Capture IP addresses from command output and launch multiple tabbed sessions

[max!mus]

I have a script which shows the user a custom form. The form has a drop down list to select a pre-configured session for login.
After login the script runs a command which returns a list of IP addresses.
I need to capture this list of IP addresses and launch tabbed sessions to each of the IP's.
My problem happens at the point of capturing the list of IP's in the script. The script shows variable behavior and shows different result every time it is run.

Below is the actual script.

#$language = "VBScript"
#$interface = "1.0"

crt.Screen.Synchronous = False

' This automatically generated script may need to be
' edited in order to work correctly.

Sub Main
' Get a reference to IE's Application object
Set g_objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
g_objIE.Offline = True
g_objIE.navigate "about:blank"

' This loop is required to allow the IE object to finish loading...
Do
crt.Sleep 100
Loop While g_objIE.Busy
g_objIE.Document.body.Style.FontFamily = "Sans-Serif"
strHTMLBody = _
"<font color=red><b>Select the Circle (CSM): </b></font>" & _
"<hr>" & _
"<b>CSM: </b>" & _
"<select name=CSM size=1 >" & _
"<option>Agra</option>" & _
"<option>Ahemdabad</option>" & _
"<option>Ambala</option>" & _
"<option>Banglore</option>" & _
"<option>Bhopal</option>" & _
"<option>Bihar</option>" & _
"<option>Chennai</option>" & _
"<option>Delhi</option>" & _
"<option>Guwahati</option>" & _
"<option>Hyderabad</option>" & _
"<option>Kolkata</option>" & _
"<option>Mumbai</option>" & _
"<option>Nagpur</option>" & _
"<option>Rajasthan</option>" & _
"</select>" & _
"<br><br>" & _
"<input name=All type=""radio"" name=""nodes"" value=""All"" checked " & _
"Onclick=document.all(""ButtonHandler"").value=""Allclick"" > All" & _
"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;" & _
"<input name=MME type=""radio"" name=""nodes"" value=""MME"" " & _
"Onclick=document.all(""ButtonHandler"").value=""MMEclick"" > MME" & _
"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;" & _
"<input name=SAE type=""radio"" name=""nodes"" value=""SAE"" " & _
"Onclick=document.all(""ButtonHandler"").value=""SAEclick"" > SAE-GW" & _
"<hr>" & _
"<button name=OK AccessKey=O " & _
"Onclick=document.all(""ButtonHandler"").value=""OK"";" & _
"><u>O</u>K </button>" & _
"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;" & _
"<button name=Cancel AccessKey=C " & _
"Onclick=document.all(""ButtonHandler"").value=""Cancel"";" & _
"><u>C</u>ancel</button>" & _
"<input name=ButtonHandler value=""Nothing Clicked Yet"" " & _
"type=hidden >"

' Inject the HTML code above into the IE object
g_objIE.Document.Body.innerHTML = strHTMLBody
' Prevent the MenuBar, StatusBar, AddressBar, and Toolbar from
' being displayed as part of the IE window
g_objIE.MenuBar = False
g_objIE.StatusBar = False
g_objIE.AddressBar = False
g_objIE.Toolbar = False
' Set the initial size of the IE window
g_objIE.height = 200
g_objIE.width = 425
' Set the title of the IE window
g_objIE.document.Title = "Circle wise login"
'if not crt.Session.Connected Then
g_objIE.Visible = True
' This loop is required to allow the IE window to fully display
' before moving on
Do
crt.Sleep 100
Loop While g_objIE.Busy
' This code brings the IE window to the foreground (otherwise, the window
' would appear, but it would likely be behind the SecureCRT window, not
' easily visible to the user).
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
objShell.AppActivate g_objIE.document.Title
' Once the dialog is displayed and has been brought to the
' foreground, set focus on the control of our choice...
g_objIE.Document.All("CSM").Focus
'end if
Do
' If the user closes the IE window by Alt+F4 or clicking on the 'X'
' button, we'll detect that here, and exit the script if necessary.
On Error Resume Next
Err.Clear
strNothing = g_objIE.Document.All("ButtonHandler").Value
if Err.Number <> 0 then exit do
On Error Goto 0
' Check to see which buttons have been clicked, and address each one
' as it's clicked.
Select Case g_objIE.Document.All("ButtonHandler").Value
Case "Cancel"
' The user clicked Cancel. Exit the loop
g_objIE.quit
Exit Do
Case "CLIclick"
with g_objIE.Document.All("INH-MSG")
.Disabled = False
if NOT g_objIE.Document.All("CLI").Checked then
.Checked = False
.Disabled = True
end if
end with
Case "OK"
' The user clicked OK. Act on the information in the
' Username and Password fields.
' Capture data from each field in the dialog...
strCSM = g_objIE.Document.All("CSM").Value
boolAll = g_objIE.Document.All("All").Checked
boolMME = g_objIE.Document.All("MME").Checked
boolSAE = g_objIE.Document.All("SAE").Checked
g_objIE.quit
' Now that we have closed the IE dialog, we can act on our data.
if not crt.Session.Connected Then
crt.Session.Connect "/S " & strCSM
crt.Screen.Synchronous = False
end if
crt.Screen.Send "cd /home/cnems/expscript" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForCursor
crt.Screen.Send "tr -cd '\11\12\15\40-\132\134-\176' < cmdoutput.txt | sed 's/^33m //g' | awk '{ print $4 }' | grep :" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForString chr(13) 'This is where I face inconsistent result
strResult = crt.Screen.ReadString("[")
MsgBox strResult 'Sometimes I get the list of IP addresses, but other times I get blank or different result or sometimes, the script keeps waiting for response
if boolCLI = True Then
crt.Screen.WaitForString "] "
crt.Screen.Send "cdbin" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForString "] "
crt.Screen.Send "CLI" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForString "USERNAME : "
crt.Screen.Send "EMSR" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForString "PASSWORD : "
crt.Screen.Send "EMSR" & chr(13)
if boolINH = True Then
crt.Screen.WaitForString "] "
crt.Screen.Send "INH-MSG:TYPE=ALL;" & chr(13)
crt.Screen.WaitForString "PASSWORD : "
crt.Screen.Send "EMSR" & chr(13)
end if
end if
Exit Do
End Select
' Wait for user interaction with the dialog...
crt.Sleep 200
Loop
End Sub

[jjh]

Hi max!mus.

