Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/ArkyBot

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The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. The result of the discussion was

Approved.

[edit] ArkyBot

tasks • contribs • count • sul • logs • page moves • block user • block log • flag log • flag bot

Operator: Arkyan

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Manually assisted due to potential conflicts between the infobox and images in the article.

Programming Language(s): PHP

Function Summary: The bot will scan articles for populated places in the United States and replace existing raster maps with updated SVG maps. The bot will also generate a barebones {{infobox city}} template based on information from the article if one does not exist.

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Daily until all articles are updated.

Edit rate requested: 1 edit per minute, maximum projected time.

Already has a bot flag (Y/N): N, non existing

Function Details: The bot will be run on a semi-regular schedule as time permits, likely 1-2 hours during mid-afternoon. During each run the bot will fetch a list of cities and towns in one US county and then scan and modify the entry for each city/town in the list accordingly. The bot will first check for the existence of the {{infobox city}} template in the article. If it exsists, the bot will change only the image_map entry to point to an updated SVG map previously uploaded to the Commons. If the infobox does not exist, the bot will then check the article for the existence of a "red-dot" raster map, remove it if it exists, and then finally generate a barebones {{infobox city}} template based on demographic and geographic data from the article. SVG maps used by the bot have been generated from an independent script processing boundary files provided by the US Census Bureau and to be previously uploaded to the Commons.

[edit] Discussion

That's a nice piece of programming, assuming it works of course :-) Approved for trial. Try 25 or so cities for a preliminary trial. —METS501 (talk) 02:03, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Just as a heads up, there was a bit of a snafu with registering the user account for the bot and I've been unable to access it. I'm running a few tests under a provisional name ArkyBot2 but have put in a request to usurp the name and should be operating under ArkyBot as soon as that request is fufilled. A few test edits turned up some formatting problems, but I've got most of the kinks worked out and expect to perform a full-fledged test either tomorrow or the following day. Arkyan • ^(talk) 22:41, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Batch of test edits is now complete. I ran in to a few early issues with character encoding, and the bot was mangling Cyrillic links, but that is worked out as demonstrated by the test edits. It should be functioning as described in the request for approval. Even with the manual oversight it turns out I get more like 2 edits per minute while running rather than just one, but that's the only major difference. Also, the naming issue has been resolved and the original name was usurped. Arkyan • ^(talk) 17:38, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

I've made a few minor alterations to my user interface for this bot and was interested in testing to make sure I didn't bork up the actual workings of the bot - is it permissable to run a few more test edits while it is under review or would it be preferable for me to wait? Thanks! Arkyan • ^(talk) 21:00, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Go ahead, run another trial, and I'm going to have a look at your contributions. --ST47Talk 10:48, 25 May 2007 (UTC)