Node STCP notifier CLI

Very simple Node.js application to scrap the STCP website to get the ETA of the next buses at a bus stop.

Motivation

With this application I don't have to keep refreshing their website and I can get a notification when I need to get out to the bus stop. This way I don't loose my bus and I don't need to waste time waiting at the stop. 😄

Functionality

What it does:

• automatic requests every 30 seconds;
• filter results to a specific line;
• set notifications when bus is less than x minutes away.

Demonstration

Explanation

STCP provides a tool to see the remaining times of the buses at any of its bus stations.

The tool functions with unique station codes. For example: AAL1 in http://www.stcp.pt/pt/viajar/horarios/?paragem=AAL1&t=smsbus

Peeking at the source code of the page, it was possible to discover a more stripped-down version of this tool at http://www.stcp.pt/itinerarium/soapclient.php?codigo=AAl1 which returns very little HTML and the information about the next buses. Here is an example of the returned HTML:

<div id="smsBusHeader">
  <div class="filtro">
    [...]
  </div>
</div>
<table id="smsBusResults" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
  <tr>
    <th>Linha</th>
    <th>Hora Prevista</th>
    <th>Tempo de Espera</th>
  </tr>
  <tr class="even">
    <td>
      <ul class="linhasAssoc">
        <li><a target="_self" class="linha_4m" title="" href="/pt/viajar/linhas/?linha=4M ">4M </a></li>
      </ul>
      &nbsp;AV. ALIADOS
    </td>
    <td><i>00:49</i></td>
    <td>3min</td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="even">
    <td>
      <ul class="linhasAssoc">
        <li><a target="_self" class="linha_3m" title="" href="/pt/viajar/linhas/?linha=3M ">3M </a></li>
      </ul>
      &nbsp;AV. ALIADOS
    </td>
    <td><i>00:53</i></td>
    <td>7min</td>
  </tr>
</table>

The information we want is in the table with id smsBusResults in each of its rows with class even.

Getting Started

1. Clone or download this repo;

2. Open the directory in terminal;

3. Install Node modules with npm install;

4. Run the Node application with node stcp.js <bus stop code>.

5. For easier usage, you can link the module with npm link; now you can use the CLI with just stcp <bus stop code>.