I wanted to automate some process from one specific URL.
I came across this post here to get the idea of imacros:
iMacros seems to be working with firefox. However, I am unable to configure in the Knime workflow (I am mac user). I am using the âExternal Toolâ extension as per post suggest.
This seems to be the setting for Windows according to the post.
Could you please help me with the configuration? If you could include screenshot of your working flow, that will be great.
I am open to any alternative solution to run this marco.
I havenât use iMacros, but I have a small example for how to setup the External Tool node on Mac.
Below a screenshot for the settings for the external tool node on Mac for a small example workflow, which is available on the KNIME Hub.
The important settings are:
Input File - Where to write incoming data (from the Input Port)
Path to Executable- Path to the file to execute.
Execute in Directory- Where to run the executable (here you probably want to select the firefox application)
Command Line Arguments- Arguments to run the script with. (here I would copy the settings from the other post)
Output File from External Tool- Where the data from the executable is written
Letâs try to find identify the error and find a solution together
Can you execute the iMacro script outside of KNIME?
What kind of error message do you get in KNIME Analytics Platform? (you can see the error message in the console on the lower right)
I think the overall settings isnât correct.
This is the first error for Firefox
âfailed to apply settings: The specified external executable (â/Users/talpurb/Documents/Firefox.appâ) must no be a directory.â
Perhaps try yourself running iMacros in Knime if you have mac? and share your configuration
Thanks for sharing your error message. Iâm not familiar with iMacros and havenât tried that, but I have an idea for the setting
If you right click on Firefox in the Finder and you select âShow package contentâ you can see the content of the folder Firefox.app. There should be something like Contents/MacOS/firefox
Can you please try to use this path for the setting option âExecute in directoryâ?
Thanks @Kathrin
Now getting this error:
âfailed to apply settings: The specified external executable (âfirefoxâ) doesnât existâ
Is there any other way you can think of automating this process in Knime? other than imacros maybe?
My requirement is to go to the specific page and download the file periodically.
Yes it requires few steps before the file is downloaded. Itâs a web-based CRM system. Inside this CRM, there is a SQL query page (within web). The SQL query page is static!
Just need to click the âExport Query As CSVâ to download.
But here are steps for macro that I recorded.
Step1: Go to the page (Password was saved in the browser and it didnât ask me to login)
Step2: Click on the âExport Query As CSVâ to download.
Can you let me know which web-based CRM system you are using?
Maybe it has already an API, which would make it easier to access the dataset
If the CRM system doesnât have an API and 1. doesnât work, you might want to inspect the link behind the button. Here we you would see whether the button executes the SQL statement, or whether the csv file is already available.
Wow. That original thread you posted above is from 2014 Quoting my former self from 2014:
Hi zwang,
weâre talking about form authentication here? We cannot handle this with our nodes currently.
Best,
Philipp
Many things have changed and this is fortunately no longer true You can do form encoded submits with the HTTP Retriever from Palladian just fine now â thereâs a dedicated node to help you with that:
In the HTTP Retrieverâs documentation youâll find some details how to do form encoded requests.
For what youâre trying to do, the Selenium Nodes might be helpful too. They allow you to automate your browser from a KNIME workflow (and interact with a website just as a human being). As far as I understood, this is exactly what youâre trying to do here.
For any questions regarding Palladian or the Selenium Nodes just drop by in the appropriate subforum!