09.07.2020
DataExcavator update from 1.2.4 to 1.2.5
Whoa! It’s been a tough month. Having collected a decent number of complaints about the fine print in the interface and the constant confusion with competitive modal windows, we decided on some changes.
Let’s start with a description of the interface enhancements. First of all, we have increased the size of the font in all the windows. Secondly, we have greatly simplified many parameter names and short descriptions of these parameters. Thirdly, we have completely redesigned the mechanism of displaying information. Previously, we were convinced that competitive modal windows are good. Alas, this is not the case. It only confuses people, and indeed we ourselves have been confused several times (LOL). Accordingly, now almost all blocks with separate logic are displayed in real modal windows that do not allow you to jump from project to project. This prevents confusion – at every moment you know exactly what project you are working on. Fourthly, we have greatly improved the cards of the projects themselves on the main screen. Now each card is accompanied by a progress bar with the current percentage of scraping of all pages of the website. Also, the main menu of the project has been changed – now it is a little more convenient and understandable.
Another large block of work is the so-called “data patterns”. We have made it very easy to configure the list of nodes you want to extract from the site. Now it looks like a list with .CSS selectors (or XPath expressions), which is immediately available in the settings window. Now you don’t need to make 3-4 extra clicks to add one node for scraping. All nodes in front of you – immediately and without extra clicks.
In general, we decided to take the path of interface simplification. Even though we position our application as a professional utility for scraping, simplicity and ergonomics take their place.
We have also made some corrections to the kernel, but decided not to release a separate kernel release. In particular, we have fixed the problem with .pdf file scraping. We also fixed the incorrect work with the Clean-param parameter from the robots.txt file. On the whole, as always, the application became more stable.