Class: Mechanize

Inherits:
Object
  • Object
show all
Defined in:
lib/mechanize.rb,
lib/mechanize/cookie.rb,
lib/mechanize/cookie_jar.rb

Overview

The Mechanize library is used for automating interactions with a website. It can follow links and submit forms. Form fields can be populated and submitted. A history of URLs is maintained and can be queried.

Example

require 'mechanize'
require 'logger'

agent = Mechanize.new
agent.log = Logger.new "mech.log"
agent.user_agent_alias = 'Mac Safari'

page = agent.get "http://www.google.com/"
search_form = page.form_with :name => "f"
search_form.field_with(:name => "q").value = "Hello"

search_results = agent.submit search_form
puts search_results.body

Issues with mechanize

If you think you have a bug with mechanize, but aren’t sure, please file a ticket at github.com/sparklemotion/mechanize/issues

Here are some common problems you may experience with mechanize

Problems connecting to SSL sites

Mechanize defaults to validating SSL certificates using the default CA certificates for your platform. At this time, Windows users do not have integration between the OS default CA certificates and OpenSSL. #cert_store explains how to download and use Mozilla’s CA certificates to allow SSL sites to work.

Problems with content-length

Some sites return an incorrect content-length value. Unlike a browser, mechanize raises an error when the content-length header does not match the response length since it does not know if there was a connection problem or if the mismatch is a server bug.

The error raised, Mechanize::ResponseReadError, can be converted to a parsed Page, File, etc. depending upon the content-type:

agent = Mechanize.new
uri = URI 'http://example/invalid_content_length'

begin
  page = agent.get uri
rescue Mechanize::ResponseReadError => e
  page = e.force_parse
end

Defined Under Namespace

Modules: CookieCMethods, CookieDeprecated, CookieIMethods, CookieJarIMethods, ElementMatcher, Parser, Prependable Classes: ChunkedTerminationError, ContentTypeError, Cookie, CookieJar, DirectorySaver, Download, ElementNotFoundError, Error, File, FileConnection, FileRequest, FileResponse, FileSaver, Form, HTTP, Headers, History, Image, Page, PluggableParser, RedirectLimitReachedError, RedirectNotGetOrHeadError, ResponseCodeError, ResponseReadError, RobotsDisallowedError, TestCase, UnauthorizedError, UnsupportedSchemeError, Util, XmlFile

Constant Summary collapse

VERSION =

The version of Mechanize you are using.

'2.7.3'
AGENT_ALIASES =

Supported User-Agent aliases for use with user_agent_alias=. The description in parenthesis is for informative purposes and is not part of the alias name.

  • Linux Firefox (3.6.1)

  • Linux Konqueror (3)

  • Linux Mozilla

  • Mac Firefox (3.6)

  • Mac Mozilla

  • Mac Safari (5)

  • Mac Safari 4

  • Mechanize (default)

  • Windows IE 6

  • Windows IE 7

  • Windows IE 8

  • Windows IE 9

  • Windows Mozilla

  • iPhone (3.0)

  • iPad

  • Android (Motorola Xoom)

Example:

agent = Mechanize.new
agent.user_agent_alias = 'Mac Safari'
{
  'Mechanize' => "Mechanize/#{VERSION} Ruby/#{ruby_version} (http://github.com/sparklemotion/mechanize/)",
  'Linux Firefox' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.2.1) Gecko/20100122 firefox/3.6.1',
  'Linux Konqueror' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/3; Linux)',
  'Linux Mozilla' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624',
  'Mac Firefox' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6',
  'Mac Mozilla' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.4a) Gecko/20030401',
  'Mac Safari 4' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_2; de-at) AppleWebKit/531.21.8 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Safari/531.21.10',
  'Mac Safari' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_2) AppleWebKit/534.51.22 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1.1 Safari/534.51.22',
  'Windows Chrome' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/29.0.1547.32 Safari/537.36',
  'Windows IE 6' => 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)',
  'Windows IE 7' => 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)',
  'Windows IE 8' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)',
  'Windows IE 9' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0)',
  'Windows Mozilla' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4b) Gecko/20030516 Mozilla Firebird/0.6',
  'iPhone' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1C28 Safari/419.3',
  'iPad' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B334b Safari/531.21.10',
  'Android' => 'Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 3.0; en-us; Xoom Build/HRI39) AppleWebKit/534.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/534.13'
}

