Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/PNG crusade bot

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.

PNG crusade bot

Operator: Remember the dot

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Manually Assisted

Programming Language(s): Visual Basic .NET

Function Summary: Automatically converts all images in Category:Images which should be in PNG format to the PNG format if a conversion results in a smaller file size. All references to the old image will be automatically changed to reflect the new image.

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Run once, then manually re-run whenever Category:Images which should be in PNG format builds up more images.

Edit rate requested: 1 per 7 seconds

Already has a bot flag (Y/N): N

Function Details: This bot will be manually assisted in one aspect: I will input the new file name to save each new copy in. This will allow for much more descriptive filenames.

Discussion

Will the bot copy over the old image description page to the new image page, preserving the license information? Will it credit the original uploader and any other contributor on the new page page? —Mets501 (talk) 22:08, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes and yes. ---Remember the dot 00:13, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If the bot is getting the original image file size anyway, can it be told to only compress images greater than 8 KB, for example? I think that is a reasonable threshold, as changing an image from 5 to 3 KB is really not necessary. —Mets501 (talk) 00:25, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree for these reasons:

Changing 100 images from 5 KB to 3 KB saves 200 KB. Now, if each image is viewed 5 times, that's a full megabyte of bandwidth saved. That can really make a difference on dial-up modems.
Using PNG images whenever possible helps set a good example for the rest of the web.
Edits made to PNG images do not reduce their quality. GIFs are only lossless up to 256 colors, whereas PNGs are lossless no matter what.

---Remember the dot 01:20, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

OK, that's good. You've convinced me.

Approved for trial. Please provide a link to the relevant contributions and/or diffs when the trial is complete. Post a few examples here after you've done several of these. —Mets501 (talk) 02:03, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! :D it will take me some time to get this bot working, as it is pretty complex. I will post back here once I get it working, or if I need anything. ---Remember the dot 02:31, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How can I upload a file automatically using a bot? I'm not very good at putting together HTTP requests. Do you know how to do this? ---Remember the dot 03:19, 4 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure myself, but if you know perl, you can check out this script by User:Eloquence. You could also try User:Tsca who has a bot who uploads images to commons. —Mets501 (talk) 12:07, 4 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I managed to port the function from the DotNetWikiBot, and it seems to be working. So far, this bot has produced Image:07finalfour.png with little needing to be done to clean up after it. I will run it on another image in a minute and give you a link to the results. ---Remember the dot 23:56, 4 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Looks great! Try quite a few of these manually checking each edit to make sure that the bot makes no mistakes, and then post back with examples. —Mets501 (talk) 00:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Firestone 100th anniversary logo.png and Image:1000 WELLSLOGO.gif have been processed. Unfortunately, a bug caused 1000 WELLSLOGO.gif to be created. By the way, another bug a while back caused Image:Tmp472.tmp.png to be created. I have fixed both the bugs and marked these pages for speedy deletion. Both of these images required manual fixups, but I think I have it entirely automated now. I will try another image and post back here.---Remember the dot 00:13, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2 things:

Please make the bot leave an edit summary when editing pages to change the images to png.
Please make the bot not edit more than once every 10 seconds.

—Mets501 (talk) 00:09, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This bot is not yet fully automated. I am manually entering the names of the images to create. However, when I automate it I will put in a 10-second break between transformations. One transformation includes at least 3 edits. Do you want me to place the 10-second break in between edits? If so, why? ---Remember the dot 00:13, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The 10 second break between edits will produce 6 edits per minute, which is optimal as to not flood the servers. —Mets501 (talk) 00:41, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

After some manual intervention due to a failure of my internet connection, Image:1076dawnfm.gif has been converted. For all future images, the bot should leave the note "Converted image to PNG" on articles and "Marked image as having been replaced by a PNG version" on the old image page. ---Remember the dot 00:26, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have implemented a 10 second break. The entire bot pauses processing for 10 seconds after each edit. The bot just transformed Image:Bihar.gif and it seems to have worked flawlessly. Is there anything else I should change before giving the bot a higher degree of automation? ---Remember the dot 00:53, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Great. You should probably add under the heading "Previous file history" the filename of the old image too. —Mets501 (talk) 01:40, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done. This bot is not quite ready for prime time, though. I keep finding little bugs that require fixing. I have used it to transform a number of images now. I will keep you posted. Thanks for your quick replies and support of this bot! ---Remember the dot 02:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No problem :-). Feel free to ask any questions. Your trial period can last as long as you like. —Mets501 (talk) 03:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I never did say thank you for showing me the Perl script to upload images. I did take a look at that script before porting the function from the DotNetWikiBot. Anyway, I have done some more debugging and written the code that should give this bot a high degree of automation. I'm about to test it. The way the bot works now, it must have the user (me) present to input each new file name. It will not run unattended. ---Remember the dot 19:40, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds great! Try out more and check each one to make sure that there's no bugs, then let me know and your bot can be approved and get the bot flag. —Mets501 (talk) 21:45, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The bot appears to be operating without problems. I have used it to convert/transform a number of images, including Image:Wikipedia - Words per Article Jan 2001 to May 2004.gif and Image:Structure of the UK Rail Industry.gif. I'm pretty happy with how it's working, even though it does require me to be monitoring it.---Remember the dot 21:46, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think this bot is ready for the bot flag :D ---Remember the dot 22:23, 5 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Approved. This bot shall run with a flag. —Mets501 (talk) 02:22, 6 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.