Mechanize module for GAE

Question

I tried to make the mechanize module work with GAE, but no luck. I used latest version of mechanize and the versions that are GAE specific from here Python Mechanize + GAEpython code.

What I want to do is to login to a website and submit a form.

Example code

import mechanize

def mech(uname,passw,txtto,msg):
    br = mechanize.Browser()
    br.open("http://example.com")
    br.select_form(nr=0)

    br["username"]= uname
    br["password"]= passw
    # br.form

    response = br.submit()
    br.select_form(nr=0)
    # print br.form

    br["txt"] = txtto 
    br["message"] = msg

    br.submit()
    br.back()

With mechanize module i get

'str' object has no attribute 'fileno'

and with gaemechanize i get

app.mechanize.ClientForm.ControlNotFoundError

ControlNotFoundError: no control matching name 'txt'

The code is tested and works outside gae so this is not the problem. I am using kay framework if this helps.

Please add a code example, otherwise it's very difficult to help you. — Tim McNamara, May 28 '11 at 10:43
After some investigation i am sure that it is a gaemechanize issue. — pito_john, May 28 '11 at 16:50
Please include the complete stacktraces, not just the exception string! — Nick Johnson, Dec 16 '11 at 03:08

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 13 '18 at 08:10

It looks like you are trying to do this from within a Python GAE app. There are many restrictions on what non-flex-environment GAE code can do (e.g. restrictions on shelling out to other processes, etc.) that do not exist within Google Cloud Functions. I recommend you try this from a Google Cloud Function. While there is not (yet) official python support for GCF, there is a github project that will let you deploy python code to GCF.

I was able to get some similar browser automation code to work in GCF using a Node.js chromium remote plugin, so I would think GCF will work for you as well.

Using a cloud function will also take a lot of load away from your GAE app, so its an all around better solution, as this is really more of a background job.

Whether you decide to use Node.js or Python to write your cloud function, once it's set up you can easily call it from a Pub/Sub or HTTP trigger from within your Python GAE app.

https://cloud.google.com/functions/

note: because you mention that the code works outside GAE, I would be pretty confident that one of the limitations of standard environment GAE code is preventing this from working — Sam Johnson, Feb 13 '18 at 08:12

Mechanize module for GAE

1 Answers1