The Thread of Traders - Home of ForumTrader™ (Version 2.0)

**Kijya** · 05-08-2008, 20:20

The Thread of Traders
Information, download link, and feedback thread for the ForumTrader application.

Contents
1. What is ForumTrader?
2. What makes it work, is it a cheat?
3. Can my computer run it?
4. How do I install it?

1. What is ForumTrader?
ForumTrader was originally an application series aimed towards helping Diablo 2 players create tradelists for postage on these boards. Now features aim more towards helping the user keep and maintain an up to date item database, which the tradelist functionality as more of a large add-on.

The application was programmed mostly during the summer of 2008, using Visual Basic 6.0 as the programming language. Starting with the beta (version 1.0) released in 2008-07-06, a few minor updates to it, and then complete revamped version “Hadriel” (FT 2.0) on the 5th of August.

2. What makes it work, is it a cheat?
The basic concept of the application is to allow the user to add items to a list from within Diablo 2, that means that the program must interpret keystrokes while the application itself is not in focus. To do this it uses something called a global keyhook, telling windows to send the keystrokes made to the program for analysis before sending them on to the application in focus. In short, it works using the same feature that a keylogger could be using, but of course without the bad effects of the mentioned.

The global keyhook is set when you start the program, so it's always active as such when the program is running, however it has two modes. In one mode it will just ignore the keystrokes and tell windows to send them along the line to wherever they where meant to go. In the other mode, it will run several functions depending on your keystrokes to help you input item data into the application. The exception is the F12 key, which will always be blocked by the program, and is used to switch between the modes. Which mode is being used currently is shown by a check box in the “Add tab”.

Another feature of the program that was added in version 2.0, is the support for adding items while playing diablo in fullscreen mode. To do this the program is simply using a separate window that has the “always on top” property activated. This may however not work for all display modes, but I myself have tested and confirmed it to work while using the “Glide” mode provided by the glide wrapper this forum allows: http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...80#post6137980

The third and final of the features of the application that isn't completely “local” within the program, is the activate function. This is simply used to tell windows to activate a program that has the string “Diablo II” in it's title bar, in other words, once again it's not about hacking the game code, but to use windows provided features.

This application has been added onto these forums for a reason, if it hacked the game code in any way it would have been rejected, so feel free to enjoy the benefits of it.

3. Can my computer run it?
The application was developed for usage with Windows XP, and may also work in Vista. Follow the installation instructions below and it should run, if not, then report it to me.

The minimum resolution supported is 900x716, where you should be playing windowed diablo 2 at 640x480, or use fullscreen mode support. Recommend resolution is 1024x850 or above where you can use a windowed 800x600 D2 window, or fullscreen mode.

Credits to TurbulentTurtle for vista testing assistance.

4. How do I install it?
The program is provided in the attached zip file. To install, just extract the zip file into a folder of your choice, and use “Hadriel.exe” to start the program. If you receive an error you're most likely missing one of the dll or ocx files it depends on.

Here's a list of the dependencies, if you don't have a copy of them they should easily be easy to find using Google to search for the file name (including the file extension).

Richtx32.ocx
Tabctl32.ocx
MSCOMCTL.ocx
msvbvm60.dll
scrrun.dll

In XP: Place the files in your system32 folder (which is inside your windows directory).

In Vista: Try placing the OCX files in the application directory, or you may try to register the OCX files being in system32.
To register the ocx files: Into a batch file named install/setup or the like, put the command ("<path>\regsvr32 <path>\XXXXX.ocx") , where XXXXX is the control name. Then right click on the batch file and select "run as administrator". Repeat with every file needed.

If it still won't work, then your ocx file might be corrupted. Try downloading a new one from another source.

Below is the zip file containing the program, note that it will get updated now and then to fix errors/bugs. For users who just wish to update to the newest version simply extract the new version into your application folder. Your added items shouldn't be overwritten and should be there even after the update. If you feel insecure you can always make a backup of the "My Items" folder.

The download supposed to be below has been taken down since this is an old version.

Version 3.0 can be found here: http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=707730

Version 4.0 is soon to be released.

wallen · 05-08-2008, 23:27

Good job and congratulations on the new release!
I've noticed that after enabling the key hook and typing something that doesn't match to any known class of items, the program quits with this error:

Code:

Faulting application hadriel.exe, version 2.0.0.0, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.1.2600.5512, fault address 0x00012aeb.

Also, is it possible to remove one item after you add to a character? If so, how?

