JBidwatcher-Companion 0.1.7

Price Statistics for Ebay - Use with JBidwatcher

A command line program (ebstat.py) that creates price vs. time graphs for completed auctions on Ebay. It is intended for use in conjunction with the Ebay bidding program JBidwatcher.

An image of a time vs. price graph can be seen on the documentation website:

http://packages.python.org/JBidwatcher-Companion/

JBidwatcher is available from:

http://www.jbidwatcher.com

Dependencies

This program is written in the Python programming language, and needs a Python interpreter to run. (Only tested on Python version 2.6) Additionally the program uses the following Python libraries:

• Numpy for numerical computations (http://numpy.scipy.org/)

• Matplotlib for the graph window (http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/)

Windows users should install Python XY, a (giant) Python distribution for scientists. This is the most easy way for them to install all dependencies at once.

http://www.pythonxy.com/

Linux users need to use their distribution’s installation program(s) to install the dependencies. Numpy and Matplotlib are packaged for most Linux distributions.

Installation

JBidwatcher-Companion can be installed with the program easy_install, which downloads the necessary package from the Python Package Index (http://pypi.python.org/pypi), and installs it.

Get administrative privileges, then open a shell window / DOS box and type:

easy_install jbidwatcher-companion

Usage

To get help on the available options, type:

ebstat.py -h

List the tabs in JBidwatcher’s database:

ebstat.py ls

Create a graph of the (finished) auctions in the tab Nikon SB, the moving median is computed over 40 days:

ebstat.py gr -t "Nikon SB" -w 40

The usage of the interactive graph window is mostly self explanatory. Some features however can’t be discovered through the GUI. The most important features are:

• Clicking on an auction shows information about this auction in the bottom right of the window.

• Double clicking an auction runs an external program, which can be configured. By default the auction is shown in Firefox.

• The buttons at the bottom of the window can be used to pan, zoom, and save an image of the graph.

• Pressing the ‘g’ key switches a grid on and off.

A detailed description is in the documentation of Matplotlib:

http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/users/navigation_toolbar.html

Report Bugs

Bugs and feature requests (set importance to wishlist) can be reported on the development website:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/jbidwatcher-companion

For more information see README.txt in the source packages, or go to the documentation website:

http://packages.python.org/JBidwatcher-Companion/