warning message might say "Please sign in first," or "You must enable cookies to view this page."

Allow Cookies

If you enable the Allow Cookies option, SuperBot will attempt to use any relevant cookies created by Internet Explorer. However, for some websites (or if you use a different web browser) you will need to enter the cookies into SuperBot manually.

To identify the cookies needed to download a particular website, follow these steps.

Internet Explorer users:

1. Download and install the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar.
2. Enable the toolbar from the Internet Explorer View | Toolbars menu.
3. Sign in to the website you want to download.
4. From the developer toolbar's Misc menu, select View Cookie Information.
5. If no cookies are shown, no cookies are required to download the website.
6. If a list of cookies is shown, copy each cookie's Domain, Name, and Value fields into the Address, Name and Value fields of SuperBot's Add Cookie window.

Firefox users:

1. Download and install the Web Developer Toolbar Add-On.
2. Enable the toolbar from the Firefox View | Toolbars menu.
3. Sign in to the website you want to download.
4. From the developer toolbar's Cookies menu, select View Cookie Information.
5. If no cookies are shown, no cookies are required to download the website.
6. If a list of cookies is shown, copy each cookie's Host, Name, and Value fields into the Address, Name and Value fields of SuperBot's Add Cookie window.

For best results, follow these guidelines when downloading websites that require cookies.

• Do not sign out of the website with your web browser until SuperBot is finished.
• Use the Address Restrictions feature to prevent SuperBot from automatically signing out. For example, if the sign out page is named signout.php, block SuperBot from downloading any pages by that name.
• If you have an administrative account for the website, DO NOT use it for downloading. SuperBot would follow links such as "Delete this message" or "Remove this user" unless instructed otherwise.

Some websites use a standard username/password mechanism instead of cookies. For tips on downloading those websites, see Passwords below.

Additional Options

HTTP Agent Name

This is the name that SuperBot uses to identify itself to HTTP/HTTPS servers when downloading files. A few sites return content customized for the particular spider or browser making the request; you may set this name equal to that of the browser you intend to use to browse the copied site(s).

Starting Referrer Address

Some sites block downloads unless the request was referred from a particular web page or site. This referrer value will be submitted with the download attempt for the starting address.

Pause Between Downloads

This option introduces a pause between the start of consecutive download attempts. It is useful for limiting the frequency of download requests, and reducing the load placed on a server while its files are downloaded.

Max Simultaneous Downloads

This controls the maximum number of files that SuperBot will attempt to download at once. (Some sites will not allow multiple simultaneous downloads.)

Honor META NOFOLLOW tags

If enabled, this option will prevent SuperBot must owing links on pages containing a ROBOT meta tag with a NOFOLLOW attribute. This tag is inserted by some page authors to prevent automated browsers from exploring their sites.

Save Query Results as Files

This option will cause SuperBot to save dynamically generated web pages, query results, script and CGI output as static files. (These dynamic pages can often be identified by a question mark character near the end of their addresses.) Unlike the online versions, the contents of these saved pages will never change; this may or may not be desirable depending on the particular site and the intended use of the copied version.

If this option is disabled, dynamic content will not be downloaded, and instead will be marked as Filtered: Query.

Allow Username and Password Authentication

This option allows SuperBot to submit a username and password with those download requests that require them. The username and password may be specified in the Passwords window, or embedded within the link itself.

If you are not copying a site that requires a username and password, you should disable this option to keep SuperBot from inadvertently wandering into inappropriate locations.

Prune Empty Folders on Job Completion

During the course of a download job, some empty subfolders may be created within the destination folder. This option will delete all empty folders as the final step of the job.

Assume "WWW" When No Third-Level Domain Present

On most sites, links with and without a WWW. prefix on the domain name point to the same file. If enabled, this option ensures that no file is downloaded twice due to links with and without that prefix.

Add Mark of the Web to Rewritten Web Pages

"Mark of the Web" is a security enhancement introduced with Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). If this feature is enabled, SuperBot will add an IE-compatible "Mark of the Web" to the pages whose links are rewritten.

Add .htm Extension to Web Page Filenames

Online web page files are named with a variety of extensions (.php, .asp, .cgi etc), that make copied versions of the files difficult to open and view. If this option is enabled, SuperBot will add an .htm extension to these files when they are saved. This feature makes copied sites easier to browse with Windows Explorer and other applications.

Keep Original Web Pages after Rewriting

This option modifies the behavior of the link rewriting feature (see Fix links above). If disabled, the original downloaded web pages will not be saved; versions with updated links are saved in their place within the copied site. If enabled, the original files are saved next to the updated versions, and a "_orig" suffix is appended to each of the unmodified filenames.

Starting a Download Job

Press the Download Now or Add to Queue button to start a job.

If the Job Queue is enabled, a download job can also be queued using these other methods:

• Drag and drop a job file onto the Job Queue window.
• Drag and drop a shortcut file onto the Job Queue window.
• Drag and drop a text file, containing one address on each line, onto the Job Queue window.
• Copy one or more starting addresses onto the Windows clipboard (see Clipboard Monitoring below).
• Use a hotkey to create and queue a job for the page you are currently browsing (see Automation below).

SuperBot examines the files already in the destination folder, to determine if a previously started download job was completed. To restart a cancelled or aborted job, simply run it again with the same starting address and destination folder; SuperBot will resume approximately where it left off, stopping when the job is completed.

Managing the Job Queue

The Job Queue lists all the jobs that SuperBot has run since startup, is currently running, or is scheduled to run. Jobs can be reordered or removed from the queue using the toolbar at the right, or the following hotkeys:

• CTRL-UP: move selected job up
• CTRL-DOWN: move selected job down
• CTRL-ENTER: start selected job
• CTRL-SPACE: stop selected job
• CTRL-DELETE: remove selected job
• CTRL-E: edit selected job

The Job Queue can be enabled or disabled in the Preferences window. The options described below modify the behavior of the job queue.

Start Jobs Automatically

If this option is enabled, SuperBot will immediately start any jobs currently in the queue, and any jobs added to the queue. When a job is finished, the next job will be started automatically, until all jobs are completed.

Remove Completed Jobs From Queue

This option ensures that the queue only displays busy and pending jobs. When a job is completed, it is removed. (The completed jobs can still be found in the log, if it is enabled; see Job Log below.)

Save Each Job in Separate Subfolder

This option will save each download job into a unique subfolder (named with the current date and time) within the job's destination folder. It ensures that when multiple jobs are started with SuperBot's automation features, they are all kept separate from each other.

This feature can also be used for tracking revisions made to a website, by archiving and comparing the timestamped site revisions saved in the destination folder.

Run Application on Job Completion

SuperBot can automatically run a user-specified script, batch file or program after every job. Uses of this feature may include:

• Launch a web browser for viewing the copied site
• Create a compressed ZIP file from the downloaded files and folders
• Upload copied files to a different server
• Burn copied sites to autorun CD or DVD (see below)
• Search the copied pages for specific information

SuperBot will replace the following symbols in your custom command line with their corresponding values:

• %d = destination folder
• %s = starting address
• %c = file saved for starting address (absolute path)
• %r = file saved for starting address (relative to destination folder)
• %n = job name

Shutdown SuperBot / Windows When All Jobs Completed

These options are useful for running unattended download jobs. When the last queued job is completed, SuperBot can either close itself or attempt to shut down the computer. (Note that a Windows shutdown attempt will fail if it is blocked by another application, for example a word processor with an open unsaved document.)

Viewing a Job in Progress

The job progress window displays the status of the most recent download job. Only one job may run at a time.

Files in Progress

This list displays the file(s) that SuperBot is currently downloading, reading, and rewriting. File size, percentage done, and estimated time to download completion are shown for each file. While a file is downloading, right-click on its name to show a menu with these commands:

• Cancel this file download
• Cancel download of all files with this extension (see File Extensions above)
• Cancel download of all files with this MIME type (see MIME Types above)
• Cancel download of all files from this domain

As each file is completed, it is moved from the Files in Progress list to the Completed Files list.

Completed Files

This list shows all the files and links that SuperBot has processed during the download job. Once the current job has been completed, the contents of the list can be sorted by column.

Result

If a file was successfully downloaded, this column contains the HTTP/FTP/HTTPS server response to the download request. This information is particularly useful when searching a site for outdated or broken links. Successful downloads may have a result of "OK", "Moved Temporarily", "Partial Content", or other text. Broken links often display a result of "Not Found" or "404".

If a file was not downloaded due to one of the restrictions set for this job, the specific filter that blocked the file is shown here.

Location

If a file was successfully downloaded, this column contains the filename corresponding to the saved copy on your computer. Right-click on the filename to view a list of actions available for the file, or to jump directly to the folder containing the file with Windows Explorer. Double-click on the filename to launch the file.

If the file download was filtered, this column contains the file's online address.