Class Attribute Summary collapse

Instance Attribute Summary collapse

Class Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Summary collapse

Constructor Details

#initialize(connection_name = 'mechanize') {|_self| ... } ⇒ Mechanize

Creates a new mechanize instance. If a block is given, the created instance is yielded to the block for setting up pre-connection state such as SSL parameters or proxies:

agent = Mechanize.new do |a|
  a.proxy_host = 'proxy.example'
  a.proxy_port = 8080
end

If you need segregated SSL connections give each agent a unique name. Otherwise the connections will be shared. This is particularly important if you are using certifcates.

agent_1 = Mechanize.new 'conn1'
agent_2 = Mechanize.new 'conn2'

Yields:

  • (_self)

Yield Parameters:

  • _self (Mechanize)

    the object that the method was called on



181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 181

def initialize(connection_name = 'mechanize')
  @agent = Mechanize::HTTP::Agent.new(connection_name)
  @agent.context = self
  @log = nil

  # attr_accessors
  @agent.user_agent = AGENT_ALIASES['Mechanize']
  @watch_for_set    = nil
  @history_added    = nil

  # attr_readers
  @pluggable_parser = PluggableParser.new

  @keep_alive_time  = 0

  # Proxy
  @proxy_addr = nil
  @proxy_port = nil
  @proxy_user = nil
  @proxy_pass = nil

  @html_parser = self.class.html_parser

  @default_encoding = nil
  @force_default_encoding = false

  # defaults
  @agent.max_history = 50

  yield self if block_given?

  @agent.set_proxy @proxy_addr, @proxy_port, @proxy_user, @proxy_pass
end

Class Attribute Details

.html_parserObject

Default HTML parser for all mechanize instances

Mechanize.html_parser = Nokogiri::XML


587
588
589
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 587

def html_parser
  @html_parser
end

.logObject

Default logger for all mechanize instances

Mechanize.log = Logger.new $stderr


594
595
596
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 594

def log
  @log
end

Instance Attribute Details

#agentObject (readonly)

:section: Utilities



1192
1193
1194
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1192

def agent
  @agent
end

#default_encodingObject

A default encoding name used when parsing HTML parsing. When set it is used after any other encoding. The default is nil.



602
603
604
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 602

def default_encoding
  @default_encoding
end

#force_default_encodingObject

Overrides the encodings given by the HTTP server and the HTML page with the default_encoding when set to true.



608
609
610
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 608

def force_default_encoding
  @force_default_encoding
end

#history_addedObject

Callback which is invoked with the page that was added to history.



296
297
298
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 296

def history_added
  @history_added
end

#html_parserObject

The HTML parser to be used when parsing documents



613
614
615
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 613

def html_parser
  @html_parser
end

#keep_alive_timeObject

HTTP/1.0 keep-alive time. This is no longer supported by mechanize as it now uses net-http-persistent which only supports HTTP/1.1 persistent connections



620
621
622
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 620

def keep_alive_time
  @keep_alive_time
end

#pluggable_parserObject (readonly)

The pluggable parser maps a response Content-Type to a parser class. The registered Content-Type may be either a full content type like ‘image/png’ or a media type ‘text’. See Mechanize::PluggableParser for further details.

Example:

agent.pluggable_parser['application/octet-stream'] = Mechanize::Download


632
633
634
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 632

def pluggable_parser
  @pluggable_parser
end

#proxy_addrObject (readonly)

The HTTP proxy address



637
638
639
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 637

def proxy_addr
  @proxy_addr
end

#proxy_passObject (readonly)

The HTTP proxy password



642
643
644
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 642

def proxy_pass
  @proxy_pass
end

#proxy_portObject (readonly)

The HTTP proxy port



647
648
649
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 647

def proxy_port
  @proxy_port
end

#proxy_userObject (readonly)

The HTTP proxy username



652
653
654
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 652

def proxy_user
  @proxy_user
end

#watch_for_setObject

The value of watch_for_set is passed to pluggable parsers for retrieved content



1031
1032
1033
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1031

def watch_for_set
  @watch_for_set
end

Class Method Details

.inherited(child) ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



140
141
142
143
144
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 140

def self.inherited(child) # :nodoc:
  child.html_parser = html_parser
  child.log = log
  super
end

.startObject

Creates a new Mechanize instance and yields it to the given block.

