CkSpider Python Reference Documentation

CkSpider

Current Version: 9.5.0.97

Chilkat Spider web crawler object.

Object Creation

obj = chilkat.CkSpider()

Properties

AbortCurrent
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_AbortCurrent();
spider.put_AbortCurrent(boolVal);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

When set to True, causes the currently running method to abort. Methods that always finish quickly (i.e.have no length file operations or network communications) are not affected. If no method is running, then this property is automatically reset to False when the next method is called. When the abort occurs, this property is reset to False. Both synchronous and asynchronous method calls can be aborted. (A synchronous method call could be aborted by setting this property from a separate thread.)

top
AvoidHttps
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_AvoidHttps();
spider.put_AvoidHttps(boolVal);

If set the 1 (true) the spider will avoid all HTTPS URLs. The default is 0 (false).

top
CacheDir
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_CacheDir(ckStr);
strVal = spider.cacheDir();
spider.put_CacheDir(strVal);

Specifies a cache directory to use for spidering. If either of the FetchFromCache or UpdateCache properties are true, this is the location of the cache to be used. Note: the Internet Explorer, Netscape, and FireFox caches are completely separate from the Chilkat Spider cache directory. You should specify a new and empty directory.

More Information and Examples
top
ChopAtQuery
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_ChopAtQuery();
spider.put_ChopAtQuery(boolVal);

If equal to 1 (true), then the query portion of all URLs are automatically removed when adding to the unspidered list. The default value is 0 (false).

top
ConnectTimeout
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_ConnectTimeout();
spider.put_ConnectTimeout(intVal);

The maximum number of seconds to wait while connecting to an HTTP server.

top
DebugLogFilePath
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_DebugLogFilePath(ckStr);
strVal = spider.debugLogFilePath();
spider.put_DebugLogFilePath(strVal);

If set to a file path, causes each Chilkat method or property call to automatically append it's LastErrorText to the specified log file. The information is appended such that if a hang or crash occurs, it is possible to see the context in which the problem occurred, as well as a history of all Chilkat calls up to the point of the problem. The VerboseLogging property can be set to provide more detailed information.

This property is typically used for debugging the rare cases where a Chilkat method call hangs or generates an exception that halts program execution (i.e. crashes). A hang or crash should generally never happen. The typical causes of a hang are:

  1. a timeout related property was set to 0 to explicitly indicate that an infinite timeout is desired,
  2. the hang is actually a hang within an event callback (i.e. it is a hang within the application code), or
  3. there is an internal problem (bug) in the Chilkat code that causes the hang.

top
Domain
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_Domain(ckStr);
strVal = spider.domain();

The domain name that is being spidered. This is the domain previously set in the Initialize method.

top
FetchFromCache
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_FetchFromCache();
spider.put_FetchFromCache(boolVal);

If equal to 1 (true) then pages are fetched from cache when possible. If 0, the cache is ignored. The default value is 1. Regardless, if no CacheDir is set then the cache is not used.

More Information and Examples
top
FinalRedirectUrl
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_FinalRedirectUrl(ckStr);
strVal = spider.finalRedirectUrl();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

If the last URL crawled was redirected (as indicated by the WasRedirected property), this property will contain the final redirect URL.

top
LastErrorHtml
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastErrorHtml(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastErrorHtml();

Provides information in HTML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

top
LastErrorText
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastErrorText(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastErrorText();

Provides information in plain-text format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

top
LastErrorXml
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastErrorXml(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastErrorXml();

Provides information in XML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

top
LastFromCache
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_LastFromCache();

Equal to 1 if the last page spidered was fetched from the cache. Otherwise equal to 0.

top
LastHtml
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastHtml(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastHtml();

The HTML text of the last paged fetched by the spider.

top
LastHtmlDescription
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastHtmlDescription(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastHtmlDescription();

The HTML META description from the last page fetched by the spider.

