Re: [libreoffice-users] Help with linking to data on a website

Hi :)
I think Base has to be the way forwards.  It is a bit of a steep learning curve but this sort of 
project is perfect for it.  Spreadsheets would be really messy and hopelessly complicated and would 
never really allow you to play around with the data so freely.  This guide might help
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications#LibreOffice_Base_Guide
Note that the 2nd chapter is a very rough draft and not really meant for the general public yet.  

Regards from
Tom :)


--- On Sun, 29/1/12, Craig_in_Suwanee <clp.atl@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Craig_in_Suwanee <clp.atl@gmail.com>
Subject: [libreoffice-users] Help with linking to data on a website
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Date: Sunday, 29 January, 2012, 4:10

I'm attempting to create a spreadsheet  in LibreCalc for Fantasy Football
that includes every active QB, RB, WR, TE, and K from Yahoo.  I only picked
Yahoo because I've gotten further along with their data than any other
website.

So far, I've figured out how to get a list of names and teams for the above
positions.  What I've done so far is create a spreadsheet with each position
on a separate worksheet.  I was able to grab the names and teams for each
position by doing the following (example for RBs):  Insert > Link to
External Data > URL of external data source >
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players?type=position&c=NFL&pos=RB > Available
Tables/Ranges > HTML_10.

That gets me a list of the names and teams for each position and also
includes a hyperlink to the player's individual page.  

Here's my issue:  From each player's individual page I also want to pull
their Date of Birth (Running Backs over 30 are a red flag) and the year they
entered the league (Wide Receivers tend to break out in Year 3).  I haven't
yet figured out how to dynamically pull the additional data based on the
initial web hyperlink.  The additional data that I need is all contained in
the player's individual pages (HTML_2 from the player's page).

The secondary links must be dynamic and based on the initial list of
players, since it's likely that players will come and go.

Can this be done at all?  Will it require the use of macros?  Would I be
better served to just do this whole thing using LibreBase?  That would bring
up a whole host of new questions, considering I have very little experience
creating a database.

One more minor question:  Can I just delete any unwanted lines before or
after the data that is pulled in?  For instance, when I pull in the position
page there are 2 lines at the top that I would just assume delete.  If I
delete them will that mess things up when I refresh the dynamic data?

There's obviously more hurdles to overcome further down the road with this
list, but this is where I am right now.

My reason for attempting this is because I have spent a ton of time trying
to track down this data and manually populate my master spreadsheet.  If I
could figure out a way to "Push a button" and get all of this together
automatically then that would save a bunch of time (even if I spend a ton of
time figuring out how to do it initially).  Plus, I'm just a geek and I want
to say that I did it.

Eventually, I'd like to pull the dynamic draft rankings data into my master
spreadsheet so that I'll have several different websites' draft data updated
automatically.  If anybody is interested in helping out with this project
I'd be more than willing to share my work (assuming you aren't in my Fantasy
league).

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