After the block executes, the instance is cleaned up. This includes closing all open connections.

Mechanize.start do |m|
  m.get("http://example.com")
end


156
157
158
159
160
161
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 156

def self.start
  instance = new
  yield(instance)
ensure
  instance.shutdown
end

Instance Method Details

#add_auth(uri, user, password, realm = nil, domain = nil) ⇒ Object

Adds credentials user, pass for uri. If realm is set the credentials are used only for that realm. If realm is not set the credentials become the default for any realm on that URI.

domain and realm are exclusive as NTLM does not follow RFC 2617. If domain is given it is only used for NTLM authentication.



687
688
689
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 687

def add_auth uri, user, password, realm = nil, domain = nil
  @agent.add_auth uri, user, password, realm, domain
end

#auth(user, password, domain = nil) ⇒ Object Also known as: basic_auth

NOTE: These credentials will be used as a default for any challenge exposing your password to disclosure to malicious servers. Use of this method will warn. This method is deprecated and will be removed in mechanize 3.

Sets the user and password as the default credentials to be used for HTTP authentication for any server. The domain is used for NTLM authentication.



664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 664

def auth user, password, domain = nil
  caller.first =~ /(.*?):(\d+).*?$/

  warn <<-WARNING
At #{$1} line #{$2}

Use of #auth and #basic_auth are deprecated due to a security vulnerability.

  WARNING

  @agent.add_default_auth user, password, domain
end

#backObject

Equivalent to the browser back button. Returns the previous page visited.



222
223
224
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 222

def back
  @agent.history.pop
end

#ca_fileObject

Path to an OpenSSL server certificate file



1041
1042
1043
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1041

def ca_file
  @agent.ca_file
end

#ca_file=(ca_file) ⇒ Object

Sets the certificate file used for SSL connections



1048
1049
1050
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1048

def ca_file= ca_file
  @agent.ca_file = ca_file
end

#certObject

An OpenSSL client certificate or the path to a certificate file.



1055
1056
1057
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1055

def cert
  @agent.certificate
end

#cert=(cert) ⇒ Object

Sets the OpenSSL client certificate cert to the given path or certificate instance



1063
1064
1065
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1063

def cert= cert
  @agent.certificate = cert
end

#cert_storeObject

An OpenSSL certificate store for verifying server certificates. This defaults to the default certificate store for your system.

If your system does not ship with a default set of certificates you can retrieve a copy of the set from Mozilla here: curl.haxx.se/docs/caextract.html

(Note that this set does not have an HTTPS download option so you may wish to use the firefox-db2pem.sh script to extract the certificates from a local install to avoid man-in-the-middle attacks.)

After downloading or generating a cacert.pem from the above link you can create a certificate store from the pem file like this:

cert_store = OpenSSL::X509::Store.new
cert_store.add_file 'cacert.pem'

And have mechanize use it with:

agent.cert_store = cert_store


1089
1090
1091
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1089

def cert_store
  @agent.cert_store
end

#cert_store=(cert_store) ⇒ Object

Sets the OpenSSL certificate store to store.

See also #cert_store



1098
1099
1100
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1098

def cert_store= cert_store
  @agent.cert_store = cert_store
end

#certificateObject

What is this?

Why is it different from #cert?



1107
1108
1109
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1107

def certificate # :nodoc:
  @agent.certificate
end

#click(link) ⇒ Object

If the parameter is a string, finds the button or link with the value of the string on the current page and clicks it. Otherwise, clicks the Mechanize::Page::Link object passed in. Returns the page fetched.



