A simple one?

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Tommy
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:44 am

A simple one?

Post by Tommy » Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:24 am

Just purchased as it looks so intuitive :)

Saying that, I have a quick newbie question. I have 3 successive pages I would like to scrape from P1, P2 and P3 into tables T1, T2 and T3. I would like the data in the 3 tables to look like this:

Code: Select all

|		table1		|		table2		|		table3		|
-----------------------------------------------------------
|		Category1	| 	Subject1		|		Article1	|
|						| 	Subject2		|		Article2	|
|						| 	Subject3		|		Article3	|
|						| 	Subject4		|		Article4	|
|		Category2	| 	Subject1		|		Article1	|
|						| 	Subject2		|		Article2	|
|						| 	Subject3		|		Article3	|
|						| 	Subject4		|		Article4	|
|						| 	Subject5		|		Article5	|
|		Category3	| 	Subject1		|		Article1	|
|						| 	Subject2		|		Article2	|
|						| 	Subject3		|		Article3	|
|						| 	Subject4		|		        	|
|						| 	Subject5		|		Article5	|
The problem I'm having is, when extracting the data for table 1, it does it all in one go - so table 1 is only 30 rows long, whereas column 2 is 200 rows long and column 3 is 180 rows long (there isn't always an article to go with the subject).

How can I extract it so that the information I extract matches with the correct rows in all tables?

I hope this makes sense,

Tom.

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Re: A simple one?

Post by webmaster » Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:13 am

Sorry is a little hard for me to understand exactly what you need. Not sure if those are tables or columns because even though you call them tables they look like columns on your graph.

I think the problem you are having is that you want the extracted information to be on the same row as it probably is in a table in a web page. If you want, send me your project (you can attach Helium Scraper Projects in this forum) and I'll take a look at it.

I think I need a little more information to be able to help you.
Juan Soldi
The Helium Scraper Team

Tommy
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:44 am

Re: A simple one?

Post by Tommy » Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:26 am

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, I should have stated columns and not tables, sorry. I'm looking to have the information in one table and have it so all the relevant rows line up in their respective columns. At the moment, the way I am extracting, column 1 may have 30 rows, column 2 - 200 rows and column 3 - 180rows. I want it so, that each column is 200 rows and they all line up with each other. I hope that makes more sense.

I haven't got a project I can attach as it's such a small scrape (3 successive pages), but hopefully I've given you enough information.

Thanks again.

webmaster
Site Admin
Posts: 521
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 8:39 am
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Re: A simple one?

Post by webmaster » Sat Mar 26, 2011 3:44 pm

Normally, Helium Scraper will be able to figure out on which row to put each item appropriately. Make sure your Kinds are selecting the right elements. If everything is OK and the items are still not being extracted where you want them, you will probably need to use some JavaScript.

If you want send me the web page (URL) and I'll see what the problem is.
Juan Soldi
The Helium Scraper Team

Tommy
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:44 am

Re: A simple one?

Post by Tommy » Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:44 pm

Thanks for the reply.

Can I drop you the details over via email (PM seems disabled)?

I'm sure it's the simplest of things, and doesn't require JavaScript, but I just can't get my head around how to extract the information in one table.

Thanks.

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