NAME
WWW::Mechanize::Firefox - use Firefox as if it were WWW::Mechanize
SYNOPSIS
use WWW::Mechanize::Firefox;
my $mech = WWW::Mechanize::Firefox->new();
$mech->get('http://google.com');
$mech->eval_in_page('alert("Hello Firefox")');
my $png = $mech->content_as_png();
This module will let you automate Firefox through the Mozrepl plugin.
You you need to have installed that plugin in your Firefox.
For more examples see WWW::Mechanize::Firefox::Examples.
METHODS
`$mech->new( ARGS )'
Creates a new instance and connects it to Firefox.
Note that Firefox must have the `mozrepl' extension installed and
enabled.
The following options are recognized:
* `tab' - regex for the title of the tab to reuse. If no matching tab
is found, the constructor dies.
If you pass in the string `current', the currently active tab will
be used instead.
* `create' - will create a new tab if no existing tab matching the
criteria given in `tab' can be found.
* `launch' - name of the program to launch if we can't connect to it
on the first try.
* `frames' - an array reference of ids of subframes to include when
searching for elements on a page.
If you want to always search through all frames, just pass `1'. This
is the default.
To prevent searching through frames, pass
frames => 0
To whitelist frames to be searched, pass the list of frame
selectors:
frames => ['#content_frame']
* `log' - array reference to log levels, passed through to
MozRepl::RemoteObject
* `bufsize' - Net::Telnet buffer size, if the default of 1MB is not
enough
* `events' - the set of default Javascript events to listen for while
waiting for a reply
* `repl' - a premade MozRepl::RemoteObject instance or a connection
string suitable for initializing one.
* `pre_events' - the events that are sent to an input field before its
value is changed. By default this is `[focus]'.
* `post_events' - the events that are sent to an input field after its
value is changed. By default this is `[blur, change]'.
Launch Firefox if `mozrepl' is not running
This will launch Firefox if the program can't connect to the `mozrepl'
plugin in Firefox. This will also enable `mozrepl' in a Firefox process
if it is not already running.
my $mech = WWW::Mechanize::Firefox->new(
launch => 'firefox',
);
JAVASCRIPT METHODS
`$mech->allow( OPTIONS )'
Enables or disables browser features for the current tab. The following
options are recognized:
* `plugins' - Whether to allow plugin execution.
* `javascript' - Whether to allow Javascript execution.
* `metaredirects' - Attribute stating if refresh based redirects can
be allowed.
* `frames', `subframes' - Attribute stating if it should allow
subframes (framesets/iframes) or not.
* `images' - Attribute stating whether or not images should be loaded.
Options not listed remain unchanged.
Disable Javascript
$mech->allow( javascript => 0 );
`$mech->js_errors( [PAGE] )'
An interface to the Javascript Error Console
Returns the list of errors in the JEC
Check that your Page has no Javascript compile errors
$mech->get('mypage');
my @errors = $mech->js_errors();
if (@errors) {
die "Found errors on page: @errors";
};
Maybbe this should be called `js_messages' or `js_console_messages'
instead.
`$mech->clear_js_errors'
Clears all Javascript messages from the console
`$mech->eval_in_page( $STR [, $ENV] [, $DOCUMENT] )'
`$mech->eval( $STR [, $ENV] [, $DOCUMENT] )'
Evaluates the given Javascript fragment in the context of the web page.
Returns a pair of value and Javascript type.
This allows access to variables and functions declared "globally" on the
web page.
The returned result needs to be treated with extreme care because it
might lead to Javascript execution in the context of your application
instead of the context of the webpage. This should be evident for
functions and complex data structures like objects. When working with
results from untrusted sources, you can only safely use simple types
like `string'.
If you want to modify the environment the code is run under, pass in a
hash reference as the second parameter. All keys will be inserted into
the `this' object as well as `this.window'. Also, complex data
structures are only supported if they contain no objects. If you need
finer control, you'll have to write the Javascript yourself.
This method is special to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
Also, using this method opens a potential security risk as the returned
values can be objects and using these objects can execute malicious code
in the context of the Firefox application.