Site Map

The site(s) copied during the current job are represented here as a tree of servers, folders and filenames, including web page titles. Click on any file in the tree to view its download status.

The Completed Files list and Site Map can be included on a report for saving or printing (see Reports below).

Job Progress Bars

Three progress bars illustrate the progress and estimated completion of the job in progress. The first bar is animated while the job is running, and stops when the job is completed. The second bar displays the number of download attempts made (and filtered) as a percentage of all file downloads for the job; note that this percentage may go down as SuperBot scans downloaded web pages for more links. The third bar displays the number of web pages on which links have been rewritten, as a percentage of all web pages in the current job.

Pausing / Stopping a Download Job

The command buttons at the bottom of the Progress window allow the job to be paused, stopped, or aborted.

• The Pause function holds off any pending file downloads, but has no effect on file downloads currently in progress.
• The Stop function cancels any pending downloads and any file downloads in progress. Any files partially downloaded via HTTP/HTTPS protocols are saved with a .PART extension, and will be completed if the job is restarted later. Web page rewriting, if enabled, is allowed to continue; this ensures that the partially copied site can be browsed to the greatest extent possible. A job is usually completed within a few seconds after a Stop request.
• The Abort function cancels all job activity as quickly as possible. Aborting a job may make it impossible to continue that job without redownloading all the web pages.

To gracefully stop a job that will be resumed at a later time, the following method is recommended:

1. Press Pause, and wait until any downloads in progress are completed;
2. Press Stop and wait until the job is stopped.
3. Close SuperBot and/or shutdown your computer, if desired.

Reports

After a job is completed, you may view, save, or print a job results report. The report includes the number of files and bytes downloaded, and the Completed Files list and Site Map from the Progress window. If you sort the files list in the Progress window by Result or by Location, that sort will also be applied to the report.

For the most detailed reports, we recommend disabling the Show Friendly Download Results option in the Preferences window.

Preferences

General Preferences

Minimize Window to Tray

If enabled, the SuperBot window goes to the bottom-right corner of the desktop (often referred to as the tray, or taskbar) when minimized.

Stay on Top of Other Application Windows

This option keeps the SuperBot window in the foreground, even when another application is active.

Show Friendly Download Results

There are a number of result messages representing a successful download ("Object Moved Temporarily", "Partial Content", etc.) and these precise messages are sometimes meaningful only to a website's administrators. If this option is enabled, SuperBot will simply display "OK" for each successful download. If disabled, SuperBot will show the actual message returned by the server.

Keep Log of Completed Jobs

If enabled, SuperBot will keep a list of job run, and the location of the files copied during the job. This is useful for keeping track of a large number of copied sites. For more information, see Job Log below.

Job Priority

This option determines whether each job will run as a foreground or a background process. Running as a foreground process is slightly faster, but makes other currently running applications slightly slower.

HTTP Proxy / FTP Proxy

Use of a proxy server may be required if your computer is behind a firewall, or to speed up access to certain sites. If proxy server information is not entered here, SuperBot will use the system default proxy settings, accessible via the Windows Control Panel.

FTP proxy addresses may need an ftp:// prefix. This is not necessary for HTTP proxy addresses.

Automation Preferences

Clipboard Monitoring

These options cause SuperBot to monitor the Windows clipboard for addresses and shortcuts. Every time an address is copied onto the clipboard, SuperBot can immediately start a new job for the address, or copy the address into a new job for further editing.

SuperBot can create jobs for an entire set of addresses or links, if each address is on a separate line of text copied to the clipboard.

Show Job Queue

The Job Queue allows SuperBot to run multiple jobs in sequence, without any user intervention. This feature is often used for managing batch file downloads.

With the Job Queue and automatic job creation enabled, SuperBot can automatically download an entire set of files by "guessing" their addresses; see Address Range Generator below.

Jump to Job Queue Window on Job Addition / Jump to Progress Window on Job Start

These options help to ensure that SuperBot's current automated task(s) are displayed as they occur. However, this automatic jumping from one window to another can be inconvenient when manually editing a job or modifying other preferences.

Save Job Queue Between Runs

If this option is disabled, the jobs in the queue will be cleared when SuperBot is closed. If enabled, they will be retained until you remove them, either manually or by enabling the Remove Completed Jobs from Queue feature.

Quick Copy Hotkey

This feature enables you to download and save the article or web page you are currently viewing in your browser, with a single keypress. Select a function key between F2 and F11 to enable quick copying.

