Tag: scraping

Books I read, or: Python and Django let me realise my nerdiest dreams

I like to document my doings and for about 15 years I’ve been documenting the books I have read. First in Notepad, then in Excel and finally in Python and Django with a database somewhere in the background. I am amazed what experts help amateurs achieve.

Take a look at what I made

This post explains the proces of collecting data about my reads in little detail and in too great detail the code behind the page.

Some books of 2020
Statistics

Finding information ONLINE

Most data was crawled from Danish library ressources, Goodreads and Wikpedia with varying success. A lot was entered manually, especially with works in translation. I spent hours and hours being pedantic.

Even though librarians have been managing data longer than anyone else on the planet, there is no autoritative relational database where you can look up when some book by some author was first published and when the first Danish language version came out. In defence of librarians, many writers go to great lengths to make data management on books hard (one example is the genre “non-fiction novel” used by Spanish writer Javier Cercas).

The mysteries of Goodreads

I was mystified by the ability of Goodreads to place study guides and commentary to great works of literature first in their search results (and many more strange things) and terrified by Google displaying available nowhere else I could find on the web author birthdays on top of search results .

Also, Goodreads magically has editions of books that are older than when Goodreads claims the book was first published.

Goodreads: When what you’re searching for is nowhere near the first hit
How does this autocomplete work?

I wonder?

First published on April 5, but first listed edition is from March 23. Huh?

Adding books

After crawling for data, I made a form to add new books:

Step 1. Push “Look up”
PROFIT!

The form

This was a breeze in Django. Here’s forms.py:

from django.forms import ModelForm
from books.models import Author, Title, Read

class AuthorForm(ModelForm):
	class Meta:
		model = Author
		fields = ['first_name', 'last_name','gender','country','biography','birth_date','data_quality']
	
class TitleForm(ModelForm):
	class Meta:
		model = Title
		fields = ['title','genre','read_language','original_language','publisher','isbn','published_date','first_published','cover_url','ereolen_url','biblo_dk_url','good_reads_url','pages','original_title']	
		
class ReadForm(ModelForm):
	class Meta:
		model = Read
		fields = ['date']

The view:

And here’s the logic from views.py (I probably shouldn’t uncritically be saving cover URLs found on the internet to my server, but):

# Add a read to database
@login_required	
def add_read(request):	
	book_saved = False
	author_form = AuthorForm()
	title_form = TitleForm()
	read_form = ReadForm()
	if request.method == 'POST':	# AND SUBMIT BUTTON
		author_form = AuthorForm(request.POST)
		title_form = TitleForm(request.POST)
		read_form = ReadForm(request.POST)
		if author_form.is_valid() and title_form.is_valid() and read_form.is_valid():
			author_data = author_form.cleaned_data
			title_data = title_form.cleaned_data
			read_data = read_form.cleaned_data

			existing_author = False
			existing_title = False
				
			# AUTHOR LOGIC - MAY ALSO MODIFY TITLE DATA
			# Check if already exist
			try:
				author = Author.objects.get(first_name=author_data['first_name'], last_name=author_data['last_name'])
				existing_author = True
				context['existing_author'] = existing_author
			except:
				if 'lookup' in request.POST:
					if any(not value for value in author_data.values()):
						author_data, title_data = get_author(author_data, title_data)	# try to fetch data
			
			# TITLE LOGIC - MAY ALSO MODIFY AUTHOR DATA
			# Check if title already exists, will only work is author has been found. (Book is re-read)
			try:
				if author:
					title = Title.objects.get(authors=author, title=title_data['title'])
					existing_title = True
					context['existing_title'] = True
			except:
				if 'lookup' in request.POST:
					if any(not value for value in title_data.values()):
						title_data, author_data = get_title(title_data, author_data)	# try to fetch data
			
			# Render form with data from database or collected data
			if 'lookup' in request.POST:
				if not existing_author:
					author_form = AuthorForm(author_data)
				else:
					author_form = AuthorForm(instance=author)
					
				if not existing_title:
					title_form = TitleForm(title_data)
				else:
					title_form = TitleForm(instance=title)
			
			# Save data
			if 'save' in request.POST:
				if not existing_author:
					author = author_form.save()
				if not existing_title:	
					title = title_form.save()
					title.authors.add(author)
					if title.cover_url:
						file = requests.get(title.cover_url, stream=True)
						save_location = settings.STATIC_ROOT + "books/covers/"

						if '.jpg' in title.cover_url:
							ending = '.jpg'
						elif '.png' in title.cover_url:
							ending = '.png'
						elif '.webp' in title.cover_url:
							ending = '.webp'
						else:
							ending = '.jpg'
						
						id = title.id
						filename = str(id) + ending
						with open(save_location+filename, 'wb') as f:
							file.raw.decode_content = True
							shutil.copyfileobj(file.raw, f)
						
						title.cover_filename = filename
						title.save()
						
