---
product: Chilkat
product_version: 11.7.0
language: delphidll
language_label: Delphi DLL
class: Spider
license: free
deprecated: false
reference_html: https://www.chilkatsoft.com/refdoc/dd_CkSpiderRef.html
---
# Chilkat Spider — Delphi DLL — v11.7.0

> Chilkat 11.7.0 · language=delphidll · class=Spider
> Other versions: replace `11.7.0` in this URL. Other languages: `https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/<lang>/classes/Spider.md`.
> Language-wide rules (install, unlock, error model, strings/bytes): `https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/delphidll/guide.md`.

## Purpose

**Crawl a website domain, manage URL queues, filter links, cache pages, and inspect fetched HTML.**

`Chilkat.Spider` crawls pages within a single initialized domain. It maintains internal lists of unspidered, spidered, failed, and outbound URLs; fetches one page at a time; extracts same-domain links for continued crawling; collects outbound links separately; respects `robots.txt`; supports wildcard include and avoid patterns; can use a dedicated cache directory; and exposes the last fetched HTML, title, meta description, keywords, redirect information, cache status, and last-modified date.

**Domain-limited crawling**

Initialize the spider with a domain and crawl only URLs that belong to that same domain.

**URL queue management**

Add starting URLs, crawl the next queued URL, skip selected URLs, and inspect unspidered, spidered, failed, and outbound URL lists.

**Filtering rules**

Add wildcard avoid patterns, must-match patterns, and outbound-link avoid patterns to control which URLs are crawled or collected.

**Page metadata**

Read the last fetched HTML, page title, meta description, meta keywords, final redirect URL, and last-modified timestamp.

**Caching and redirects**

Fetch pages from a Chilkat-managed cache, update the cache, detect when a page was redirected, and inspect whether the last page came from cache.

**Network controls**

Configure user-agent, proxy settings, connect/read timeouts, IPv6 preference, maximum URL length, maximum response size, and abort support.

**Common pattern:** Call `Initialize` with the target domain, add one or more starting URLs with `AddUnspidered`, optionally add filtering patterns, then repeatedly call `CrawlNext`. After each successful crawl, inspect `LastUrl`, `LastHtml`, page metadata, redirect state, and the URL-list counts to decide whether to continue, skip, recrawl, or process the page.

**Scope note:** `Spider` is intended for controlled, domain-oriented crawling and link discovery. Use `Chilkat.Http` or `Chilkat.Rest` when the task is a single HTTP request, API call, form post, or download rather than a crawl of discovered links.

## Object creation, unlocking and error handling

**Create/Dispose**

```pascal
var
myObject: HCkSpider;

begin
myObject := CkSpider_Create();

// ...

CkSpider_Dispose(myObject);
end;
```

`function CkSpider_Create: HCkSpider; stdcall;`

Creates an instance of the HCkSpider object and returns a handle (i.e. a Pointer). The handle is passed in the 1st argument for the functions listed on this page.

`procedure CkSpider_Dispose(handle: HCkSpider); stdcall;`

Objects created by calling CkSpider_Create must be freed by calling this method. A memory leak occurs if a handle is not disposed by calling this function.

Call `Global.UnlockBundle` once at the start of the program, before using this or any other Chilkat class. Any string unlocks a fully functional 30-day trial; a purchased unlock code is used in production. See `guide.md` for the exact code in Delphi DLL.

