Web Page Dumper

Dumps web page outputs including JavaScript generated contents.

Usage

Access the app address following the path /www/ with query parameters of the GET or POST method.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.org

Query Parameters

Only the url parameter is required. The rest is optional.

For boolean values, use 1 or 0 instead of true or false.

(required, string) url

A URL-encoded URL to fetch.

Note: It is important to pass an URL-encoded value especially when the URL includes query parameters not to mix with the current parameters and the requested URL parameters.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2F

(string) output

The output type. Accepts the following values:

  • json (default) - outputs the site source code, the HTTP header, the HTTP status code, and content type as JSON with the following root keys:
    • url - (string) the requested URL.
    • query - (array) the HTTP request query key-value pairs.
    • resourceType - (string) the request source type.
    • contentType - (string) the HTTP response content type, same as the HTTP header Content-Type entry.
    • status - (integer) the HTTP status code as a number such as 200 and 404.
    • heaers - (array) the HTTP header.
    • body - (string) the HTTP body, usually an HTML document.
  • text, txt - outputs the site source as a text document. Use this for non-html documents such as XML and JSON.
  • html, htm - outputs the site source as html or htm. HTTP header will be omitted.
  • mhtml - outputs the site source as mhtml.
  • png, jpg, jpeg - outputs a screenthot image of the site
  • pdf

(array) omit [1.7.0+]

What elements to omit when the json output is specified. Pass non-empty values such as 1.

e.g. This omits the query and body elements from the response.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&output=json&omit[query]=1&omit[body]=1

(array) viewport

Sets how the browser should be viewed.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&output=jpg&set_viewport=1&viewport[width]=800&viewpor[height]=1200&viewport[deviceScaleFactor]=5

Accepts the following arguments, same as Puppeteer's page.setViewport() method arguments.

  • width (number) page width in pixels.
  • height (number) page height in pixels.
  • deviceScaleFactor (number) Specify device scale factor (can be thought of as dpr). Defaults to 1.
  • isMobile (boolean) Whether the meta viewport tag is taken into account. Defaults to false.
  • isLandscape (boolean) Specifies if viewport is in landscape mode. Defaults to false.

-- Puppeteer API Tip-Of-Tree page.setViewport(viewport)

Does not accept the following arguments.

  • hasTouch

(array) screenshot

Sets screenshot options. This takes effect when the output parameter is either of jpg, jpeg, png, or gif.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2F&output=jpg&screenshot[quality]=10&screenshot[omitBackground]=1
https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com%2F&output=png&screenshot[clip][x]=50&screenshot[clip][y]=80&screenshot[clip][width]=700&screenshot[clip][height]=200

Accepts the following arguments, same as Puppeteer's page.setViewport() method arguments.

  • quality (number) The quality of the image, between 0-100. Not applicable to png images.
  • clip (object) An object which specifies clipping region of the page. Should have the following fields:
    • x (number) x-coordinate of top-left corner of clip area
    • y (number) y-coordinate of top-left corner of clip area
    • width (number) width of clipping area
    • height (number) height of clipping area
  • omitBackground (boolean) Hides default white background and allows capturing screenshots with transparency. Defaults to false.

-- Puppeteer API Tip-Of-Tree page.screenshot([options])

Does not accept the following arguments.

  • path
  • encoding
  • type
  • fullPage - when the clip argument is not set, the full page screenshot will be taken.

(integer) reload

Specifies whether to reload page in the internal browser. This is useful for cookie-dependant web pages.

Accepts 0, 1, or 2.

  • 0: does not reload the page.
  • 1: reloads only when the HTTP status is larger or equal to 400, such as 404, 500.
  • 2: reloads regardless of the HTTP status.

If a value that is not listed above is passed and it yields true, the value of 2 will be applied.

(integer) cache

Decides whether to use browser caches.

Accepts 1 or 0.

(integer) timeout

The browser connection timeout in milliseconds.

If the WPD_TIMEOUT environment variable value is set and shorter than this value, the WPD_TIMEOUT value will be used.

Default: 29000.

(string) user_agent

Specifies a user agent.

(string) username

For a site that requires a basic authentication, set a user name with this parameter.

(string) password

For a site that requires a basic authentication, set a password with this parameter.

(array) pdf

When the output type is set to pdf, the following sub-arguments of the pdf parameter is accepted.