To copy only the current web page, instead of the entire linked website, make sure the Maximum distance from starting address is set to 0 in the Location Restrictions window before using the hotkey.

Passwords

This window saves all the usernames and passwords SuperBot will use when downloading sites. SuperBot can remember these passwords for convenience, but they are not encrypted for storage. To copy a site that requires a username and password without saving that username and password, enter them directly into the starting address (see Starting Address above).

Some websites use cookies instead of the standard username/password mechanism. For tips on downloading these websites, see Cookies above.

Sounds

SuperBot can play the sound effect of your choice every time a file is downloaded, and/or a job is started or stopped. Sound effects must use the .WAV file format.

Speech

As an alternative to use of .WAV sound files, SuperBot can speak the phrase of your choice when a job is started or stopped. This feature is only enabled on Windows XP and above.

Windows XP machines typically have a single voice synthesizer installed, named "Microsoft Sam". You may download and install additional free, higher-quality voices ("Mike" and "Mary") here for use with SuperBot.

History

For convenience, SuperBot can remember the details of the last download job, and the starting addresses and destination folders of the last few jobs. However, if your computer is used by many people, you may wish to disable this feature for privacy reasons.

The Clear History function will delete starting addresses, destination folders, agent names and the contents of the Job Log.

Slideshow

Minimum slide height/width

If set, any images smaller than this size will be skipped during a slideshow. This feature is especially useful for including only full-size photos, and excluding their thumbnail images from slide shows.

Shrink large images to fit display

If a picture is too large to fit entirely within the slideshow viewing window at its normal size, this option will "zoom out" to make the picture smaller. This affects the display only, and does not modify the saved picture files.

Languages

The SuperBot user interface can be viewed in multiple languages. This window lists all installed language translations. When you select a different language from the list, it will be applied instantly.

Job Log

This log lists all the download jobs SuperBot has run, with job name, time of job start and completion, starting address and file download count. The names assigned to each completed job can be edited here. Individual jobs can be browsed with the View button, or removed from the log with the Remove button.

To prevent jobs from being added to this log, disable it within the General Preferences window (see above).

Note that an excessively long list of log entries will slow down application startup. These entries can be deleted individually, or all at once with the Clear History button.

Built-In Web Browser

SuperBot's internal web browser provides quick and easy access to your downloaded websites. If the Job Log is enabled, a drop-down list of recently copied sites will be shown in the top-right corner of the window.

Slideshow Viewer

This feature enables you to dynamically view the pictures downloaded during a download job, while the job is still in progress. You may also create a slide show from the contents of any folder on your computer, by pressing the Load images from folder button, or by dragging and dropping the folder into the slideshow options window.

The following shortcut keys may be used during a slideshow:

• SPACE: pause or resume
• ENTER: view selected image
• DELETE: remove selected image from slideshow
• RIGHT ARROW: advance to next image
• LEFT ARROW: return to previous image

Automation

SuperBot contains many features to enable fast and automated downloading.

Job Scheduling

When used with Windows Task Scheduler, SuperBot can run a download job at a particular time of day, and/or on a regular ongoing basis. To schedule a job, follow these steps:

• Open Windows' Scheduled Tasks folder. From the menu, choose New Scheduled Task.
• Enter a descriptive name for the new task (example: "Weekly Site Backup").
• Right-click on the task name, and select Properties.
• Fill in the Run field with the name of the SuperBot job file you want to schedule.
• Enter the desired time and frequency for the job, and click OK. Windows will now add the selected job to SuperBot's job queue at the specified time(s).

To schedule a set of jobs to run in sequence, follow these steps:

1. Create and save and jobs you wish to schedule.
2. Enable the Shutdown SuperBot when all jobs completed option in SuperBot's Job Queue window.
3. Create and save a batch file that starts each job, waiting for completion of the last job before starting the next. Example batch file:
   echo "Running SuperBot Job #1..".
   start /wait SuperBot.exe SuperBotJob1.scj
   echo "Running SuperBot Job #2..."
   start /wait SuperBot.exe SuperBotJob2.scj
   echo "Jobs Completed."
    
   
4. Use Windows Task Scheduler to schedule this batch file, instead of scheduling an individual job.

For help on batch file creation, see the Microsoft website or search elsewhere.

Clipboard Monitoring

SuperBot can automatically download links as they are added to the Windows clipboard. For more information, see Automation Preferences above.

Quick Copy Hotkey

With a single keystroke, SuperBot can save the text and images currently loaded in your web browser. For more information, see Automation Preferences above.