## Members common to every Chilkat class

Documented once per language in `common-members.md`; listed here so this page is self-contained.

| Property | Signature | Access | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| `DebugLogFilePath` | `procedure CkSpider_getDebugLogFilePath(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putDebugLogFilePath(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__debugLogFilePath(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` | read/write | If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. |
| `LastErrorHtml` | `procedure CkSpider_getLastErrorHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastErrorHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` | read-only | Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. |
| `LastErrorText` | `procedure CkSpider_getLastErrorText(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastErrorText(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` | read-only | Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. |
| `LastErrorXml` | `procedure CkSpider_getLastErrorXml(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastErrorXml(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` | read-only | Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. |
| `LastMethodSuccess` | `function CkSpider_getLastMethodSuccess(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putLastMethodSuccess(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` | read/write | Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: `True` means success, `False` means failure. |
| `VerboseLogging` | `function CkSpider_getVerboseLogging(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putVerboseLogging(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` | read/write | If set to `True`, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. |
| `Version` | `procedure CkSpider_getVersion(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__version(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` | read-only | Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0" |

## Member index

| Member | Kind | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| `AbortCurrent` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getAbortCurrent(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putAbortCurrent(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `AvoidHttps` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getAvoidHttps(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putAvoidHttps(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `CacheDir` | property, read/write | `procedure CkSpider_getCacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putCacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__cacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `ChopAtQuery` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getChopAtQuery(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putChopAtQuery(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `ConnectTimeout` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getConnectTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putConnectTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `Domain` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__domain(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `FetchFromCache` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getFetchFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putFetchFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `FinalRedirectUrl` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getFinalRedirectUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__finalRedirectUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `HeartbeatMs` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getHeartbeatMs(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putHeartbeatMs(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `LastFromCache` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getLastFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;` |
| `LastHtml` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `LastHtmlDescription` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlDescription(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastHtmlDescription(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `LastHtmlKeywords` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlKeywords(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastHtmlKeywords(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `LastHtmlTitle` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlTitle(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastHtmlTitle(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `LastModDateStr` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastModDateStr(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastModDateStr(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `LastUrl` | property, read-only | `procedure CkSpider_getLastUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; function CkSpider__lastUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `MaxResponseSize` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getMaxResponseSize(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putMaxResponseSize(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `MaxUrlLen` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getMaxUrlLen(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putMaxUrlLen(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `NumAvoidPatterns` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getNumAvoidPatterns(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;` |
| `NumFailed` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getNumFailed(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;` |
| `NumOutboundLinks` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getNumOutboundLinks(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;` |
| `NumSpidered` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getNumSpidered(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;` |
| `NumUnspidered` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getNumUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;` |
| `PreferIpv6` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getPreferIpv6(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putPreferIpv6(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `ProxyDomain` | property, read/write | `procedure CkSpider_getProxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putProxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__proxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `ProxyLogin` | property, read/write | `procedure CkSpider_getProxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putProxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__proxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `ProxyPassword` | property, read/write | `procedure CkSpider_getProxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putProxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__proxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `ProxyPort` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getProxyPort(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putProxyPort(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `ReadTimeout` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getReadTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putReadTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `UpdateCache` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getUpdateCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putUpdateCache(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;` |
| `UserAgent` | property, read/write | `procedure CkSpider_getUserAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putUserAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall; function CkSpider__userAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `WasRedirected` | property, read-only | `function CkSpider_getWasRedirected(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;` |
| `WindDownCount` | property, read/write | `function CkSpider_getWindDownCount(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall; procedure CkSpider_putWindDownCount(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;` |
| `AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern` | method | `procedure CkSpider_AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;     pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;` |
| `AddAvoidPattern` | method | `procedure CkSpider_AddAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;     pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;` |
| `AddMustMatchPattern` | method | `procedure CkSpider_AddMustMatchPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;     pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;` |
| `AddUnspidered` | method | `procedure CkSpider_AddUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider;     url: PWideChar) stdcall;` |
| `CanonicalizeUrl` | method | `function CkSpider_CanonicalizeUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     url: PWideChar;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__canonicalizeUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     url: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `ClearFailedUrls` | method | `procedure CkSpider_ClearFailedUrls(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;` |
| `ClearOutboundLinks` | method | `procedure CkSpider_ClearOutboundLinks(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;` |
| `ClearSpideredUrls` | method | `procedure CkSpider_ClearSpideredUrls(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;` |
| `CrawlNext` | method | `function CkSpider_CrawlNext(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;` |
| `FetchRobotsText` | method | `function CkSpider_FetchRobotsText(objHandle: HCkSpider;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__fetchRobotsText(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetAvoidPattern` | method | `function CkSpider_GetAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetBaseDomain` | method | `function CkSpider_GetBaseDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;     domain: PWideChar;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getBaseDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;     domain: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetFailedUrl` | method | `function CkSpider_GetFailedUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getFailedUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetOutboundLink` | method | `function CkSpider_GetOutboundLink(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getOutboundLink(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetSpideredUrl` | method | `function CkSpider_GetSpideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getSpideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetUnspideredUrl` | method | `function CkSpider_GetUnspideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getUnspideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `GetUrlDomain` | method | `function CkSpider_GetUrlDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;     url: PWideChar;     outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall; function CkSpider__getUrlDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;     url: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;` |
| `Initialize` | method | `procedure CkSpider_Initialize(objHandle: HCkSpider;     domain: PWideChar) stdcall;` |
| `LoadTaskCaller` | method | `function CkSpider_LoadTaskCaller(objHandle: HCkSpider;     task: HCkTask): wordbool; stdcall;` |
| `RecrawlLast` | method | `function CkSpider_RecrawlLast(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;` |
| `SkipUnspidered` | method | `procedure CkSpider_SkipUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider;     index: Integer) stdcall;` |
| `SleepMs` | method | `procedure CkSpider_SleepMs(objHandle: HCkSpider;     numMilliseconds: Integer) stdcall;` |

