Provided by: libscrappy-perl_0.94112090-2_all 
NAME
Scrappy - The All Powerful Web Spidering, Scraping, Creeping Crawling Framework
VERSION
version 0.94112090
SYNOPSIS
#!/usr/bin/perl
use Scrappy;
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->crawl('http://search.cpan.org/recent',
'/recent' => {
'#cpansearch li a' => sub {
print $_[1]->{href}, "\n";
}
}
);
And now manually, ... without crawl, the above is similar to the following ...
#!/usr/bin/perl
use Scrappy;
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
if ($scraper->get($url)->page_loaded) {
$scraper->select('#cpansearch li a')->each(sub{
print shift->{href}, "\n";
});
}
DESCRIPTION
Scrappy is an easy (and hopefully fun) way of scraping, spidering, and/or harvesting
information from web pages, web services, and more. Scrappy is a feature rich, flexible,
intelligent web automation tool.
Scrappy (pronounced Scrap+Pee) == 'Scraper Happy' or 'Happy Scraper'; If you like you may
call it Scrapy (pronounced Scrape+Pee) although Python has a web scraping framework by
that name and this module is not a port of that one.
FEATURES
Scrappy provides a framework containing all the tools necessary to create a simple yet
powerful web scraper. At its core, Scrappy loads an array of features for access control,
event logging, session handling, url matching, web request and response handling, proxy
management, web scraping, and downloading.
Furthermore, Scrappy provides a simple Moose-based plugin system that allows Scrappy to be
easily extended.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->control; # Scrappy::Scraper::Control (access control)
$scraper->parser; # Scrappy::Scraper::Parser (web scraper)
$scraper->user_agent; # Scrappy::Scraper::UserAgent (user-agent tools)
$scraper->logger; # Scrappy::Logger (event logger)
$scraper->queue; # Scrappy::Queue (flow control for loops)
$scraper->session; # Scrappy::Session (session management)
Please see the METHODS section for a more in-depth look at all Scrappy functionality.
ATTRIBUTES
The following is a list of object attributes available with every Scrappy instance,
attributes always return an instance of the class they represent.
content
The content attribute holds the HTTP::Response object of the current request. Returns
undef if no page has been successfully fetched.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->content;
control
The control attribute holds the Scrappy::Scraper::Control object which is used the provide
access conrtol to the scraper.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->control;
... $scraper->control->restrict('google.com');
... $scraper->control->allow('cpan.org');
... if $scraper->control->is_allowed($url);
debug
The debug attribute holds a boolean which controls whether event logs are captured.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->debug(1);
logger
The logger attribute holds the Scrappy::Logger object which is used to provide event
logging capabilities to the scraper.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->logger;
parser
The parser attribute holds the Scrappy::Scraper::Parser object which is used to scrape
html data from the specified source material.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->parser;
plugins
The plugins attribute holds the Scrappy::Plugin object which is an interface used to load
plugins.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->plugins;
queue
The queue attribute holds the Scrappy::Queue object which is used to provide flow-control
for the standard loop approach to crawling.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->queue;
session
The session attribute holds the Scrappy::Session object which is used to provide session
support and persistent data across executions.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->session;
user_agent
The user_agent attribute holds the Scrappy::Scraper::UserAgent object which is used to set
and manipulate the user-agent header of the scraper.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->user_agent;
worker
The worker attribute holds the WWW::Mechanize object which is used navigate web pages and
provide request and response header information.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->worker;
METHODS
back
The back method is the equivalent of hitting the "back" button in a browser, it returns
the previous page (response) and returns that URL, it will not backtrack beyond the first
request.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
...
$scraper->get(...);
...
my $last_url = $scraper->back;
cookies
The cookies method returns an HTTP::Cookie object. Note! Cookies can be made persistent by
enabling session-support. Session-support is enable by simply specifying a file to be
used.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->session->write('session.yml'); # enable session support
$scraper->get(...);
my $cookies = $scraper->cookies;
crawl
The crawl method is very useful when it is desired to crawl an entire website or at-least
partially, it automates the tasks of creating a queue, fetching and parsing html pages,
and establishing simple flow-control. See the SYNOPSIS for a simplified example, ... the
following is a more complex example.
my $scrappy = Scrappy->new;
$scrappy->crawl('http://search.cpan.org/recent',
'/recent' => {
'#cpansearch li a' => sub {
my ($self, $item) = @_;
# follow all recent modules from search.cpan.org
$self->queue->add($item->{href});
}
},
'/~:author/:name-:version/' => {
'body' => sub {
my ($self, $item, $args) = @_;
my $reviews = $self
->select('.box table tr')->focus(3)->select('td.cell small a')
->data->[0]->{text};
$reviews = $reviews =~ /\d+ Reviews/ ?
