• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Accessing webforms as a webservice

 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 30
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hello,

There's an external webform out of my control that can be used to access and modify data. I want to access that webform automatically, as if it is a webservice.

All objections aside (what to do when the webform changes, why isn't there an webinterface in the first place, ec.), what is a good tool to do that?
My first guess is apache.commons.http library would be able to do that, allthough that requires some manual work. Are there any other tools (commercial or open-source/free) that allows to do that?

Are there any other people who're doing that, accessing external webforms to automatically perform actions? Any tips?
 
Rancher
Posts: 43081
77
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'd suggest using a library like HtmlUnit (or jWebUnit, which is built on top of it), which works at a much higher level than HttpClient. It understands forms, how to fill them in, how to submit them, how to retrieve result pages, cookies etc.
 
Gerbrand van Dieijen
Ranch Hand
Posts: 30
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thanks for the tip, that framework looks easy to use.
 
Police line, do not cross. Well, this tiny ad can go through:
a bit of art, as a gift, that will fit in a stocking
https://gardener-gift.com
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic