Some suggestions ..
Hi guys, hope you find these make sense !
1) ability to drag/drop scrapable files from sessions.
Why?
The project I am working on involved connecting to a site you have to log on to. I have the "Login" sequence as a scraping session, and it works fine. The next step is to perform a search and select a result. Working on scraping involves running the "Login" scraping session, and then the Searching URLs. So for development I have all the files in the Login Scraping session. However, when I deploy, I will break them into two separate sessions, to be called from an ASP app.
2) ability to chain scraping sessions in the workbench.
Why?
see above
3) ability to create scrapable files from multiple lines in the proxy session
Why?
at present the current system is time-consuming for situations where many GETs are spawned as a result of framesets
4) ability to use different databases
Why?
at present all work is effectively done in the same project. This means that the risk on ongoing development damaging already-done work is high.
regards
Jason
Some suggestions ..
Ah, I think I see. So it sounds like you're referring more to organizing your work, as well as protecting from deletions. Does that sound correct?
On organizing, do folders help in that regard? If we allowed sub-folders, would that cover it?
Regarding protecting from deletions, internally we always export our scraping sessions and scripts as XML, then commit them to a Subversion repository. Would doing that address this issue?
Thanks,
Todd
Some suggestions ..
Hi Todd,
regarding point 4. At the moment, when I open SS, I see all my work. I know I can back the database up, and then swap different databases, but I was thinking more of being able to have one database for Project A, one for Project B and so on.
That way, when you've finished with project A, you can start work on project B without worrying that you might accidentally delete something.
I suppose a cheaper alternative might be the ability to "lock" objects so they can't be changed accidentally (cf protecting an Excel spreadsheet).
regards
Some suggestions ..
Hi Jason,
Thanks for taking the time to offer feedback. We genuinely take things like this into account when we plan each version of screen-scraper. Just to respond to your suggestions
1 & 2. We've had on our to-do list for a while the ability to copy and paste objects such as scrapeable files and scraping sessions. This could be done via drag and drop. Would this address your suggestions on these two points?
3. This was suggested by one of our developers not too long ago. It's on our list.
4. Could you clarify a bit on this one? Are you referring to the ability to house all scraping sessions and such in one database that could be accessible from multiple workbenches? And is your main concern losing data if something happens to the particular workbench you're using?
Thanks again,
Todd Wilson