HTTP::Recorder - record interaction with websites


HTTP-Recorder documentation Contained in the HTTP-Recorder distribution.

Index


Code Index:

NAME

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HTTP::Recorder - record interaction with websites

VERSION

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Version 0.05

SYNOPSIS

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Using HTTP::Recorder as a Web Proxy

Set HTTP::Recorder as the user agent for a proxy, and it rewrites HTTP responses so that additional requests can be recorded.

The Proxy Script

Set it up like this:

    #!/usr/bin/perl

    use HTTP::Proxy;
    use HTTP::Recorder;

    my $proxy = HTTP::Proxy->new();

    # create a new HTTP::Recorder object
    my $agent = new HTTP::Recorder;

    # set the log file (optional)
    $agent->file("/tmp/myfile");

    # set HTTP::Recorder as the agent for the proxy
    $proxy->agent( $agent );

    # start the proxy
    $proxy->start();

    1;

Start the proxy script, then change the settings in your web browser so that it will use this proxy for web requests. For more information about proxy settings and the default port, see HTTP::Proxy.

The script will be recorded in the specified file, and can be viewed and modified via the control panel.

Start Recording

Now you can use your browser as your normally would, and your actions will be recorded in the file you specified. Alternatively, you can start recording from the Control Panel.

Using the Control Panel

If you have Javascript enabled in your browser, go to the HTTP::Recorder control URL (http://http-recorder by default), optionally type a URL into the "Goto page" field, and click "Go".

In the new window, interact with web sites as you normally do, including typing a new address into the address field. The Control Panel will be updated after each recorded action.

The Control Panel allows you to modify, delete, or save your script.

SSL sessions

As of version 0.03, HTTP::Recorder can record SSL sessions.

To begin recording an SSL session, go to the control URL (http://http-recorder/ by default), and enter the initial URL. Then, interact with the web site as usual.

Script output

By default, HTTP::Recorder outputs WWW::Mechanize scripts.

However, you can override HTTP::Recorder::Logger to output other types of scripts.

Functions

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new

Creates and returns a new HTTP::Recorder object, referred to as the 'agent'.

$agent->prefix([$value])

Get or set the prefix string that HTTP::Recorder uses for rewriting responses.

$agent->control([$value])

Get or set the URL of the control panel. By default, the control URL is 'http-recorder'.

The control URL will display a control panel which will allow you to view and edit the current script.

$agent->logger([$value])

Get or set the logger object. The default logger is a HTTP::Recorder::Logger, which generates WWW::Mechanize scripts.

$agent->ignore_favicon([0|1])

Get or set ignore_favicon flag that causes HTTP::Recorder to skip logging requests favicon.ico files. The value is 1 by default.

$agent->file([$value])

Get or set the filename for generated scripts. The default is '/tmp/scriptfile'.

Bugs, Missing Features, and other Oddities

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Javascript

WWW::Mechanize can't play back Javascript actions, and HTTP::Recorder doesn't record them.

Why are my images corrupted?

HTTP::Recorder only tries to rewrite responses that are of type text/*, which it determines by reading the Content-Type header of the HTTP::Response object. However, if the received image gives the wrong Content-Type header, it may be corrupted by the recorder. While this may not be pleasant to look at, it shouldn't have an effect on your recording session.

See Also

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See also LWP::UserAgent, WWW::Mechanize, HTTP::Proxy.

Requests & Bugs

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Please submit any feature requests, suggestions, bugs, or patches at http://rt.cpan.org/, or email to bug-HTTP-Recorder@rt.cpan.org.

If you're submitting a bug of the type "X doesn't record correctly," be sure to include a (preferably short and simple) HTML page that demonstrates the problem, and a clear explanation of a) what it does that it shouldn't, and b) what it should do instead.

More information

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You can read more about HTTP::Recorder, including browsing the current source tree, at http://www.bitmistress.org/.

There's a mailing list for users and developers of HTTP::Recorder. You can subscribe at http://lists.fsck.com/mailman/listinfo/http-recorder, or by sending email to http-recorder-request@lists.fsck.com with the subject "subscribe".