323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 323

def click link
  case link
  when Page::Link then
    referer = link.page || current_page()
    if @agent.robots
      if (referer.is_a?(Page) and referer.parser.nofollow?) or
         link.rel?('nofollow') then
        raise RobotsDisallowedError.new(link.href)
      end
    end
    if link.noreferrer?
      href = @agent.resolve(link.href, link.page || current_page)
      referer = Page.new
    else
      href = link.href
    end
    get href, [], referer
  when String, Regexp then
    if real_link = page.link_with(:text => link)
      click real_link
    else
      button = nil
      form = page.forms.find do |f|
        button = f.button_with(:value => link)
        button.is_a? Form::Submit
      end
      submit form, button if form
    end
  else
    referer = current_page()
    href = link.respond_to?(:href) ? link.href :
      (link['href'] || link['src'])
    get href, [], referer
  end
end

#conditional_requestsObject

Are If-Modified-Since conditional requests enabled?



694
695
696
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 694

def conditional_requests
  @agent.conditional_requests
end

#conditional_requests=(enabled) ⇒ Object

Disables If-Modified-Since conditional requests (enabled by default)



701
702
703
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 701

def conditional_requests= enabled
  @agent.conditional_requests = enabled
end

#content_encoding_hooksObject

A list of hooks to call before reading response header ‘content-encoding’.

The hook is called with the agent making the request, the URI of the request, the response an IO containing the response body.



289
290
291
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 289

def content_encoding_hooks
  @agent.content_encoding_hooks
end

A Mechanize::CookieJar which stores cookies



708
709
710
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 708

def cookie_jar
  @agent.cookie_jar
end

Replaces the cookie jar with cookie_jar



715
716
717
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 715

def cookie_jar= cookie_jar
  @agent.cookie_jar = cookie_jar
end

#cookiesObject

Returns a list of cookies stored in the cookie jar.



722
723
724
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 722

def cookies
  @agent.cookie_jar.to_a
end

#current_pageObject Also known as: page

Returns the latest page loaded by Mechanize



229
230
231
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 229

def current_page
  @agent.current_page
end

#delete(uri, query_params = {}, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

DELETE uri with query_params, and setting headers:

delete('http://example/', {'q' => 'foo'}, {})


405
406
407
408
409
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 405

def delete(uri, query_params = {}, headers = {})
  page = @agent.fetch(uri, :delete, headers, query_params)
  add_to_history(page)
  page
end

#download(uri, io_or_filename, parameters = [], referer = nil, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

GETs uri and writes it to io_or_filename without recording the request in the history. If io_or_filename does not respond to #write it will be used as a file name. parameters, referer and headers are used as in #get.

By default, if the Content-type of the response matches a Mechanize::File or Mechanize::Page parser, the response body will be loaded into memory before being saved. See #pluggable_parser for details on changing this default.

For alternate ways of downloading files see Mechanize::FileSaver and Mechanize::DirectorySaver.



373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 373

def download uri, io_or_filename, parameters = [], referer = nil, headers = {}
  page = transact do
    get uri, parameters, referer, headers
  end

  io = if io_or_filename.respond_to? :write then
         io_or_filename
       else
         open io_or_filename, 'wb'
       end

  case page
  when Mechanize::File then
    io.write page.body
  else
    body_io = page.body_io

    until body_io.eof? do
      io.write body_io.read 16384
    end
  end

  page
ensure
  io.close if io and not io_or_filename.respond_to? :write
end

#follow_meta_refreshObject

Follow HTML meta refresh and HTTP Refresh headers. If set to :anywhere meta refresh tags outside of the head element will be followed.



730
731
732
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 730

def follow_meta_refresh
  @agent.follow_meta_refresh
end

#follow_meta_refresh=(follow) ⇒ Object

Controls following of HTML meta refresh and HTTP Refresh headers in responses.



738
739
740
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 738

def follow_meta_refresh= follow
  @agent.follow_meta_refresh = follow
end

#follow_meta_refresh_selfObject

Follow an HTML meta refresh and HTTP Refresh headers that have no “url=” in the content attribute.

Defaults to false to prevent infinite refresh loops.



748
749
750
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 748

def follow_meta_refresh_self
  @agent.follow_meta_refresh_self
end

#follow_meta_refresh_self=(follow) ⇒ Object

Alters the following of HTML meta refresh and HTTP Refresh headers that point to the same page.



