How to handle html form in python?

Question

I have a html page to parse and form in it looking like that:

<select id="limit" name="limit" class="inputbox input-mini" size="1" onchange="this.form.submit()">
    <option value="5">5</option>
    <option value="10" selected="selected">10</option>
    <option value="15">15</option>
    <option value="20">20</option>
    <option value="25">25</option>
    <option value="30">30</option>
    <option value="50">50</option>
    <option value="100">100</option>
    <option value="0">All</option>
</select>

This form affects on how page looks(limit of displayed items). How can I change an option to "All" and submit this form to get all elements?

If you select All in the Dropdown-Menu, a value of 0 will be sent for the item limit in the form that surrounds this checkbox if that's what you're asking? Please show us your code if that's not what you want to know... — Maurice
– Maurice, Commented Mar 16, 2019 at 9:11
@Maurice how to send 0 for the item limit in the form in python? — user10445685
– user10445685, Commented Mar 16, 2019 at 9:12
Please check out how HTML forms work - in a nutshell you send a HTTP Request with the method that's determined by the method parameter to the url that's determined by the action parameter of the form and encode your value for limit in the payload. — Maurice
– Maurice, Commented Mar 16, 2019 at 9:15

Maurice · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-16 13:16:32Z

2

As described in my comment I'd advise you to research, how HTML forms and inputs work.

The URL you need to send your data to is either determined by the action parameter or encoded in some Javascript function. The HTTP method you need to use is set in the method parameter of the form or get by default.

Here's how you could use that in python:

Adapted from the documentation of the requests module.

import requests

# You might need to choose the get method here depending on the value of the forms method parameter
response = requests.post("your-url.here", data={'limit': 0})

print(response.text)

Edit

In response to the Comments I'll add the example for get Requests as well

import requests

response = requests.get("your-url.here", params={'limit': 0})

print(response.text)

The version has the advantage compared to the comment, that it will take care of URL-Encoding special characters for you.

edited Mar 16, 2019 at 13:16

answered Mar 16, 2019 at 9:23

Maurice

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2 Comments

SerAlejo Over a year ago

This code describes how to send a post request. If your form uses a get request you need to use: response = requests.get("your-url.here?limit=0")

Maurice Over a year ago

@SerAlejo I added a slight variation of your proposed solution to my answer that will take care of potentially necessary URL-encoding as well.

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