Downloading files automatically from a webpage

Seeking a way to automatically download a file from a website, as the current manual process is cumbersome. Each time involves logging in, navigating to the file, and clicking download.

If anyone has advice on automating this task using tools like MS DOS batch or python on Windows 7, I would greatly appreciate it. Open to other suggestions as well!

Answer №1

If you're looking to automate downloads, selenium web driver is a great tool to use. You can customize browser download preferences using the following Java snippet:

FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile();
profile.setPreference("browser.download.folderList", 2);
profile.setPreference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", false);
profile.setPreference("browser.download.dir", "C:\\downloads");
profile.setPreference("browser.helperApps.neverAsk.openFile","text/csv,application/x-msexcel,application/excel,application/x-excel,application/vnd.ms-excel,text/html,text/plain,application/msword,application/xml");

To handle any popups that may appear during the download process, you can utilize this Robot class method:

Robot robot = new Robot();
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_DOWN); 
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_DOWN);
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER); 
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER);

Answer №2

It's recommended to utilize requests for fetching the HTML and file, as well as Beautifulsoup for parsing the HTML and searching for links.

requests includes built-in authentication features: http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/. Beautifulsoup is known for its user-friendly functionality:

To implement this in pseudocode: use request to download the HTML and authenticate. Iterate through the links by analyzing them. If a link meets certain criteria, save it in a list; otherwise, continue. Once all relevant links have been extracted, go through each one and download the associated file using requests (req = requests.get('url_to_file_here', auth={'username','password'}); if req.status_code is [200], save the content of the file as req.text)

If you share the URL of the website you wish to download from, we may be able to provide further assistance.

Similar questions

If you have not found the answer to your question or you are interested in this topic, then look at other similar questions below or use the search

Iterating through the last pages always results in a false return

I am encountering an issue where the methods in my test are functioning correctly, but I am getting a false return when the pages end. How can I ensure that after the method runs, it returns true? I understand that I need to address the logic in the initN ...

The chrome driver is experiencing issues on Windows

I am trying to execute my python selenium scripts in the chrome browser on a Windows machine. Despite downloading the chrome driver and placing the .exe file in "C:\Python27\Scripts", I am encountering the following error: Traceback (most recent ...

Struggling to locate element with xpath in Selenium using Python

I am new to Python+selenium and trying to create some automations. Unfortunately, inspecting elements on a specific webpage has been quite challenging. There are no ids available for me to use, so I have been attempting to use xpath instead. I am specifica ...

``The Codeception function that waits for an element to appear is `seeOr

I am facing a challenge with an application I'm testing using Selenium/Codeception. This app has multiple ajax functions that alter the pages by showing or hiding different sections, which Codeception is not currently handling effectively. The issue ...

Acquiring a .JSON file on Windows Phone 8.1

At this moment, I've got the following code snippet: string uri = "http://yts.to/api/v2/list_movies.json?limit=20&page=1"; var webRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(uri); webRequest.Method = "GET"; var webResponse = (HttpWebResponse)webR ...

Leveraging Scrapy/Selenium for populating fields and conducting searches on LinkedIn's advanced search page

Discover the URL for LinkedIn's advanced search feature: In my attempt to complete fields and submit a form on the LinkedIn advanced search page using Selenium with Python, I encountered a challenge. Whenever I try typing in information for fields l ...

Ways to resolve the stale element issue on a webpage without the need to refresh the

Looking to gather information about the different types of Tyres featured on this page. Each tyre comes in various FINITIONS, with individual prices and details. I would like to click on each FINITION type but encounter a problem - upon clicking, the lin ...

Using JavaScript with Selenium, you can easily clear the input field and send

Here is a question input field. When clicked on, the h3 element with the name will disappear and the input tag will appear for entry of a new name. <td style="width:92%;"> <h3 id="question_tex ...

Using the power of Selenium's XPath, we can easily navigate through a table to access

Looking for assistance in creating selenium xpath for the various column links within a table. Each row has a unique identifier and contains information about a product, including the name. Based on the product name, I need to locate other links within the ...

Is there a way to accurately measure the loading time of a Mobile Application page by utilizing Appium and Java?

Hey there, I'm looking to determine the page loading time of a Mobile app as it transitions between screens for our Mobile Application. This is the process I have attempted so far: Before interacting with an element, I capture the current time in mi ...

What is the best way to handle remote connections while utilizing the Selenium WebDriver Plugin in JMeter within a Docker environment?

I am currently using Selenium WebDriver Plugin with JMeter within a Docker environment to perform tests on an external webpage using Selenium in Java. However, I encounter the following message when running the JMeter Script (.jmx): Only local connections ...

In Selenium, there seems to be an issue with IE11 not being able to locate an element using xpath, even though Chrome

HTML <tr> <td class="label" width="30%" valign="bottom">SOID: </td> <td class="desc" valign="top">123456789</td> </tr> I am interested in extracting the value "123456789" Xpath ".//td[contains(@class, ...

Tips for dynamically updating a value on a webpage when the ID or class is constantly changing using VBA and Selenium

Can anyone help me with updating a specific value on a private website where the ID keeps changing? I'm unable to use FindElementByID as the number inside the ID keeps changing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have attempted to print the attri ...

Evaluating an AngularJS application using Selenium

Exploring the functionalities of an AngularJS application Discover more about Angular JS App Encountered an error while clicking on the UI Kit link on the website - Error at demoaj.Ajapp.main(Ajapp.java:16) Caused by: org.openqa.selenium.NoSuchEleme ...

Can RemoteWebDriver be transformed into an AndroidDriver in any way?

1. Setting up a page by declaring the driver as RemoteDriver. 2. Invoking a function where I'm once again specifying the driver as RemoteDriver. 3. Executing a test with the driver declared as RemoteDriver. 4. Attempting to access the AppiumDriver met ...

Jenkins experiences random timeout issues with Protractor tests in Docker but the tests run smoothly when executed in Docker locally

When utilizing the API's specified by Protractor & Jasmine (the default/supported runner for Protractor), the tests perform perfectly on individual developer laptops. However, when executed on the Jenkins CI server, they fail (even though both hos ...

The user agent detected is Googlebot utilizing the Selenium automation tool

Is there a way to use Selenium to simulate Googlebot when accessing my webpage? I have attempted to implement this functionality using the code below, but it does not seem to be redirecting the traffic as intended. Can anyone provide guidance on how to p ...

What is the best way to capture selenium rc scripts in a pop-up window?

I'm experiencing an issue where my website is opening in a popup window, causing all the functionality to be contained within that same window. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble recording the Selenium RC scripts because it doesn't recognize ...

Choosing a value from a dropdown menu with Selenium and Python: Step-by-step guide

Currently, I am using Selenium with Python and I am looking to automate the process of selecting an option from a drop-down menu. Specifically, I need to select the option labeled (00:00-06:00). <div class="prepopulated-select__SelectContainer-sc-xyh ...

What is the best way to handle modal pop up dialogs in Internet Explorer when using Selenium with Java?

I have been searching high and low for a solution to my issue, but haven't had any luck. I thought that Selenium would have a straightforward method for handling modal windows/dialogs in Internet Explorer with Java by now. The web application I' ...