$reviews : '0 reviews';
print "found $args->{name} version $args->{version} ".
"[$reviews] by $args->{author}\n";
}
}
);
domain
The domain method returns the domain host of the current page. Local pages, e.g.
file:///this/that/the_other will return undef.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get('http://www.google.com');
print $scraper->domain; # print www.google.com
download
The download method is passed a URL, a Download Directory Path and a optionally a File
Path, then it will follow the link and store the response contents into the specified file
without leaving the current page. Basically it downloads the contents of the request
(especially when the request pushes a file download). If a File Path is not specified,
Scrappy will attempt to name the file automatically resorting to a random 6-charater
string only if all else fails, then returns to the originating page.
my $scaper = Scrappy->new;
my $requested_url = '...';
$scraper->download($requested_url, '/tmp');
# supply your own file name
$scraper->download($requested_url, '/tmp', 'somefile.txt');
dumper
The dumper method is a convenience feature that passes the passed-in objects to
Data::Dumper which in turn returns a stringified representation of that
object/data-structure.
my $scaper = Scrappy->new;
my $requested_url = '...';
$scraper->get($requested_url);
my $data = $scraper->select('//a[@href]')->data;
# print out the scraped data
print $scraper->dumper($data);
form
The form method is used to submit a form on the current page.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->form(fields => {
username => 'mrmagoo',
password => 'foobarbaz'
});
# or more specifically, for pages with multiple forms
$scraper->form(form_name => 'login_form', fields => {
username => 'mrmagoo',
password => 'foobarbaz'
});
$scraper->form(form_number => 1, fields => {
username => 'mrmagoo',
password => 'foobarbaz'
});
get
The get method takes a URL or URI object, fetches a web page and returns the Scrappy
object.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
if ($scraper->get($new_url)->page_loaded) {
...
}
# $self->content has the HTTP::Response object
log
The log method logs an event with the event logger.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->debug(1); # unnecessary, on by default
$scraper->logger->verbose(1); # more detailed log
$scraper->log('error', 'Somthing bad happened');
...
$scraper->log('info', 'Somthing happened');
$scraper->log('warn', 'Somthing strange happened');
$scraper->log('coolness', 'Somthing cool happened');
Note! Event logs are always recorded but never automatically written to a file unless
explicitly told to do so using the following:
$scraper->logger->write('log.yml');
page_content_type
The page_content_type method returns the content_type of the current page.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get('http://www.google.com/');
print $scraper->page_content_type; # prints text/html
page_data
The page_data method returns the HTML content of the current page, additionally this
method when passed a string with HTML markup, updates the content of the current page with
that data and returns the modified content.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
my $html = $scraper->page_data;
page_ishtml
The page_ishtml method returns true/false based on whether our content is HTML, according
to the HTTP headers.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get($requested_url);
if ($scraper->is_html) {
...
}
page_loaded
The page_loaded method returns true/false based on whether the last request was
successful.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get($requested_url);
if ($scraper->page_loaded) {
...
}
page_match
The page_match method checks the passed-in URL (or URL of the current page if left empty)
against the URL pattern (route) defined. If URL is a match, it will return the parameters
of that match much in the same way a modern web application framework processes URL
routes.
my $url = 'http://somesite.com/tags/awesomeness';
...
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
# match against the current page
my $this = $scraper->page_match('/tags/:tag');
if ($this) {
print $this->{'tag'};
# ... prints awesomeness
}
.. or ..
# match against a passed url
my $this = $scraper->page_match('/tags/:tag', $url, {
host => 'somesite.com'
});
if ($this) {
print "This is the ", $this->{tag}, " page";
# ... prints this is the awesomeness page
}
page_reload
The page_reload method acts like the refresh button in a browser, it simply repeats the
current request.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
...
$scraper->reload;
page_status
The page_status method returns the 3-digit HTTP status code of the response.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
if ($scraper->page_status == 200) {
...
}
page_text
The page_text method returns a text representation of the last page having all HTML markup
stripped.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
my $text = $scraper->page_text;
page_title
The page_title method returns the content of the title tag if the current page is HTML,
otherwise returns undef.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get('http://www.google.com/');
my $title = $scraper->page_title;
print $title; # print Google
pause
This method sets breaks between your requests in an attempt to simulate human interaction.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->pause(20);
$scraper->get($request_1);
$scraper->get($request_2);
$scraper->get($request_3);
Given the above example, there will be a 20 sencond break between each request made, get,
post, request, etc., You can also specify a range to have the pause method select from at
random...
