Programatically Get the Latest Version Number of Firefox
How can I parse the version number of Firefox programatically.
So, I don't have to visit the page every time. All I would have to do is run the script, and it will give me the latest version.
http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest/update/win32/en-US/
The file will always have ".complete.mar" in it. It's the only file with the word "complete" under this directory. How can I parse the version "40.0.2" from it.
All Replies (7)
Type about:preferences#advanced<enter> in the address bar.
Under Advanced, Select Update. Select Check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them
The 'all' page has a download link that includes the version, so maybe use that page instead to get the version information.
What kind of script -- something that runs in Firefox itself, or Windows Powershell, or ??
Perhaps it's simpler if you are going to retrieve a page and parse it as text to use this shorter one: http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/latest/win32/en-US/
Or you do not intend to automate it, you could just bookmark this page and look at it from time to time when you're curious: https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/releases/
jscher2000 said
Yes, its Windows PowerShell script, and automate it so running the script would give the latest version of Firefox. The goal is to grab the latest file version dynamically, and download the file .mar file for manual update.
Thank you.
Modified by SAI157
Since PowerShell would use the internals of Windows for the page and file retrieval, you probably would have better luck on a site devoted to scripting those components.
jscher2000 said
Could you please elaborate on it, the last part? I didn't quite understand it. Thank you!
sayyam197 said
Could you please elaborate on it, the last part? I didn't quite understand it. Thank you!
This site has nothing to do with PowerShell.
It would be very inefficient to try to use PowerShell to automate Firefox, since PowerShell cannot read the web pages loaded in Firefox. Firefox does not provide that kind of interface to external scripts.
Therefore, you would use standard Windows components to retrieve the page, parse it, and then if desired, retrieve the download.
Therefore, this is not the right site for further discussion.