Override the Javascript `alert()' function
$mech->eval_in_page('alert("Hello");',
{ alert => sub { print "Captured alert: '@_'\n" } }
);
`$mech->unsafe_page_property_access( ELEMENT )'
Allows you unsafe access to properties of the current page. Using such
properties is an incredibly bad idea.
This is why the function `die's. If you really want to use this
function, edit the source code.
UI METHODS
`$mech->addTab( OPTIONS )'
Creates a new tab. The tab will be automatically closed upon program
exit.
If you want the tab to remain open, pass a false value to the the `
autoclose ' option.
`$mech->tab'
Gets the object that represents the Firefox tab used by
WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
This method is special to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
`$mech->autodie'
Accessor to get/set whether warnings become fatal.
`$mech->progress_listener( SOURCE, CALLBACKS )'
Sets up the callbacks for the `nsIWebProgressListener' interface to be
the Perl subroutines you pass in.
Returns a handle. Once the handle gets released, all callbacks will get
stopped. Also, all Perl callbacks will get deregistered from the
Javascript bridge, so make sure not to use the same callback in
different progress listeners at the same time.
Get notified when the current tab changes
my $browser = $mech->repl->expr('window.getBrowser()');
my $eventlistener = progress_listener(
$browser,
onLocationChange => \&onLocationChange,
);
while (1) {
$mech->repl->poll();
sleep 1;
};
`$mech->repl'
Gets the MozRepl::RemoteObject instance that is used.
This method is special to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
`$mech->events'
Sets or gets the set of Javascript events that WWW::Mechanize::Firefox
will wait for after requesting a new page. Returns an array reference.
This method is special to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
`$mech->cookies'
Returns a HTTP::Cookies object that was initialized from the live
Firefox instance.
Note: `->set_cookie' is not yet implemented, as is saving the cookie
jar.
`$mech->highlight_node( NODES )'
Convenience method that marks all nodes in the arguments with
background: red;
border: solid black 1px;
display: block; /* if the element was display: none before */
This is convenient if you need visual verification that you've got the
right nodes.
There currently is no way to restore the nodes to their original visual
state except reloading the page.
NAVIGATION METHODS
`$mech->get( URL )'
Retrieves the URL `URL' into the tab.
It returns a faked HTTP::Response object for interface compatibility
with WWW::Mechanize. It does not yet support the additional parameters
that WWW::Mechanize supports for saving a file etc.
Example:
$mech->get('http://google.com');
`$mech->get_local( $filename )'
Shorthand method to construct the appropriate `file://' URI and load it
into Firefox. Relative paths will be interpreted as relative to `$0'.
This method is special to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox but could also exist
in WWW::Mechanize through a plugin.
Example:
$mech->get_local('test.html');
`$mech->synchronize( $event, $callback )'
Wraps a synchronization semaphore around the callback and waits until
the event `$event' fires on the browser. If you want to wait for one of
multiple events to occur, pass an array reference as the first
parameter.
Usually, you want to use it like this:
my $l = $mech->xpath('//a[@onclick]', single => 1);
$mech->synchronize('DOMFrameContentLoaded', sub {
$l->__click()
});
It is necessary to synchronize with the browser whenever a click
performs an action that takes longer and fires an event on the browser
object.
The `DOMFrameContentLoaded' event is fired by Firefox when the whole DOM
and all `iframe's have been loaded. If your document doesn't have
frames, use the `DOMContentLoaded' event instead.
If you leave out `$event', the value of `->events()' will be used
instead.
`$mech->res' / `$mech->response'
Returns the current response as a HTTP::Response object.
`$mech->success'
Returns a boolean telling whether the last request was successful. If
there hasn't been an operation yet, returns false.
This is a convenience function that wraps `$mech->res->is_success'.
`$mech->status'
Returns the HTTP status code of the response. This is a 3-digit number
like 200 for OK, 404 for not found, and so on.
`$mech->reload( [BYPASS_CACHE] )'
Reloads the current page. If `BYPASS_CACHE' is a true value, the browser
is not allowed to use a cached page. This is the difference between
pressing `F5' (cached) and `shift-F5' (uncached).
