# NAME Web::Query - Yet another scraping library like jQuery # VERSION version 1.00 # SYNOPSIS ```perl use Web::Query; wq('http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/') ->find('div.head dt') ->each(sub { my $i = shift; printf("%d %s\n", $i+1, $_->text); }); ``` # DESCRIPTION Web::Query is a yet another scraping framework, have a jQuery like interface. Yes, I know Ingy's [pQuery](https://metacpan.org/pod/pQuery). But it's just a alpha quality. It doesn't works. Web::Query built at top of the CPAN modules, [HTML::TreeBuilder::XPath](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3ATreeBuilder%3A%3AXPath), [LWP::UserAgent](https://metacpan.org/pod/LWP%3A%3AUserAgent), and [HTML::Selector::XPath](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3ASelector%3A%3AXPath). So, this module uses [HTML::Selector::XPath](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3ASelector%3A%3AXPath) and only supports the CSS 3 selector supported by that module. Web::Query doesn't support jQuery's extended queries(yet?). If a selector is passed as a scalar ref, it'll be taken as a straight XPath expression. ``` $wq( '<div><p>hello</p><p>there</p></div>' )->find( 'p' ); # css selector $wq( '<div><p>hello</p><p>there</p></div>' )->find( \'/div/p' ); # xpath selector ``` **THIS LIBRARY IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. ANY API MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE**. # FUNCTIONS - `wq($stuff)` This is a shortcut for `Web::Query->new($stuff)`. This function is exported by default. # METHODS ## CONSTRUCTORS - my $q = Web::Query->new($stuff, \\%options ) Create new instance of Web::Query. You can make the instance from URL(http, https, file scheme), HTML in string, URL in string, [URI](https://metacpan.org/pod/URI) object, `undef`, and either one [HTML::Element](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3AElement) object or an array ref of them. ``` # all valid creators $q = Web::Query->new( 'http://techblog.babyl.ca' ); $q = Web::Query->new( '<p>foo</p>' ); $q = Web::Query->new( undef ); ``` This method throw the exception on unknown $stuff. This method returns undefined value on non-successful response with URL. Currently, the only two valid options are _indent_, which will be used as the indentation string if the object is printed, and _no\_space\_compacting_, which will prevent the compaction of whitespace characters in text blocks. - my $q = Web::Query->new\_from\_element($element: HTML::Element) Create new instance of Web::Query from instance of [HTML::Element](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3AElement). - `my $q = Web::Query->new_from_html($html: Str)` Create new instance of Web::Query from HTML. - my $q = Web::Query->new\_from\_url($url: Str) Create new instance of Web::Query from URL. If the response is not success(It means /^20\[0-9\]$/), this method returns undefined value. You can get a last result of response, use the `$Web::Query::RESPONSE`. Here is a best practical code: ```perl my $url = 'http://example.com/'; my $q = Web::Query->new_from_url($url) or die "Cannot get a resource from $url: " . Web::Query->last_response()->status_line; ``` - my $q = Web::Query->new\_from\_file($file\_name: Str) Create new instance of Web::Query from file name. ## TRAVERSING ### add Returns a new object augmented with the new element(s). - add($html) An HTML fragment to add to the set of matched elements. - add(@elements) One or more @elements to add to the set of matched elements. @elements that already are part of the set are not added a second time. ```perl my $group = $wq->find('#foo'); # collection has 1 element $group = $group->add( '#bar', $wq ); # 2 elements $group->add( '#foo', $wq ); # still 2 elements ``` - add($wq) An existing Web::Query object to add to the set of matched elements. - add($selector, $context) $selector is a string representing a selector expression to find additional elements to add to the set of matched elements. $context is the point in the document at which the selector should begin matching ### contents Get the immediate children of each element in the set of matched elements, including text and comment nodes. ### each Visit each nodes. `$i` is a counter value, 0 origin. `$elem` is iteration item. `$_` is localized by `$elem`. ```perl $q->each(sub { my ($i, $elem) = @_; ... }) ``` ### end Back to the before context like jQuery. ### filter Reduce the elements to those that pass the function's test. ```perl $q->filter(sub { my ($i, $elem) = @_; ... }) ``` ### find Get the descendants of each element in the current set of matched elements, filtered by a selector. ```perl my $q2 = $q->find($selector); # $selector is a CSS3 selector. ``` **NOTE** If you want to match the element itself, use ["filter"](#filter). **INCOMPATIBLE CHANGE** From v0.14 to v0.19 (inclusive) find() also matched the element itself, which is not jQuery compatible. You can achieve