More Information and Examples
top
LastHtmlKeywords
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastHtmlKeywords(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastHtmlKeywords();

The HTML META keywords from the last page fetched by the spider.

More Information and Examples
top
LastHtmlTitle
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastHtmlTitle(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastHtmlTitle();

The HTML title from the last page fetched by the spider.

More Information and Examples
top
LastMethodSuccess
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_LastMethodSuccess();
spider.put_LastMethodSuccess(boolVal);

Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of True indicates success, a value of False indicates failure. This property is automatically set for method calls. It is not modified by property accesses. The property is automatically set to indicate success for the following types of method calls:

  • Any method that returns a string.
  • Any method returning a Chilkat object, binary bytes, or a date/time.
  • Any method returning a standard boolean status value where success = True and failure = False.
  • Any method returning an integer where failure is defined by a return value less than zero.

Note: Methods that do not fit the above requirements will always set this property equal to True. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.

top
LastModDateStr
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastModDateStr(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastModDateStr();

The last modification date/time from the last page fetched by the spider.

top
LastUrl
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_LastUrl(ckStr);
strVal = spider.lastUrl();

The URL of the last page spidered.

top
MaxResponseSize
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_MaxResponseSize();
spider.put_MaxResponseSize(intVal);

The maximum HTTP response size allowed. The spider will automatically fail any pages larger than this size. The default value is 250,000 bytes.

More Information and Examples
top
MaxUrlLen
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_MaxUrlLen();
spider.put_MaxUrlLen(intVal);

The maximum URL length allowed. URLs longer than this are not added to the unspidered list. The default value is 200.

More Information and Examples
top
NumAvoidPatterns
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_NumAvoidPatterns();

The number of avoid patterns previously set by calling AddAvoidPattern.

top
NumFailed
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_NumFailed();

The number of URLs in the object's failed URL list.

top
NumOutboundLinks
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_NumOutboundLinks();

The number of URLs in the object's outbound links URL list.

top
NumSpidered
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_NumSpidered();

The number of URLs in the object's already-spidered URL list.

top
NumUnspidered
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_NumUnspidered();

The number of URLs in the object's unspidered URL list.

More Information and Examples
top
PreferIpv6
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_PreferIpv6();
spider.put_PreferIpv6(boolVal);

If True, then use IPv6 over IPv4 when both are supported for a particular domain. The default value of this property is False, which will choose IPv4 over IPv6.

top
ProxyDomain
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_ProxyDomain(ckStr);
strVal = spider.proxyDomain();
spider.put_ProxyDomain(strVal);

The domain name of a proxy host if an HTTP proxy is used.

top
ProxyLogin
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_ProxyLogin(ckStr);
strVal = spider.proxyLogin();
spider.put_ProxyLogin(strVal);

If an HTTP proxy is used and it requires authentication, this property specifies the HTTP proxy login.

top
ProxyPassword
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_ProxyPassword(ckStr);
strVal = spider.proxyPassword();
spider.put_ProxyPassword(strVal);

If an HTTP proxy is used and it requires authentication, this property specifies the HTTP proxy password.

top
ProxyPort
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_ProxyPort();
spider.put_ProxyPort(intVal);

The port number of a proxy server if an HTTP proxy is used.

top
ReadTimeout
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_ReadTimeout();
spider.put_ReadTimeout(intVal);

The maximum number of seconds to wait when reading from an HTTP server.

top
UpdateCache
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_UpdateCache();
spider.put_UpdateCache(boolVal);

If equal to 1 (true) then pages saved to the cache. If 0, the cache is ignored. The default value is 1. Regardless, if no CacheDir is set then the cache is not used.