Returns the (new) response.
`$mech->back'
Goes one page back in the page history.
Returns the (new) response.
`$mech->forward'
Goes one page back in the page history.
Returns the (new) response.
`$mech->uri'
Returns the current document URI.
CONTENT METHODS
`$mech->document'
Returns the DOM document object.
This is WWW::Mechanize::Firefox specific.
`$mech->docshell'
Returns the `docShell' Javascript object.
This is WWW::Mechanize::Firefox specific.
`$mech->content'
Returns the current content of the tab as a scalar.
This is likely not binary-safe.
It also currently only works for HTML pages.
`$mech->update_html( $html )'
Writes `$html' into the current document. This is mostly implemented as
a convenience method for HTML::Display::MozRepl.
`$mech->save_content( $localname [, $resource_directory] [, %OPTIONS ] )'
Saves the given URL to the given filename. The URL will be fetched from
the cache if possible, avoiding unnecessary network traffic.
If `$resource_directory' is given, the whole page will be saved. All
CSS, subframes and images will be saved into that directory, while the
page HTML itself will still be saved in the file pointed to by
`$localname'.
Returns a `nsIWebBrowserPersist' object through which you can cancel the
download by calling its `->cancelSave' method. Also, you can poll the
download status through the `->{currentState}' property.
If you are interested in the intermediate download progress, create a
ProgressListener through `$mech->progress_listener' and pass it in the
`progress' option.
The download will continue in the background. It will not show up in the
Download Manager.
Example:
$mech->get('http://google.com');
$mech->save_content('google search page','google search page files');
`$mech->save_url( $url, $localname, [%OPTIONS] )'
Saves the given URL to the given filename. The URL will be fetched from
the cache if possible, avoiding unnecessary network traffic.
Returns a `nsIWebBrowserPersist' object through which you can cancel the
download by calling its `->cancelSave' method. Also, you can poll the
download status through the `->{currentState}' property.
If you are interested in the intermediate download progress, create a
ProgressListener through `$mech->progress_listener' and pass it in the
`progress' option.
The download will continue in the background. It will also not show up
in the Download Manager.
Upload a file to an `ftp' server
Not implemented - this requires instantiating and passing a ` nsIURI '
object instead of a ` nsILocalFile '.
You can use `->save_url' to *transfer* files. `$localname' can be a
local filename, a `file://' URL or any other URL that allows uploads,
like `ftp://'.
$mech->save_url('file://path/to/my/file.txt'
=> 'ftp://myserver.example/my/file.txt');
`$mech->base'
Returns the URL base for the current page.
The base is either specified through a `base' tag or is the current URL.
This method is specific to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox
`$mech->content_type'
Returns the content type of the currently loaded document
`$mech->is_html()'
Returns true/false on whether our content is HTML, according to the HTTP
headers.
`$mech->title'
Returns the current document title.
EXTRACTION METHODS
`$mech->links'
Returns all links in the document.
Currently accepts no parameters. See `->xpath' or `->selector' when you
want more control.
`$mech->find_link_dom( OPTIONS )'
A method to find links, like WWW::Mechanize's `->find_links' method.
Note that Firefox might have reordered the links or frame links in the
document so the absolute numbers passed via `n' might not be the same
between WWW::Mechanize and WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
Returns the DOM object as MozRepl::RemoteObject::Instance.
The supported options are:
* `text' and `text_contains' and `text_regex'
Match the text of the link as a complete string, substring or
regular expression.
Matching as a complete string or substring is a bit faster, as it is
done in the XPath engine of Firefox.
* `id' and `id_contains' and `id_regex'
Matches the `id' attribute of the link completely or as part
* `name' and `name_contains' and `name_regex'
Matches the `name' attribute of the link
* `url' and `url_regex'
Matches the URL attribute of the link (`href', `src' or `content').
* `class' - the `class' attribute of the link
* `n' - the (1-based) index. Defaults to returning the first link.
* `single' - If true, ensure that only one element is found. Otherwise
croak or carp, depending on the `autodie' parameter.