Fallen_62 · 05-08-2008, 23:57

In the previous version, all you had to do to remove an item was to select the character (so that it showed you the list of items on that character), select the item, and then hit delete... I haven't downloaded/used one yet, so I will have to check ti out quick to see if it changed...

**Kijya** · 05-08-2008, 23:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallen

Good job and congratulations on the new release!
I've noticed that after enabling the key hook and typing something that doesn't match to any known class of items, the program quits with this error:

Code:

Faulting application hadriel.exe, version 2.0.0.0, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.1.2600.5512, fault address 0x00012aeb.

Also, is it possible to remove one item after you add to a character? If so, how?

hmm so you get the error at exactly what stage of the add process? When you choice itemtype, or type in the base itemname right at the start?

Ah the act of deleting an item, will make an update for that, for now you can go into the "My Items" folder in the app directory and delete the files manually using explorer. Other option is to create a "Waste bin" character to move those items to, which you can delete if you wish.

The program this time around is much more advanced, as such much more can also go wrong ^^'

wallen · 06-08-2008, 00:13

I get it right at the beginning when I am supposed to type the base item name. For example, if I type "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" and press Enter, it crashes. If I type Phas (I see Phas in green and -e in red) and press Enter, it crashes; on the other hand, typing Phase Bla and pressing Enter it doesn't cause a crash.
After doing some more tests, it seems to crash if you press Enter before completing the first word for items whose name is formed by more than one word. It crashes for "Ligh" but it won't crash for "Light Gauntl" if you get what I mean.
"Rin" and "Amul" work fine.

Fallen_62 · 06-08-2008, 00:21

I found a bug... If you click "Delete" on a character that is selected, then hit "Cancel" without typing "y" or "n", it will delete it anyway. Could be very frustrating to have happen in a real situation. Also, the trade list seems to be bugged... this is what i get...

Code:

----------------------------------------
Simple List
----------------------------------------
Hadriel\My Items\Account 1\Character    
Hadriel\My Items\Account 1\Character

I'm at work, so I can't actually test it while playing D2, but I would assume that it's the same at home...

edit: to go along with Wallen's crashes, trying to add a ring or amulet of any kind causes a crash. I can get to the F1-Fx options, but once i hit one of those buttons, it crashes... edit on the edit: for ring, I can get F2 to work (set), but no others (game crashes). Amulets none work on... Could it be that F1-F6 have reserved functions in windows, and that is what is causing the problem...?

edit2: do you think that you could add a thing in the "Messages" box when an item gets added to a character...? It would make things a little easier to know if it added or not...

edit3: another bug... When you are in the Trade List window, and you have a character selected (checked), then you click the account check box, all the items on the character that was selected will be duplicated...

wallen · 06-08-2008, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fallen_62

edit: to go along with Wallen's crashes, trying to add a ring or amulet of any kind causes a crash. I can get to the F1-Fx options, but once i hit one of those buttons, it crashes...

I tested that and it doesn't seem to crash; it crashes only when I truncate the first word of a name that contains two or more words.

Characters get deleted no matter what the input is for me too.

EDIT: when I actually started building my database, I registered a crash every time I tried to add a ring or an amulet after pressing the F key for the item quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fallen_62

edit3: another bug... When you are in the Trade List window, and you have a character selected (checked), then you click the account check box, all the items on the character that was selected will be duplicated...

Confirmed, I get the same.

Fallen_62 · 06-08-2008, 00:47

Figured out the trade list problem (sorta)... The path to where I had the files was too long... However, it doesn't read the item stats for me... It's in C

Hadriel right now, so I know it's not too long to get there... This is the printout I get...

Code:

----------------------------------------
Unique
----------------------------------------
Marrowwalk

So, it finds the item name, just not the stats... Possible bad delimiter...?

wallen · 06-08-2008, 00:51

Try checking the Enabled in Mods. I did some more tests with the Ring/Amulet fill-in crash and sometimes it works others it doesn't (I know that it's generic but just now I restarted Hadriel and it is not working on amulet/ring quality F-keys selection).

Fallen_62 · 06-08-2008, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallen

Try checking the Enabled in Mods. I did some more tests with the Ring/Amulet fill-in crash and sometimes it works others it doesn't (I know that it's generic but just now I restarted Hadriel and it is not working on amulet/ring quality F-keys selection).

Wow, I'm a moron... I didn't even see it there. Thanks, that worked fine... The trade list isn't bugged... at least right now :P Though that path length is an issue... You can't have it on your desktop most likely...