Address Range Downloading

SuperBot can automatically download a set of files whose addresses differ by a number or letter. For more information, see Address Range Generator below.

Drag and Drop Support

SuperBot will accept any of the following file types when they are dropped onto the main window:

• SuperBot Job files (ending in .scj)
• Internet Shortcut files (ending in .url)
• Text files, containing one starting address on each line (ending in .txt)

For more information, see Starting a Download Job above.

The slideshow viewer will accept a dropped set of image files, or folders containing images. For more information, see Slideshow Viewer above.

Command Line Options

SuperBot will accept a download job filename, or a starting address, as an input argument when run from the command line. Examples:

• "C:\Program Files\SuperBot\SuperBot.exe" "C:\My Documents\DailyDownloads.scj"
• SuperBot ftp://MySoftware.org/NewFiles.doc

Customizable Post-Processing

SuperBot can run a program, script or batch file of your choosing after completion of each job. For more information, see Run Application on Job Completion above.

Example Uses

Automated Download Management

Alice's uncle Bob published a set of photos from the family reunion on his website. Alice wants to download each of those images, but doesn't want any of the other pictures from Bob's Vegas vacation.

Alice starts her licensed copy of SuperBot. In the Preferences window, she sets the Clipboard Monitoring option to automatically create a new job for each address. On the Job Queue window, she enables the option to start new jobs automatically.

Alice browses Bob's website. Each time she finds an image she likes, she right-clicks on that image, and chooses Copy shortcut or Copy image location from the popup menu. Every time she copies the image address to the clipboard, SuperBot downloads that image and saves it in the folder she has chosen.

Locating Broken Links

Carol is the webmaster for a small business. A customer recently complained that broken links on the company website make it difficult to find information--but the customer didn't explain where any of the broken links were located. Carol wants to run an automated search for broken links on her website.

Carol creates a new download job, using the front page of her site as the job's starting address. In the Location Restrictions window, she selects the Copy all files at this server option. She also selects This rule applies to web pages only, because she wants to know whether any links to offsite images have gone bad.

Carol starts the job and waits until it is completed. She then sorts the contents of the Completed Files window by Result. The list of broken links SuperBot found while exploring the site, and the pages where the broken links are located, are now grouped for easy reference and repair.

Stripping Email Addresses

Doug placed an online order from GloboCorp two weeks ago, and hasn't heard back from them. He wants to contact their customer service team, but all the direct contact information has been hidden deep within the GloboCorp website. Doug wants to find an email address for the company's service department.

Doug creates a new download job, using the front page of the GloboCorp site as the starting address. In the Location Restrictions window, he selects the Copy all files at this server and This rule applies all file types. In the File Extensions window, he chooses Do not copy files with these extensions, and uses the File Types List Builder to select the image file extensions; Doug knows the email address won't be found within an image, so he doesn't want to waste time downloading them.

Doug starts the job and waits until it is completed. He then sorts the contents of the Completed Files window by the Result column. This groups all the email addresseses SuperBot found on the GloboCorp website under the Email Address heading.

Daily Site Downloads

Ernie would like to read the daily news while commuting to work. (On the train.) Unfortunately, he has no Internet access during the commute. Ernie wants to download the top news stories automatically each morning.

Ernie creates a new download job, starting at the front page of his favorite news site. He is only interested in the top stories (in other words, the stories directly linked to front page), so he sets the Max distance from starting address restriction in the Location restrictions window to 1. He sets the maximum job time to 15 minutes, to ensure it is completed well before he leaves the house in the morning.

Using Windows Task Scheduler, Ernie sets the job to run at 7:30am each morning on his laptop. While he eats breakfast, SuperBot downloads the news for him. At 7:45am, he grabs his laptop and leaves home, knowing he can now read the news even without Internet access. After Ernie gets on the train, he launches the copied news site from SuperBot's Job Log.

Preparing Website for Transfer to a New Host

Last year, Frank contracted a web design firm to create a simple site for his company. He no longer wants to pay the exorbitant hosting fees charged by this firm, but is unsure how to backup the site prior to terminating the business relationship. Frank would like to copy his site onto his PC, such that the copy is suitable for upload to a new web host.

Frank knows that his site is not built from database queries or server-side scripts, and therefore can be copied without special administrative FTP access. He sets the starting address of a new SuperBot download job to the front page of his site, and enables the Fix links option, ensuring that the site's references to a particular web host are all removed from the HTML source code. Frank removes all job restrictions on file type, count and size, and enables the Copy all files in this folder location restriction.