756
757
758
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 756

def follow_meta_refresh_self= follow
  @agent.follow_meta_refresh_self = follow
end

#get(uri, parameters = [], referer = nil, headers = {}) {|page| ... } ⇒ Object

GET the uri with the given request parameters, referer and headers.

The referer may be a URI or a page.

Yields:



417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 417

def get(uri, parameters = [], referer = nil, headers = {})
  method = :get

  referer ||=
    if uri.to_s =~ %r{\Ahttps?://}
      Page.new
    else
      current_page || Page.new
    end

  # FIXME: Huge hack so that using a URI as a referer works.  I need to
  # refactor everything to pass around URIs but still support
  # Mechanize::Page#base
  unless Mechanize::Parser === referer then
    referer = if referer.is_a?(String) then
                Page.new URI(referer)
              else
                Page.new referer
              end
  end

  # fetch the page
  headers ||= {}
  page = @agent.fetch uri, method, headers, parameters, referer
  add_to_history(page)
  yield page if block_given?
  page
end

#get_file(url) ⇒ Object

GET url and return only its contents



449
450
451
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 449

def get_file(url)
  get(url).body
end

#gzip_enabledObject

Is gzip compression of responses enabled?



763
764
765
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 763

def gzip_enabled
  @agent.gzip_enabled
end

#gzip_enabled=(enabled) ⇒ Object

Disables HTTP/1.1 gzip compression (enabled by default)



770
771
772
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 770

def gzip_enabled=enabled
  @agent.gzip_enabled = enabled
end

#head(uri, query_params = {}, headers = {}) {|page| ... } ⇒ Object

HEAD uri with query_params and headers:

head('http://example/', {'q' => 'foo'}, {})

Yields:



458
459
460
461
462
463
464
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 458

def head(uri, query_params = {}, headers = {})
  page = @agent.fetch uri, :head, headers, query_params

  yield page if block_given?

  page
end

#historyObject

The history of this mechanize run



238
239
240
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 238

def history
  @agent.history
end

#idle_timeoutObject

Connections that have not been used in this many seconds will be reset.



777
778
779
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 777

def idle_timeout
  @agent.idle_timeout
end

#idle_timeout=(idle_timeout) ⇒ Object

Sets the idle timeout to idle_timeout. The default timeout is 5 seconds. If you experience “too many connection resets”, reducing this value may help.



785
786
787
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 785

def idle_timeout= idle_timeout
  @agent.idle_timeout = idle_timeout
end

#ignore_bad_chunkingObject

When set to true mechanize will ignore an EOF during chunked transfer encoding so long as at least one byte was received. Be careful when enabling this as it may cause data loss.

Net::HTTP does not inform mechanize of where in the chunked stream the EOF occurred. Usually it is after the last-chunk but before the terminating CRLF (invalid termination) but it may occur earlier. In the second case your response body may be incomplete.



799
800
801
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 799

def ignore_bad_chunking
  @agent.ignore_bad_chunking
end

#ignore_bad_chunking=(ignore_bad_chunking) ⇒ Object

When set to true mechanize will ignore an EOF during chunked transfer encoding. See ignore_bad_chunking for further details



807
808
809
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 807

def ignore_bad_chunking= ignore_bad_chunking
  @agent.ignore_bad_chunking = ignore_bad_chunking
end

#keep_aliveObject

Are HTTP/1.1 keep-alive connections enabled?



814
815
816
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 814

def keep_alive
  @agent.keep_alive
end

#keep_alive=(enable) ⇒ Object

Disable HTTP/1.1 keep-alive connections if enable is set to false. If you are experiencing “too many connection resets” errors setting this to false will eliminate them.

You should first investigate reducing idle_timeout.



825
826
827
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 825

def keep_alive= enable
  @agent.keep_alive = enable
end

#keyObject

An OpenSSL private key or the path to a private key



1114
1115
1116
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1114

def key
  @agent.private_key
end

#key=(key) ⇒ Object

Sets the OpenSSL client key to the given path or key instance. If a path is given, the path must contain an RSA key file.



1122
1123
1124
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1122

def key= key
  @agent.private_key = key
end

#logObject

The current logger. If no logger has been set Mechanize.log is used.