						#create thumbnail							
						image = Image.open(save_location+filename).convert("RGB")
						maxsize = 150, 150
						image.thumbnail(maxsize, Image.ANTIALIAS)
						image.save(save_location+"150/"+str(id)+".webp", "WEBP")


				save_read = read_form.save(commit=False)
				save_read.title = title
				save_read = read_form.save()
				
				# Set save variable to True and display empty form
				book_saved = True
				author_form = AuthorForm()
				title_form = TitleForm()
				read_form = ReadForm()				
				
	context = {'author_form': author_form, 'title_form': title_form, 'read_form': read_form, 'book_saved': book_saved}
	return render(request, 'books/add.html', context)

The helper function

If you are a really curious and patient individual, you may be wondering about the get_author and get_title functions. You are in luck! Here is most of helpers.py which helps me scrape some data from the internet and will probably break in the future:

# HELPER FUNCTIONS #
def numbers_in_string(string):
	numbers = sum(character.isdigit() for character in string)
	return numbers

def get_author(author_data, title_data):
	# WIKIPEDIA
	if not author_data['biography']:
		if not author_data['country'] == 'da':
			url = 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=intitle%3A%22' + author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name'] + '%22&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1'
		else:
			url = 'https://da.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=intitle%3A%22' + author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name'] + '%22&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1'
	else:
		url = author_data['biography']
			
	author_request = requests.get(url)

	if author_request.status_code == 200:
		soup = BeautifulSoup(author_request.text, "lxml")
		try:
			first_result = soup.find('div', {'class':'mw-search-result-heading'}).a['href']
			if not author_data['country'] == 'da':
				result_page = 'https://en.wikipedia.org' + first_result
			else:
				result_page = 'https://da.wikipedia.org' + first_result
			page_request = requests.get(result_page)
			soup = BeautifulSoup(page_request.text, "lxml")
			# If not provided, set biography
			if not author_data['biography']:
				author_data['biography'] = result_page
			# If not provided, try to get birth_date
			if not author_data['birth_date']:
				try:
					birthday = soup.find('span', {'class':'bday'}).string
					author_data['birth_date'] = datetime.strptime(birthday, '%Y-%m-%d')
				except:
					try:
						birthday = soup.find('th', text="Født").parent.get_text()
						# sometimes the above doesn't return a space between year and next info causing a fuckup
						try:
							find_year = re.search("\d\d\d\d\S", birthday).span()[1]
							birthday = birthday[:find_year-1] + " " + birthday[find_year+-1:]
						except:
							pass
						# sometimes even more fuckery
						try:
							letters_and_numbers_together = re.search("[a-zA-Z]\d", birthday).span()[1]
							birthday = birthday[:letters_and_numbers_together-1] + " " + birthday[letters_and_numbers_together-1:]
						except:
							pass
						birthday_date = search_dates(birthday,languages=['da'])[0][1]
						author_data['birth_date'] = birthday_date
					except:
						paragraphs = soup.find_all('p')
						for paragraph in paragraphs:
							text = paragraph.get_text()
							if '(født' in text:
								birth_mention = text.find('(født')
								birth_string = text[birth_mention+1:text.find(")",birth_mention)]
								if len(birth_string) < 10:	# just a year, probably
									year = int(birth_string[5:10])
									birthday = date(year,1,1)
									author_data['birth_date'] = birthday
								else:
									birthday_date = search_dates(birth_string,languages=['da'])[0][1]
									author_data['birth_date'] = birthday_date
								break
			# If not provided, try to get country
			if not author_data['country']:
				try:
					birthplace = soup.find('div', {'class':'birthplace'}).get_text()
				except:
					try:
						birthplace = soup.find('th', text="Born").parent.get_text()
					except:
						pass
				if birthplace:
					country = get_country(birthplace)
					if not country:
						try:
							birthplace = soup.find('th', text="Nationality").find_next_sibling().string
							country = get_country(birthplace)
						except:
							pass
				if country:
					author_data['country'] = country
					if not title_data['original_language']:
						if country == 'us' or country == 'sc' or contry == 'ir' or country == 'en' or country == 'au':
							country = 'en'
						title_data['original_language'] = country
		except:
			pass
	# GENDER
	if not author_data['gender']:
		request = requests.get('https://gender-api.com/get?name=' + author_data['first_name'] + '&key=vCjPrydWvlRcMxGszD')
		response = request.json()
		if response['gender'] == 'male':
			author_data['gender'] = 'm'
		elif response['gender'] == 'female':
			author_data['gender'] = 'f'
	if not author_data['data_quality']:
		if author_data['first_name'] and author_data['last_name'] and author_data['gender'] and author_data['country'] and author_data['birth_date'] and author_data['biography']:
			author_data['data_quality'] = 'med'
		else:
			author_data['data_quality'] = 'bad'
	# WIKIPEDIA ALTERNATIVE, ONLY FOR BOOKS READ IN DANISH
	if not author_data['biography'] and author_data['first_name'] and title_data['read_language'] == 'da':
		url = 'https://litteraturpriser.dk/henv/' + author_data['last_name'][0].lower() + '.htm'
		request = requests.get(url)
		soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
		links = soup.find_all('a', href=True)
		for link in links:
			if len(link['href']) > 7:
				text = link.get_text().lower()
				if author_data['last_name'].lower() + ", " + author_data['first_name'].lower() == text:
					url = 'https://litteraturpriser.dk' + link['href']
					request = requests.get(url)
					soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
					
