Time Travel

[Joe Caverly]

Hi,
Yes, time travel is now possible. Well, it has been for some time, but I just made a batch file to make going back in time easier.

:: WBM.BTM
:: Go back in time to look at a web page the way it used to be
:: ARGV1: a year
:: ARGV2: any valid URL
:: EXAMPLE: wbm 1996 http://www.jpsoft.com
::
:: Other ways to use the WayBack Machine can be found at:
:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Using_the_Wayback_Machine
::
:: Written with; 
:: TCC  11.00.52   Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
:: TCC Build 52   Windows XP Build 2600  Service Pack 3
::
@setlocal
@echo off
setdos /X-56
set ARGV=%*
set ARGC=%#
::
iff %ARGC eq 0 then
  echo USAGE: wbm 1996 http://www.jpsoft.com
  goto eoj
endiff
::
iff %ARGC eq 1 then
  iff %@wild[%1,http://*] then
    set theurl=%1
  else
    echo USAGE: wbm 1996 http://www.jpsoft.com
    goto eoj
  endiff
else
  set theyear=%1
  set theurl=%2
endiff
::
iff %ARGC eq 1 then
  start /pgm http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/%theurl
else
  start /pgm http://wayback.archive.org/web/%theyear/%theurl
endiff
::
:eoj
setdos /X-0
endlocal

So, if I wanted to look at, oh, I don't know, the JPSoft web page as it was in 1998, I would do the following;

wbm 1998 http://www.jpsoft.com

Note that some web pages do not allow archiving, or may not have web pages for a specific year. (Your mileage may vary).

There could be more error trapping, but I will leave that to you to add, if you wish to.

Enjoy.

Joe