$scraper->pause(5,20);
$scraper->get($request_1);
$scraper->get($request_2);
# reset/turn it off
$scraper->pause(0);
print "I slept for ", ($scraper->pause), " seconds";
Note! The download method is exempt from any automatic pausing.
plugin
The plugin method allow you to load a plugin. Using the appropriate case is recommended
but not necessary. See Scrappy::Plugin for more information.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->plugin('foo_bar'); # will load Scrappy::Plugin::FooBar
$scraper->plugin('foo-bar'); # will load Scrappy::Plugin::Foo::Bar
$scraper->plugin('Foo::Bar'); # will load Scrappy::Plugin::Foo::Bar
# more pratically
$scraper->plugin('whois', 'spammer_check');
... somewhere in code
my $var = $scraper->plugin_method();
# example using core plugin Scrappy::Plugin::RandomProxy
my $s = Scrappy->new;
$s->plugin('random_proxy');
$s->use_random_proxy;
$s->get(...);
post
The post method takes a URL, a hashref of key/value pairs, and optionally an array of
key/value pairs, and posts that data to the specified URL, then returns an HTTP::Response
object.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->post($requested_url, {
input_a => 'value_a',
input_b => 'value_b'
});
# w/additional headers
my %headers = ('Content-Type' => 'multipart/form-data');
$scraper->post($requested_url, {
input_a => 'value_a',
input_b => 'value_b'
}, %headers);
Note! The most common post headers for content-type are application/x-www-form-urlencoded
and multipart/form-data.
proxy
The proxy method will set the proxy for the next request to be tunneled through.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->proxy('http', 'http://proxy1.example.com:8000/');
$scraper->get($requested_url);
$scraper->proxy('http', 'ftp', 'http://proxy2.example.com:8000/');
$scraper->get($requested_url);
# best practice when using proxies
use Tiny::Try;
my $proxie = Scrappy->new;
$proxie->proxy('http', 'http://proxy.example.com:8000/');
try {
$proxie->get($requested_url);
} catch {
die "Proxy failed\n";
};
Note! When using a proxy to perform requests, be aware that if they fail your program will
die unless you wrap your code in an eval statement or use a try/catch mechanism. In the
example above we use Tiny::Try to trap any errors that might occur when using proxy.
request_denied
The request_denied method is a simple shortcut to determine if the page you requested got
loaded or redirected. This method is very useful on systems that require authentication
and redirect if not authorized. This function return boolean, 1 if the current page
doesn't match the requested page.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get($url_to_dashboard);
if ($scraper->request_denied) {
# do login, again
}
else {
# resume ...
}
response
The response method returns the HTTP::Repsonse object of the current page.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get(...);
my $res = $scraper->response;
select
The select method takes XPATH or CSS selectors and returns a Scrappy::Scraper::Parser
object which contains the matching elements.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
# return a list of links
my $list = $scraper->select('#profile li a')->data; # see Scrappy::Scraper::Parser
foreach my $link (@{$list}) {
print $link->{href}, "\n";
}
# Zoom in on specific chunks of html code using the following ...
my $list = $scraper
->select('#container table tr') # select all rows
->focus(4) # focus on the 5th row
->select('div div')->data;
# The code above selects the div > div inside of the 5th tr in #container table
# Access attributes html, text and other attributes as follows...
$element = $scraper->select('table')->data->[0];
$element->{html}; # HTML representation of the table
$element->{text}; # Table stripped of all HTML
$element->{cellpadding}; # cellpadding
$element->{height}; # ...
stash
The stash method sets a stash (shared) variable or returns a reference to the entire stash
object.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->stash(age => 31);
print 'stash access works'
if $scraper->stash('age') == $scraper->stash->{age};
my @array = (1..20);
$scraper->stash(integers => [@array]);
store
The store method stores the contents of the current page into the specified file. If the
content-type does not begin with 'text', the content is saved as binary data.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get($requested_url);
$scraper->store('/tmp/foo.html');
url
The url method returns the complete URL for the current page.
my $scraper = Scrappy->new;
$scraper->get('http://www.google.com/');
print $scraper->url; # prints http://www.google.com/
AUTHOR
Al Newkirk <awncorp@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2010 by awncorp.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
the Perl 5 programming language system itself.