					author_data['biography'] = request.url
					
					if not author_data['country']:
						author_data['country'] = 'da'
					
					if not author_data['birth_date']:
						born = soup.find(text=re.compile('Født'))
						if born:
							birthday_date = search_dates(born,languages=['da'])[0][1]
							author_data['birth_date'] = birthday_date
						else:
							born = soup.find(text=re.compile('f. '))
							birth_year = int(re.search("\d\d\d\d", born).group())
							author_data['birth_date'] = date(birth_year,1,1)
					if not title_data['original_language']:
						title_data['original_language'] = 'da'
					break
	
	
	return author_data, title_data

def get_ereolen(title_data, author_data):
	# EREOLEN
	soup = ""
	if not title_data['ereolen_url']:
		if title_data['isbn']:
			url = 'https://ereolen.dk/search/ting/' + title_data['isbn'] + '?&facets[]=facet.type%3Aebog'
		else:
			url = 'https://ereolen.dk/search/ting/' + author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name']+ " " + title_data['title'] + '?&facets[]=facet.type%3Aebog'
		request = requests.get(url)
		try:
			search_soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
			links = [a['href'] for a in search_soup.find_all('a', href=True) if '/collection/' in a['href']]
			book_request = requests.get('https://ereolen.dk' + links[0])
			soup = BeautifulSoup(book_request.text, "lxml")
			
			links = [a['href'] for a in soup.find_all('a', href=True) if '/object/' in a['href']]
			# ebooks and audiobook versions
			if len(links) == 4:
				book_request = requests.get('https://ereolen.dk' + links[0])
				soup = BeautifulSoup(book_request.text, "lxml")
			# SAVE HIT URL
			title_data['ereolen_url'] = 'https://ereolen.dk' + links[0]
		except:
			pass
	else:
		book_request = title_data['ereolen_url']
		book_request = requests.get(book_request)
		soup = BeautifulSoup(book_request.text, "lxml")

	if soup:
		if not title_data['published_date']:
			try:
				published = soup.find('div', class_={"field-name-ting-author"}).get_text()
				published = int(re.search("[(]\d\d\d\d[)]", published).group()[1:5])
				title_data['published_date'] = date(published,1,1)
			except:
				pass
		
		if not title_data['isbn']:
			try:
				isbn_tag = soup.find('div', class_={"field-name-ting-details-isbn"}) 
				title_data['isbn'] = isbn_tag.find('div', class_={"field-items"}).get_text()
			except:
				pass
		
		if not title_data['publisher']:
			try:
				publisher_tag = soup.find('div', class_={"field-name-ting-details-publisher"}) 
				title_data['publisher'] = publisher_tag.find('div', class_={"field-items"}).get_text()
			except:
				pass
		
		if not title_data['pages']:
			try:
				page_tag = soup.find('div', class_={"field-name-ting-details-extent"}) 
				title_data['pages'] = int(page_tag.find('div', class_={"field-items"}).get_text().replace(" sider",""))
			except:
				pass
		
		if not title_data['original_title']:
			try:
				original_title_tag = soup.find('div', class_={"field-name-ting-details-source"}) 
				title_data['original_title'] = original_title_tag.find('div', class_={"field-items"}).get_text()
			except:
				pass					
		
		if not title_data['cover_url']:
			covers = [img['src'] for img in soup.find_all('img') if '/covers/' in img['src']]
			title_data['cover_url'] = covers[0][:covers[0].find("?")]
	return title_data, author_data