Mailing list archives can be found at http://lists.fsck.com/pipermail/http-recorder.

Author

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Copyright 2003-2005 by Linda Julien <leira@cpan.org>

Released under the GNU Public License.


HTTP-Recorder documentation Contained in the HTTP-Recorder distribution.
package HTTP::Recorder;

our $VERSION = "0.05";

use strict;
use warnings;
use LWP::UserAgent;
use HTML::TokeParser;
use HTTP::Recorder::Logger;
use URI::Escape qw(uri_escape uri_unescape);
use URI::QueryParam;
use HTTP::Request::Params;

our @ISA = qw( LWP::UserAgent );

sub new {
    my $class = shift;

    my %args = ( @_ );

    my $self = $class->SUPER::new( %args );
    bless $self, $class;

    $self->{prefix} = $args{prefix} || "rec";
    $self->{control} = $args{control} || "http-recorder";
    $self->{logger} = $args{logger} || 
	new HTTP::Recorder::Logger(file => $args{file});
    $self->{ignore_favicon} = $args{ignore_favicon} || 1;

    return $self;
}

sub prefix { shift->_elem('prefix',      @_); }

sub control { shift->_elem('control',      @_); }

sub logger { 
    my $self = shift;
    $self->_elem('logger',      @_);
}

sub ignore_favicon { shift->_elem('ignore_favicon',      @_); }

sub file {
    my $self = shift;
    my $file = shift;

    $self->{logger}->file($file) if $file;
}

sub send_request {
    my $self = shift;
    my $request = shift;

    my $response;

    # special handling if the URL is the control URL
    if ($request->uri->host eq $self->{control}) {

	# get the arguments passed from the form
	my $arghash;
	$arghash = extract_values($request);

	# there may be an action we need to perform
	if (exists $arghash->{updatescript}) {
	    my $script = $arghash->{ScriptContent};
	    $self->{logger}->SetScript($script || '');
	} elsif (exists $arghash->{clearscript}) {
	    $self->{logger}->SetScript("");
	} 

	my ($h, $content);
	if (exists $arghash->{goto}) {
	    my $url = $arghash->{url};

	    if ($url) {
		my $r = new HTTP::Request("GET", $url);
		my $response = $self->send_request( $r );

		return $response;
	    } else {
		$h = HTTP::Headers->new(Content_Type => 'text/html');
		$content = $self->get_start_page();
	    }
	} elsif (exists $arghash->{savescript}) {
	    $h = HTTP::Headers->new(Content_Type => 'text/plain',
				    Content_Disposition => 'attachment; filename=recorder-script.pl');
	    my @script = $self->{logger}->GetScript();
	    $content = join('', @script);
	} else {
	    $h = HTTP::Headers->new(Content_Type => 'text/html');
	    $content = $self->get_recorder_content();
	}

	$response = HTTP::Response->new(200,
					"",
					$h,
					$content,
					);
    } else {
	$request = $self->modify_request ($request)
            unless $self->{ignore_favicon}
                && $request->uri->path =~ /favicon\.ico$/i;

	$response = $self->SUPER::send_request( $request );

	my $content_type = $response->headers->header('Content-type') || "";

	# don't try to modify the content unless it's text/<something>
	if ($content_type =~ m#^text/#i) {
	    $self->modify_response($response);
	}
    }

    return $response;
}

sub modify_request {
    my $self = shift;
    my $request = shift;

    my $values = extract_values($request);

    # log the actions
    my $action = $values->{"$self->{prefix}-action"};

    my $referer = $request->headers->referer;
    if (!$action) {
	if (!$referer) {
	    my $uri = $self->unmodify($request->uri);;

	    # log a blank line to give the code a little breathing room
	    $self->{logger}->LogLine();
	    $self->{logger}->GotoPage(url => $uri);
	}
    } elsif ($action eq "follow") {
	$self->{logger}->FollowLink(text => $values->{"$self->{prefix}-text"} || "",
			    index => $values->{"$self->{prefix}-index"} || "",
			    url => $values->{"$self->{prefix}-url"});
    } elsif ($action eq "submitform") {
	my %fields;
	my ($btn_name, $btn_value, $btn_number);
	foreach my $param (keys %$values) {
	    my %fieldhash;
	    my ($fieldtype, $fieldname);
	    if ($param =~ /^$self->{prefix}-form(\d+)-(\w+)-(.*)$/) {
		$fieldtype = $2;
		$fieldname = $3;

		if ($fieldtype eq 'submit') {
		    next unless $values->{$fieldname};
		    $btn_name = $fieldname;
		    $btn_value = $values->{$fieldname};
		} else {
		    next if ($fieldtype eq 'hidden');
		    next unless $fieldname && exists $values->{$fieldname};
		    $fieldhash{'name'} = $fieldname;
		    $fieldhash{'type'} = $fieldtype;
		    if (ref($values->{$fieldname}) eq 'ARRAY') {
			my @tempvalues = @{$values->{$fieldname}};
			for (my $i = 0 ; $i < scalar @tempvalues ; $i++) {
			    $fieldhash{'value'} = $tempvalues[$i];
			    my %temphash = %fieldhash;
			    $fields{"$fieldname-$i"} = \%temphash;
			}
		    } else {
			$fieldhash{'value'} = $values->{$fieldname};
			$fields{$fieldname} = \%fieldhash;
		    }
		}
	    }
	}

	$self->{logger}->SetFieldsAndSubmit(name => $values->{"$self->{prefix}-formname"}, 
					    number => $values->{"$self->{prefix}-formnumber"},
					    fields => \%fields,
					    button_name => $btn_name,
					    button_value => $btn_value);

	# log a blank line to give the code a little breathing room
	$self->{logger}->LogLine();
    }

    # undo what we've done
    $request->uri($self->unmodify($request->uri));
    $request->content($self->unmodify($request->content));

    # reset the Content-Length (if needed) to prevent warnings from
    # HTTP::Protocol
    if ($action && ($action eq "submitform")) {
	$request->headers->header('Content-Length' => length($request->content()) );
	
    }

    my $https = $values->{"$self->{prefix}-https"};
    if ( $https && $https == 1) {
	my $uri = $request->uri;
	$uri->scheme('https') if $uri->scheme eq 'http';

	$request = new HTTP::Request($request->method, 
				     $uri, 
				     $request->headers, 
				     $request->content);
	
    }	    

    return $request;
}

sub unmodify {
    my $self = shift;
    my $content = shift;

    return $content unless $content;

    # get rid of the arguments we added
    my $prefix = $self->{prefix};

    for my $key ($content->query_param) {
	if ($key =~ /^$prefix-/) {
	    $content->query_param_delete($key);
	}
    }
    return $content;
}

sub extract_values {
    my $request = shift;

    my $parser = HTTP::Request::Params->new({
	req => $request,
    });

    # un-escape all params
    for my $key (keys %{$parser->params}) {
	$parser->params->{$key} = uri_unescape($parser->params->{$key});
    }

    return $parser->params;
}

sub modify_response {
    my $self = shift;
    my $response = shift;
    my $formcount = 0;
    my $formnumber = 0;
    my $linknumber = 1;

    $response->headers->push_header('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache');
    $response->headers->push_header('Pragma', 'no-cache');

    my $content = $response->content();
    my $p = HTML::TokeParser->new(\$content);
    my $newcontent = "";
    my %links;
    my $formname;

    my $js_href = 0;
    my $in_head = 0;
    my $basehref;
    while (my $token = $p->get_token()) {
	if (@$token[0] eq 'S') {
	    my $tagname = @$token[1];
	    my $attrs = @$token[2];
	    my $oldaction;
	    my $text;

	    if ($tagname eq 'head') {
		$in_head = 1;
	    } elsif ($in_head && $tagname eq 'base') {
		$basehref = new URI($attrs->{'base'});
	    } elsif ($tagname eq 'html') {
		# add the javascript to update the script
		$newcontent .= $self->script_update();
	    } elsif (($tagname eq 'a' || $tagname eq 'link') && 
		     $attrs->{'href'}) {
		my $t = $p->get_token();
		if (@$t[0] eq 'T') {
		    $text = @$t[1];
		} else {
		    undef $text;
		}
		$p->unget_token($t);

		# up the counter for links with the same text
		my $index;
		if (defined $text) {
		    $links{$text} = 0 if !(exists $links{$text});
		    $links{$text}++;
		    $index = $links{$text};
		} else {
		    $index = $linknumber;
		}
		if ($attrs->{'href'} =~ m/^javascript:/i) {
		    $js_href = 1;
		} else {
		    if ($tagname eq 'a') {
			$attrs->{'href'} = 
			    $self->rewrite_href($attrs->{'href'}, 
						$text, 
						$index,
						$response->base);
		    } elsif ($tagname eq 'link') {
			$attrs->{'href'} = 
			    $self->rewrite_linkhref($attrs->{'href'}, 
						    $response->base);
		    }
		}
		$linknumber++;
	    } elsif ($tagname eq 'form') {
		$formcount++;
		$formnumber++;
	    }

	    # put the hidden field before the real field
	    # so that it won't be inside
	    if (!$js_href && 
		$tagname ne 'form' && ($formcount == 1)) {
		my ($formfield, $fieldprefix, $fieldtype, $fieldname);
		$fieldprefix = "$self->{prefix}-form" . $formnumber;
		$fieldtype = lc($attrs->{type}) || 'unknown';
		if ($attrs->{name}) {
		    $fieldname = $attrs->{name};
		    $formfield = ($fieldprefix . '-' . 
				  $fieldtype . '-' . $fieldname);
		    $newcontent .= "<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"$formfield\" value=1>\n";
		}
	    }

	    $newcontent .= ("<".$tagname);

	    # keep the attributes in their original order
	    my $attrlist = @$token[3];
	    foreach my $attr (@$attrlist) {
		# only rewrite if 
		# - it's not part of a javascript link
		# - it's not a hidden field
		$newcontent .= (" ".$attr."=\"".$attrs->{$attr}."\"");
	    }
	    $newcontent .= (">\n");
	    if ($tagname eq 'form') {
		if ($formcount == 1) {
		    $newcontent .= $self->rewrite_form_content($attrs->{name} || "",
							       $formnumber,
							       $response->base);
		}
	    }
	} elsif (@$token[0] eq 'E') {
	    my $tagname = @$token[1];
	    if ($tagname eq 'head') {
		if (!$basehref) {
		    $basehref = $response->base;
		    $basehref->scheme('http') if $basehref->scheme eq 'https';
		    $newcontent .= "<base href=\"" . $basehref . "\">\n";
		}
		$basehref = "";
		$in_head = 0;
	    }
	    $newcontent .= ("</");
	    $newcontent .= ($tagname.">\n");
	    if ($tagname eq 'form') {
		$formcount--;
	    } elsif ($tagname eq 'a' || $tagname eq 'link') {
		$js_href = 0;
	    }
	} elsif (@$token[0] eq 'PI') {
	    $newcontent .= (@$token[2]);
	} else {
	    $newcontent .= (@$token[1]);
	}
    }

    $response->content($newcontent);

    return;
}

sub rewrite_href {
    my $self = shift;
    my $href = shift || "";
    my $text = shift || "";
    my $index = shift || 1;
    my $base = shift;

    my $newhref = new URI($href);
    my $prefix = $self->{prefix};

    if ($base->scheme eq 'https') {
	$newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-https", 1);
	$newhref->scheme('http');
    }

