Query HTML

Can be one of the following values:

The 'Selector Kind' determines how the selector string in the 'Selector' property is interpreted when extracting values from HTML documents. Choose between CSS or XPath to match elements using the appropriate syntax for your scenario.

• CSS: Use standard CSS selector syntax to target elements by tag, class, ID, attribute, or hierarchy. See CSS Selectors documentation.
• XPath: Use XPath expressions to select elements by tag, attribute, position, or nested structure. See XPath documentation.

Choosing a Selector Kind

• Use CSS for simple queries, such as selecting elements by class, ID, or attribute.
• Use XPath for advanced queries, such as selecting elements by position, nested structure, or complex conditions.
• Test your selector against sample HTML to ensure it matches the intended elements.

Specifies the selector string that determines which elements in the HTML document are targeted for extraction. The syntax and behavior of this property depend on the value of the 'Selector Type' property, which can be set to either CSS or XPath.

• If 'Selector Type' is set to CSS, use CSS selector syntax to target elements by tag, class, ID, attribute, or hierarchy.
• If 'Selector Type' is set to XPath, use XPath expressions to select elements by tag, attribute, position, or nested structure.

This property is required. The selector you provide directly impacts which elements are matched and subsequently extracted.

CSS Selector Examples

• 'a[href^="mailto:"]' — Selects anchor tags with an 'href' attribute starting with "mailto:".
• 'div.content > ul > li' — Selects 'li' elements that are direct children of a 'ul' inside a 'div' with class "content".
• 'table tr:nth-child(2) td.value' — Selects 'td' elements with class "value" in the second row of any table.
• 'input[type="checkbox"]:checked' — Selects checked checkbox input elements.
• 'span.highlight, p.notice' — Selects 'span' elements with class "highlight" and 'p' elements with class "notice".

XPath Selector Examples

• '//a[starts-with(@href, 'mailto:')]' — Selects anchor tags with an 'href' attribute starting with "mailto:".
• '//div[@class='content']//li' — Selects all 'li' elements inside any 'div' with class "content".
• '//table//tr[2]/td[@class='value']' — Selects 'td' elements with class "value" in the second row of any table.
• '//input[@type='checkbox' and @checked]' — Selects checked checkbox input elements.
• '//span[@class='highlight'] | //p[@class='notice']' — Selects 'span' elements with class "highlight" or 'p' elements with class "notice".

Guidance

• Write selectors that precisely target the elements you want to extract.
• Use tag names, classes, IDs, and attributes to narrow your selection.
• For hierarchical or nested structures, use descendant or child selectors (CSS) or path expressions (XPath).
• Test your selector against sample HTML to ensure it matches the intended elements.
• The more specific your selector, the more accurate your extraction results will be.

> Tip: Use CSS selectors for simple queries and XPath for more advanced or positional queries.

Can be one of the following types:

Overview

The 'Filter Pattern' property allows you to specify a regular expression that each extracted value must match in order to be included in the output. This is useful for excluding unwanted results, refining extraction to specific formats, or ensuring only valid data is returned by the Query HTML extractor.

Filtering is performed before any parsing pattern is applied. If a value does not match the filter pattern, it is excluded from the results.

Configuration Guidance

• Use filter patterns to restrict output to values that meet specific criteria, such as containing digits, matching a format, or starting with a particular prefix.
• Write regular expressions using .NET syntax. You may use named groups, anchors, and other regex features.
• Test your pattern against sample data to ensure it matches only the desired values.
• Combine with 'Parsing Pattern' for advanced extraction scenarios.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate common filter patterns:

Digits only (matches values containing one or more digits):
\d+

Valid email address (matches standard email formats):
[\w\.]+@[\w\.]+

Values starting with 'ID-' followed by numbers: ID-\d+

Impact

• Only values matching the filter pattern are included in the output.
• Filtering occurs before parsing; if both patterns are set, only filtered values are parsed.
• Use filter patterns to improve accuracy and reduce noise in extracted results.

Notes

• Patterns are case-sensitive unless you enable the 'IgnoreCase' option.
• Named groups may be used, but only the full match is considered for filtering.
• If left blank, all values are included (no filtering).

Overview

The 'Attribute Name' property allows you to specify which attribute value to extract from each HTML element matched by your selector. If left blank, the extractor will return the inner text of each element.

Configuration Guidance

• Set this property to the name of the attribute you wish to extract, such as href, src, title, or any valid HTML attribute.
• Common use cases include extracting URLs from anchor tags (href), image sources from img tags (src), or metadata from custom attributes.
• If the specified attribute does not exist on a matched element, an empty string is returned for that element.
• Leave this property blank to extract the inner text content instead of an attribute value.

Examples

• To extract the URL from anchor tags:
  href
• To extract the image source from <img> tags:
  src
• To extract a custom data attribute:
  data-id

Impact

• Changing this property alters what is extracted from each matched element.
• Use attribute extraction for scenarios where the desired data is stored in an attribute rather than the element's text.

Notes

• Attribute names are case-sensitive and must match the HTML exactly.
• If the attribute is missing, the extractor returns an empty string for that element.
• This property works in combination with all other extraction settings.

Overview

The 'Text Nodes Only' property controls whether the extractor returns only the direct text children of each matched element, ignoring any nested child elements and their text.

Configuration Guidance

• When set to true, only the text directly inside the element is extracted, excluding text from nested tags.
• When set to false, all text content within the element, including nested elements, is extracted.
• Use this property to avoid including formatting, markup, or nested content in your results.

Examples

Given the HTML:
<div>Hello <b>World</b></div>

• If enabled (true): Extracted value is Hello
• If disabled (false): Extracted value is Hello World

Impact

• Enabling this property helps isolate plain text and avoid unwanted markup.
• Disabling it provides the full text content, including nested elements.

Notes

• This property is ignored if 'Attribute Name' is set.
• Use in combination with selectors to target the exact elements and text needed.

Can be one of the following types:

Overview

The 'Parsing Pattern' property allows you to define a regular expression that is applied to each extracted value after filtering. Use this to extract a specific portion of the value, such as an ID, email address, or other pattern.

Configuration Guidance

• Write your parsing pattern using .NET regular expression syntax.
• You may use named groups to extract a specific part of the match.
• The pattern is applied after filtering; only filtered values are parsed.
• If the pattern matches multiple substrings, each is returned as a separate output value.

Examples

Extract an email address from a mailto link:
mailto:(?<email>[^?]+)

Extract a numeric ID from a string like 'ID-12345':
ID-(?<id>\d+)

Extract a date in YYYY-MM-DD format:
(?<date>\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})

Impact

• Only the substrings matching the parsing pattern are returned as output values.
• Use parsing patterns to refine extraction and isolate the exact data needed.

Notes

• Patterns are case-sensitive unless the 'IgnoreCase' option is enabled.
• Named groups can be used to select a specific output value.
• If left blank, the entire value is returned without further parsing.