Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

MegaArcon · Dec 9th, 2005, 11:31 AM

Yo all! ^_^

I've got a web page that dynamically creates a tree-like directory structure with given input by the user. It would be in a form like the following:

(Toggle Plain Text)

...

<ul id="root">
   <ul>
      <li> 
         Dir1 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button>
      </li>
   </ul>
   <ul>
      <li>
         Dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button>
      </li>
      <ul>
         <li>
            file_in_dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button>
         </li>
       </ul>
    </ul> 
</ul>

...

(Sure hope the spacing worked out ok) The overkill on the <ul> elements is so that the dir will have a tree-like structure when it is rendered in the browser. Anyhow, I need to generate an xml document from the information on the form. The things that are in the data fields are trivial, (at least they should be) but this data structrue is giving me some greef.

How exactly do I pass this onto python to parse and save in the xml file? Any thoughts?

Thanks! ^_^

Arevos · Dec 9th, 2005, 1:31 PM

You might want to look at Beautiful Soup

MegaArcon · Dec 12th, 2005, 7:37 AM

Looks interesting. I'll see if I can use that to figure it out. However, it seems that all the examples that are there only pass in html files. I'm still at a loss as to how to pass dynamic content off to python.

Arevos · Dec 12th, 2005, 9:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MegaArcon

Looks interesting. I'll see if I can use that to figure it out. However, it seems that all the examples that are there only pass in html files. I'm still at a loss as to how to pass dynamic content off to python.

What do you mean? So long as it's HTML you're parsing, it does not matter where you get the HTML from, be it a .html file on your computer, or from a dynamically generated web page through HTTP.

MegaArcon · Dec 12th, 2005, 10:45 AM

Sorry for being unclear. The problem I was having was exactly HOW to get the dynamcially generated string of html off the page. I made a quick trip over to the javascript section, and I can get access to it by:

(Toggle Plain Text)

document.getElementsByTagName("html")[0].innerHTML

Or something along those lines. ^_^

Thanks all! I'll play around with this and it should (by the looks of it) solve my problem.

Arevos · Dec 12th, 2005, 12:42 PM

Oh! You mean dynamically created by javascript, rather than a server-side language like PHP?

Cerulean · Dec 12th, 2005, 4:08 PM

Bear in mind that though innerHTML is supported by all recent modern graphical browsers it isn't part of the W3 standard - by all means use it, just know who your target audience. With that said you're using other JavaScript stuff for dynamically adding form elements, so you should be okay really.

MegaArcon · Dec 13th, 2005, 7:50 AM

Yea, I was building this with the standars in mind, but IE made my scripts cry.

I'm doing some kinda trickey stuff with this project, and unfortunatly, some anti-standard stuff had to be used to get the blasted thing to work....o.k, I guess that's a lie. I'm sure there was a way (or two or three) to get around my problems and keep to standards...but oh well. At least most of the firefox/mozilla parts are by the standard.

And I do, fortunatlly, know my audience and I'm testing it on the browsers that they use. (Aside from Konqueror....poor Konqueror)

Cerulean · Dec 14th, 2005, 11:45 AM

Most Firefox script thingys worth with our beloved Konqueror, so you should be alright. As long as you don't use too many exotic things you should be okay - Konqueror has wonderful support for innerHTML, XmlHTTPRequest, and so on.

Dec 9th, 2005, 11:31 AM	#1
MegaArcon Programmer Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 66 Rep Power: 0	Parsing a piece of HTML Yo all! ^_^ I've got a web page that dynamically creates a tree-like directory structure with given input by the user. It would be in a form like the following: (Toggle Plain Text) ... <ul id="root"> <ul> <li> Dir1 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> Dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> <ul> <li> file_in_dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> </ul> </ul> </ul> ... ... <ul id="root"> <ul> <li> Dir1 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> Dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> <ul> <li> file_in_dir2 <button onclick='add()'>Add another</button> </li> </ul> </ul> </ul> ... (Sure hope the spacing worked out ok) The overkill on the <ul> elements is so that the dir will have a tree-like structure when it is rendered in the browser. Anyhow, I need to generate an xml document from the information on the form. The things that are in the data fields are trivial, (at least they should be) but this data structrue is giving me some greef. How exactly do I pass this onto python to parse and save in the xml file? Any thoughts? Thanks! ^_^

Dec 12th, 2005, 10:45 AM	#5
MegaArcon Programmer Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 66 Rep Power: 0	Sorry for being unclear. The problem I was having was exactly HOW to get the dynamcially generated string of html off the page. I made a quick trip over to the javascript section, and I can get access to it by: (Toggle Plain Text) document.getElementsByTagName("html")[0].innerHTML document.getElementsByTagName("html")[0].innerHTML Or something along those lines. ^_^ Thanks all! I'll play around with this and it should (by the looks of it) solve my problem.

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Dec 9th, 2005, 1:31 PM	#2
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	You might want to look at Beautiful Soup

Dec 12th, 2005, 7:37 AM	#3
MegaArcon Programmer Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 66 Rep Power: 0	Looks interesting. I'll see if I can use that to figure it out. However, it seems that all the examples that are there only pass in html files. I'm still at a loss as to how to pass dynamic content off to python.

Dec 12th, 2005, 12:42 PM	#6
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	Oh! You mean dynamically created by javascript, rather than a server-side language like PHP?

Dec 12th, 2005, 4:08 PM	#7
Cerulean Professional Programmer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London, England Posts: 459 Rep Power: 4	Bear in mind that though innerHTML is supported by all recent modern graphical browsers it isn't part of the W3 standard - by all means use it, just know who your target audience. With that said you're using other JavaScript stuff for dynamically adding form elements, so you should be okay really.

Dec 13th, 2005, 7:50 AM	#8
MegaArcon Programmer Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 66 Rep Power: 0	Yea, I was building this with the standars in mind, but IE made my scripts cry. I'm doing some kinda trickey stuff with this project, and unfortunatly, some anti-standard stuff had to be used to get the blasted thing to work....o.k, I guess that's a lie. I'm sure there was a way (or two or three) to get around my problems and keep to standards...but oh well. At least most of the firefox/mozilla parts are by the standard. And I do, fortunatlly, know my audience and I'm testing it on the browsers that they use. (Aside from Konqueror....poor Konqueror)

Dec 14th, 2005, 11:45 AM	#9
Cerulean Professional Programmer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London, England Posts: 459 Rep Power: 4	Most Firefox script thingys worth with our beloved Konqueror, so you should be alright. As long as you don't use too many exotic things you should be okay - Konqueror has wonderful support for innerHTML, XmlHTTPRequest, and so on.

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Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

Parsing a piece of HTML