# Help connecting to a web page, doing a search and filtering out the returned data! **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-connecting-to-a-web-page-doing-a-search-and-filtering-out-the-returned-data/165165 "2009-04-09T18:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rubina)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-connecting-to-a-web-page-doing-a-search-and-filtering-out-the-returned-data/165165/1 "2009-04-09T18:39:00Z")
Hello team, I need recommendations on what to use to accomplish the following with a Ruby program. Today, I do the following by hand: 1. [http://www.bmwusa.com/](http://www.bmwusa.com/) 2. Click bottom “Certified Pre\_Owned” which takes me to: [http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/Default.aspx](http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/Default.aspx) 3. Next I click “Model Search” taking me to: [http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/ModelSearch.aspx](http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/ModelSearch.aspx) 4. I then select “Body Styles”, “Series” and fill in some number, as shown below: Price Limit No Limit $15,000-$25,000 $20,000-$30,000 $25,000-$35,000 $30,000-$40,000 $35,000-$45,000 $40,000-$50,000 $45,000-$100,000 $100,000+ Transmission Either Automatic Manual Zip Code Distance No Limit 10 Miles 25 Miles 50 Miles 100 Miles 150 Miles 200 Miles 500 Miles I then get back a list which looks like the following partial list below. Please notice that the search returned 350 vehicles. Sometime it can return double that amount. I am only interested in a model 328i or 335i 2007. I would like to purchase one of these vehicles, but I am watching for the “right” price. I just don’w want to be browsing everyday and filtering through the list by hand. Please also notice that I would like to enter the parameters listed above. Also, I could actually do a “global” search without entering any filtering data. In other words, I could click search without selecting body type or anything like that, but the returned data could be large. Then again a Ruby program would go though the returned data rather quickly. So I guess I can do it that way if the programming part is easier than entering parameters. I would like to learn both ways, though! For instance, I did it before writing this to test it and I got; 13508 vehicles found. To view details about a specific vehicle, click the model name. What tool should I use to accomplish this task? Thank you Search Results 350 vehicles found. To view details about a specific vehicle, click the model name. 330Ci Convertible[http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=11532&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b\_convertible&series=s\_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4](http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=11532&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b_convertible&series=s_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4) 2006 Automatic 20,845 Titanium Silver Metallic $32,995.00 Hassel BMW Freeport, NY 20.95 Miles 330Ci Convertible[http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=10030&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b\_convertible&series=s\_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4](http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=10030&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b_convertible&series=s_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4) 2006 Automatic 26,208 Sparkling Graphite Metallic $32,995.00 Hassel BMW Freeport, NY 20.95 Miles 328i Convertible[http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=11135&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b\_convertible&series=s\_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4](http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/CPO/CPOModelDetail.aspx?VID=11135&searchtype=cpo&bodystyle=b_convertible&series=s_3&transmission=&pricelimit=4&searchzip=11201&distance=9999&page=1&sortby=DistCalc(40.6944,%2073.9902)&sortasc=True&pagerecs=4) 2007 Automatic 16,360 Monaco Blue Metallic $37,995.00 Hassel BMW Freeport, NY 20.95 Miles ---
**Author:** ![rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rubina)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-connecting-to-a-web-page-doing-a-search-and-filtering-out-the-returned-data/165165/2 "2009-04-10T05:40:24Z")
Being no expert in crawling through ajax this is the best I know: > **[Crawling AJAX SShah | PDF | Ajax (Programming) | Java Script](https://www.scribd.com/document/17764/Crawling-AJAX-SShah)** > > Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. 2009/4/10 Ruby S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@rubina](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rubina)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/help-connecting-to-a-web-page-doing-a-search-and-filtering-out-the-returned-data/165165/3 "2009-04-21T14:51:55Z")
On Fri, 2009-04-10 at 01:34 +0900, Ruby S. wrote: > Hello team, > What tool should I use to accomplish this task? take a look at mechanize.