req(options), where options is a request options object. See requestJS for full detail.
scrape(dyn, url, scope, selector), where dyn is the boolean to use dynamic scraping using x-ray-phantom; url is the page url, scope and selector are some HTML selectors. See x-ray for full detail.
scrapeCrawl(dyn, url, selector, tailArr, [limit]), where dyn is true for dynamic scraping using x-ray-phantom;

`req(options)`

Convenient wrapper for request js - HTTP request method that returns a promise.

param	desc
`options`	A `request` options object. See `requestJS` for full detail.

// imports
var scraper = require('reqscraper');
var req = scraper.req; // the request module

// sample use of req
var options = {
        method: 'GET',
        url: 'https://www.google.com',
        headers: {
        	'Accept': 'application/json',
        	'Authorization': 'some_auth_details'
        }
    }

// returns the request result in a promise, for chaining
return req(options)
// prints the result
.then(console.log)
// prints the error if thrown
.catch(console.log)

`scrape(dyn, url, scope, selector)`

Scraper that returns a promise. Backed by x-ray.

param	desc
`dyn`	the boolean to use dynamic scraping using `x-ray-phantom`
`url`	the page url to scrape
`[scope]`	Optional scope to narrow now the target HTML for selector
`selector`	HTML selector. See `x-ray` for full detail.

// imports
var scraper = require('reqscraper');
var scrape = scraper.scrape; // the scraper

// sample use of scrape, non-dynamic
return scrape(false, 'https://www.google.com', 'body')
// prints the HTML <body> tag
.then(console.log)

// You can also call it with scope in param #3, and selector in #4
return scrape(false, 'https://www.google.com', 'body', ['li'])
// prints the <li>'s inside the <body> tag
.then(console.log)

`scrapeCrawl(dyn, url, selector, tailArr)`

An extension of scrape above with crawling capability. Returns a promise with results in a tree-like JSON structure. Crawls by a breath-first tree structure, and does not crawl deeper if the root of a branch is not crawlable.

param	desc
`dyn`	the boolean to use dynamic scraping using `x-ray-phantom`
`url`	the base page url to scrape and crawl from
`selector`	The selector for the base page (first level)
`tailArr`	An array of selectors for each level to crawl. Note that a preceeding selector must specify the urls to crawl via `hrefs`.
`[limit]`	An optional integer to limit the number of children crawled at every level.

// imports
var scraper = require('reqscraper');
var scrapeCrawl = scraper.scrapeCrawl; // the scrape-crawler

// dynamic scraper
var dc = scrapeCrawl.bind(null, true)
// static scraper
var sc = scrapeCrawl.bind(null, false)

// sample use of scrape-crawl, static

// base selector, level 0
// has attribute `hrefs` for crawling next
var selector0 = {
    img: ['.dribbble-img'],
    h1: ['h1'],
    hrefs: ['.next_page@href']
}

// has attribute `hrefs` for crawling
var selector1 = {
    h1: ['h1'],
    hrefs: ['.next_page@href']
}
// the last selector where crawling ends; no need for `hrefs`
var selector2 = {
    h1: ['h1']
}

// Sample call of the method
sc(
    'https://dribbble.com', 
    selector0,
    // crawl for 3 more times before stoppping at the 4th level
    [selector1, selector1, selector1, selector2]
    )
.then(function(res){
    // prints the result
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2))
})


// Same as above, but with a limit on how many children should be crawled (3 below)
sc(
    'https://dribbble.com', 
    selector0,
    // crawl for 3 more times before stoppping at the 4th level
    [selector1, selector1, selector1, selector2],
    3
    )
.then(function(res){
    // prints the result
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2))
})

Changelog

Aug 18 2015

Added scrapecrawl, basically a scraper extended from scrape that can also crawl.
Updated README for better API doc.

Keywords

FAQs

What is reqscraper?

Is reqscraper popular?

Is reqscraper well maintained?

Last updated on 28 Jan 2016

Did you know?

Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.

Install