    # the original URL
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-url", uri_escape($href));
    
    # the action (i.e. follow link)
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-action", 'follow');

    # the link information
    $text = uri_escape($text); # might have special characters
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-text", $text);
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-index", $index);

    return $newhref;
}

sub rewrite_linkhref {
    my $self = shift;
    my $href = shift || "";
    my $base = shift;

    my $newhref = new URI($href);
    my $prefix = $self->{prefix};

    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-https", 1) 
				  if $base->scheme eq 'https';

    # the original URL
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-url", uri_escape($href));
    
    # the action (i.e. don't record)
    $newhref->query_param_append( "$prefix-action", 'norecord');

    return $newhref;
}

sub rewrite_form_content {
    my $self = shift;
    my $name = shift || "";
    my $number = shift;
    my $url = shift;
    my $fields;

    my $https = 1 if ($url->scheme eq 'https');

    $fields .= ("<input type=hidden name=\"$self->{prefix}-action\" value=\"submitform\">\n");
    $fields .= ("<input type=hidden name=\"$self->{prefix}-formname\" value=\"$name\">\n");
    $fields .= ("<input type=hidden name=\"$self->{prefix}-formnumber\" value=\"$number\">\n");
    if ($https) {
    $fields .= ("<input type=hidden name=\"$self->{prefix}-https\" value=\"$https\">\n");
    }

    return $fields;
}

sub get_start_page {
    my $self = shift;

    my $content = <<EOF;
<html>
<head>
<title>HTTP::Recorder Start Page</title>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- // start
    self.focus(); // bring this window to the front
// end -->
</SCRIPT>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Start Recording</h1>
<p>Type a url into the browser's adddress field to begin recording.
</html>
EOF

    return $content;
}

sub get_recorder_content {
    my $self = shift;

    my @script = $self->{logger}->GetScript();
    my $script = "";
    foreach my $line (@script) {
	next unless $line;
	$line =~ s/\n//g;
	$script .= "$line\n";
    }

    my $content = <<EOF;
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- // start
function scrollScriptAreaToEnd() {
    scriptarea = document.forms['ScriptForm'].elements['ScriptContent'];
    scriptarea.scrollTop = scriptarea.scrollHeight;
    scriptarea.focus();
}
// end -->
</SCRIPT>

<html>
<head>
<title>HTTP::Recorder Control Panel</title>
<STYLE type="text/css">
   table {font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:14px}
   input {font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12px}
 </STYLE>
</head>
<body bgcolor="lightgrey" 
      onLoad="javascript:scrollScriptAreaToEnd()"
>
<table width=100% height=98%>
<FORM name="GotoForm" method="POST" action="http://$self->{control}/" target="recording">
  <tr>
    <td>
      Goto page: <input name="url" size=30>
      <input type=submit name="goto" value="Go">
      <hr>
    </td>
  </tr>
</FORM>
  <tr>
    <td width="100%" height="100%">
      <table width="100%" height="100%">
        <FORM name="ScriptForm" method="POST" action="http://$self->{control}/">
        <tr>
	  <td>
Current Script:
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td height=100%>
<textarea style="font-size: 10pt;font-family:monospace;width:100%;height:100%" name="ScriptContent">$script</textarea>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td align=center>
            <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" name="updatescript" VALUE="Apply">
            <INPUT TYPE="RESET">
            <INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Refresh" onClick="window.location='http://$self->{control}/'">
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td align=center>
             <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" name="clearscript" VALUE="Delete"
            onClick="if (!confirm('Do you really want to delete the script?')){ return false; }">
            <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" name="savescript" VALUE="Save As">
          </td>
        </tr>
      </FORM>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
      </table>
</body></html>
EOF

    return $content;
}

sub script_update {
    my $self = shift;

    my $url = "http://" . $self->control . "/";
    my $js = <<EOF;
// find the top-level opener window
var opwindow = window.opener;
while (opwindow.opener) {
  opwindow = opwindow.opener;
}
// update it with HTTP::Recorder's control panel
if (opwindow) {
 opwindow.location = "http://http-recorder/";
}
EOF

return <<EOF;
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- // start
$js
// end -->
</SCRIPT>
EOF
}

1;