ScraperXML (Open Source XML Web Scraper C# Library) please help verify my work...

yeah one thing i've definately learned about the XBMC scrapers is you can pull all the information in the world.... its actually the PROGRAM that decides what to actually use.

You can use this to scrape any information you would ever want to!

spiff Wrote:cache is a local filename. we cache the url to that file. it is used for speeding up running several functions on the same page

Ah Ha!!!! that makes a whole hell of alot of sense!

This looks like a job for System.IO.Streamwriter/Reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At what point are references to the buffer replaced? after the whole function runs or right after its expression matches are applied to the output, or before the RegExp even runs??

I think that's the key to why i keep getting some working and breaking others

you can use buffers in

1) the input - replaced before running the expression
2) the expressions themself - replaced before compiling the expressions
3) the output string - replaced after obtaining the replacestring from the regexp

thank you, see i was trying to do it all at once, didn't know there were three different times, that ought to clear my imdb problem right up

2 more questions and this library is ready for a point release (at least as far as movies goes, coding for other content will be a breeze once i nail down movies)


Are custom functions run A) before that info is put into the buffer or B) after the main function is complete

When a custom function runs with clearbuffers="no", does it A)use a copy of the Main buffers or B) A copy of the local Custom Buffers

1) they are run after the main function has finished
2) it uses the state of the buffers when the function is called. you process the returned xml sequentially (i.e. the <url function="foo"> bits). i.e. the first custom function is called with the state after the main function has finished, the second one with the state after the first custom (if the first custom has clearbuffers="no" and so on)

So only the first custom function to run in a sequence has the option to copy the bufferstate, if a function running after the first one clears buffers, then that bufferstate is completely lost to any other custom functions in the chain, right?

yes

Oops i feel preety stupid now

I found my ACTUAL problem,
when running custom functions i forgot to account for the RIGHT buffers to replace.
I never told it to replace with local buffers it was still trying to use the last bufferstate before the custom function ran