Creating a fetch robot

spstieng

Hi,

I'm thinking of creating a robot that fetches some information from a site. The site contains a list of businesses which I would like to put into tables.

The info I want to fetch is things like business name, org.number, telephone number etc.

Is there somewhere I can look to find info on how to create such a "robot"?

Thanks.

planetsim

You better ask for permission before creating such a bot, i wouldnt like a site posting my Telephone number on the web

coditoergosum

http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-get-contents.php
http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php

That'll get you started...

spstieng

It's a public site with a list of alle the businesses in Norway. Instead of just clicking at one at a time (alphabeticaly), I would like to fetch all info in one go.

Should not be a problem at all.

Looked at the file_get_contents function... but how do i get a "robot" to go to a specific site and retrieve specific info?
I only want some info - not the whole page.

If someone could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

coditoergosum

you're going to have to get the entire file, then parse it... but if you're having trouble figuring out this concept, then you really should start with more basic stuff.

The first link I posted gives you info about how to get the file, the second one has all the info you'll ever need to parse it.

spstieng

Thanks coditoergosum.

The concept is real clear to me - the actual coding is worse :p
I'll have a go with the info you "linked".

Stay tuned for more "advanced" questions later 😃

See ya.

Steven

andymoo

sounds to me like you want to rip off someone's entire database

even if it is a public site people still had to work for you to come along and nick the info, i'd not be happy if i were them.

"well i thought it wasn't going to be a problem" would not stand up in court if they did object - get your own content or legitimately parter with them.