## Properties

### Spider.AbortCurrent

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AbortCurrent · property · read/write · since 9.5.0.58`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getAbortCurrent(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putAbortCurrent(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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.)

### Spider.AvoidHttps

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AvoidHttps · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getAvoidHttps(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putAvoidHttps(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.CacheDir

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · CacheDir · property · read/write`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getCacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putCacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall;
function CkSpider__cacheDir(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.ChopAtQuery

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ChopAtQuery · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getChopAtQuery(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putChopAtQuery(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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).

### Spider.ConnectTimeout

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ConnectTimeout · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getConnectTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putConnectTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.Domain

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · Domain · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__domain(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.FetchFromCache

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · FetchFromCache · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getFetchFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putFetchFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.FinalRedirectUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · FinalRedirectUrl · property · read-only · since 9.5.0.85`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getFinalRedirectUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__finalRedirectUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.HeartbeatMs

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · HeartbeatMs · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getHeartbeatMs(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putHeartbeatMs(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

**Full documentation for this property (same in every language):** [Event Callback Examples](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/articles/event_callback_examples.md)

The interval in milliseconds between each `AbortCheck` event callback, which enables an application to abort certain method calls before they complete. **By default, HeartbeatMs is set to** `0`**, meaning no AbortCheck event callbacks will trigger.**

### Spider.LastFromCache

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastFromCache · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getLastFromCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.LastHtml

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastHtml · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastHtml(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.LastHtmlDescription

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastHtmlDescription · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlDescription(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastHtmlDescription(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.LastHtmlKeywords

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastHtmlKeywords · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlKeywords(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastHtmlKeywords(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.LastHtmlTitle

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastHtmlTitle · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastHtmlTitle(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastHtmlTitle(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.LastModDateStr

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastModDateStr · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastModDateStr(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastModDateStr(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

The last modification date/time (RFC822 format) from the last page fetched by the spider.

### Spider.LastUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LastUrl · property · read-only`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getLastUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
function CkSpider__lastUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

The URL of the last page spidered.