* `one' - If true, ensure that at least one element is found.
Otherwise croak or carp, depending on the `autodie' parameter.
The method `croak's if no link is found. If the `single' option is
true, it also `croak's when more than one link is found.
`$mech->find_link( OPTIONS )'
A method quite similar to WWW::Mechanize's method. The options are
documented in `->find_link_dom'.
Returns a WWW::Mechanize::Link object.
This defaults to not look through child frames.
`$mech->find_all_links( OPTIONS )'
Finds all links in the document. The options are documented in
`->find_link_dom'.
Returns them as list or an array reference, depending on context.
This defaults to not look through child frames.
`$mech->find_all_links_dom OPTIONS'
Finds all matching linky DOM nodes in the document. The options are
documented in `->find_link_dom'.
Returns them as list or an array reference, depending on context.
This defaults to not look through child frames.
`$mech->follow_link LINK'
`$mech->follow_link OPTIONS'
Follows the given link. Takes the same parameters that `find_link_dom'
uses.
`$mech->click NAME [,X,Y]'
Has the effect of clicking a button on the current form. The first
argument is the `name' of the button to be clicked. The second and third
arguments (optional) allow you to specify the (x,y) coordinates of the
click.
If there is only one button on the form, $mech->click() with no
arguments simply clicks that one button.
If you pass in a hash reference instead of a name, the following keys
are recognized:
* `selector' - Find the element to click by the CSS selector
* `xpath' - Find the element to click by the XPath query
* `synchronize' - Synchronize the click (default is 1)
Synchronizing means that WWW::Mechanize::Firefox will wait until one
of the events listed in `events' is fired. You want to switch it off
when there will be no HTTP response or DOM event fired, for example
for clicks that only modify the DOM.
Returns a HTTP::Response object.
As a deviation from the WWW::Mechanize API, you can also pass a hash
reference as the first parameter. In it, you can specify the parameters
to search much like for the `find_link' calls.
FORM METHODS
`$mech->current_form'
Returns the current form.
This method is incompatible with WWW::Mechanize. It returns the DOM
`<form>' object and not a HTML::Form instance.
`$mech->form_name NAME [, OPTIONS]'
Selects the current form by its name.
`$mech->form_id ID [, OPTIONS]'
Selects the current form by its `id' attribute.
This is equivalent to calling
$mech->selector("#$name",single => 1,%options)
`$mech->form_number NUMBER [, OPTIONS]'
Selects the *number*th form.
`$mech->form_with_fields [$OPTIONS], FIELDS'
Find the form which has the listed fields.
If the first argument is a hash reference, it's taken as options to
`->xpath'.
See also `$mech->submit_form'.
`$mech->forms OPTIONS'
When called in a list context, returns a list of the forms found in the
last fetched page. In a scalar context, returns a reference to an array
with those forms.
The returned elements are the DOM `<form>' elements.
`$mech->field NAME, VALUE [,PRE EVENTS] [,POST EVENTS]'
Sets the field with the name to the given value. Returns the value.
Note that this uses the `name' attribute of the HTML, not the `id'
attribute.
By passing the array reference `PRE EVENTS', you can indicate which
Javascript events you want to be triggered before setting the value.
`POST EVENTS' contains the events you want to be triggered after setting
the value.
By default, the events set in the constructor for `pre_events' and
`post_events' are triggered.
Set a value without triggering events
$mech->field( 'myfield', 'myvalue', [], [] );
`$mech->value( NAME_OR_ELEMENT, [%OPTIONS] )'
Returns the value of the field named `NAME' or of the DOM element passed
in.
The legacy form of
$mech->value( name => value );
is also still supported but will likely be deprecated in favour of the
`->field' method.
`$mech->get_set_value( OPTIONS )'
Allows fine-grained access to getting/setting a value with a different
API. Supported keys are:
pre
post
name
value
in addition to all keys that `$mech->xpath' supports.
`$mech->submit'
Submits the current form. Note that this does not fire the `onClick'
event and thus also does not fire eventual Javascript handlers. Maybe
you want to use `$mech->click' instead.