For more details please see puppeteer's pdf options as the arguments are the same except some unsupported arguments.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com&output=pdf&pdf[scale]=0.5&pdf[printBackground]=1&pdf[pageRanges]=1-3&pdf[format]=Legal
Accepted Arguments
  • scale (number) Scale of the webpage rendering. Defaults to 1. Scale amount must be between 0.1 and 2.
  • displayHeaderFooter (boolean) Display header and footer. Defaults to false.
  • headerTemplate (string) HTML template for the print header. Should be valid HTML markup with following classes used to inject printing values into them:
    • date formatted print date
    • title document title
    • url document location
    • pageNumber current page number
    • totalPages total pages in the document
  • footerTemplate (string) HTML template for the print footer. Should use the same format as the headerTemplate.
  • printBackground (boolean) Print background graphics. Defaults to false.
  • landscape (boolean) Paper orientation. Defaults to false.
  • pageRanges (string) Paper ranges to print, e.g., '1-5, 8, 11-13'. Defaults to the empty string, which means print all pages.
  • format (string) Paper format. If set, takes priority over width or height options. Defaults to 'Letter'. Accepts the following values.
    • Letter: 8.5in x 11in
    • Legal: 8.5in x 14in
    • Tabloid: 11in x 17in
    • Ledger: 17in x 11in
    • A0: 33.1in x 46.8in
    • A1: 23.4in x 33.1in
    • A2: 16.54in x 23.4in
    • A3: 11.7in x 16.54in
    • A4: 8.27in x 11.7in
    • A5: 5.83in x 8.27in
    • A6: 4.13in x 5.83in
  • width (string|number) Paper width, accepts values labeled with units.
  • height (string|number) Paper height, accepts values labeled with units.
  • margin (object) Paper margins, defaults to none.
    • top (string|number) Top margin, accepts values labeled with units.
    • right (string|number) Right margin, accepts values labeled with units.
    • bottom (string|number) Bottom margin, accepts values labeled with units.
    • left (string|number) Left margin, accepts values labeled with units.
  • preferCSSPageSize (boolean) Give any CSS @page size declared in the page priority over what is declared in width and height or format options. Defaults to false, which will scale the content to fit the paper size.

The width, height, and margin options accept values labeled with units. Unlabeled values are treated as pixels.

All possible units are:

  • px - pixel
  • in - inch
  • cm - centimeter
  • mm - millimeter

-- Puppeteer API Tip-Of-Tree page([options])

Unsupported Arguments
  • path (string)

(array) headers

Additional HTTP headers sent to the page.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com%2F&output=jpg&headers[Accept-Language]=en&headers[dnt]=1

(array) cookies

Cookies to set.

Accepts a linear array holding objects with the following key-value pairs.

  • name <string> required
  • value <string> required
  • domain <string>
  • url <string>
  • path <string>
  • expires <number> Unix time in seconds.
  • httpOnly <boolean>
  • secure <boolean>
  • sameSite <"Strict"|"Lax">

If the domain argument is missing, the url argument will be automatically set with the requesting URL.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com%2F&output=jpg&cookies[0][name]=foo&cookies[0][value]=bar&

(array) args

The args argument for the puppeteer.launch() method. For accepted arguments, please see here.

e.g.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com%2F&output=jpg&args[]=--lang=en-GB

(string) proxy

Format: scheme://username:password@ipaddress:port

For example, to set socks4://127.0.0.1:1080,

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&output=png&proxy=socks4%3A%2F%2F127.0.0.1:1080

(array) block

Blocks specified resources. This has the following sub argument keys.

  • types
  • urls
(array) types

Specifies the types to block.

Accepted values:

  • image
  • stylesheet
  • font
  • script

By default, when the output type is html' or json, and no blockvalue is passed,image, stylesheet, and font` are added by default.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fgoldbox&output=png&block[types][]=script
(array) urls

Specifies the part of URLs to block. Use asterisk (*) to match any characters.

Such as:

  • *.optimizely.com
  • googleadservices.com
https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fgoldbox&output=png&block[urls][]=googleadservices.com

(string|array) waitUntil

Determines when Puppeteer decides the page is fully loaded. The same as the waitUntil parameter of the goto() page method.. Accepted values are load, domcontentloaded, networkidle0, and networkidle2.

Default: load.

  • load - consider navigation to be finished when the load event is fired.
  • domcontentloaded - consider navigation to be finished when the DOMContentLoaded event is fired.
  • networkidle0 - consider navigation to be finished when there are no more than 0 network connections for at least 500 ms.
  • networkidle2 - consider navigation to be finished when there are no more than 2 network connections for at least 500 ms.

