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

I have a small script here that uses Mech to find all the fields on the form on the website. The code in question is: 
@fields = $mech->find_all_inputs();

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Now, what that returns is not that helpful: 
HTML::Form::TextInput=HASH(0x87b6ba8)    
HTML::Form::ListInput=HASH(0x87bae78)
HTML::Form::SubmitInput=HASH(0x87bb460)
HTML::Form::TextInput=HASH(0x87bf770)
HTML::Form::ListInput=HASH(0x87bbd48)
HTML::Form::ListInput=HASH(0x87bf740)
HTML::Form::SubmitInput=HASH(0x87bf8a8)
HTML::Form::TextInput=HASH(0x87c049c)
HTML::Form::ListInput=HASH(0x87c0388)
HTML::Form::SubmitInput=HASH(0x87c03c4)
HTML::Form::TextInput=HASH(0x87ce480)
HTML::Form::ListInput=HASH(0x87ce1a4)
HTML::Form::SubmitInput=HASH(0x87ce2f4)

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So now I know if the field is either a textbox, some sort of list, or a submit button. But the site has both dropdown fields and radio button fields. Anyway to distinguish between them? Is there a better way to gather the field types? Oh, and is there a way to select a dropdown option by its number on the list, rather than what it says?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: WWW::Mechanize form field types
by Gangabass (Vicar) on Jun 30, 2008 at 04:13 UTC

    I'm sure you'll find answer in HTML::Form documentation.

    $input->type 

Returns the type of this input. The type is one of the following strin
+gs: "text", "password", "hidden", "textarea", "file", "image", "submi
+t", "radio", "checkbox" or "option".

    [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
      Ah yes, that is exactly what I was looking for =D I guess I'll reply to this if there is any more trouble. Thanks.


      EDIT: It is outputting the same thing =(

      Am I doing something wrong?

      Here is my code relevant to the issue: 
      use strict;
use WWW::Mechanize;
use HTML::Form;
use LWP::UserAgent;

my $url = "a valid url to an .aspx form here";

my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new(autocheck => 1);
$mech->get( $url ) or die("Could not connect to $url");

my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new;
my $response = $ua->get($url);

my @forms = HTML::Form->parse($response);

foreach my $page (1..15) {
    foreach my $form (@forms) {
        my @fields = "";
        @fields = $form->inputs;
        foreach my $hurr (0..$#fields) {
            print "$fields[$hurr]\t $page / 15\n";
        }
    }
}

      [download]
[reply]
[d/l]

        As i see you don't read docs :-(

        foreach my $form (@forms) {

   my @fields = $form->inputs;
     
   foreach my $input (@fields) {

       print $input->type() . "\t $page / 15\n";
   }
}

        [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
      Don't use pre tags, use code tags.
[reply]

        Thanks for your above post, it is useful for me. However I'm not able to find any form on my page. I used all form options available with www::mechanize. The page is jsp page and the only form tag available in source code is as mentioned below. 

               <form action="html" method="post">
            <input type="submit" name="clearAllCaches" value="Clear Al
+l Caches" style="margin:1em;" />
        </form>

        [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: WWW::Mechanize form field types
by codeacrobat (Chaplain) on Jun 30, 2008 at 21:07 UTC
    Try the interactive version of WWW::Mechanize WWW::Mechanize::Shell and use the forms command to debug the inputs. 
    # example
perl -MWWW::Mechanize::Shell -eshell
(no url)>get http://perlmonks.org/?parent=694680;node_id=3333
Retrieving http://perlmonks.org/?parent=694680;node_id=3333(200)

http://perlmonks.org/?parent=694680;node_id=3333>forms
Form [1]
GET http://perlmonks.org/?
  node=                          (text)
  <NONAME>=Search                (submit)
Form [2]
POST http://perlmonks.org/?
  node_id=3333                   (hidden readonly)
  node=Re: WWW::Mechanize form field types (text)
  note_doctext=                  (textarea)
  type=note                      (hidden readonly)
  note_parent_node=694680        (hidden readonly)
  op=preview                     (submit)
Form [3]
POST http://perlmonks.org/? [login]
  node_id=3333                   (hidden readonly)
  op=login                       (hidden readonly)
  lastnode_id=3333               (hidden readonly)
  user=                          (text)
  passwd=                        (password)
  expires=<UNDEF>                (checkbox) [*<UNDEF>/off|+10y/remembe
+r me]
  login=Login                    (submit)
Form [4]
GET http://perlmonks.org/?
  node_id=3333                   (hidden readonly)
  foo=Refresh                    (submit)
Form [5]
POST http://perlmonks.org/?
  displaytype=display            (hidden readonly)
  node_id=693810                 (hidden readonly)
  vote=0                         (radio)    [*0/Boss|1/Users|2/Spouse|
+3/Doorman|4/Producer|5/Scientists|6/Janitors|7/Secretary|8/Window was
+hers|9/Professors|10/Soda/Snack refillers|11/Human resources director
+|12/Administrative assistant|13/Security guard|14/Parking attendant|1
+5/Nothing but geeks here|16/I work alone|17/I love everybody|18/What 
+job?]
  <NONAME>=Vote                  (submit)

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    Hope this helps.
    print+qq(\L@{[ref\&@]}@{['@'x7^'!#2/"!4']});
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Ah. Will do when I get back. Thanks :D
[reply]

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