Telegram bot

[LuigiImVector]

It would be nice to create a telegram bot that would allow you to quickly view free resources belonging to a certain category/subcategory.
I created a small bot in python to use it as an example (it's just a concept, the code is really bad): https://gist.github.com/LuigiImVector/c748aa5801c8f3fdfeb4114eb35d1eac

The idea is to make it self-manageable, to send the resources it will save a copy of the desired file and search for the name of the desired subcategory ("Android" for example) and the program will send all the updated resources assigned to that subcategory.
There are many other ways to do this, if you like this I can help create it.

[eshellman]

Is there anything we need to do to enable someone to make this? Does it relate to #5778?

[LuigiImVector]

You don't need to do anything, maybe in a few days I'll start creating a more serious bot that can be hosted for free on platforms like Heroku. I hadn't seen the API proposal, if one day they will be created the hypothetical bot would be even easier to create.

[nbehrnd]

I'm not a regular visitor and user of free programming books, so the following does not provide help to set up this assistant application, but asks: + Is this bot to work like a web crawler to offer list-like digest, like «for Python, these are the resources available», or attempt to download the linked material (the two need not exclude each other)? + Inferring from the sibling project free science books I recall some of the entries do not point to a specific, single .pdf file, but to collection of .html files. Here, on free programming books, a fetch of a single file is not possible for all of them; for example for lectures filed as MOOC, too. + Or, does the bot aims to provide a RSS (or a RSS like) notifier such hat once a profile is set (say, for example, Python) one receives an email about a newly added resource in this category? This model to follow free programming books' evolution would be different to (and independent from) the notification profiles one may set on GitHub. + Or, does the bot aims to provide a searchable database (similar to a catalog in the library) that upon connection and entering your category of choice (perhaps in combination with which languages [like English, French, etc.] accessible to you) list/point to the entries?

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On Sat, 16 Oct 2021 11:30:50 -0700 ImVector ***@***.***> wrote: You don't need to do anything, maybe in a few days I'll start creating a more serious bot that can be hosted for free on platforms like Heroku. I hadn't seen the API proposal, if one day they will be created the hypothetical bot would be even easier to create.

[LuigiImVector]

My idea is something much simpler and more banal @nbehrnd .
The user must indicate a language, a type of resource (books, courses...) and the subcategory (Android, C++, Java...) and the bot will download the markdown file from the github page (maybe I could use the Github API) and will search the subcategory, save it and send to the user a markdown formatted message with the links to the resources of the chosen subcategory.Nothing too complex, there are many other better ways to do this, anyway any advice is always welcome.

[LuigiImVector]

I finally created the telegram bot: @freeprogrammingbooks_bot.
It isn't perfect, could be better but I decided to create it this way so that it can self-maintain despite constant updates of the repository. I'm hosting the bot on heroku.

Tell me how it is.

[eshellman]

Testers needed!

[stupid-kid-af]

@eshellman @LuigiImVector Bot is not giving any response. Can you please link the bot source code it would be very helpful

[LuigiImVector]

Can you please link the bot source code it would be very helpful

You have to write /search and after the thing to search. I will now edit and make it clearer.

[stupid-kid-af]

Can you please link the bot source code it would be very helpful

You have to write /search and after the thing to search. I will now edit and make it clearer.

Am I doing it wrong??
See in the above img

[LuigiImVector]

Am I doing it wrong??
See in the above img

Write the thing to search in new message:
first message: /search
second message: python

[stupid-kid-af]

Am I doing it wrong??
See in the above img

Write the thing to search in new message: first message: /search second message: python
No response
Is bot open source??

[LuigiImVector]

No response

Retry and send screenshot

Is bot open source??

The repository is private for the moment because the TOKEN bot is written in plain text in the file but this is the current code: https://gist.github.com/LuigiImVector/2a82893078b7515a9b296a16ae13789c