that result using `filter()`, `add()` and `find()`: ```perl my $wq = wq('<div class="foo"><p class="foo">bar</p></div>'); # needed because we don't have a global document like jQuery does print $wq->filter('.foo')->add($wq->find('.foo'))->as_html; # <div class="foo"><p class="foo">bar</p></div><p class="foo">bar</p> ``` ### first Return the first matching element. This method constructs a new Web::Query object from the first matching element. ### last Return the last matching element. This method constructs a new Web::Query object from the last matching element. ### match($selector) Returns a boolean indicating if the elements match the `$selector`. In scalar context returns only the boolean for the first element. For the reverse of `not()`, see `filter()`. ### not($selector) Returns all the elements not matching the `$selector`. ```perl # $do_for_love will be every thing, except #that my $do_for_love = $wq->find('thing')->not('#that'); ``` ### and\_back Add the previous set of elements to the current one. ``` # get the h1 plus everything until the next h1 $wq->find('h1')->next_until('h1')->and_back; ``` ### map Creates a new array with the results of calling a provided function on every element. ```perl $q->map(sub { my ($i, $elem) = @_; ... }) ``` ### parent Get the parent of each element in the current set of matched elements. ### prev Get the previous node of each element in the current set of matched elements. ```perl my $prev = $q->prev; ``` ### next Get the next node of each element in the current set of matched elements. ```perl my $next = $q->next; ``` ### next\_until( $selector ) Get all subsequent siblings, up to (but not including) the next node matched `$selector`. ## MANIPULATION ### add\_class Adds the specified class(es) to each of the set of matched elements. ``` # add class 'foo' to <p> elements wq('<div><p>foo</p><p>bar</p></div>')->find('p')->add_class('foo'); ``` ### toggle\_class( @classes ) Toggles the given class or classes on each of the element. I.e., if the element had the class, it'll be removed, and if it hadn't, it'll be added. Classes are toggled once, no matter how many times they appear in the argument list. ``` $q->toggle_class( 'foo', 'foo', 'bar' ); # equivalent to $q->toggle_class('foo')->toggle_class('bar'); # and not $q->toggle_class('foo')->toggle_class('foo')->toggle_class('bar'); ``` ### after Insert content, specified by the parameter, after each element in the set of matched elements. ``` wq('<div><p>foo</p></div>')->find('p') ->after('<b>bar</b>') ->end ->as_html; # <div><p>foo</p><b>bar</b></div> ``` The content can be anything accepted by ["new"](#new). ### append Insert content, specified by the parameter, to the end of each element in the set of matched elements. ``` wq('<div></div>')->append('<p>foo</p>')->as_html; # <div><p>foo</p></div> ``` The content can be anything accepted by ["new"](#new). ### as\_html Returns the string representations of either the first or all elements, depending if called in list or scalar context. If given an argument `join`, the string representations of the elements will be concatenated with the given string. ```perl wq( '<div><p>foo</p><p>bar</p></div>' ) ->find('p') ->as_html( join => '!' ); # <p>foo</p>!<p>bar</p> ``` ### ` attr ` Get/set attribute values. In getter mode, it'll return either the values of the attribute for all elements of the set, or only the first one depending of the calling context. ```perl my @values = $q->attr('style'); # style of all elements my $first_value = $q->attr('style'); # style of first element ``` In setter mode, it'll set attributes value for all elements, and return back the original object for easy chaining. ```perl $q->attr( 'alt' => 'a picture' )->find( ... ); # can pass more than 1 element too $q->attr( alt => 'a picture', src => 'file:///...' ); ``` The value passed for an attribute can be a code ref. In that case, the code will be called with `$_` set to the current attribute value. If the code modifies `$_`, the attribute will be updated with the new value. ```perl $q->attr( alt => sub { $_ ||= 'A picture' } ); ``` ### ` id ` Get/set the elements's id attribute. In getter mode, it behaves just like `attr()`. In setter mode, it behaves like `attr()`, but with the following exceptions. If the attribute value is a scalar, it'll be only assigned to the first element of the set (as ids are supposed to be unique), and the returned object will only contain that first element. ```perl my $first_element = $q->id('the_one'); ``` It's possible to set the ids of all the elements by passing a sub to `id()`. The sub is given the same arguments as for `each()`, and its return value is taken to be the new id of the elements. ```perl $q->id( sub { my $i = shift; 'foo_' . $i } ); ``` ### ` name ` Get/set the elements's 'name' attribute. ```perl my $name = $q->name; # equivalent to $q->attr( 'name' ); $q->name( 'foo' ); # equivalent to $q->attr( name => 'foo' ); ``` ### ` data ` Get/set the elements's 'data-\*name\*' attributes. ```perl my $data = $q->data('foo'); # equivalent to $q->attr( 'data-foo' ); $q->data( 'foo' => 'bar' ); # equivalent to $q->attr( 'data-foo' => 'bar' ); ``` ### tagname Get/Set the tag name of elements. ```perl my $name = $q->tagname; $q->tagname($new_name); ``` ### before Insert content, specified by the parameter, before each element in the set of matched elements. ``` wq('<div><p>foo</p></div>')->find('p') ->before('<b>bar</b>') ->end ->as_html; # <div><b>bar</b><p>foo</p></div> ``` The content can be anything accepted by ["new"](#new). ### clone Create a deep copy of the set of matched elements. ### detach Remove the set of matched elements from the DOM. ### has\_class Determine whether any of the matched elements are assigned the given class. ### ` html ` Get/Set the innerHTML. ```perl my @html = $q->html(); my $html = $q->html(); # 1st matching element only $q->html('<p>foo</p>'); ``` ### insert\_before Insert every element in the set of matched elements before the target. ### insert\_after Insert every element in the set of matched elements after the target. ### ` prepend ` Insert content, specified by the parameter, to the beginning of each element in the set of matched elements. ### remove Delete the elements associated with the object from the DOM. ``` # remove all <blink> tags from the document $q->find('blink')->remove; ``` ### remove\_class Remove a single class, multiple classes, or all classes from each element in the set of matched elements. ### replace\_with Replace the elements of the object with the provided replacement. The replacement can be a string, a `Web::Query` object or an anonymous function. The anonymous function is passed the index of the current node and the node itself (with is also localized as `$_`). ```perl my $q = wq( '<p><b>Abra</b><i>cada</i><u>bra</u></p>' ); $q->find('b')->replace_with('<a>Ocus</a>); # <p><a>Ocus</a><i>cada</i><u>bra</u></p> $q->find('u')->replace_with($q->find('b')); # <p><i>cada</i><b>Abra</b></p> $q->find('i')->replace_with(sub{ my $name = $_->text; return "<$name></$name>"; }); # <p><b>Abra</b><cada></cada><u>bra</u></p> ``` ### size Return the number of elements in the Web::Query object. ``` wq('<div><p>foo</p><p>bar</p></div>')->find('p')->size; # 2 ``` ### text Get/Set the text. ```perl my @text = $q->text(); my $text = $q->text(); # 1st matching element only $q->text('text'); ``` If called in a scalar context, only return the string representation of the first element ## OTHERS - Web::Query->last\_response() Returns last HTTP response status that generated by `new_from_url()`. # HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE USER AGENT? You can specify your own instance of [LWP::UserAgent](https://metacpan.org/pod/LWP%3A%3AUserAgent). ```perl $Web::Query::UserAgent = LWP::UserAgent->new( agent => 'Mozilla/5.0' ); ``` # FAQ AND TROUBLESHOOTING ## How to find XML processing instructions in a document? It's possible with [Web::Query::LibXML](https://metacpan.org/pod/Web%3A%3AQuery%3A%3ALibXML) and by using an xpath expression with `find()`: ``` # find <?xml-stylesheet ... ?> $q->find(\"//processing-instruction('xml-stylesheet')"); ``` However, note that the support for processing instructions in [HTML::TreeBuilder::LibXML::Node](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3ATreeBuilder%3A%3ALibXML%3A%3ANode) is sketchy, so there are methods like `attr()` that won't work. ## Can't get the content of script elements The <script> tag is treated differently by [HTML::TreeBuilder](https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML%3A%3ATreeBuilder), the parser used by Web::Query. To retrieve the content, you can use either the method `html()` (with the caveat that the content will be escaped), or use [Web::Query::LibXML](https://metacpan.org/pod/Web%3A%3AQuery%3A%3ALibXML), which parse the 'script' element differently. ```perl my $node = "<script>var x = '<p>foo</p>';</script>"; say Web::Query::wq( $node )->text; # nothing is printed! say Web::Query::wq( $node )->html; # var x = '<p>foo</p>'; say Web::Query::LibXML::wq( $node )->text; # var x = '<p>foo</p>'; say Web::Query::LibXML::wq( $node )->html; # var x = '<p>foo</p>'; ``` # INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES - 0.10 new\_from\_url() is no longer throws exception on bad response from HTTP server. # AUTHOR Tokuhiro Matsuno <tokuhirom AAJKLFJEF@ GMAIL COM> # SEE ALSO - [pQuery](https://metacpan.org/pod/pQuery) - [XML::LibXML::jQuery](https://metacpan.org/pod/XML%3A%3ALibXML%3A%3AjQuery) # LICENSE Copyright (C) Tokuhiro Matsuno This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. # BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website [https://github.com/tokuhirom/Web-Query/issues](https://github.com/tokuhirom/Web-Query/issues) When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature.