[Software] Brickficiency - Find the cheapest BL stores to buy parts

[mdoupe]

Is there a way for me to set in the options that I wan't a return on the store that has most of the pieces on my wanted list, for the best price? Top 5 by number of parts and price, rather than trying to fill the entire order.

That's not currently an option, no.

In the future I may be able to add an option to allow "imperfect" matches that are missing some stuff. It would take some doing, though.

[ummester]

By splitting up the wanted list I got some results - there is a store in Portugal that has around 90% of the parts I need but the prices a 3 to 4 times greater than the average! The bricks must be laced with something :)

[ummester]

Searching for a wanted list of around 1000 parts actually runs a lot more smoothly and all the colors seem to load fine in both the latest and trial version when the part list is smaller (even parts that didn't previously).

Before using this, I didn't realise how limited some parts and combinations were on Bricklink.

[badbob001]

This is a pretty good program and much easier to use than Mathlab/Octave solution I had tried before.

A good way to speed up your search is to reduce the number of vendors in the search pool. If your search has low quantity parts that many vendors have, then it may help to increase the quantity.

Product suggestion: in the summary page with the vendor breakdown, please list the total number of parts to be ordered from each vendor. So when I load all the items into my cart from a particular vendor, I can easily tell that I have everything by comparing the parts total in the shopping cart with the per-vendor parts total on the summary page.

For example:

...

Match # 1 : $ 68.60 ($ 16.58 [320 items], $ 33.33 [23 items], $ 12.17 [12 items], $ 6.52 [200 items])

...

Brickstore01 (1234), 320 items

...

Brickstore02 (1235), 23 items

...

Brickstore03 (1236), 12 items

...

Brickstore04 (1237), 200 items

...

Edited April 28, 2014 by badbob001

[mdoupe]

This is a pretty good program and much easier to use than Mathlab/Octave solution I had tried before.

the matlab script was my inspiration for writing this program. :)

Product suggestion: in the summary page with the vendor breakdown, please list the total number of parts to be ordered from each vendor. So when I load all the items into my cart from a particular vendor, I can easily tell that I have everything by comparing the parts total in the shopping cart with the per-vendor parts total on the summary page.

That's a great idea! I will definitely implement it.

[Cult_Of_Skaro]

I've been trying it out, and it only works on some of my wanted lists. Any idea what the problem could be?

EDIT: It works on all my wanted lists that weren't generated by LDD Manager.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Cult_Of_Skaro

[Lego Otaku]

I'm getting a hiccup. I've copied the last few lines before it fails:

Using cached Price Guide information for Light Bluish Gray Technic Pole Reverser Handle

Available from 781 stores

Using cached Price Guide information for Light Bluish Gray Technic, Axle 3

Available from 1515 stores

Using cached Price Guide information for Light Bluish Gray Technic, Axle 5

Error downloading price guide (got page, but there was nothing on it)

Some items were unavailable. Calculation cancelled.

I have visually checked every item on the wanted list, all exists with the rarest part being a boat weight (black). The axle 5, bluish grey, is available in 1965 stores so something seems to have bugged out. I have tried restarting Brickficiency, dsl modem, router, and my computer.

EDIT: got a bit further:

Getting Price Guide information for Light Bluish Gray Wheel 11mm D. x 8mm with Center Groove

Retrying...

Retrying...

Retrying...

Retrying...

Error downloading price guide (got page, but there was nothing on it)

Some items were unavailable. Calculation cancelled.

I think something is breaking down the connection between my computer and Bricklink site.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Lego Otaku

[mdoupe]

I've been trying it out, and it only works on some of my wanted lists.

Try the prerelease version: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B6HH_wCQ4odGLTFKT0NrcnlTWT

It works a little better during imports, but still has a couple bugs. Unfortunately I've not had time to look into them. :(

I think something is breaking down the connection between my computer and Bricklink site.

Did you get it sorted out?

[Cult_Of_Skaro]

Okay, with that version the list imported, but it's listing a bunch of items' colours as 'not applicable,' which turns up no results, meaning the calculation won't start.

[mdoupe]

Do the pieces have colours when you look on your wanted list?

[Cult_Of_Skaro]

Yep.

[Lego Otaku]

Did you get it sorted out?

Tried again today, it seems to be working fine. It was likely bad connection on the internet somewhere.

[gezuvor]

I'm getting an error when I try to import certain wanted lists. Some work and others don't import...

Here is the error I'm getting:

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary.
at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key)
at Brickficiency.ImportBLWanted.ImportWanted()
at Brickficiency.ImportBLWanted.nextButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.onmouseup(MouseEventArgs mevent)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Nativewindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18444 built by: FX451RTMGDR
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Brickficiency
Assembly Version: 0.92.0.0
Win32 Version: 0.92.0.0
CodeBase: file:///c:/Users/Owner/Documents/Rich/Brickficiency.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Data
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_64/System.Data/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Core
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.GeneratedCode
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Data.DataSetExtensions
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Data.DataSetExtensions/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Numerics
Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 4.0.30319.18408 built by: FX451RTMGREL
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Numerics/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Numerics.dll
----------------------------------------
************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.
For example:
<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>
When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[gezuvor]

Any progress on this? Love the app and can't wait for more...

[Lego Otaku]

Suggestion for future revision: warn users with large lots that searching for 4 store option even on a good system can still take hours to complete. 5 store options shouldn't be used unless they have a very small list of mostly rare or unusual parts.

[b-ran]

Have there been any known issues with Windows 8.1? I have tried using, and I just get a message that "Brickficiency has stopped working." It then closes. Seems like a great software.

[Calabar]

@b-ran

Did you tried it in compatibility mode?

It seems that mdoupe has few time for his software in this period, and probably he will use it for bug fix and main functions.

Anyway I want to propose a typical situation for me, where I'd like to be assisted by a software such as Brickficiency.

The main problem of Bricklink is that is very difficult to order all the parts you need from a single vendor.

So often I try to make orders together with other two or three friends. The idea is that everyone has his own list(s) and look for the best vendor for his list. Then look at other lists and take from this vendor all the available parts of these lists (the lists of the friends), obviously avoiding duplicates. A sort of crisscross buying with priority.

So, if we are three buyers, we have good chances to get a good part of the list from 3 vendors, with only one shipping for each one and with more chances to reach the "minimum buy" threshold.

It would be great if Brickficiency would be able to manage this situation. It should detect some good vendors for each buyer and then try assign to each one all the parts from the other lists that has not been found in the relative "main" lists.

[legolijntje]

Have there been any known issues with Windows 8.1? I have tried using, and I just get a message that "Brickficiency has stopped working." It then closes. Seems like a great software.

I can run it on Windows 8.1 without any problems.

Maybe you should run it as administrator. Or, as Calabar said, in compatibility mode, but if it would work then, it would be strange because I can run it without problems.

[b-ran]

I can run it on Windows 8.1 without any problems.

Maybe you should run it as administrator. Or, as Calabar said, in compatibility mode, but if it would work then, it would be strange because I can run it without problems.

Thank you for verifying it will run in Windows 8.1. I did to compatibility mode, and it seemed to get further into startup, but I still received an error. I'm thinking my security software is stopping it for some reason. This helps me isolate it to not being a Windows 8.1 problem.

[mdoupe]

It seems that mdoupe has few time for his software in this period

I have been busy, but I've also been hoping BL2.0 would come along and make Brickficiency obsolete. With the survey they just released, it sounds like they've not even finalized the feature set, so BL2.0 might be farther away than I thought. I also saw no mention of anything like Brickficiency or "BrickOwl Magic" in the survey.

I'm going to work on fixing imports once and for all and squashing the bugs that popped up in the test version this weekend. There were also a couple simple changes I wanted to make to the report that I can probably put in rather quickly.

[mdoupe]

Just posted 0.93. Sorry for the long wait. Download link here: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B6HH_wCQ4odGdi1kbFllakdwUVU

New in 0.93:

• Fixed some problems opening XML files and importing BL wanted lists
  
• Fixed a bug while reading price guide pages in other regions. I don't know if you guys know this, but there are countries outside of North America and some of them have different number formats!
  
• Added some more error checking while opening and importing files
  
• Can now change colour of parts and gear by double clicking on the colour
  
• Calculation will now skip superlots, if your Bricklink price guide settings show them (requires log in while calculating.)
  
• Can now re-download Bricklink DB files (from the tools menu)
  

[Richfilth]

I really want to try this software, but I can't get it to work. On the first load up the application terminates wth the message "index was outside the bounds of the array". Deleting the settings from AppData folder in Windows 7 doesn't help - it just re-downloads the parts list and crashes again.

Is there anything I can do? I've tried versions 0.90, 0.91, 0.92 and 0.93, all with the same result.

[mdoupe]

application terminates wth the message "index was outside the bounds of the array"

I've just updated the test version with a potential fix: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B6HH_wCQ4odGLTFKT0NrcnlTWTA

Can you try it and let me know if it works?

[Richfilth]

Great stuff! I haven't tested to see what I can do with the tool yet, but I can get to "Loading... Done!", which is more than I could do before. Much appreciated!

EDIT: What a great little tool! A little quirky (it doesn't always retreive the color for a few parts in the Wanted list) but it's still a million times better than searching all these stores manually! Well done mdoupe!

Edited June 1, 2014 by Richfilth

[mdoupe]

New in 0.94 - Context Menu

• Right clicking on a part or selection of parts will bring up a menu with a bunch of different options that look vaguely familiar.
  
• Store total price, item quantity and lot quantity are displayed at the top of each store in the report.
  
• Item images and names in the report are now links to the item in the respective Bricklink store.
  
• 404 errors while downloading part images are no longer reported (because that was very annoying).
  
• Fixed an issue reading Bricklink database files on some computers.
  
• The price column will now display 3 decimal places, and the total column 2. Both columns will round to said decimal places.
  
• The "Calculation Options" window is now called "Calculation Options".
  

download here: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B6HH_wCQ4odGeEV1Nl90WUFYRUk