832
833
834
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 832

def log
  @log || Mechanize.log
end

#log=(logger) ⇒ Object

Sets the logger used by this instance of mechanize



839
840
841
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 839

def log= logger
  @log = logger
end

#max_file_bufferObject

Responses larger than this will be written to a Tempfile instead of stored in memory. The default is 100,000 bytes.

A value of nil disables creation of Tempfiles.



849
850
851
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 849

def max_file_buffer
  @agent.max_file_buffer
end

#max_file_buffer=(bytes) ⇒ Object

Sets the maximum size of a response body that will be stored in memory to bytes. A value of nil causes all response bodies to be stored in memory.

Note that for Mechanize::Download subclasses, the maximum buffer size multiplied by the number of pages stored in history (controlled by #max_history) is an approximate upper limit on the amount of memory Mechanize will use. By default, Mechanize can use up to ~5MB to store response bodies for non-File and non-Page (HTML) responses.

See also the discussion under #max_history=



866
867
868
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 866

def max_file_buffer= bytes
  @agent.max_file_buffer = bytes
end

#max_historyObject

Maximum number of items allowed in the history. The default setting is 50 pages. Note that the size of the history multiplied by the maximum response body size



247
248
249
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 247

def max_history
  @agent.history.max_size
end

#max_history=(length) ⇒ Object

Sets the maximum number of items allowed in the history to length.

Setting the maximum history length to nil will make the history size unlimited. Take care when doing this, mechanize stores response bodies in memory for pages and in the temporary files directory for other responses. For a long-running mechanize program this can be quite large.

See also the discussion under #max_file_buffer=



261
262
263
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 261

def max_history= length
  @agent.history.max_size = length
end

#open_timeoutObject

Length of time to wait until a connection is opened in seconds



873
874
875
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 873

def open_timeout
  @agent.open_timeout
end

#open_timeout=(open_timeout) ⇒ Object

Sets the connection open timeout to open_timeout



880
881
882
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 880

def open_timeout= open_timeout
  @agent.open_timeout = open_timeout
end

#parse(uri, response, body) ⇒ Object

Parses the body of the response from uri using the pluggable parser that matches its content type



1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1198

def parse uri, response, body
  content_type = nil

  unless response['Content-Type'].nil?
    data, = response['Content-Type'].split ';', 2
    content_type, = data.downcase.split ',', 2 unless data.nil?
  end

  parser_klass = @pluggable_parser.parser content_type

  unless parser_klass <= Mechanize::Download then
    body = case body
           when IO, Tempfile, StringIO then
             body.read
           else
             body
           end
  end

  parser_klass.new uri, response, body, response.code do |parser|
    parser.mech = self if parser.respond_to? :mech=

    parser.watch_for_set = @watch_for_set if
      @watch_for_set and parser.respond_to?(:watch_for_set=)
  end
end

#passObject

OpenSSL client key password



1129
1130
1131
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1129

def pass
  @agent.pass
end

#pass=(pass) ⇒ Object

Sets the client key password to pass



1136
1137
1138
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1136

def pass= pass
  @agent.pass = pass
end

#post(uri, query = {}, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

POST to the given uri with the given query. The query is specified by either a string, or a list of key-value pairs represented by a hash or an array of arrays.

Examples:

agent.post 'http://example.com/', "foo" => "bar"

agent.post 'http://example.com/', [%w[foo bar]]

agent.post('http://example.com/', "<message>hello</message>",
           'Content-Type' => 'application/xml')


479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 479

def post(uri, query = {}, headers = {})
  return request_with_entity(:post, uri, query, headers) if String === query

  node = {}
  # Create a fake form
  class << node
    def search(*args); []; end
  end
  node['method'] = 'POST'
  node['enctype'] = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'

  form = Form.new(node)

  query.each { |k, v|
    if v.is_a?(IO)
      form.enctype = 'multipart/form-data'
      ul = Form::FileUpload.new({'name' => k.to_s},::File.basename(v.path))
      ul.file_data = v.read
      form.file_uploads << ul
    else
      form.fields << Form::Field.new({'name' => k.to_s},v)
    end
  }
  post_form(uri, form, headers)
end

#post_connect_hooksObject

A list of hooks to call after retrieving a response. Hooks are called with the agent, the URI, the response, and the response body.



