Mechanize users - Jan 2010 - How to click on a link, in a specific part of the web page! Help

Hi everybody,

 

I am a new Ruby programmer and Mechanize & Nokogiri user. I am using the
both gems however for my master thesis, and since I can?t see much
documentation for mechanize on the internet I have a question.



  URL = ''http://reviews.cnet.com''

  SEARCH_FIELD_NAME = ''tsearch''

  XPATH_TO_RESULT_PAGE
"/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul"

  XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE
"/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul/li/div[4]/a"

 

    @@mech = WWW::Mechanize.new 

     

    # Creates an instance of Mechanize and select CNET Website

    

    page = @@mech.get(URL)

  

    

    search_form = page.form(SEARCH_FIELD_NAME)

    

    search_form.query = query

    

    pre_page = @@mech.submit(search_form, search_form.buttons.first)

  

    pre_page.search(XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE) do |result|

    

    @last_page WWW::Mechanize::Page::Link.new(result,@@mech, at pre_page).click

 

      end

 

My problem is with the variable @last_page. I am not so sure if  I am doing
something but I believe I am. I mean that was the only way I found to do
what I wanted to.

On the variable pre_page I search for a specific field where results are
present. I cannot rely just on the name of the link because links with the
name of my search can be everywhere on this page. That is why I want to
specify just a part of the page where a link with the name of my query
should be clicked. That was the only way that I found to restrict the links
that I want to click. The problem is that I tried to make a new link, based
on the result (which is correct, that was the link I was searching for), and
to click on it to proceed to the next page. However @last_page is always nil
and this is not working. If someone has a good idea or how can I make it
correct , please send me a reply!

Best Regards

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well.. first, your variables are all over the place. You have a mix of
Constants, class, instance, and local variables. Not a problem, but since
you''re new to Ruby, I would recommend sticking to some sort of normal
scheme. Now with that being said, looking at

*@last_page* = WWW::Mechanize::Page::Link.new(result,@@mech,*@pre_page*
).click

you call @pre_page which is nil because it was never defined. Did you try
creating it with just the pre_page variable?

~Jeremy Woertink

2010/1/18 Felipe Jord?o A. P. Mattosinho <felipemattosinho at
terra.com.br>
>  Hi everybody,
>
>
>
> I am a new Ruby programmer and Mechanize & Nokogiri user. I am using
the
> both gems however for my master thesis, and since I can?t see much
> documentation for mechanize on the internet I have a question.
>
>    URL = ''http://reviews.cnet.com''
>
>   SEARCH_FIELD_NAME = ''tsearch''
>
>   XPATH_TO_RESULT_PAGE
="/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul"
>
>   XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE
="/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul/li/div[4]/a"
>
>
>
>     @@mech = WWW::Mechanize.new
>
>
>
>     # Creates an instance of Mechanize and select CNET Website
>
>
>
>     page = @@mech.get(URL)
>
>
>
>
>
>     search_form = page.form(SEARCH_FIELD_NAME)
>
>
>
>     search_form.query = query
>
>
>
>     pre_page = @@mech.submit(search_form, search_form.buttons.first)
>
> *  *
>
> *    pre_page*.search(XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE)* do* |result|
>
>
>
> *    @last_page* = WWW::Mechanize::Page::Link.new(result,@@mech,*@pre_page
> *).click
>
>
>
>       end
>
>
>
> My problem is with the variable @last_page. I am not so sure if  I am doing
> something but I believe I am. I mean that was the only way I found to do
> what I wanted to.
>
> On the variable pre_page I search for a specific field where results are
> present. I cannot rely just on the name of the link because links with the
> name of my search can be everywhere on this page. That is why I want to
> specify just a part of the page where a link with the name of my query
> should be clicked. That was the only way that I found to restrict the links
> that I want to click. The problem is that I tried to make a new link, based
> on the result (which is correct, that was the link I was searching for),
and
> to click on it to proceed to the next page. However @last_page is always
nil
> and this is not working. If someone has a good idea or how can I make it
> correct , please send me a reply!
>
> Best Regards
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mechanize-users mailing list
> Mechanize-users at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/mechanize-users
>
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Here,

got bored and decided to try your code out. I cleaned it up a little.

http://pastie.org/784099

Try this and see if you get what you''re looking for.

~Jeremy Woertink

On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 4:15 PM, Jeremy Woertink
<jeremywoertink at gmail.com>wrote:
> well.. first, your variables are all over the place. You have a mix of
> Constants, class, instance, and local variables. Not a problem, but since
> you''re new to Ruby, I would recommend sticking to some sort of
normal
> scheme. Now with that being said, looking at
>
>
> *@last_page* = WWW::Mechanize::Page::Link.new(result,@@mech,*@pre_page*
> ).click
>
> you call @pre_page which is nil because it was never defined. Did you try
> creating it with just the pre_page variable?
>
> ~Jeremy Woertink
>
> 2010/1/18 Felipe Jord?o A. P. Mattosinho <felipemattosinho at
terra.com.br>
>
>>  Hi everybody,
>>
>>
>>
>> I am a new Ruby programmer and Mechanize & Nokogiri user. I am
using the
>> both gems however for my master thesis, and since I can?t see much
>> documentation for mechanize on the internet I have a question.
>>
>>    URL = ''http://reviews.cnet.com''
>>
>>   SEARCH_FIELD_NAME = ''tsearch''
>>
>>   XPATH_TO_RESULT_PAGE
="/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul"
>>
>>   XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE
="/html/body/div[2]/div/div[2]/div[3]/div[2]/form/ul/li/div[4]/a"
>>
>>
>>
>>     @@mech = WWW::Mechanize.new
>>
>>
>>
>>     # Creates an instance of Mechanize and select CNET Website
>>
>>
>>
>>     page = @@mech.get(URL)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     search_form = page.form(SEARCH_FIELD_NAME)
>>
>>
>>
>>     search_form.query = query
>>
>>
>>
>>     pre_page = @@mech.submit(search_form, search_form.buttons.first)
>>
>> *  *
>>
>> *    pre_page*.search(XPATH_TO_FIRST_LINK_RESULT_PAGE)* do* |result|
>>
>>
>>
>> *    @last_page* = WWW::Mechanize::Page::Link.new(result,@@mech,*
>> @pre_page*).click
>>
>>
>>
>>       end
>>
>>
>>
>> My problem is with the variable @last_page. I am not so sure if  I am
>> doing something but I believe I am. I mean that was the only way I
found to
>> do what I wanted to.
>>
>> On the variable pre_page I search for a specific field where results
are
>> present. I cannot rely just on the name of the link because links with
the
>> name of my search can be everywhere on this page. That is why I want to
>> specify just a part of the page where a link with the name of my query
>> should be clicked. That was the only way that I found to restrict the
links
>> that I want to click. The problem is that I tried to make a new link,
based
>> on the result (which is correct, that was the link I was searching
for), and
>> to click on it to proceed to the next page. However @last_page is
always nil
>> and this is not working. If someone has a good idea or how can I make
it
>> correct , please send me a reply!
>>
>> Best Regards
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mechanize-users mailing list
>> Mechanize-users at rubyforge.org
>> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/mechanize-users
>>
>
>
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