### Spider.MaxResponseSize

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · MaxResponseSize · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getMaxResponseSize(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putMaxResponseSize(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.MaxUrlLen

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · MaxUrlLen · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getMaxUrlLen(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putMaxUrlLen(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.NumAvoidPatterns

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · NumAvoidPatterns · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getNumAvoidPatterns(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
```

The number of avoid patterns previously set by calling AddAvoidPattern.

### Spider.NumFailed

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · NumFailed · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getNumFailed(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.NumOutboundLinks

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · NumOutboundLinks · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getNumOutboundLinks(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.NumSpidered

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · NumSpidered · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getNumSpidered(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.NumUnspidered

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · NumUnspidered · property · read-only`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getNumUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.PreferIpv6

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · PreferIpv6 · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getPreferIpv6(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putPreferIpv6(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.ProxyDomain

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ProxyDomain · property · read/write`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getProxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putProxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall;
function CkSpider__proxyDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ProxyLogin

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ProxyLogin · property · read/write`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getProxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putProxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall;
function CkSpider__proxyLogin(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ProxyPassword

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ProxyPassword · property · read/write`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getProxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putProxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall;
function CkSpider__proxyPassword(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ProxyPort

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ProxyPort · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getProxyPort(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putProxyPort(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ReadTimeout

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ReadTimeout · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getReadTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putReadTimeout(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.UpdateCache

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · UpdateCache · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getUpdateCache(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putUpdateCache(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: wordbool); stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.UserAgent

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · UserAgent · property · read/write`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_getUserAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider; outPropVal: HCkString); stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putUserAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: PWideChar); stdcall;
function CkSpider__userAgent(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.WasRedirected

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · WasRedirected · property · read-only · since 9.5.0.85`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getWasRedirected(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.WindDownCount

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · WindDownCount · property · read/write`

```pascal
function CkSpider_getWindDownCount(objHandle: HCkSpider): Integer; stdcall;
procedure CkSpider_putWindDownCount(objHandle: HCkSpider; newPropVal: Integer); stdcall;
```

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.

## Methods

### Spider.AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_AddAvoidOutboundLinkPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.AddAvoidPattern

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AddAvoidPattern · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_AddAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.AddMustMatchPattern

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AddMustMatchPattern · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_AddMustMatchPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    pattern: PWideChar) stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.AddUnspidered

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AddUnspidered · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_AddUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    url: PWideChar) stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.CanonicalizeUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · CanonicalizeUrl · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_CanonicalizeUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    url: PWideChar;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__canonicalizeUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    url: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.ClearFailedUrls

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ClearFailedUrls · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_ClearFailedUrls(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ClearOutboundLinks

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ClearOutboundLinks · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_ClearOutboundLinks(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.ClearSpideredUrls

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ClearSpideredUrls · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_ClearSpideredUrls(objHandle: HCkSpider) stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.CrawlNext

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · CrawlNext · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_CrawlNext(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
```

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.

Async variant: `CrawlNextAsync` — same arguments, returns a `Task` (see Async variants below).

### Spider.FetchRobotsText

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · FetchRobotsText · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_FetchRobotsText(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__fetchRobotsText(objHandle: HCkSpider): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

Async variant: `FetchRobotsTextAsync` — same arguments, returns a `Task` (see Async variants below).

### Spider.GetAvoidPattern

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetAvoidPattern · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getAvoidPattern(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

Returns True for success, False for failure.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetBaseDomain

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetBaseDomain · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetBaseDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    domain: PWideChar;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getBaseDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    domain: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetFailedUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetFailedUrl · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetFailedUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getFailedUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

Returns True for success, False for failure.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetOutboundLink

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetOutboundLink · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetOutboundLink(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getOutboundLink(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

Returns True for success, False for failure.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetSpideredUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetSpideredUrl · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetSpideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getSpideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

Returns True for success, False for failure.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetUnspideredUrl

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetUnspideredUrl · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetUnspideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getUnspideredUrl(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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

Returns True for success, False for failure.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.GetUrlDomain

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · GetUrlDomain · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_GetUrlDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    url: PWideChar;
    outStr: HCkString): wordbool; stdcall;
function CkSpider__getUrlDomain(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    url: PWideChar): PWideChar; stdcall;
```

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.

See the notes about [PWideChar memory ownership and validity](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/delphi_pwidechar.asp).

### Spider.Initialize

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · Initialize · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_Initialize(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    domain: PWideChar) stdcall;
```

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.

