I previously worked with Python and utilized the Mechanize library for developing a GUI web scraping tool. Now, I’ve transitioned to the .NET framework and am aiming to recreate that application in C#. Unfortunately, I am struggling to find a comparable library in .NET. I require a headless browser that supports form filling and submission. While a JavaScript parser is not essential, having it would be advantageous.
If you're moving to C# and need a headless browsing solution similar to Python's Mechanize, a great option to consider is Playwright for .NET. It's a solid choice for your requirements and suits headless browsing tasks efficiently.
To get started, you'll want to install the Playwright package:
dotnet add package Microsoft.PlaywrightOnce installed, you can easily automate form filling and submission like this:
using Microsoft.Playwright;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class BrowserAutomation
{
public static async Task Example()
{
var playwright = await Playwright.CreateAsync();
var browser = await playwright.Chromium.LaunchAsync(new BrowserTypeLaunchOptions
{
Headless = true // Set to false if you need to see the browser for debugging
});
var page = await browser.NewPageAsync();
await page.GotoAsync("https://example.com");
await page.FillAsync("#form-input-id", "input-value");
await page.ClickAsync("#submit-button");
await browser.CloseAsync();
}
}Playwright supports parallel execution, which might come in handy for optimizing large-scale operations. Although it provides JavaScript execution and other features under the hood, you can stick to its powerful headless browsing capabilities.