Retrieve data from website

[newToAccess2010]

Hello,

I would like to retrieve specific data items from several websites. Is there a "web query" which would enable me to enter a search word at each website designated? Is there such VBA code?

 

[HiTechCoach]

Hello,

I would like to retrieve specific data items from several websites. Is there a "web query" which would enable me to enter a search word at each website designated? Is there such VBA code?

See if this helps:

Use Dynamic Web Data in Access Application!

 

[darbid]

I would like to retrieve specific data items from several websites. Is there a "web query" which would enable me to enter a search word at each website designated? Is there such VBA code?

I can think of a number of ways of doing this. The first thing you have to decide is whether you use Internet Explorer as a separate piece of software or you put the Webbrowser control on a form. One of the advantages I can see with using the Webbrowser control is that you could do your web site scraping hidden without users actually seeing it at all. I am not sure you could do the same with IE as IE must be seen first and then made hidden.

1. You will find many tutorials on scraping web sites. This method uses what is called the DOM Document Object Model. Everything on a website is somehow (depending on its designer) named or referenced. Once you get these references you can then extract the values or add values. In fact anything you can do with a keyboard and mouse you can do by code.

2. Something that I am seeing more of are API's where you do not need to use a webbrowser anymore. These API work on you sending a message to the server and it returns information in an expected form eg XML. This XML you then read. This method is more reliable than 1 because (you hope) that they do not change things too much whereas a website could change without notice. Google/Bing/Yahoo have some pretty extensive API's like weather/financial information/translations/searches etc.

I hope this gets you started.

What websites are you looking at?

 

[JamesMcS]

That's a wicked link, thanks HiTech! That'll keep me busy for donkey's.....