What code is being sent?

[PDXWilliam]

Hello,

Please forgive if this is off-topic ... and I'd welcome if someone
pointed me elsewhere to find this info.

I'm programmaticall y retrieving data from a website and am unable to
figure out what I should be sending to grab this data. Please bear
with me for a 15 second demo that explains it more clearly ...

At this website:

http://www.cgis.ci.portland.or.us/ma...m?display=appn

type in:
04-069651

and then hit "Go"

That info is sent to the website, then a new URL which shows a page of
"Permits/Cases".

Question: What information is being sent to retrieve that
"Permits/Cases" page? IE. What happens after "Go" is pressed and then
the new URL comes up? I need to replicate this in Visual Basic (don't
hate me).

Is there some kind of "sniffer" I can put onto my browser that would
let me watch what is being sent?

Thanks for any guidance!!

William

[Grant Wagner]

"PDXWilliam " <wi********@ifr ah1.com> wrote in message
news:11******** **************@ l41g2000cwc.goo glegroups.com.. .

Hello,

Please forgive if this is off-topic ... and I'd welcome if someone
pointed me elsewhere to find this info.

I'm programmaticall y retrieving data from a website and am unable to
figure out what I should be sending to grab this data. Please bear
with me for a 15 second demo that explains it more clearly ...

At this website:

http://www.cgis.ci.portland.or.us/ma...m?display=appn

type in:
04-069651

and then hit "Go"

That info is sent to the website, then a new URL which shows a page of
"Permits/Cases".

Question: What information is being sent to retrieve that
"Permits/Cases" page? IE. What happens after "Go" is pressed and then
the new URL comes up? I need to replicate this in Visual Basic (don't
hate me).
A GET is being issued by your browser for the resource:

http://www.cgis.ci.portland.or.us/ma...number2=069651

If you copy the above URL (watch for wrap), paste it into the address
bar of your Web browser and hit enter, you'll get the exact same content
as if you use the form.
Is there some kind of "sniffer" I can put onto my browser that would
let me watch what is being sent?

No "sniffer" required. You look at the <form> ACTION and METHOD and you
know what resource it's requesting, and whether that request is a GET or
a POST. You look at the <input> tags to determine the NAME of each
parameter, you look at what information you are entering in the form to
determine what values those parameters take.

Did you get permission from the site to use this functionality in your
application? While publically consumable, the content being generated
may not be reproducable except by the supplying party. Also, do you plan
on reproducing the disclaimer on the site:

THE GIS APPLICATIONS ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE PROVIDE A VISUAL
DISPLAY OF DATA FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE. EVERY REASONABLE EFFORT HAS BEEN
MADE TO ASSURE THE ACCURACY OF THE MAPS AND ASSOCIATED DATA. THE CITY OF
PORTLAND MAKES NO WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION OR GUARANTY AS TO THE
CONTENT, SEQUENCE, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY OF THE
DATA PROVIDED HEREIN. THE USER OF THESE APPLICATIONS SHOULD NOT RELY ON
THE DATA PROVIDED HEREIN FOR ANY REASON. THE CITY OF PORTLAND EXPLICITLY
DISCLAIMS ANY REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE CITY OF PORTLAND SHALL ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR
ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR INACCURACIES IN THE INFORMATION PROVIDED
REGARDLESS OF HOW CAUSED. THE CITY OF PORTLAND SHALL ASSUME NO LIABILITY
FOR ANY DECISIONS MADE OR ACTIONS TAKEN OR NOT TAKEN BY THE USER OF THE
APPLICATIONS IN RELIANCE UPON ANY INFORMATION OR DATA FURNISHED
HEREUNDER. TO BE SURE OF COMPLETE ACCURACY, PLEASE CHECK WITH CITY STAFF
FOR UPDATED INFORMATION.
Lastly, what does any of this have to do with JavaScript?

--
Grant Wagner <gw*****@agrico reunited.com>
comp.lang.javas cript FAQ - http://jibbering.com/faq

[PDXWilliam]

WOW - how easy was that? Thank you -- that's exactly what I needed.
In response to your questions/comments - I will be using the
information from that site personally. I'm not providing this
information to anyone else - so disclaimers aren't necessary. And to
your question about "what does this have to do with JavaScript?" ... I
guess not much. I had searched many places and came up empty-handed
with regards to solutions. I thought I'd try a group where people
would be very likely to be (a) helpful and (b) knowledgeable on this
topic.

Once again - thank you for your response. After posting my message, I
continued to work on the problem and spent at least another 3 hours
working on it. I came up with a solution, but nothing as simple as
yours. I'm now rewriting my kludge!

Best regards.