> I have been tasked to get temperature data on a daily basis > from a website. I thought that I had seen something about > this from somewhere, but can't seem to put my finger on it, > so, Is there a way that I can automatically get data from > another website that is stored in a table, by calling a > function...? I want to get two values from specific days. > > I would like to be able to take all the data that is stored > in a table and put it into a structure then I can parse out > what I need. > > so A) Is this possible? > B) a Few pointers if you don't mind?
If the web site has a web service - a program you can call directly via a HTTP URL - then, yes, you can easily get whatever data that web service publishes. Web services typically publish data using XML, which is easily parsed. Otherwise, you will have to use CFHTTP to fetch the web page in question, and you will have to use string functions to parse out the bits you need, and the process of building and maintaining this functionality will suck, to put it bluntly. If the formatting of the web page changes later, you'll probably have to edit your code accordingly. This process is generally referred to as "screen scraping". I would go for the web service approach. There are probably plenty of web sites that offer a daily temperature web service, although they might want you to pay for it. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ Fig Leaf Training: Adobe/Google/Paperthin Certified Partners http://training.figleaf.com/ WebManiacs 2008: the ultimate conference for CF/Flex/AIR developers! http://www.webmaniacsconference.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:303938 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