More Information and Examples
top
UserAgent
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_UserAgent(ckStr);
strVal = spider.userAgent();
spider.put_UserAgent(strVal);

The value of the HTTP user-agent header field to be sent with HTTP requests. This can be set to any desired value, but be aware that some websites may reject requests from unknown user agents.

top
Utf8
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_Utf8();
spider.put_Utf8(boolVal);

When set to True, all "const char *" arguments are interpreted as utf-8 strings. If set to False (the default), then "const char *" arguments are interpreted as ANSI strings. Also, when set to True, and Chilkat method returning a "const char *" is returning the utf-8 representation. If set to False, all "const char *" return values are ANSI strings.

top
VerboseLogging
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_VerboseLogging();
spider.put_VerboseLogging(boolVal);

If set to True, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is False. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

top
Version
# strVal is a string
# ckStr is a CkString
spider.get_Version(ckStr);
strVal = spider.version();

Version of the component/library, such as "9.5.0.94"

More Information and Examples
top
WasRedirected
# boolVal is a boolean
boolVal = spider.get_WasRedirected();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Indicates whether the last URL crawled was redirected. (True = yes, False = no)

top
WindDownCount
# intVal is an integer
intVal = spider.get_WindDownCount();
spider.put_WindDownCount(intVal);

The "wind-down" phase begins when this number of URLs has been spidered. When in the wind-down phase, no new URLs are added to the unspidered list. The default value is 0 which means that there is NO wind-down phase.

top

Methods

AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern
# pattern is a string
spider.AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern(pattern);

Adds a wildcarded pattern to prevent collecting matching outbound link URLs. For example, if "*google*" is added, then any outbound links containing the word "google" will be ignored. The "*" character matches zero or more of any character.

More Information and Examples
top
AddAvoidPattern
# pattern is a string
spider.AddAvoidPattern(pattern);

Adds a wildcarded pattern to prevent spidering matching URLs. For example, if "*register*" is added, then any url containing the word "register" is not spidered. The "*" character matches zero or more of any character.

More Information and Examples
top
AddMustMatchPattern
# pattern is a string
spider.AddMustMatchPattern(pattern);

Adds a wildcarded pattern to limit spidering to only URLs that match the pattern. For example, if "*/products/*" is added, then only URLs containing "/products/" are spidered. This is helpful for only spidering a portion of a website. The "*" character matches zero or more of any character.

More Information and Examples
top
AddUnspidered
# url is a string
spider.AddUnspidered(url);

To begin spidering you must call this method one or more times to provide starting points. It adds a single URL to the object's internal queue of URLs to be spidered.

More Information and Examples
top
CanonicalizeUrl
# url is a string
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.CanonicalizeUrl(url, outStr);
retStr = spider.canonicalizeUrl(url);

Canonicalizes a URL by doing the following:

  • Drops username/password if present.
  • Drops fragment if present.
  • Converts domain to lowercase.
  • Removes port 80 or 443
  • Remove default.asp, index.html, index.htm, default.html, index.htm, default.htm, index.php, index.asp, default.php, .cfm, .aspx, ,php3, .pl, .cgi, .txt, .shtml, .phtml
  • Remove www. from the domain if present.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

More Information and Examples
top
ClearFailedUrls
spider.ClearFailedUrls();

Clears the object's internal list of URLs that could not be downloaded.

top
ClearOutboundLinks
spider.ClearOutboundLinks();

Clears the object's internal list of outbound URLs that will automatically accumulate while spidering.

top
ClearSpideredUrls
spider.ClearSpideredUrls();

Clears the object's internal list of already-spidered URLs that will automatically accumulate while spidering.

top
CrawlNext
retBool = spider.CrawlNext();

Crawls the next URL in the internal list of unspidered URLs. The URL is moved from the unspidered list to the spidered list. Any new links within the same domain and not yet spidered are added to the unspidered list. (providing that they do not match "avoid" patterns, etc.) Any new outbound links are added to the outbound URL list. If successful, the HTML of the downloaded page is available in the LastHtml property. If there are no more URLs left unspidered, the method returns False. Information about the URL crawled is available in the properties LastUrl, LastFromCache, and LastModDate.

