Scraping Utility for Those New to Scraping

[UK-21]

Thanks. I'll give it a whizz when I get a moment.

 

[UK-21]

No, my Excel 97 won't convert the file (too old and probably doesn't recognise the base format) - I just get a single sheet of garbage, nothing in the macros library.

Can you save it as a 97-2003 format file and re-publish it please?

Thanks.

 

[rpjd99]

There you go.


Ray

 

[UK-21]

Thanks. A useful intro to this particular aspect of witchcraft.

 

[mtoto]

Leftinthestalls,

Ark helpfully pointed me in the direction of your post of the the 16/17 of April re "scrapers" I have to admit the whole thing is well above my head but have to ask is it possible to gain the same result but using the "tomorrows" runners/fields?

As I say I know nothing about all this clever stuff, but if it isn't too much work on your part would it be possible to put up a macro that gives this givingmore time to work on the races?

Many thanks Mtoto

 

[leftinthestalls]

Hi Mtoto

will take a look at this for you in the next day or so

atb
leftinthestalls

 

[leftinthestalls]

Here's another version that should allow you to get the cards for up to 6 days in advance.

i haven't tested this fully so if there are any bugs just give me a shout.



atb
leftinthestalls

 

[ArkRoyal]

Many Thanks Kev,

I am sure Mtoto will be very impressed

 

[mtoto]

Leftinthestalls.

The only word I can think of to describe that is MAGIC!!

Followed by a very big thank you

 

[leftinthestalls]

Updated version - some courses were not being picked up because of the format of the names.


atb
leftinthestalls

 

[mlmrob]

Just a general question. The speed figures that horseplayer compiles are excellent but they can't be downloaded into Excel. Would it be possible to scrape them into Excel?

www.speedfigs.com

Thanks, very much appreciated.

 

[rpjd99]

Hi Mimrob,

Yes, the data can be scraped, but I haven't been able to find any reference to the colour coding of the speed figures during a quick look at the page source.

That said, for a quick solution right now, you can put the data into Excel in two ways, depending on what you want:

1. To put the data plus rating colours into Excel, but without the mouseover pop-ups, go to the ratings page, press Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V in the Excel sheet and format to taste.
2. (Excel 2007+) To get the data plus mouseover pop-ups into Excel, but without the rating colours, take a copy of the URL in your browser window of the ratings page you want to download. Then in Excel, go to Data --> From Web (2nd icon). Press Ctrl+V in the address box at the top of the dialogue box that pops up and press the Go button beside the address box. If the page shown is the one you want, press the Import button at the bottom of the dialogue box. In the next pop-up dialogue box, select the cell you want it to start writing the data to and the import will start. You might want to replace all occurrences of "&nbsp" with "" to make the race titles more readable.

If that's not sufficient for you, I'll see what I can do with a scraper for you.

Ray

 

[leftinthestalls]

Hi Ray

if you're going ahead with the scraper the colours are set depending on the class name

.ratingled{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#FF0000;}
	.ratingchs{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#FF00FF;}
	.ratingmid{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#00FF00;}
	.ratinghld{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#00FFFF;}
	.ratinglft{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#FFFF00;}
	.ratingoth{font-family:Verdana; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background:#FFFFFF;}

 

[rpjd99]

Ah, I get it now, Kev. Every day's a school day...

Thanks.

Ray

 

[mlmrob]

Cheers Ray, that works a treat

 

[mathew]

excellent! I will endeavour to master this superior technology once

 

[mlmrob]

Hi guys

Is there any way the information from the site below can be scraped. The Tote carry the cards from the Racing Post with the last three unadjusted ratings from RPR and Topspeed alongside their card. Ideal for me as it is almost at a glance.

http://www.totesport.com/portal?action=GoEvent&ev_id=1460963

The ratings are under the 'Recent Form'link.

Thanks

 

[leftinthestalls]

@ mlmrob

check the Ratings&Utilities section

 

[mlmrob]

Cheers Kev

 

[MrDamon]

Reading this post on scraping has re-ignited my interest in Visual Basic.

I have just installed Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate along with the add-on Devexpress Universal which comes with Coderush,
now I have all the gear but still no idea

I started back at the beginning my writing the compulsory "Hello World" statement using the console application and then used the refactor
tool in Coderush to re-write the code and it worked

This time next year I might be able to tie my own shoelaces up

@ TheBluesBrother I was in the middle of a house move at the time of your post so didn't notice it until now when i was researching other things..

If there is anything I can do to help you with Visual Basic and Visual Studio just let me know.. I'd be more than happy to provide you with sample code etc..

Damon