Log in

View Full Version : Help: Searching in long Subsim threads


XenonSurf
05-04-19, 05:36 AM
Hello,
there is an excellent "Advanced Search" option in the subsim forums that will output what you search in most cases. However, there are threads which are 500 pages long and this is where - I think, I don't know for sure - this search function will fail, for example to return matches at page 412 or similar.

So I go out and make a google search like that:

+"Silent Hunter 5" +"Open Horizons II" +"mediterranean"

But here too the search results are not good enough.


So, I wonder if it's somehow possible to export an entire thread with all its pages to plain text and do the search there manually. Is this possible? I have an advanced text editor and probably I can get most tools if necessary.

Thanks anyone pointing me in a direction for a solution!

Best greetings,
XS

Dowly
05-04-19, 06:28 AM
I am fairly sure that it is not possible to save an entire thread as a text file. :hmmm:

But to further help google, put site:subsim.com on the search too. That should make google only search from subsim.com.

Eichhörnchen
05-04-19, 06:32 AM
If there's a page of Whac-A-Squirrel you are searching for, I may be able to help

XenonSurf
05-04-19, 06:58 AM
I am fairly sure that it is not possible to save an entire thread as a text file. :hmmm:

But to further help google, put site:subsim.com on the search too. That should make google only search from subsim.com.




Thanks to respond, Dowly!

Ok, then: not as a text file, but as HTML file maybe? I would be able to convert it in text. A tool like HTTrack Website Copier, but simpler than this program?

XenonSurf
05-04-19, 06:59 AM
If there's a page of Whac-A-Squirrel you are searching for, I may be able to help


Hi, thanks to respond!
No, I'm looking for a method to have quickly access to all pages of a thread for the purpose of text search.

Dowly
05-04-19, 07:16 AM
Thanks to respond, Dowly!

Ok, then: not as a text file, but as HTML file maybe? I would be able to convert it in text. A tool like HTTrack Website Copier, but simpler than this program?
Subsim doesn't allow you to show all posts on a single page, which is the problem for something you want. One could maybe make a script to save every page (since subsim just adds &page=[number] at the end of the url), but that's out of my league.

XenonSurf
05-04-19, 07:17 AM
Ok, I found a solution to combine HTML files in one single PdF with Adobe Acrobat. The problem was to get all pages of a thread, but with a little trick I managed that to have 399 single html pages in a folder :)
I then combine them in Acrobat to a single PDF....and bang...I can make my searches :D


Thanks,