`$mech->submit_form( ... )'
This method lets you select a form from the previously fetched page,
fill in its fields, and submit it. It combines the
form_number/form_name, set_fields and click methods into one higher
level call. Its arguments are a list of key/value pairs, all of which
are optional.
* `form => $mech->current_form()'
Specifies the form to be filled and submitted. Defaults to the
current form.
* `fields => \%fields'
Specifies the fields to be filled in the current form
* `with_fields => \%fields'
Probably all you need for the common case. It combines a smart form
selector and data setting in one operation. It selects the first
form that contains all fields mentioned in \%fields. This is nice
because you don't need to know the name or number of the form to do
this.
(calls `form_with_fields()' and `set_fields()').
If you choose this, the form_number, form_name, form_id and fields
options will be ignored.
Example:
$mech->get('http://google.com/');
$mech->submit_form(
with_fields => {
q => 'WWW::Mechanize::Firefox examples',
},
);
`$mech->set_fields( $name => $value, ... )'
This method sets multiple fields of the current form. It takes a list of
field name and value pairs. If there is more than one field with the
same name, the first one found is set. If you want to select which of
the duplicate field to set, use a value which is an anonymous array
which has the field value and its number as the 2 elements.
`$mech->set_visible @values'
This method sets fields of the current form without having to know their
names. So if you have a login screen that wants a username and password,
you do not have to fetch the form and inspect the source (or use the
`mech-dump' utility, installed with WWW::Mechanize) to see what the
field names are; you can just say
$mech->set_visible( $username, $password );
and the first and second fields will be set accordingly. The method is
called set_visible because it acts only on visible fields; hidden form
inputs are not considered.
The specifiers that are possible in WWW::Mechanize are not yet
supported.
`$mech->clickables'
Returns all clickable elements, that is, all elements with an `onclick'
attribute.
`$mech->xpath QUERY, %options'
Runs an XPath query in Firefox against the current document.
my $link = $mech->xpath('//a[id="clickme"]', one => 1);
# croaks if there is no link or more than one link found
my @para = $mech->xpath('//p');
# Collects all paragraphs
The options allow the following keys:
* `document' - document in which the query is to be executed. Use this
to search a node within a specific subframe of `$mech->document'.
* `frames' - if true, search all documents in all frames and iframes.
This may or may not conflict with `node'. This will default to the
`frames' setting of the WWW::Mechanize::Firefox object.
* `node' - node relative to which the query is to be executed
* `single' - If true, ensure that only one element is found. Otherwise
croak or carp, depending on the `autodie' parameter.
* `one' - If true, ensure that at least one element is found.
Otherwise croak or carp, depending on the `autodie' parameter.
* `maybe' - If true, ensure that at most one element is found.
Otherwise croak or carp, depending on the `autodie' parameter.
* `all' - If true, return all elements found. This is the default. You
can use this option if you want to use `->xpath' in scalar context
to count the number of matched elements, as it will otherwise emit a
warning for each usage in scalar context without any of the above
restricting options.
Returns the matched nodes.
You can pass in a list of queries as an array reference for the first
parameter.
This is a method that is not implemented in WWW::Mechanize.
In the long run, this should go into a general plugin for
WWW::Mechanize.
`$mech->selector css_selector, %options'
Returns all nodes matching the given CSS selector.
This takes the same options that `->xpath' does.
In the long run, this should go into a general plugin for
WWW::Mechanize.
`$mech->expand_frames SPEC'
Expands the frame selectors (or `1' to match all frames) into their
respective DOM document nodes according to the current document. All
frames will be visited in breadth first order.
This is mostly an internal method.
IMAGE METHODS
`$mech->content_as_png [TAB, COORDINATES]'
Returns the given tab or the current page rendered as PNG image.
All parameters are optional.
TAB defaults to current TAB.
If the coordinates are given, that rectangle will be cut out. The
coordinates should be a hash with the four usual entries,
`left',`top',`width',`height'.
This is specific to WWW::Mechanize::Firefox.
Currently, the data transfer between Firefox and Perl is done
Base64-encoded. It would be beneficial to find what's necessary to make
JSON handle binary data more gracefully.
