[tpm] WWW::Mechanize and setting cookies

[Zoffix Znet]

Yes, that won't work, because WWW::Mechanize doesn't actually set
{cookie_jar} element in its blessed hashref. Take a look at Mech's sub
new {}..

Now why it doesn't error out, as you've said, with " Can't call method
"set_cookie" on an undefined value at LINE" with your code below I don't
really understand.. but anyway.. use ->cookie_jar method to obtain the
HTTP::Cookies object and always check the "use base" or @ISA assignments
when you can't find the documented method in the code ^_^

Cheers.


On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 21:22 -0400, Madison Kelly wrote:
> adam.prime at utoronto.ca wrote:
> > Quoting Madison Kelly <linux at alteeve.com>:
> > 
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >>   I've run into the need to set some cookies for a WWW::Mechanize
> >> object I am using. As I understand it, the default 'cookie_jar' is
> >> supposed to be an instance of HTTP::Cookies, but I can't see where that
> >> is implemented in the module. Despite that, I tried calling the
> >> 'set_cookie' method but, as I expected, got an error saying that is not
> >> a known method.
> >>
> >>   So dear TPM, can someone clue me in on how to set a bunch of cookies
> >> using WWW::Mechanize?
> > 
> > Looking at the documentation it looks like Mechanize is designed such 
> > that it will keep track of cookies that get set through a series of 
> > requests.  It looks to me like the only way to set it up to start with 
> > cookies in the first place would be to Create an instance of 
> > HTTP::Cookies with the stuff you want in it, and use that when you 
> > create your initial Mechanize object.
> 
> I've tried that, see below (to keep the message clean).
> 
> >> Bonus round!
> >>
> >>   If this is an HTTP::Cookies object, what pray tell is '$version'
> >> supposed to be when setting the cookie? Beyond setting it, there is no
> >> mention of it in the docs and the code merely shows it being set to '0'
> >> in undef.
> >>
> >> Thanks as always!
> > 
> > Looking at the code it seem to put "\$Version=$version" into your cookie 
> > if you set it to a value larger than 0.  I have no idea what that's 
> > about, but i'd probably be passing in 0's.
> > 
> > The interface for HTTP::Cookies looks pretty horrid :x
> > 
> > Adam
> 
> Indeed it is...
> 
> At any rate, here is what I am doing. I connect to an HTTPS site that is 
> made by a nameless "big company" which means the design is terribly 
> inconsistent. For some reason, after doing a particular search, the site 
> returns a redirect page that sets a pile of cookies using JS 
> 'document.cookie="..."' calls, the a 'document.location' to follow the 
> link, all of which is triggered by an 'onload' call. Now the problem is, 
> all the 'document.cookie' values are needed to get the actual data I 
> need. Seeing as WWW::Mechanize doesn't support JS, I need to find a way 
> to set them manually.
> 
> So here are the relevant bits:
> 
> -=] Setting up my WWW::Mechanize object
> use HTTP::Cookies;
> my $agent = WWW::Mechanize->new(
> 	autocheck	=>	1,
> 	cookie_jar	=>	HTTP::Cookies->new(),
> );
> $agent->agent_alias("Linux Mozilla");
> 
> # I do a pile of work, following links, submitting forms and such, until
> # I get to the JS redirect page I described, where I try to follow the
> # redirect after setting cookies. **This Fails**.
> 
> -=] Process the JS redirect bastardization
> # Process the results.
> my $processing_page=$agent->content;
> foreach my $cookie ($processing_page=~/document.cookie="(.*?)"/gs)
> {
> 	my ($variable, $value, $path, $expires)="";
> 	if ( $cookie =~ /expires/ )
> 	{
> 		($variable, $value, $path, $expires)=$cookie=~/(.*?)=(.*?); 
> path=(.*?); expires=(.*?);/;
> 		print "Setting Cookie: [$variable]->[$value] \@ [$path] ($expires).\n";
> 	}
> 	else
> 	{
> 		($variable, $value, $path)=$cookie=~/(.*?)=(.*?); path=(.*?);/;
> 		print "Setting Cookie: [$variable]->[$value] \@ [$path].\n";
> 	}
> 	$$agent{cookie_jar}->set_cookie(0, $variable, $value, $path);
> }
> my ($processing_link)=$processing_page=~/window.location="(.*?)"/;
> print "Following results link: [$processing_link]\n";
> $agent->get($processing_link);
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> 
> The closest I could figure to access the HTTP::Cookies methods was by 
> calling it as I did, though I realize this is probably not smart as I am 
> trying to access internal values, but it was as close as I could get. 
> This doesn't error, but it also doesn't seem to work.
> 
> Any further ideas?
> 
> Madi
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