Scraper

This project is a web scraper built with Selenium and integrated with a Flask application. It allows users to scrape data from web pages, handle pagination, and download the scraped data in CSV or JSON format through a web interface as well as a standalone application that can be run on the terminal.

The sctipt is a web scraper that uses Selenium to scrape data from web pages. It can handle pagination and save the scraped data in CSV or JSON format. The scraper is integrated with a Flask application, allowing users to input the scraping parameters through a web interface.

If can only scrape data from a single page by passing the single page as a number, you can as well modify the script to handle pagination and scrape multiple pages.

It scrapes data from this website only:

https://www.color-hex.com/color-palettes

Use it to scrape data from other websites by modifying the CSS selectors and data extraction logic in the scraper.py file.

for UI Demo use the above link to scrape data from the website.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have met the following requirements:

Python 3.x installed
Google Chrome browser installed
ChromeDriver downloaded and added to your PATH

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/bugemarvin/scraper.git
cd scraper

Create and activate a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv or python3 -m venv venv

On Windows:
```
venv\Scripts\activate
```
On macOS and Linux:
```
source venv/bin/activate
```

Install the required packages:
```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```
Ensure chromedriver is available in your PATH. If not, specify its location in scraper.py when initializing the WebDriver.

Project Structure

scraper/
│
├── app.py # Flask application
├── scraper.py # Selenium scraper
├── requirements.txt # Required packages
├── test_scraper.py # Unit tests for the scraper
├── uploads/ # Directory for saving scraped files
│ └── (scraped files)
└── templates/
└── index.html # HTML template for the web interface

Usage

Run the Script or Flask Application

Run the scraper script directly:
```
python3 scraper.py
```
Start the Flask application by running:
```
flask run
```
If you're using Windows, set the FLASK_APP environment variable first:
```
set FLASK_APP=app.py
flask run
```
Start as a standalone application:
```
python3 app.py
```
Access the Web Interface

Open your web browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:5000. You should see a web form where you can input the scraping parameters.
Input Scraping Parameters
- URL: The URL of the website you want to scrape.
- Pagination Selector: The CSS selector for the pagination button/link.
- Data Selector: The CSS selector for the data you want to scrape. (Please note that this URL is subject to change as well as the structure of the website to be scraped from in the future in scraper.py) Update the CSS selector in the scraper.py file
- File Format: Choose between CSV or JSON for the output file format.
Start Scraping

Click on the "Scrape" button. The scraper will process the pages, and the data will be available for download once scraping is complete.

Running Tests

To run the unit tests for the scraper, use:

python test_scraper.py

Example

Here's an example of how to use the scraper programmatically:

import scraper

url = "https://www.color-hex.com/color-palettes" # Specify the URL to scrape data from (Please note that this URL is subject to change as well as the structure of the website to be scraped from in the future in scraper.py)
num_pages = 1764  # Set the number of pages to scrape per your requirements (1764 pages in this case)
driver = scraper.init_driver() # Initialize the driver
try:
    print("Collecting palette data from the specified URL...")
    palette_data = scraper.collect_palette_data(driver, url, num_pages) # Collect palette data
    print(f"Total palettes extracted: {len(palette_data)}")
    save_data(palette_data, 'data/palette_data.csv') # Save the data to a CSV file
    or
    save_data(palette_data, 'data/palette_data.json') # Save the data to a JSON file
finally:
    # Quit the driver after processing
    driver.quit()

Output

[
  {
    "ID": "1048899",
    "Name": "seafoam essence",
    "HEX": [
      "#ffffff",
      "#fffcfa",
      "#e1f4f6",
      "#b6e3ea",
      "#7bcdd9"
    ],
    "RGB": [
      "rgb(255, 255, 255)",
      "rgb(255, 252, 250)",
      "rgb(225, 244, 246)",
      "rgb(182, 227, 234)",
      "rgb(123, 205, 217)"
    ]
  },
  {
    "ID": "1048898",
    "Name": "Dark Blue-Magenta",
    "HEX": [
      "#0c070d",
      "#221b41",
      "#322971",
      "#747bb4",
      "#a2abca"
    ],
    "RGB": [
      "rgb(12, 7, 13)",
      "rgb(34, 27, 65)",
      "rgb(50, 41, 113)",
      "rgb(116, 123, 180)",
      "rgb(162, 171, 202)"
    ]
  },
    ...
]

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details. Contributing

Fork the repository.
Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature-branch).
Make your changes and commit (git commit -m 'Add new feature').
Push to the branch (git push origin feature-branch).
Create a new Pull Request.

Contact

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at bugemarvin@outlook.com.

Save this as README.md in your project directory. This file provides comprehensive instructions on how to set up, use, and test the web scraper and Flask application.