class Mechanize::Form

This class encapsulates a form parsed out of an HTML page. Each type of input fields available in a form can be accessed through this object.

Examples

Find a form and print out its fields

form = page.forms.first # => Mechanize::Form
form.fields.each { |f| puts f.name }

Set the input field ‘name’ to “Aaron”

form['name'] = 'Aaron'
puts form['name']

Attributes

action[RW]
buttons[R]
checkboxes[R]
elements[R]
encoding[RW]

Character encoding of form data (i.e. UTF-8)

enctype[RW]

Content-Type for form data (i.e. application/x-www-form-urlencoded)

fields[R]
file_uploads[R]
form_node[R]
ignore_encoding_error[RW]

When true, character encoding errors will never be never raised on form submission. Default is false

method[RW]
name[RW]
page[R]
radiobuttons[R]

Public Class Methods

new(node, mech=nil, page=nil) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 41
def initialize(node, mech=nil, page=nil)
  @enctype = node['enctype'] || 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
  @form_node        = node
  @action           = Mechanize::Util.html_unescape(node['action'])
  @method           = (node['method'] || 'GET').upcase
  @name             = node['name']
  @clicked_buttons  = []
  @page             = page
  @mech             = mech

  @encoding = node['accept-charset'] || (page && page.encoding) || nil
  @ignore_encoding_error = false
  parse
end

Public Instance Methods

[](field_name) click to toggle source

Fetch the value of the first input field with the name passed in

Example

Fetch the value set in the input field ‘name’

puts form['name']
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 146
def [](field_name)
  f = field(field_name)
  f && f.value
end
[]=(field_name, value) click to toggle source

Set the value of the first input field with the name passed in

Example

Set the value in the input field ‘name’ to “Aaron”

form['name'] = 'Aaron'
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 155
def []=(field_name, value)
  f = field(field_name)
  if f
    f.value = value
  else
    add_field!(field_name, value)
  end
end
add_button_to_query(button) click to toggle source

This method adds a button to the query. If the form needs to be submitted with multiple buttons, pass each button to this method.

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 259
def add_button_to_query(button)
  unless button.node.document == @form_node.document then
    message =
      "#{button.inspect} does not belong to the same page as "          "the form #{@name.inspect} in #{@page.uri}"

    raise ArgumentError, message
  end

  @clicked_buttons << button
end
add_field!(field_name, value = nil) click to toggle source

Add a field with field_name and value

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 103
def add_field!(field_name, value = nil)
  fields << Field.new({'name' => field_name}, value)
end
build_query(buttons = []) click to toggle source

This method builds an array of arrays that represent the query parameters to be used with this form. The return value can then be used to create a query string for this form.

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 206
def build_query(buttons = [])
  query = []
  @mech.log.info("form encoding: #{encoding}") if @mech && @mech.log

  successful_controls = []

  (fields + checkboxes).sort.each do |f|
    case f
    when Mechanize::Form::CheckBox
      if f.checked
        successful_controls << f
      end
    when Mechanize::Form::Field
      successful_controls << f
    end
  end

  radio_groups = {}
  radiobuttons.each do |f|
    fname = from_native_charset(f.name)
    radio_groups[fname] ||= []
    radio_groups[fname] << f
  end

  # take one radio button from each group
  radio_groups.each_value do |g|
    checked = g.select {|f| f.checked}

    if checked.uniq.size > 1 then
      values = checked.map { |button| button.value }.join(', ').inspect
      name = checked.first.name.inspect
      raise Mechanize::Error,
            "radiobuttons #{values} are checked in the #{name} group, "                "only one is allowed"
    else
      successful_controls << checked.first unless checked.empty?
    end
  end

  @clicked_buttons.each { |b|
    successful_controls << b
  }

  successful_controls.sort.each do |ctrl| # DOM order
    qval = proc_query(ctrl)
    query.push(*qval)
  end

  query
end
button_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find one button that matches criteria Example:

form.button_with(:value => %rsubmit/).value = 'hello'
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 328
  
buttons_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find all buttons that match criteria Example:

form.buttons_with(:value => %rsubmit/).each do |button|
  button.value = 'hello!'
end
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 337
elements_with :button
checkbox_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find one checkbox that matches criteria Example:

form.checkbox_with(:name => %rwoo/).check
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 382
  
checkboxes_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find all checkboxes that match criteria Example:

form.checkboxes_with(:name => %rwoo/).each do |field|
  field.check
end
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 391
elements_with :checkbox,   :checkboxes
click_button(button = buttons.first) click to toggle source

Submit form using button. Defaults to the first button.

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 183
def click_button(button = buttons.first)
  submit(button)
end
delete_field!(field_name) click to toggle source

Removes all fields with name field_name.

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 299
def delete_field!(field_name)
  @fields.delete_if{ |f| f.name == field_name}
end
dom_class() click to toggle source

This method is a shortcut to get form’s DOM class. Common usage:

page.form_with(:dom_class => "foorm")

Note that you can also use :class to get to this method:

page.form_with(:class => "foorm")
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 98
def dom_class
  form_node['class']
end
dom_id() click to toggle source

This method is a shortcut to get form’s DOM id. Common usage:

page.form_with(:dom_id => "foorm")

Note that you can also use :id to get to this method:

page.form_with(:id => "foorm")
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 89
def dom_id
  form_node['id']
end
field_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find one field that matches criteria Example:

form.field_with(:id => "exact_field_id").value = 'hello'
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 310
  
fields_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find all fields that match criteria Example:

form.fields_with(:value => %rfoo/).each do |field|
  field.value = 'hello!'
end
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 319
elements_with :field
file_upload_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find one file upload field that matches criteria Example:

form.file_upload_with(:file_name => %rpicture/).value = 'foo'
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 346
  
file_uploads_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find all file upload fields that match criteria Example:

form.file_uploads_with(:file_name => %rpicutre/).each do |field|
  field.value = 'foo!'
end
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 355
elements_with :file_upload
has_field?(field_name) click to toggle source

Returns whether or not the form contains a field with field_name

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 57
def has_field?(field_name)
  fields.find { |f| f.name == field_name }
end
Also aliased as: has_key?
has_key?(field_name) click to toggle source
Alias for: has_field?
has_value?(value) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 63
def has_value?(value)
  fields.find { |f| f.value == value }
end
hidden_field?(field_name) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 81
def hidden_field?(field_name)     hiddens.find{|f| f.name == field_name}; end
hiddens() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 74
def hiddens  ; @hiddens   ||=  fields.select { |f| f.class == Hidden   }; end
keygens() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 76
def keygens  ; @keygens   ||=  fields.select { |f| f.class == Keygen   }; end
keys() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 67
def keys; fields.map { |f| f.name }; end
method_missing(meth, *args) click to toggle source

Treat form fields like accessors.

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 165
def method_missing(meth, *args)
  method = meth.to_s.gsub(%r=$/, '')

  if field(method)
    return field(method).value if args.empty?
    return field(method).value = args[0]
  end

  super
end
radiobutton_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find one radio button that matches criteria Example:

form.radiobutton_with(:name => %rwoo/).check
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 364
  
radiobuttons_with(criteria)() click to toggle source

Find all radio buttons that match criteria Example:

form.radiobuttons_with(:name => %rwoo/).each do |field|
  field.check
end
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 373
elements_with :radiobutton
request_data() click to toggle source

This method calculates the request data to be sent back to the server for this form, depending on if this is a regular post, get, or a multi-part post,

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 274
def request_data
  query_params = build_query()

  case @enctype.downcase
  when %r^multipart\/form-data/
    boundary = rand_string(20)
    @enctype = "multipart/form-data; boundary=#{boundary}"

    params = query_params.map do |k,v|
      param_to_multipart(k, v) if k
    end.compact

    params.concat @file_uploads.map { |f| file_to_multipart(f) }

    params.map do |part|
      part.force_encoding('ASCII-8BIT') if part.respond_to? :force_encoding
      "--#{boundary}\r\n#{part}"
    end.join('') +
      "--#{boundary}--\r\n"
  else
    Mechanize::Util.build_query_string(query_params)
  end
end
reset_button?(button_name) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 79
def reset_button?(button_name)     resets.find{|f| f.name == button_name}; end
resets() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 72
def resets   ; @resets    ||= buttons.select { |f| f.class == Reset    }; end
set_fields(fields = {}) click to toggle source

This method sets multiple fields on the form. It takes a list of fields which are name, value pairs.

If there is more than one field found with the same name, this method will set the first one found. If you want to set the value of a duplicate field, use a value which is a Hash with the key as the index in to the form. The index is zero based.

For example, to set the second field named ‘foo’, you could do the following:

form.set_fields :foo => { 1 => 'bar' }
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 121
def set_fields fields = {}
  fields.each do |name, v|
    case v
    when Hash
      v.each do |index, value|
        self.fields_with(:name => name.to_s)[index].value = value
      end
    else
      value = nil
      index = 0

      [v].flatten.each do |val|
        index = val.to_i if value
        value = val unless value
      end

      self.fields_with(:name => name.to_s)[index].value = value
    end
  end
end
submit(button=nil, headers = {}) click to toggle source

Submit this form with the button passed in

# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 177
def submit button=nil, headers = {}
  @mech.submit(self, button, headers)
end
submit_button?(button_name) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 78
def submit_button?(button_name)   submits.find{|f| f.name == button_name}; end
submits() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 71
def submits  ; @submits   ||= buttons.select { |f| f.class == Submit   }; end
text_field?(field_name) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 80
def text_field?(field_name)         texts.find{|f| f.name == field_name}; end
textarea_field?(field_name) click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 82
def textarea_field?(field_name) textareas.find{|f| f.name == field_name}; end
textareas() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 75
def textareas; @textareas ||=  fields.select { |f| f.class == Textarea }; end
texts() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 73
def texts    ; @texts     ||=  fields.select { |f| f.class == Text     }; end
values() click to toggle source
# File lib/mechanize/form.rb, line 69
def values; fields.map { |f| f.value }; end