302
303
304
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 302

def post_connect_hooks
  @agent.post_connect_hooks
end

#pre_connect_hooksObject

A list of hooks to call before retrieving a response. Hooks are called with the agent, the URI, the response, and the response body.



310
311
312
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 310

def pre_connect_hooks
  @agent.pre_connect_hooks
end

#pretty_print(q) ⇒ Object

:nodoc:



1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1225

def pretty_print(q) # :nodoc:
  q.object_group(self) {
    q.breakable
    q.pp cookie_jar
    q.breakable
    q.pp current_page
  }
end

#put(uri, entity, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

PUT to uri with entity, and setting headers:

put('http://example/', 'new content', {'Content-Type' => 'text/plain'})


510
511
512
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 510

def put(uri, entity, headers = {})
  request_with_entity(:put, uri, entity, headers)
end

#read_timeoutObject

Length of time to wait for data from the server



887
888
889
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 887

def read_timeout
  @agent.read_timeout
end

#read_timeout=(read_timeout) ⇒ Object

Sets the timeout for each chunk of data read from the server to read_timeout. A single request may read many chunks of data.



895
896
897
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 895

def read_timeout= read_timeout
  @agent.read_timeout = read_timeout
end

#redirect_okObject Also known as: follow_redirect?

Controls how mechanize deals with redirects. The following values are allowed:

:all, true

All 3xx redirects are followed (default)

:permanent

Only 301 Moved Permanantly redirects are followed

false

No redirects are followed



907
908
909
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 907

def redirect_ok
  @agent.redirect_ok
end

#redirect_ok=(follow) ⇒ Object Also known as: follow_redirect=

Sets the mechanize redirect handling policy. See redirect_ok for allowed values



917
918
919
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 917

def redirect_ok= follow
  @agent.redirect_ok = follow
end

#redirection_limitObject

Maximum number of redirections to follow



926
927
928
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 926

def redirection_limit
  @agent.redirection_limit
end

#redirection_limit=(limit) ⇒ Object

Sets the maximum number of redirections to follow to limit



933
934
935
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 933

def redirection_limit= limit
  @agent.redirection_limit = limit
end

#request_headersObject

A hash of custom request headers that will be sent on every request



940
941
942
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 940

def request_headers
  @agent.request_headers
end

#request_headers=(request_headers) ⇒ Object

Replaces the custom request headers that will be sent on every request with request_headers



948
949
950
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 948

def request_headers= request_headers
  @agent.request_headers = request_headers
end

#request_with_entity(verb, uri, entity, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

Makes an HTTP request to url using HTTP method verb. entity is used as the request body, if allowed.



518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 518

def request_with_entity(verb, uri, entity, headers = {})
  cur_page = current_page || Page.new

  headers = {
    'Content-Type' => 'application/octet-stream',
    'Content-Length' => entity.size.to_s,
  }.update headers

  page = @agent.fetch uri, verb, headers, [entity], cur_page
  add_to_history(page)
  page
end

#resetObject

Clears history and cookies.



1249
1250
1251
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1249

def reset
  @agent.reset
end

#retry_change_requestsObject

Retry POST and other non-idempotent requests. See RFC 2616 9.1.2.



955
956
957
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 955

def retry_change_requests
  @agent.retry_change_requests
end

#retry_change_requests=(retry_change_requests) ⇒ Object

When setting retry_change_requests to true you are stating that, for all the URLs you access with mechanize, making POST and other non-idempotent requests is safe and will not cause data duplication or other harmful results.

If you are experiencing “too many connection resets” errors you should instead investigate reducing the idle_timeout or disabling keep_alive connections.



969
970
971
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 969

def retry_change_requests= retry_change_requests
  @agent.retry_change_requests = retry_change_requests
end

#robotsObject

Will /robots.txt files be obeyed?



976
977
978
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 976

def robots
  @agent.robots
end

#robots=(enabled) ⇒ Object

When enabled mechanize will retrieve and obey robots.txt files



984
985
986
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 984

def robots= enabled
  @agent.robots = enabled
end

#scheme_handlersObject

The handlers for HTTP and other URI protocols.



