mechanize accessing a listbox

thelma1944 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I need to access a web based select list box using the perl module mechanize. The html is:

<tr><td bgcolor="#ABABAB" align="center"><b>Rename a Folder</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#DCDCDC" align="center">
<form action="folders_rename_getname.php" method="post">
<tt><select name="old">
         <option value="">[ Select a folder ]</option>
<option value="Evaluation-Folder">Evaluation-Folder</option>
<option value="Evaluation-Folder/Evaluation-Sub-Folder-1">Evaluation-F
+older/Evaluation-Sub-Folder-1</option>
</select></tt>
<input type="submit" value="Rename" />
</form></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" align="left">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
[download]

The code:

    $n = 'old';
 
    $mech->select( $n, "Evaluation-Folder/Evaluation-Sub-Folder-1",1);
   $mech->submit('Delete');
[download]

The error response:

Input "old" not found at Web_Mail_Evaluation_suite.pl line 596
Can't call method "value" on an undefined value at /Library/Perl/5.8.6
+/WWW/Mechanize.pm line 1137.
[download]

Any ideas of what i could do to access a selection?

Respectully yours, Thelma Vance, thelma1944@netzero.com

Comment on mechanize accessing a listbox Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: mechanize accessing a listbox by jettero (Monsignor) on Dec 13, 2006 at 17:42 UTC
I'm no expert, but based on the docs, it looks like you want something more like this: `$mech->submit_form( form_number => 1, fields => { old => 'Evaluation-Folder/Evaluation-Sub-Folder-1' +, }, button => 'Delete' );` [download] It appears to be telling you there's no select called old to be found... EDIT: I tried WWW::Mechanize on one of my own sites that I'm developing and all I can say is: thanks dude. This module rocks and I had never heard of it... Just wow. (Also, my code above appears to work as written.)	[reply] [d/l]
more on mechanize accessing a listbox by thelma1944 (Novice) on Dec 14, 2006 at 00:10 UTC
Thanks for the hint. Big help! While trying the above i get an error of: Can't call method "value" on an undefined value at /Library/Perl/5.8.6/WWW/Mechanize.pm line 1137. Any ideas what this may be? Looking at the Mechanize.pm code: my $form = $self->{form}; if ($number > 1) { $form->find_input($name, undef, $number)->value($value); } else { if ( ref($value) eq 'ARRAY' ) { $form->param($name, $value); } else { $form->value($name => $value); } } } Respecfully yours, Thelma Vance, thelma1944@netzero.com	[reply]
Re: more on mechanize accessing a listbox by jettero (Monsignor) on Dec 14, 2006 at 12:29 UTC
[editorial note: please use the <code> tags...] ...looks like Mechanize is calling `value()` on an undefined value. At a guess, you apparently didn't get the site: `$mech->get($url)`. You have to `get()` before you can start interacting with it. -Paul	[reply] [d/l] [select]