Invalid Argument in Open method for web scraping












0















I am trying to scrape some data from the ancestry, I have a .net background but thought i'd try a bit of python for a project.
I'm falling at the first step, Firstly i am trying to open this page and then just print out the rows.



from requests import get
from requests.exceptions import RequestException
from contextlib import closing
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

raw_html = open('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/?
birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').read()
html = BeautifulSoup(raw_html, 'html.parser')
for p in html.select('tblrow record'):
print(p)


I am getting an illegal argument on open.










share|improve this question


















  • 3





    open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

    – Arnav Borborah
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:17













  • Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

    – Ceri Westcott
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:19
















0















I am trying to scrape some data from the ancestry, I have a .net background but thought i'd try a bit of python for a project.
I'm falling at the first step, Firstly i am trying to open this page and then just print out the rows.



from requests import get
from requests.exceptions import RequestException
from contextlib import closing
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

raw_html = open('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/?
birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').read()
html = BeautifulSoup(raw_html, 'html.parser')
for p in html.select('tblrow record'):
print(p)


I am getting an illegal argument on open.










share|improve this question


















  • 3





    open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

    – Arnav Borborah
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:17













  • Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

    – Ceri Westcott
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:19














0












0








0








I am trying to scrape some data from the ancestry, I have a .net background but thought i'd try a bit of python for a project.
I'm falling at the first step, Firstly i am trying to open this page and then just print out the rows.



from requests import get
from requests.exceptions import RequestException
from contextlib import closing
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

raw_html = open('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/?
birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').read()
html = BeautifulSoup(raw_html, 'html.parser')
for p in html.select('tblrow record'):
print(p)


I am getting an illegal argument on open.










share|improve this question














I am trying to scrape some data from the ancestry, I have a .net background but thought i'd try a bit of python for a project.
I'm falling at the first step, Firstly i am trying to open this page and then just print out the rows.



from requests import get
from requests.exceptions import RequestException
from contextlib import closing
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

raw_html = open('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/?
birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').read()
html = BeautifulSoup(raw_html, 'html.parser')
for p in html.select('tblrow record'):
print(p)


I am getting an illegal argument on open.







python






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Nov 12 '18 at 14:15









Ceri WestcottCeri Westcott

32




32








  • 3





    open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

    – Arnav Borborah
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:17













  • Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

    – Ceri Westcott
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:19














  • 3





    open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

    – Arnav Borborah
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:17













  • Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

    – Ceri Westcott
    Nov 12 '18 at 14:19








3




3





open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

– Arnav Borborah
Nov 12 '18 at 14:17







open is used for files, not webpages. You probably meant to use requests.get.

– Arnav Borborah
Nov 12 '18 at 14:17















Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

– Ceri Westcott
Nov 12 '18 at 14:19





Ah, the tutorial I was following has it wrong then.

– Ceri Westcott
Nov 12 '18 at 14:19












1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















0














According to documentation, open is used to:




Open [a] file and return a corresponding file object.




As such, you cannot use it for downloading the HTML contents of a webpage. You probably meant to use requests.get as follows:



raw_html = get('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/? 
birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').text
# .text gets the raw text of the response
# (http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/api/#requests.Response.text)


Here are a few recommendation to improve your code as well:





  1. requests.get provides many useful parameters, one of them being params, which allows you to provide the URL parameters in the form of a Python dictionary.

  2. If you need to verify whether the request was successful before accessing its text, then just check if the returned response.status_code == requests.codes.ok. This only covers status code 200, but if you need more codes, then response.raise_for_status should be helpful.






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    1 Answer
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    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

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    oldest

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    active

    oldest

    votes









    0














    According to documentation, open is used to:




    Open [a] file and return a corresponding file object.




    As such, you cannot use it for downloading the HTML contents of a webpage. You probably meant to use requests.get as follows:



    raw_html = get('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/? 
    birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').text
    # .text gets the raw text of the response
    # (http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/api/#requests.Response.text)


    Here are a few recommendation to improve your code as well:





    1. requests.get provides many useful parameters, one of them being params, which allows you to provide the URL parameters in the form of a Python dictionary.

    2. If you need to verify whether the request was successful before accessing its text, then just check if the returned response.status_code == requests.codes.ok. This only covers status code 200, but if you need more codes, then response.raise_for_status should be helpful.






    share|improve this answer




























      0














      According to documentation, open is used to:




      Open [a] file and return a corresponding file object.




      As such, you cannot use it for downloading the HTML contents of a webpage. You probably meant to use requests.get as follows:



      raw_html = get('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/? 
      birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').text
      # .text gets the raw text of the response
      # (http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/api/#requests.Response.text)


      Here are a few recommendation to improve your code as well:





      1. requests.get provides many useful parameters, one of them being params, which allows you to provide the URL parameters in the form of a Python dictionary.

      2. If you need to verify whether the request was successful before accessing its text, then just check if the returned response.status_code == requests.codes.ok. This only covers status code 200, but if you need more codes, then response.raise_for_status should be helpful.






      share|improve this answer


























        0












        0








        0







        According to documentation, open is used to:




        Open [a] file and return a corresponding file object.




        As such, you cannot use it for downloading the HTML contents of a webpage. You probably meant to use requests.get as follows:



        raw_html = get('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/? 
        birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').text
        # .text gets the raw text of the response
        # (http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/api/#requests.Response.text)


        Here are a few recommendation to improve your code as well:





        1. requests.get provides many useful parameters, one of them being params, which allows you to provide the URL parameters in the form of a Python dictionary.

        2. If you need to verify whether the request was successful before accessing its text, then just check if the returned response.status_code == requests.codes.ok. This only covers status code 200, but if you need more codes, then response.raise_for_status should be helpful.






        share|improve this answer













        According to documentation, open is used to:




        Open [a] file and return a corresponding file object.




        As such, you cannot use it for downloading the HTML contents of a webpage. You probably meant to use requests.get as follows:



        raw_html = get('https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/britisharmyservice/? 
        birth=_merthyr+tydfil-wales-united+kingdom_1651442').text
        # .text gets the raw text of the response
        # (http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/api/#requests.Response.text)


        Here are a few recommendation to improve your code as well:





        1. requests.get provides many useful parameters, one of them being params, which allows you to provide the URL parameters in the form of a Python dictionary.

        2. If you need to verify whether the request was successful before accessing its text, then just check if the returned response.status_code == requests.codes.ok. This only covers status code 200, but if you need more codes, then response.raise_for_status should be helpful.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Nov 12 '18 at 14:37









        Arnav BorborahArnav Borborah

        8,04722347




        8,04722347






























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