-- Puppeteer API Tip-Of-Tree page([options])

(array) action

Performs certain actions on the loaded web page such as click, remove, type, wait for something and so on.

The action parameter must be a numeric linear array holding key-value pairs of action type and action value.

For example, the following request will perform a search on DuckDuckGo.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com&output=png&action[0][select]=%23search_form_input_homepage&action[1][type]=Web%20Page%20Dumper&action[2][click]=%23search_button_homepage&action[3][waitForNavigation]=

Notice that actions are performed sequentially. In the above example, it is interpreted as

[
  {
    select: #search_form_input
  },
  {
    type: Web Page Dumper
  },
  {
    click: #search_button_homepage
  },
  {
    waitForNavigation: 
  },
]
Action Types

The available action types are as follows.

(selector) select

Selects elements specified with a selector. Use this before an action that does not have a selector parameter.

Accepts a value of selector. The selector can be XPath.

(selector) click

Clicks a first found element specified with a selector.

Accepts a value of selector. The selector can be XPath.

This clicks on the top-right icon that expands the app panel on Google home page.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com&output=jpg&action[][click]=a.gb_C
(selector) remove

Removes elements specified with a selector.

Accepts a value of selector. The selector can be XPath.

This removes the top banner element on the Google search page. Notice that .k1zIA is the class selector of the banner container.

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/www/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com&output=png&action[][remove]=.k1zIA
(characters) type

Types given characters.

This action does not accept a selector. Use the select action before this to specify an element for typing.

(selector) choose

Selects an item from a <select> tag.

Accepts a value of selector. * This action does not support XPath.

(selector) extract

Extracts elements.

This replaces the elements' innerHTML with the HTML body tag inner HTML. Use this to lighten up the result source code.

Accepts a value of selector.

(selector) extractHard

Extracts elements.

Similar to the extract action except that this removes all head tag elements so the styles will be lost.

Accepts a value of selector.

(selector) waitForElement

Waits for an element to appear.

Accepts a value of selector. The selector can be XPath.

(void) waitForNavigation

Waits for the next page to load, used with clicking a link or submitting a form.

(integer) waitForTimeout

Waits for certain milliseconds.

Accepts a value of positive number.

Setting Connection Timeout

On Heroku, each HTTP request should be responded within 30 seconds to avoid the recurring 503 error.

To set the timeout, use the WPD_TIMEOUT environment variable. It accepts milliseconds such as 29000.

There are mainly two options:

  • a) Create a file named .env with the following entry in the project root directory (the same location as app.js).
WPD_TIMEOUT=29000
  • b) On Heroku, go to Dashboard -> (Choose your App) -> Settings -> Config Vars and add WPD_TIMEOUT with a value such as 29000.

Logging

Enabling Log Pages

To enable the access to the app's log, you need to set an environment variable of WPD_LOG_ROUTE with a value serving as the root name (part of URL path).

There are mainly two options:

  • a) Create a file named .env with the following entry in the project root directory (the same location as app.js).
#LOGGING
WPD_LOG_ROUTE=log
  • b) On Heroku, go to Dashboard -> (Choose your App) -> Settings -> Config Vars and add WPD_LOG_ROUTE with a value such as log.

In the above examples, log is used for the route name. You can set your desired name.

Log Pages

There are four log types available, which are, request, browser, debug and error. Say, the route name is log, then the following pages will be available.

request

Logs HTTP requests.

Format:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/{log route}/request/{YYYY-MM-DD}

Example:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/log/request/2021-06-27
browser

Logs browser activities.

Format:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/{log route}/browser/{YYYY-MM-DD}

Example:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/log/browser/2021-06-27
debug

Logs debug information.

Format:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/{log route}/debug/{YYYY-MM-DD}

Example:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/log/debug/2021-06-27
error

Logs errors.

Format:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/{log route}/error/{YYYY-MM-DD}

Example:

https://web-page-dumper.herokuapp.com/log/error/2021-06-27

Deployment to Heroku

This web application is meant to run on Heroku.

  1. Log in to Heroku. If you don't have an account create a Heroku account.
  2. Click Deploy
  3. In the following page, enter your desired app name and press the Deploy App button which will start deploying.
  4. After finishing the deployment, click on Manage App.
  5. In the following page, click on Open App.

Buildpack

If you get the following error,

error while loading shared libraries: libnss3.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

You need to manually add the following buildpack through the Heroku UI (Dashboard -> {Your App} -> Settings -> Buildpacks).

  • https://github.com/CoffeeAndCode/puppeteer-heroku-buildpack.git