More Information and Examples
top
CrawlNextAsync (1)
# returns a CkTask
ret_task = spider.CrawlNextAsync();

Creates an asynchronous task to call the CrawlNext method with the arguments provided. (Async methods are available starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.52.)

Returns None on failure

top
FetchRobotsText
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.FetchRobotsText(outStr);
retStr = spider.fetchRobotsText();

Returns the contents of the robots.txt file from the domain being crawled. This spider object will not crawl URLs excluded by robots.txt. If you believe the spider is not behaving correctly, please notify us at support@chilkatsoft.com and provide information detailing a case that allows us to reproduce the problem.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

More Information and Examples
top
FetchRobotsTextAsync (1)
# returns a CkTask
ret_task = spider.FetchRobotsTextAsync();

Creates an asynchronous task to call the FetchRobotsText method with the arguments provided. (Async methods are available starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.52.)

Returns None on failure

top
GetAvoidPattern
# index is an integer
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetAvoidPattern(index, outStr);
retStr = spider.getAvoidPattern(index);

Returns the Nth avoid pattern previously added by calling AddAvoidPattern. Indexing begins at 0.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
GetBaseDomain
# domain is a string
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetBaseDomain(domain, outStr);
retStr = spider.getBaseDomain(domain);

Returns the second-level + top-level domain of the domain. For example, if domain is "xyz.example.com", this returns "example.com". For some domains, such as "xyz.example.co.uk", the top 3 levels are returned, such as "example.co.uk".

Returns True for success, False for failure.

More Information and Examples
top
GetFailedUrl
# index is an integer
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetFailedUrl(index, outStr);
retStr = spider.getFailedUrl(index);

Returns the Nth URL in the failed URL list. Indexing begins at 0.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
GetOutboundLink
# index is an integer
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetOutboundLink(index, outStr);
retStr = spider.getOutboundLink(index);

Returns the Nth URL in the outbound link URL list. Indexing begins at 0.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
GetSpideredUrl
# index is an integer
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetSpideredUrl(index, outStr);
retStr = spider.getSpideredUrl(index);

Returns the Nth URL in the already-spidered URL list. Indexing begins at 0.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
GetUnspideredUrl
# index is an integer
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetUnspideredUrl(index, outStr);
retStr = spider.getUnspideredUrl(index);

Returns the Nth URL in the unspidered URL list. Indexing begins at 0.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
GetUrlDomain
# url is a string
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = spider.GetUrlDomain(url, outStr);
retStr = spider.getUrlDomain(url);

Returns the domain name part of a URL. For example, if the URL is "https://www.chilkatsoft.com/test.asp", then "www.chilkatsoft.com" is returned.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
Initialize
# domain is a string
spider.Initialize(domain);

Initializes the object to begin spidering a domain. Calling Initialize clears any patterns added via the AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern, AddAvoidPattern, and AddMustMatchPattern methods. The domain name passed to this method is what is returned by the Domain property. The spider only crawls URLs within the same domain.

More Information and Examples
top
LoadTaskCaller
# task is a CkTask
status = spider.LoadTaskCaller(task);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.80

Loads the caller of the task's async method.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
RecrawlLast
retBool = spider.RecrawlLast();

Re-crawls the last URL spidered. This helpful when cookies set in a previous page load cause the page to be loaded differently the next time.

top
RecrawlLastAsync (1)
# returns a CkTask
ret_task = spider.RecrawlLastAsync();

Creates an asynchronous task to call the RecrawlLast method with the arguments provided. (Async methods are available starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.52.)

Returns None on failure

top
SkipUnspidered
# index is an integer
spider.SkipUnspidered(index);

Moves a URL from the unspidered list to the spidered list. This allows an application to skip a specific URL.

top
SleepMs
# numMilliseconds is an integer
spider.SleepMs(numMilliseconds);

Suspends the execution of the current thread until the time-out interval elapses.

top