### Spider.LoadTaskCaller

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · LoadTaskCaller · method · since 9.5.0.80`

```pascal
function CkSpider_LoadTaskCaller(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    task: HCkTask): wordbool; stdcall;
```

Loads the caller of the task's async method.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

### Spider.RecrawlLast

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · RecrawlLast · method`

```pascal
function CkSpider_RecrawlLast(objHandle: HCkSpider): wordbool; stdcall;
```

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.

Async variant: `RecrawlLastAsync` — same arguments, returns a `Task` (see Async variants below).

### Spider.SkipUnspidered

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · SkipUnspidered · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_SkipUnspidered(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    index: Integer) stdcall;
```

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

### Spider.SleepMs

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · SleepMs · method`

```pascal
procedure CkSpider_SleepMs(objHandle: HCkSpider;
    numMilliseconds: Integer) stdcall;
```

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

## Events and callbacks

### Spider.AbortCheck (event)

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · AbortCheck · event`

```pascal
function MyAbortCheck(): Integer; cdecl;
```

Enables a method call to be aborted by triggering the AbortCheck event at intervals defined by the `HeartbeatMs` property. If HeartbeatMs is set to its default value of 0, no events will occur. For instance, set HeartbeatMs to 200 to trigger 5 AbortCheck events per second. Return `True` to abort; return `False` to continue (not abort)

### Spider.PercentDone (event)

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · PercentDone · event`

```pascal
function MyPercentDone(pctDone: Integer): Integer; cdecl;
```

This provides the percentage completion for any method involving network communications or time-consuming processing, assuming the progress can be measured as a percentage. This event is triggered only when it's possible and logical to express the operation's progress as a percentage. The `pctDone` argument will range from 1 to 100. For methods that finish quickly, the number of PercentDone callbacks may vary, but the final callback will have `pctDone` equal to 100. For longer operations, callbacks will not exceed one per percentage point (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100).

The PercentDone callback also acts as an `AbortCheck` event. For fast methods where PercentDone fires, an AbortCheck event may not trigger since the PercentDone callback already provides an opportunity to abort. For longer operations, where time between PercentDone callbacks is extended, AbortCheck callbacks enable more responsive operation termination.

Return `True` to abort; return `False` to continue (not abort)

### Spider.ProgressInfo (event)

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · ProgressInfo · event`

```pascal
procedure MyProgressInfo(name: PWideChar; value: PWideChar) cdecl;
```

This event callback provides `tag name`/value pairs that detail what occurs during a method call. To discover existing tag names, create code to handle the event, emit the pairs, and review them. Most tag names are self-explanatory.

Note: Some Chilkat methods don't fire any ProgressInfo events.

### Spider.TaskCompleted (event)

`Chilkat 11.7.0 · delphidll · Spider · TaskCompleted · event`

```pascal
procedure MyTaskCompleted(task: HCkTask) cdecl;
```

Called from the background thread when an asynchronous task completes.

## Async variants

Each returns a `Task` instead of the result and takes the same arguments as the synchronous method; run the task, wait for `Finished`, then read the result from the task. No new Async methods are added from 11.7.0 on.

```pascal
function CkSpider_CrawlNextAsync(objHandle: HCkSpider): HCkTask; stdcall;
function CkSpider_FetchRobotsTextAsync(objHandle: HCkSpider): HCkTask; stdcall;
function CkSpider_RecrawlLastAsync(objHandle: HCkSpider): HCkTask; stdcall;
```

## Related classes

[`Task`](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/delphidll/classes/Task.md)