Nightmarejs .click() on each element with delay between

Question

I am trying to make simple follow script with Nightmarejs. It should work in next way:

Go to some user profile
Click on button to open list of followers of that user
Click all follow buttons with delay between each click
Click load more
Repeat step 3. and 4. few times

What I have so far is this, and it works with no errors, but it clicks only on first follow button and that is end:

var Nightmare = require('nightmare');
var nightmare = Nightmare({ show: true })

nightmare
.goto('http://example.com/')
.click('.buttonOpenModal')
.wait(4000)
.click('.buttonFollow')
  .end()
  .then(function (result) {
    console.log(result)
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.error('Search failed:', error);
  });

I tried to loop clicking on follow buttons like this but it gives me error $ is not defined

var Nightmare = require('nightmare');
var nightmare = Nightmare({ show: true })

nightmare
.goto('http://example.com/')
.click('.buttonOpenModal')
.wait(4000)
.evaluate(function(){
    $('.buttonFollow').each(function() {
      $(this).click();
    });
  })
  .end()
  .then(function (result) {
    console.log(result)
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.error('Search failed:', error);
  });

I believe that for someone who is experienced in Nightmarejs this will be simple task, but I just started with it and been struggling with it for 2 days now.

I would really appreciate any help.

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

You get $ is not defined because this syntax is part of jQuery, when you write NightmareJS script it uses pure javascript.

You can load jquery library (before evaluateing) thanks to function .inject("js", "https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.1.0.min.js")

We need a synchronous sleep, else NightmareJS may end the function ̀evaluate before it finishes. (I found the code for sleep on this thread: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17532524/6479780) If you want to try asynchronous sleep, you have to use setTimeout(callback, millis) Here is what I would do, using pure javascript :

var Nightmare = require('nightmare');
var nightmare = Nightmare({ show: true })

nightmare
.goto('http://example.com/')
.click('.buttonOpenModal')
.wait(4000)
.evaluate(function(){
    function sleep(ms) {
     var start = new Date().getTime(), expire = start + ms;
     while (new Date().getTime() < expire) { }
     return;
    }

    var list = document.querySelectorAll('.buttonFollow');
    list.forEach(function(elt){
       elt.click();
       //We need synchronous sleep here
       sleep(2000); //Wait 2 seconds
    });
  })
.end()
.then(function (result) {
    console.log(result)
})
.catch(function (error) {
    console.error('Search failed:', error);
});

I see. This works but it clicks all at once, could you edit with delay between each? And if I understood well, basically you can add any pure javascript function inside .evaluate ? Thank you! — Plavookac, Aug 09 '16 at 22:43
The code in evaluate will be executed in the window opened by nightmarejs. So basically, it's like you open a new tab on your browser, you type the website address and you paste the content of `evaluate` function inside the console. That's why pure javascript works — Omar, Aug 09 '16 at 22:47

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 24 '16 at 14:11

Try this version:

var Nightmare = require('nightmare');
var nightmare = Nightmare({ show: true });

nightmare
  .goto('http://example.com/')
  .click('.buttonOpenModal')
  .wait('div.Buttons')
  .evaluate(function () {
    var interval = setInterval(function () {
      var btn = document.querySelectorAll('div.Buttons');
      if (undefined == btn || 0 == btn.length) {
        clearInterval(interval);
      }
      else {
        btn[0].click();
      }
    }, 5000);
  })
  .end()
  .then(function (result) {
    console.log(result)
  })
  .catch(function (error) {
    console.error('Search failed:', error);
  });

Nightmarejs .click() on each element with delay between

2 Answers2