How to run a script that queries a name on a website and scans the results and exports it to a file?
Hello,
I have a long list of names and it's my job to use this online people directory service that, when you enter a name, gives you data about the person laid out on a website, such as what department they're affiliated with. For example, you could enter "John" and the site would spit out "Position: Undergraduate" and "Department: Finance." Because there are literally thousands of names that I have to do this with, I was wondering if there was an automated script that could run and would take my text file of names, plug each name into the field, scan the site to get Department and Position titles and then export the data ideally to an excel file or something... Is this super tricky/impossible? Or if possible where do I start?
I have a long list of names and it's my job to use this online people directory service that, when you enter a name, gives you data about the person laid out on a website, such as what department they're affiliated with. For example, you could enter "John" and the site would spit out "Position: Undergraduate" and "Department: Finance." Because there are literally thousands of names that I have to do this with, I was wondering if there was an automated script that could run and would take my text file of names, plug each name into the field, scan the site to get Department and Position titles and then export the data ideally to an excel file or something... Is this super tricky/impossible? Or if possible where do I start?
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MWGainesJR
I should also mention that AutoHotKey is completely free and a very small download.
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Thanks for the comments everyone. I did contact the data providers a while ago but they haven't gotten back to me. AutoHotKey looks good but I don't know how to incorporate data. I run Excel on a Mac, so @gbanik I can't run VB Macros right? Also can't find a web query ability in Excel, is "External Data" the equivalent?
Thanks.
Thanks.
There's surely an option for web queries under External Data..., perhaps with another name.
And yes, as far as I know you can't use VBA with the Mac, at the moment anyway - it's apparennly making a comeback.:)
In fact it might have already done so, I can't quite find an actual release date
And yes, as far as I know you can't use VBA with the Mac, at the moment anyway - it's apparennly making a comeback.:)
In fact it might have already done so, I can't quite find an actual release date