Comments on: Screen-Scraping with OPS http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/ XForms Everywhere Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:13:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.3 by: Hank Ratzesberger http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-167 Wed, 13 Apr 2005 04:43:07 +0000 http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-167 Another article on Screen Scraping. Not too clear from the text, but it sounds like the strategy is to create wsdl descriptions for things like CICS mainframe applications. If there really is a way to to streamline that, it would be great. The main point, is that scraping is an option where the the data and code are difficult to separate. http://idevnews.com/PrintVersion.asp?ID=161 Another article on Screen Scraping. Not too clear from the text, but it sounds like the strategy is to create wsdl descriptions for things like CICS mainframe applications. If there really is a way to to streamline that, it would be great. The main point, is that scraping is an option where the the data and code are difficult to separate.

http://idevnews.com/PrintVersion.asp?ID=161

]]> by: Jay http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-163 Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:13:51 +0000 http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-163 Many years ago (6 to be precise), I used a specific language called <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-widl-970922">WIDL</a> to do exactly this, but using search engines as targets to do meta-searching. Automating screen-scraping works fine, until the interface changes (for some odd reason, such as to avoid having "screen-scraping" applications interfacing :). A fine example of such an application is <a href="http://jbidwatcher.sf.net">JBidWatcher</a>, which uses the same principle and must create a new version every so often, when eBay changes the layout of it's pages. If you can, you're better off creating a SOAP or REST interface to your legacy apps, than just to depend on HTML views of your data. Trust me, I've been there (and back ;). Many years ago (6 to be precise), I used a specific language called WIDL to do exactly this, but using search engines as targets to do meta-searching. Automating screen-scraping works fine, until the interface changes (for some odd reason, such as to avoid having “screen-scraping” applications interfacing :). A fine example of such an application is JBidWatcher, which uses the same principle and must create a new version every so often, when eBay changes the layout of it’s pages. If you can, you’re better off creating a SOAP or REST interface to your legacy apps, than just to depend on HTML views of your data. Trust me, I’ve been there (and back ;).

]]> by: Erik Bruchez http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-162 Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:39:25 +0000 http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-162 Thanks for the precision! It is a similar approach with HTML screen-scraping. You could build "modern" web services on top of legacy HTML-based applications. If you really need to interact with the application, you would need to be able to post forms as well. Thanks for the precision! It is a similar approach with HTML screen-scraping. You could build “modern” web services on top of legacy HTML-based applications. If you really need to interact with the application, you would need to be able to post forms as well.

]]> by: Hank Ratzesberger http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-161 Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:12:13 +0000 http://www.orbeon.com/blog/2005/03/31/screen-scraping-with-ops/#comment-161 Erik, you're too modern! Screen Scraping is actually an acceptable way to create an interface to a legacy app. I can't find the information on the IBM team working on this, but an example of pushing AS400 green screens to the web via scraping: http://www.jacada.com/Products/Legacy_Extension.htm . It was a way of putting an interface on a legacy app while you re-architected it, but I'm not sure that once companies created a thin client layer, they had a lot of incentive to rewrite the application in, say Websphere. Erik, you’re too modern! Screen Scraping is actually an acceptable way to create an interface to a legacy app. I can’t find the information on the IBM team working on this, but an example of pushing AS400 green screens to the web via scraping:
http://www.jacada.com/Products/Legacy_Extension.htm . It was a way of putting an interface on a legacy app while you re-architected it, but I’m not sure that once companies created a thin client layer, they had a lot of incentive to rewrite the application in, say Websphere.

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