SuperBot replaces the absolute links in the downloaded web pages, with relative links that do not refer to any specific domain name. Frank then uses the Windows Add Network Place Wizard to upload the copied site onto a new host, and browses it briefly to make sure everything looks and works as expected.

Automatic ZIP File Creation

Gloria would like to package up her website into a single ZIP file, so she can easily email it to her friends.

Gloria first installs the freeware 7Zip Command Line Version onto her computer in the C:\Program Files\7Zip folder. (Any other command-line ZIP utility such as WinZIP would also work.) She then creates a new download job named "WebArchive".

Before running the job, Gloria enables the Run application on job completion feature in the Job Queue window, and enters the following command line:
C:\Progra~1\7Zip\7za a -tzip c:\%n.zip "%d\*"

This command line tells the 7Zip tool to create a ZIP file named "WebArchive.zip" in the C:\ folder, containing all files downloaded during the job. Gloria runs the job, SuperBot downloads the website, and 7Zip program compresses it into an archive. Gloria sends the email with the ZIP file attachment.

Privacy and Security

SuperBot was designed to respect and protect your privacy and security.

• SuperBot does not read, edit or run Javascript, Flash, Java applets, or ActiveX controls.
• Use of browser cookies can be disabled. See Additional Options above.
• The Agent Name reported with file download requests can be customized. See Additional Options above.
• Rewritten web pages can be made compatible with the Internet Explorer "Mark of the Web" security restriction. See Additional Options above.
• Site usernames and passwords need not be stored on disk. See Passwords above.
• The history of previous job settings, starting addresses and destination folders can be cleared. See History above.
• The log of completed jobs can be edited or disabled. See Job Log above.

SuperBot Utilities

CD Burning Wizard

The SuperBot CD Burning Wizard assists in the creation of autorun CDs. When an autorun CD is inserted in a Windows computer, the copied site on the CD is automatically opened for browsing.

This wizard can be triggered to run on completion of a download job: in the Job Queue window, enable Run Application on Job Completion, and select Create autorun CD from the drop-down list. This wizard is subject to the following restrictions and limitations, some of which can be bypassed by creating an autorun disc manually instead:

• The wizard burns CDs on Windows XP and above; on earlier Windows versions, the wizard creates the autorun helper files but does not burn the CD.
• The wizard can burn CD-R and CD-RW discs, but not DVD discs.
• When run, the wizard will delete any temporary files already in the CD staging area.
• Up to 1GB of free space may be required on the drive containing the temporary disc image, depending on the size of the copied site(s).
• The autorun.inf helper file created by this wizard can only be interpreted on systems with Internet Explorer 5 and above. However, the copied site itself can be viewed with any modern web browser if it is opened manually (from Windows Explorer).
• By default, the wizard assumes a maximum disc size of 630MB, and will not attempt to burn sites whose total size is above that limit. The limit can be adjusted to 700MB or any other value by editing the wizard's command-line parameters.
• Because the wizard requires some manual user actions, such as inserting a blank disc in the CD drive, it should be disabled while copying a large number of files or sites with SuperBot's automation features.

Address Range Generator

The Address Range Generator automatically creates a list of addresses (URLs) spanning a range of numbers or letters. SuperBot can automatically create a job for, and download each entry in this list. To use the Address Range Generator:

1. Enable the job queue (see Automation Preferences above).
2. Press the Address Range Generator button.
3. Enter the addresses at the start and end of the range you wish to download.
4. Press the Automatic Generation button. This will fill the Results box with the set of addresses between your start and end range.
5. If you wish to adjust the pattern or range used to generate the result set, you may do so within the Manual Generation section. A range may consist of two numbers, two lowercase letters, or two uppercase letters.
6. Press the Create Jobs button. SuperBot will queue a download job for each address.

This generator can create lists containing thousands of addresses; however, the job queue can only accept 1000 jobs at a time.

Ordering SuperBot

A free version of SuperBot is available for evaluation purposes. This evaluation version adds a watermark to some downloaded files.

To purchase a license for SuperBot, please visit the Sparkleware website at http://www.sparkleware.com.

Home and Professional Versions

SuperBot is published in different versions: Free Trial, Home and Professional. Some features described in this manual are not present in every version. For more information about the differences between versions, please visit the Sparkleware website.

For information about upgrading a SuperBot Home license to SuperBot Professional, please contact Sparkleware.