I see that in your script, as soon as you connect, you set
crt.screen.synchronous to false. When you are using
crt.Screen.Send and if Screen.WaitFor*() and
screen.ReadString() calls are present, synchronous must be
set to Tru as soon after connecting as possible. You'll
want to always do a WaitForString or ReadString after each
Send call.

You can read more about this on page 39 of the VBScript
scripting manual found on the following web page:

https://www.vandyke.com/support/index.html

Does setting synchronous to True after the connection and
doing a Waitfor or ReadString after each send call improve
the functionality?

Thanks
JJH

[max!mus]

Hi jjh,

Thanks for the reply. I had been really busy so just got a chance to review your reply today. Anyway, I added a few MsgBox to understand what's going on and here's what I found.

Let's look at the code, which is changed:
1. At the start of script, commented the synchronous statement.
#$language = "VBScript"
#$interface = "1.0"

'crt.Screen.Synchronous = True '<< note i tried uncommenting this line and got same result.

2. Following is only part changed in the main body:
if not crt.Session.Connected Then
crt.Session.Connect "/S " & strCSM
'crt.Screen.Synchronous = True '<< same here, tried uncommenting with same result.
end if
crt.Screen.Synchronous = True '<< finally sticking to putting it here!
crt.Screen.Send "cd /home/cnems/expscript" & chr(13)
if crt.Screen.WaitForString ("] ", 5) Then
MsgBox "Found ""] """ '<< This Msgbox is received as expected
else
MsgBox "Timed out waiting for ""] """
end if
crt.Screen.Send "tr -cd '\11\12\15\40-\132\134-\176' < cmdoutput.txt | sed 's/^33m //g' | awk '{ print $4 }' | grep :" & chr(13)
if crt.Screen.WaitForString (chr(13), 5) then
MsgBox "Found ""chr(13)""" '<< This Msgbox is received before i could see the corresponding command fired on CLI, only when connect is called i.e. securecrt is not already connected
strResult = crt.Screen.ReadString("[", 5)
MsgBox strResult '<< strResult returns empty in this case.
else
MsgBox "Times out waiting for ""chr(13)"""
end if

When connect method gets called, i.e. securecrt is not already connected, then the strResult returns an empty string. It seems synchronous = true is not really doing what it says in this case.

Another strange thing. I added couple of more MsgBox as follows, to monitor the change in Synchromous = true:

if not crt.Session.Connected Then
crt.Session.Connect "/S " & strCSM
'crt.Screen.Synchronous = True '<< same here, tried uncommenting with same result.
end if
strSync = crt.Screen.Synchronous
MsgBox strSync 'here strSync showed 0, on execution
crt.Screen.Synchronous = True
strSync = crt.Screen.Synchronous
Msgbox = strSync 'here strSync showed -1, on execution

And This script with additional msgbox worked exactly as I want it too. I.e. even when connect is called I do get correct list of IP addresses in strResult. Although the other msgbox show up just the same as before.

Finally, I removed the MsgBox before setting synchronous = true, so this code looks like.
if not crt.Session.Connected Then
crt.Session.Connect "/S " & strCSM
'crt.Screen.Synchronous = True '<< same here, tried uncommenting with same result.
end if
'strSync = crt.Screen.Synchronous
'MsgBox strSync
crt.Screen.Synchronous = True
strSync = crt.Screen.Synchronous
Msgbox = strSync 'here strSync showed -1, on execution

And again I cannot get the list of IP addresses in strResult when connect gets called. It's strange. Do you have a solution?

Thanks
max!mus

[jjh]

Hi max!mus.

I would recommend removing the timeouts from your script in
case you're not allowing enough time. If your script hangs,
cancelling your script will show you where the script is
hanging, which will help with troubleshooting.

Also, when you issue a command, you might want to get into
the habit of waiting for the string that you sent to appear
on the screen as it is echoed back before you actually send
it with a carriage return. So you would do the following:

strCmd="anything"
crt.Screen.Send(strCmd)
crt.Screen.WaitForString(strCmd)
crt.Screen.Send(vbcr)
crt.Screen.WaitForString(prompt)

Does that method work better for you?

JJH

[max!mus]

Originally Posted by jjh

Hi max!mus.

I would recommend removing the timeouts from your script in
case you're not allowing enough time. If your script hangs,
cancelling your script will show you where the script is
hanging, which will help with troubleshooting.

Also, when you issue a command, you might want to get into
the habit of waiting for the string that you sent to appear
on the screen as it is echoed back before you actually send
it with a carriage return. So you would do the following:

strCmd="anything"
crt.Screen.Send(strCmd)
crt.Screen.WaitForString(strCmd)
crt.Screen.Send(vbcr)
crt.Screen.WaitForString(prompt)

Does that method work better for you?

JJH

Hi JJh,

This did solve my problem!! Thanks so much. Still under testing, but so far so good. removed the extra timers (they were not in my original code as is, only added them for TS) and used your above mentioned suggestion for ReadString.

Max!

[jjh]

Hi max!mus.

Thanks for the update. I'm glad that helped.

JJH