When using HTTParty for web scraping in Ruby, managing redirects is quite straightforward because HTTParty handles redirects by default. By default, HTTParty will follow up to five redirects before raising an exception. If you want to customize this behavior, you can do so by setting the :follow_redirects and :no_follow options.
Here's how you can manage redirects with HTTParty:
Follow Redirects Automatically (Default Behavior)
HTTParty will automatically follow redirects without you having to do anything. Here's a simple example:
require 'httparty'
response = HTTParty.get('http://example.com/some_redirecting_url')
puts response.body
In the example above, if the URL responds with a redirect (e.g., status code 301 or 302), HTTParty will follow the redirect up to five times or until it reaches a non-redirect response.
Customizing Redirect Behavior
If you need to customize the redirect behavior, such as changing the maximum number of redirects or disabling redirects altogether, you can pass additional options to the .get method:
Limiting the Number of Redirects
require 'httparty'
options = {
limit: 10 # Set the maximum number of redirects
}
response = HTTParty.get('http://example.com/some_redirecting_url', options)
puts response.body
Disabling Redirects
require 'httparty'
options = {
no_follow: true # Disable following redirects
}
response = HTTParty.get('http://example.com/some_redirecting_url', options)
puts response.code # This will be the redirect status code, such as 301 or 302
puts response.headers['location'] # The URL to which the response is trying to redirect
Handling Redirects Manually
If you want to handle redirects manually, you can disable the automatic following of redirects using the :no_follow option and then process the response as needed:
require 'httparty'
response = HTTParty.get('http://example.com/some_redirecting_url', no_follow: true)
# Check if the response is a redirect
if response.code >= 300 && response.code < 400
location = response.headers['location']
# Here you can apply any logic you need before following the redirect
# For example, you might want to check the domain or the path
redirect_response = HTTParty.get(location)
puts redirect_response.body
else
puts response.body
end
Remember to always be respectful and comply with the terms of service or robots.txt file of the websites you are scraping. Excessive or aggressive scraping can lead to your IP being blocked, and it may be illegal or unethical depending on the circumstances and jurisdiction.
