Filling Out A Website Form Using Python Requests

I'm trying to programmatically fill out a form on a page using Python requests. I wrote some code to do that: #!/usr/bin/python import requests URL = 'https://www.acgov.org/ptax

Solution 1:

You are simply missing a single element the site is looking for when you post a request; when you actually use the intended form page, the form includes a submit button:

<inputtype="submit"name="searchBills"tabindex="9"value="Search"class="btcommon">

You need to include that button in your POST data, because it is the presence of that field that the site uses to detect that you made an actual search:

payload = {
    'displayApn': '1-123-1',
    'showHistory': 'y',
    'searchBills': 'Search',
}

With that one addition, the returned page contains the looked-for search results:

>>>import requests>>>from bs4 import BeautifulSoup>>>URL = 'https://www.acgov.org/ptax_pub_app/RealSearch.do'>>>payload = {...'displayApn': '1-123-1',...'showHistory': 'y',...'searchBills': 'Search',...}>>>response = requests.post(URL, data=payload)>>>soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'lxml')>>>for row in soup.select('#pplresultcontent3 tr'):...    text = row.get_text(': ', strip=True)...if text: print(text)...
Property Summary
APN: 1-123-1
Property Address: 424 M L KING JR WAY, OAKLAND 94607-3536
>>>for row in soup.select('#pplresultcontent4 tr'):...    text = row.get_text(' | ', strip=True)...if text: print(text)...
Tax Type | Bill Year | Tracer | Total Amount | Options
Installment | Due Date | Installment Amount | Status/Status Date
Secured | 2018-2019 | 01009500 | $8,773.64 | View Bill | Pay Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2018 | $4,386.82 | Paid Oct 31, 2018
2nd Installment | 04/10/2019 | $4,386.82

The history (the pplresultcontent5 table) is not included until you use a capitalY for the showHistory option:

>>> payload['showHistory'] = 'Y'
>>> response = requests.post(URL, data=payload)
>>> soup = BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'lxml')
>>> for row in soup.select('#pplresultcontent5 tr'):
...     text = row.get_text(' | ', strip=True)
...     if text: print(text)
...
Tax Type | Bill Year | Tracer | Total Amount | Options
Installment | Due Date | Installment Amount | Status/Status Date
Secured | 2017-2018 | 01009500 | $8,303.42 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2017 | $4,151.71 | Paid Dec 8, 2017
2nd Installment | 04/10/2018 | $4,151.71 | Paid Apr 6, 2018
Secured | 2016-2017 | 01009500 | $7,983.02 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2016 | $3,991.51 | Paid Dec 8, 2016
2nd Installment | 04/10/2017 | $3,991.51 | Paid Mar 30, 2017
Secured | 2015-2016 | 01009400 | $7,864.14 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2015 | $3,932.07 | Paid Dec 9, 2015
2nd Installment | 04/10/2016 | $3,932.07 | Paid Apr 8, 2016
Secured | 2014-2015 | 01009400 | $7,691.52 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2014 | $3,845.76 | Paid Dec 10, 2014
2nd Installment | 04/10/2015 | $3,845.76 | Paid Apr 7, 2015
Secured | 2013-2014 | 01009400 | $7,655.08 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2013 | $3,827.54 | Paid Dec 4, 2013
2nd Installment | 04/10/2014 | $3,827.54 | Paid Apr 9, 2014
Secured | 2012-2013 | 01009400 | $6,102.96 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2012 | $3,051.48 | Paid Dec 7, 2012
2nd Installment | 04/10/2013 | $3,051.48 | Paid Apr 8, 2013
Secured | 2011-2012 | 01009400 | $6,213.30 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2011 | $3,106.65 | Paid Dec 9, 2011
2nd Installment | 04/10/2012 | $3,106.65 | Paid Apr 10, 2012
Secured | 2010-2011 | 01069800 | $5,660.56 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2010 | $2,830.28 | Paid Dec 9, 2010
2nd Installment | 04/10/2011 | $2,830.28 | Paid Apr 10, 2011
Secured | 2009-2010 | 01070300 | $5,917.10 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2009 | $2,958.55 | Paid Dec 10, 2009
2nd Installment | 04/10/2010 | $2,958.55 | Paid Apr 10, 2010
Secured | 2008-2009 | 01070300 | $5,547.66 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2008 | $2,773.83 | Paid Dec 10, 2008
2nd Installment | 04/10/2009 | $2,773.83 | Paid Apr 10, 2009
Secured | 2007-2008 | 01069100 | $5,423.06 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2007 | $2,711.53 | Paid Dec 10, 2007
2nd Installment | 04/10/2008 | $2,711.53 | Paid Apr 10, 2008
Secured | 2006-2007 | 01069000 | $5,387.94 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2006 | $2,693.97 | Paid Dec 10, 2006
2nd Installment | 04/10/2007 | $2,693.97 | Paid Apr 10, 2007
Secured | 2005-2006 | 01069100 | $5,243.04 | View Bill
1st Installment | 12/10/2005 | $2,621.52 | Paid Dec 9, 2005
2nd Installment | 04/10/2006 | $2,621.52 | Paid Apr 10, 2006
Secured | 2004-2005 | 01068900 | $4,855.00 | View Bill
1st Installment | $2,427.50 | Paid Dec 10, 2004
2nd Installment | $2,427.50 | Paid Apr 10, 2005