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How can I extract or change links in HTML with Perl?

Answer 1

+9 A:

There are excellent HTML parsers for Perl, learn to use them and stick with that. HTML is complex, allows > in attributes, heavily use nesting, etc. Using regexes to parse it, beyond very simple tasks (or machine generated code), is prone to problems.

PhiLho 2008-12-12 06:22:46

hi there,i'm using mod perl and we're running in unix, i need management approval to add a module, so was hoping to find a simple perl way to get it done or maybe default modules in mod perl. thanks

melaos 2008-12-12 06:25:03

well, you can always look at the module source. As for management, you can tell them that someone has already done it correctly and if you get to use the existing correct solution, they save time and money and you can move onto the next problem.

brian d foy 2008-12-12 07:49:12

makes sense, i would much rather use the test proven method that another one of my horrendous hack...hope my pointy haired boss oblige.

melaos 2008-12-12 08:10:28

Nothing like re-inventing the wheel, and ending up with a rectangular 'wheel'.

Brad Gilbert 2008-12-21 01:59:13

Answer 2

+2 A:

If you must avoid any additional module, like an HTML parser, you could try:

while ($string =~ m/(?:\<\s*(?:img|iframe)[^\>]+src\s*=\s*\"((?:\w|_|\\|-|\/|\.|:)+)\"|background\s*=\s*\"([^\>]+\.jpg)|\<\s*iframe)/g) {
  $old_src = $1;
            my @tmp = split(/\/Elearning/,$old_src);
                    $new_src = "/media/www/vprimary/Elearning".$tmp[-1];
  if($new_src=~/\?rand/){
    // remove rand and push in @iframes
  else
  {
    // push into @images
  }
}

That way, you would apply this regex on all the source (newlines included), and have a more compact code (plus, you would take into account any extra space between attributes and their values)

VonC 2008-12-12 07:10:20

People really should leave comments for down-voting. +1 because you're answering for a particular all-too-real case.

Axeman 2008-12-12 07:57:06

Just got back to my post. That was down-voted ? Sure, an HTML parser is the way to go, but I like to also answer to the actual case of the user. Thank you Axeman for recognizing this "answer" for what it is.

VonC 2008-12-12 11:25:15

yea, this answer match my case properly as i really can't simply introduce more modules usage unless necessary :)

melaos 2009-01-09 03:30:25

Answer 3

+3 A:

I think you want my HTML::SimpleLinkExtor module:

use HTML::SimpleLinkExtor;

my $extor = HTML::SimpleLinkExtor->new;
$extor->parse_file( $file );

my @imgs = $extor->img;

I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to do, but it surely sounds like one of the HTML parsing modules should do the trick if mine doesn't.

brian d foy 2008-12-12 07:43:09

well basically, i'm trying to export the html out as an external file, thus i need to copy the image and also export out the images into a image folder and change the img src into the original html.

melaos 2008-12-12 07:50:01

That's the sort of information you should include in your question, not buried in a comment. :)

brian d foy 2008-12-12 08:16:55

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How can I extract or change links in HTML with Perl?

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