Cerebrus:
Thank you for the great information. Fiddler 2 is just what the
doctor ordered! It works really well. I am still working through the
POST problems on various pages, but the thread and general information
that you provided should help me puzzle it out.
Regards,
Wayne
On Feb 16, 5:31 am, Cerebrus <[email protected]> wrote:
> There are a number of things that you need to understand about HTTP
> and request types (GET/POST), most of which cannot be explained in a
> discussion thread like this... you will need to research them.
>
> POST requests do not append all form information in the URL as GET
> requests do. I want to clarify that it does not make a difference if
> the form parameters are hidden fields, since this appears to be the
> main aspect that's bothering you. This form uses a POST request and
> that is the reason why you don't see all the values appended to the
> URL. It's not because of the hidden fields. You should do the
> following:
>
> 1. Take a look at this thread which provides a useful discussion on
> the subject of scraping -http://tinyurl.com/crj792
> 2. Download and install Fiddler v2 and use it to plug into and analyze
> your HTTP request as the browser submits information from the first
> page to the second and so on. You will realize that it provides you
> with a list of parameters that are submitted on the request and that
> is what you need to replicate.
> 3. Find out what the Javascript function "submitReportRequest" does on
> your page. It is possible that it modifies the form values.
> 4. None of the hidden fields appear to transmit or upload a file. The
> value field is transmitted as a string. However, there may be other
> fields that we have not seen here, so investigate this.
> 5. Use POST requests if you don't want the full form information to be
> visible in the URL/address bar.
>
> You should follow these steps and get back to us if you need more
> information or assistance. Hope this info is helpful !
