SoftwareList

Introduction

This is a software listing and updating assistant for Windows (and also listing for Android), which can create several kinds of software lists based on HTML.

Functionalities

Full List

Usage: Run SLGetFullSoftwareList.py

This will list all the Win32 applications (both system-wide and user-wide) installed in the current Windows system (by reading the registry). You can use the list to track changes of software on your computer.

Main List

Usage: Run SLGenerateMainSoftwareList.py

This will generate a list from MainSoftwareList.json, which is configured manually by the user. From the full list, you can select important software items and put them into the main list (and you can assign priority values to them). The main list will be of great help when you get a new computer and want to install software that you had on the old machine.

Update List

Usage: Run SLCheckUpdate.py

This will check updates for software items in the user-configured file CheckUpdateList.json and generate a list of software items that needs update. Method of retrieving update information of software (i.e. URL of their official websites and parsing rules) should be configured in SLSoftwareInfo.py.

Android List

Usage: Run SLGetAndroidSoftwareList.py

This list is for Android. It lists all third-party packages installed on your Android device (using adb). aapt is required on your device (does not require root). You should connect your Android device to your PC, and configure adb and aapt executable paths in Config.json. You can refer to this page for reference.

Themes

The HTML-based lists support several themes which you can configure in Config.json:

• Green
• Blue
• Pink
• Purple
• Random (Randomly choose one of the above)

Other Utilities

• Run SLCreateDailyUpdateTask.py to create a daily task for software updating.
• Run SLDeleteDailyUpdateTask.py to delete the update task.
• Run SLClearOldLists.py to clear old software list of every kind, leaving only the newest ones respectively.
• Run SLGetRegistryItems.py to find software registry items by keywords.

Screenshots

Environment and Dependencies

Environment

• OS: Windows 7 and higher versions
• Python 3.6+. You should install required modules via pip install -r requirements.txt

For using the Android list feature:

• OS: Android 7.0+
• adb on your PC
• aapt on your device (see reference above)

Front-end Dependencies (Using CDN)

• Bootstrap
• Font Awesome
• jQuery
• DataTables

Further Notes

• Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows, which can facilitate automation of software updates. But not all applications are published on Chocolatey, and they are not always timely updated.
• UWP applications are automatically updated by Microsoft Store, but many of the applications we use are still legacy Win32 applications. In the future, more applications may become UWPs, but those who need a flexible command of system resources, including some tools for developers, may remain Win32-based.