Clicking JavaScript element without Name or ID

Thank you twtwtw,

it worked like a charm. I followed your advice and used trial and error method to find which node would work. This worked for me:

do JavaScript "document.getElementsByTagName('input')[11].click()

Actually, I had been so close to finding the solution on my own, cos I was trying both 'input' and 'submit' before, only up to [10]. Still, I'm glad I asked, otherwise I'd not have learned about those nodes. I'll have to read up some more on that topic later, to understand it some more.

Accidentally, is there any cleaverer way to find out which node that would be, than just trial and error? Can you tell me how? The webpage can be found here: http://hua.umf.maine.edu/php/search.php

Oh, btw, is it too mutch to pick your brain on a similar matter? If you have a minute or two, could you glance at the following post:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4425159

Looking forward to any tips or sollutions.

Your comment made me laugh, honestly. I could try to wriggle my way out of it by saying that I was trying to be creative by inventing a new word that would convey the idea of being "clever" and at "cutting-edge solution" (accidentally, cleaverer would fit the bill quite nicely, but I won't try, because I think you're too smart to buy it.

Instead, I'm just going to make the valid excuse that English is not my mother tongue.

Oh, and as for the more ellegant solution. I'm going to stick with the working sollution I have for the time being, because I'm a bit pressed for time and I code really slow. But once I have some more time on my hands, I'm going to read up a bit on JavaScript and give it a try.

I actually ended up using the document.forms['com'].submit() as you adviced. Works just as well. Thx for your time.

@twtwtw

I've been testing my script on large chunks of data, some 4k items long, and it's working really well, most of the time. However, I have two things I'd like to ask you:

1) For one reason or another, it occasionally happens that the "document.forms['com'].submit()" command suddenly stops working. The script continues running, new items are entered into the search field, but the form doesn't get submitted. For the time being, I've modified the script to get it submitt the form first, and then click the submit button just in case. I also made it refresh the page each time before running javascript. Don't know if it will work. It's hard to replicate the problem. I run the script in the background with Saphari minimised, while I use my computer as usual (just using Firefox for browsing instead) so it may be getting some interference from user actions. Any ideas what it may be?

2) The script is processing large amounts of entries. Basically it enters the search term in the serch field of the online dictionary and goes through the results one by one, adding them to my study list. Before that, however, it checks if the entry has not already been added before (different search terms can produce the same results). The problem is, some search terms produce up to 500 results, and then AppleScript gets really(!) busy, and the fans in my mac spin like crazy. Once it gets through those entries, it returns to normal. But since I have like thousands of thousands of results to through, I'm not sure wheter it wouldn't affect the lifespan of my precious mac in the long haul. Have you had similar problems when scripting? Is there any way to manage the resources effectively in AppleScript? I was thinking maybe of a delay command at the end of such loops, when an item is skipped, but what would be the reasonable delay time?

Thx again for your advice,

1) I don't think, however, that the page not being fully loaded is the problem. I had been using a following function to load the url. It's practically the same as yours. (I put the delay time in a variable, because some sites I use take longer to reply on different days, so I can adjust it accordingly at the head of applescript code.

on LoadURL(theURL, DelayTimeLong)

tell application "Safari"

set URL of document 1 to theURL

delay DelayTimeLong

repeat

----use Safari's 'do JavaScript' to check a page's status

if (do JavaScript "document.readyState" in document 1) is "complete" then exit repeat

delay 1

end repeat

end tell

end LoadURL

ad 2) I've been using a similar sollution, where I would use applescript to store the processed entries in its cashe by calling:

set ProcessedCashe to ProcessedCashe & CharacterEntry --ensures that the entry won't be duplicated

and checking the uniquness of each new search result by using:

on CheckIfUnique(CharacterEntry, ProcessedCashe)

set UniquenessValue to "unique"

repeat with p from 1 to count of ProcessedCashe

--display dialog CharacterEntry & return & "vs." & return & item p of ProcessedCashe

if item p of ProcessedCashe is CharacterEntry then

set UniquenessValue to "duplicate"

exit repeat

end if

end repeat

return UniquenessValue

end CheckIfUnique

but as you see, it was yet again another loop. I remember I wanted just to bypass the loop and use something along the lines of:

if ProcessedCashe contains CharacterEntry then

-- skip

else

--proceed

end if

but for one reason or another couldn't get it to work. I'll give your sollution a try soon. I think it might be more efficient. At the moment, I'm using a delay 0.3 after each skipped item, which prevents my fans from spinning out of controll, although I've noticed that the average speed per character is much lower.

Comparing your sollution to mine, I'm starting to suspect the problem is cummulative throughout the entire code, not just one function. I'm new to AppleScript, and though I can get it to do what I want (having picked the brains of people like you, I might add), I probably don't get it to do these things in the most efficient way.

I'll have to try to improve with with time.

Hi twtwtw,

It's really nice of you to offer your help, but the code is a bit long, so I don't want to trouble you. I'll just try implementing the solution from the previous post and tell you how it went. When writing a code next time, I'll try finding alternative solutions to loops.

The double implementation of clicking the button and submitting the form makes the problem occurr less often. I save all the results to a log anyway, so I can trace the first entry that failed and resume the search from there.

Cheers!

Hi,

I optimised the code according to your suggestions, and tweeked the code here and there a bit. It's like magic. The fans don't spin up any more, and the average processing speed has gone up from the original 2.2 words a minute to 9.2.

Thx again.