991
992
993
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 991

def scheme_handlers
  @agent.scheme_handlers
end

#scheme_handlers=(scheme_handlers) ⇒ Object

Replaces the URI scheme handler table with scheme_handlers



998
999
1000
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 998

def scheme_handlers= scheme_handlers
  @agent.scheme_handlers = scheme_handlers
end

#set_proxy(address, port, user = nil, password = nil) ⇒ Object

Sets the proxy address at port with an optional user and password



1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1237

def set_proxy address, port, user = nil, password = nil
  @proxy_addr = address
  @proxy_port = port
  @proxy_user = user
  @proxy_pass = password

  @agent.set_proxy address, port, user, password
end

#shutdownObject

Shuts down this session by clearing browsing state and closing all persistent connections.



1257
1258
1259
1260
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1257

def shutdown
  reset
  @agent.shutdown
end

#ssl_versionObject

SSL version to use. Ruby 1.9 and newer only.



1143
1144
1145
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1143

def ssl_version
  @agent.ssl_version
end

#ssl_version=(ssl_version) ⇒ Object

Sets the SSL version to use to version without client/server negotiation. Ruby 1.9 and newer only.



1151
1152
1153
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1151

def ssl_version= ssl_version
  @agent.ssl_version = ssl_version
end

#submit(form, button = nil, headers = {}) ⇒ Object

Submits form with an optional button.

Without a button:

page = agent.get('http://example.com')
agent.submit(page.forms.first)

With a button:

agent.submit(page.forms.first, page.forms.first.buttons.first)


543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 543

def submit(form, button = nil, headers = {})
  form.add_button_to_query(button) if button

  case form.method.upcase
  when 'POST'
    post_form(form.action, form, headers)
  when 'GET'
    get(form.action.gsub(/\?[^\?]*$/, ''),
        form.build_query,
        form.page,
        headers)
  else
    raise ArgumentError, "unsupported method: #{form.method.upcase}"
  end
end

#transactObject

Runs given block, then resets the page history as it was before. self is given as a parameter to the block. Returns the value of the block.



563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 563

def transact
  history_backup = @agent.history.dup
  begin
    yield self
  ensure
    @agent.history = history_backup
  end
end

#user_agentObject

The identification string for the client initiating a web request



1005
1006
1007
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1005

def user_agent
  @agent.user_agent
end

#user_agent=(user_agent) ⇒ Object

Sets the User-Agent used by mechanize to user_agent. See also user_agent_alias



1013
1014
1015
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1013

def user_agent= user_agent
  @agent.user_agent = user_agent
end

#user_agent_alias=(name) ⇒ Object

Set the user agent for the Mechanize object based on the given name.

See also AGENT_ALIASES



1022
1023
1024
1025
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1022

def user_agent_alias= name
  self.user_agent = AGENT_ALIASES[name] ||
    raise(ArgumentError, "unknown agent alias #{name.inspect}")
end

#verify_callbackObject

A callback for additional certificate verification. See OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext#verify_callback

The callback can be used for debugging or to ignore errors by always returning true. Specifying nil uses the default method that was valid when the SSLContext was created



1163
1164
1165
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1163

def verify_callback
  @agent.verify_callback
end

#verify_callback=(verify_callback) ⇒ Object

Sets the OpenSSL certificate verification callback



1170
1171
1172
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1170

def verify_callback= verify_callback
  @agent.verify_callback = verify_callback
end

#verify_modeObject

the OpenSSL server certificate verification method. The default is OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER and certificate verification uses the default system certificates. See also cert_store



1179
1180
1181
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1179

def verify_mode
  @agent.verify_mode
end

#verify_mode=(verify_mode) ⇒ Object

Sets the OpenSSL server certificate verification method.



1186
1187
1188
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 1186

def verify_mode= verify_mode
  @agent.verify_mode = verify_mode
end

#visited?(url) ⇒ Boolean Also known as: visited_page

Returns a visited page for the url passed in, otherwise nil

Returns:

  • (Boolean)


268
269
270
271
272
# File 'lib/mechanize.rb', line 268

def visited? url
  url = url.href if url.respond_to? :href

  @agent.visited_page url
end