Save the current page as PNG
my $png = $mech->content_as_png();
open my $fh, '>', 'page.png'
or die "Couldn't save to 'page.png': $!";
binmode $fh;
print {$fh} $png;
close $fh;
Also see the file `screenshot.pl' included in the distribution.
Save top left corner of the current page as PNG
my $rect = {
left => 0,
top => 0,
width => 200,
height => 200,
};
my $png = $mech->content_as_png(undef, $rect);
open my $fh, '>', 'page.png'
or die "Couldn't save to 'page.png': $!";
binmode $fh;
print {$fh} $png;
close $fh;
`$mech->element_as_png $element'
Returns PNG image data for a single element
`$mech->element_coordinates $element'
Returns the page-coordinates of the `$element' in pixels as a hash with
four entries, `left', `top', `width' and `height'.
This function might get moved into another module more geared towards
rendering HTML.
COOKIE HANDLING
Firefox cookies will be read through HTTP::Cookies::MozRepl. This is
relatively slow currently.
INCOMPATIBILITIES WITH WWW::Mechanize
As this module is in a very early stage of development, there are many
incompatibilities. The main thing is that only the most needed
WWW::Mechanize methods have been implemented by me so far.
Link attributes
In Firefox, the `name' attribute of links seems always to be present on
links, even if it's empty. This is in difference to WWW::Mechanize,
where the `name' attribute can be `undef'.
Unsupported Methods
* `->find_all_inputs'
This function is likely best implemented through `$mech->selector'.
* `->find_all_submits'
This function is likely best implemented through `$mech->selector'.
* `->images'
This function is likely best implemented through `$mech->selector'.
* `->find_image'
This function is likely best implemented through `$mech->selector'.
* `->find_all_images'
This function is likely best implemented through `$mech->selector'.
* `->field'
* `->select'
*
* `->tick'
* `->untick'
Functions that will likely never be implemented
These functions are unlikely to be implemented because they make little
sense in the context of Firefox.
* `->add_header'
* `->delete_header'
* `->clone'
* `->credentials( $username, $password )'
* `->get_basic_credentials( $realm, $uri, $isproxy )'
* `->clear_credentials()'
* `->put'
I have no use for it
* `->post'
I have no use for it
TODO
* Add `limit' parameter to `->xpath()' to allow an early exit-case
when searching through frames.
* Implement download progress via
`nsIWebBrowserPersist.progressListener' and our own
`nsIWebProgressListener'.
* Make `->click' use `->click_with_options'
* Write a unified `find_element' handler that handles the `single',
`one' etc. options, instead of (badly) reimplementing it in `xpath',
`selector', `links' and `click'.
* Rip out parts of Test::HTML::Content and graft them onto the
`links()' and `find_link()' methods here. Firefox is a conveniently
unified XPath engine.
Preferrably, there should be a common API between the two.
* Spin off XPath queries (`->xpath') and CSS selectors (`->selector')
into their own Mechanize plugin(s).
INSTALLING
* Install the `mozrepl' add-on into Firefox
* Start the `mozrepl' add-on or you will see test failures/skips in
the module when calling `->new'. You may want to set `mozrepl' to
start when the browser starts.
SEE ALSO
* The MozRepl Firefox plugin at http://wiki.github.com/bard/mozrepl
* WWW::Mechanize - the module whose API grandfathered this module
* WWW::Scripter - another WWW::Mechanize-workalike with Javascript
support
* https://developer.mozilla.org/En/FUEL/Window for JS events relating
to tabs
* https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Code_snippets/Tabbed_browser#Reusin
g_tabs for more tab info
* https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Document_Loading_-_From_Load_Start_
to_Finding_a_Handler for information on how to possibly override the
"Save As" dialog
REPOSITORY
The public repository of this module is
http://github.com/Corion/www-mechanize-firefox.
AUTHOR
Max Maischein `corion@cpan.org'
COPYRIGHT (c)
Copyright 2009-2010 by Max Maischein `corion@cpan.org'.
LICENSE
This module is released under the same terms as Perl itself.