def get_bibliotek_dk(title_data, author_data):
	search_url = 'https://bibliotek.dk/da/search/work?search_block_form=phrase.creator%3D%22' + author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name'] + '%22+and+phrase.title%3D%22' + title_data['title'] + '%22&select_material_type=bibdk_frontpage&op=S%C3%B8g&n%2Famaterialetype%5Bterm.workType%253D%2522literature%2522%5D=term.workType%253D%2522literature%2522&year_op=%2522year_eq%2522&year_value=&form_id=search_block_form&sort=rank_main_title&page_id=bibdk_frontpage'
	
	request = requests.get(search_url)
	soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
	hits = soup.find_all('div', {'class':'work mobile-page'})
	if not hits:
		url = 'https://bibliotek.dk/da/search/work?search_block_form=' + author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name'] + " " + title_data['title'] +'&select_material_type=bibdk_frontpage%2Fbog&op=S%C3%B8g&n%2Famaterialetype%5Bterm.workType%253D%2522literature%2522%5D=term.workType%253D%2522literature%2522&year_op=%2522year_eq%2522&year_value=&form_build_id=form-TQ8TlT3HGFiKXyvz6cCFaiuTMZKimuHMF-p4q1Mb8ZI&form_id=search_block_form&sort=rank_main_title&page_id=bibdk_frontpage#content'
		request = requests.get(url)
		soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
		hits = soup.find_all('div', {'class':'work mobile-page'})
	
	for hit in hits:
		id = hit['id']
		title = hit.find('h2', {'class':'searchresult-work-title'}).get_text()
		author = hit.h3.get_text()
		
		if title_data['title'].lower() in title.lower() or title.lower() in title_data['title'].lower() or len(hits) == 1:
			
			if 'basis' in id:
				link = id.replace("basis","-basis:")
			elif 'katalog' in id:
				link = id.replace("katalog","-katalog:")
			biblo_url = 'https://bibliotek.dk/da/work/' + link
			
			request = requests.get(biblo_url)
			
			if not title_data['biblo_dk_url']:
				title_data['biblo_dk_url'] = biblo_url
			
			soup = BeautifulSoup(request.text, "lxml")
			
			if not title_data['cover_url']:
				try:
					img = soup.find('div', {'class':'bibdk-cover'}).img['src'].replace("/medium/","/large/")
					img = img[:img.find("?")]
					title_data['cover_url'] = img
				except:
					pass
			
			book_data = soup.find('div', {'class':'manifestation-data'})
			
			if not title_data['pages']:
				try:
					pages = book_data.find('div', {'class':'field-name-bibdk-mani-format'}).find('span', {'class':'openformat-field'}).string.strip()
					pages = pages[:pages.find(" ")]
					pages = int(pages)
					title_data['pages'] = pages
				except:
					pass
			if not title_data['publisher']:
				try:
					publisher = book_data.find('div', {'class':'field-name-bibdk-mani-publisher'}).find('span', {'property':'name'}).string
					title_data['publisher'] = publisher
				except:
					pass
			
			if not title_data['published_date'] or not title_data['first_published']:
				try:
					first_published = book_data.find('div', {'class':'field-name-bibdk-mani-originals'}).find('span', {'class':'openformat-field'}).string.strip()
					published = int(re.search("\d\d\d\d", first_published).group())
					if not title_data['published_date']:
						title_data['published_date'] = date(published,1,1)
					if not title_data['first_published'] and title_data['read_language'] == 'da' and title_data['original_language'] == 'da':
						title_data['first_published'] = date(published,1,1)
				except:
					try:
						pub_year = int(book_data.find('div', {'class':'field-name-bibdk-mani-pub-year'}).find('span', {'class':'openformat-field'}).string.strip())
						title_data['published_date'] = date(pub_year,1,1)
						if title_data['read_language'] == 'da' and title_data['original_language'] == 'da':
							try:
								edition = book_data.find('div', {'class':'field-name-bibdk-mani-edition'}).find('span', {'class':'openformat-field'}).string.strip()
								if edition == "1. udgave":
									title_data['first_published'] = date(pub_year,1,1)
							except:
								pass
					except:
						pass
				break
	return title_data, author_data

def get_goodreads(title_data, author_data):
	if not title_data['good_reads_url']:
		searchterm = author_data['first_name'] + " " + author_data['last_name'] + " " + title_data['title']
		search_url = 'https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=✓&q=' + searchterm + '&search_type=books'
		response = requests.get(search_url)
		search_soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")
		all_results = search_soup.find_all('tr', {'itemtype':'http://schema.org/Book'})
		if not all_results:
			search_url = 'https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=✓&q=' + title_data['title'] + '&search_type=books'
			response = requests.get(search_url)
			search_soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")
			all_results = search_soup.find_all('tr', {'itemtype':'http://schema.org/Book'})
		if all_results:
			good_match = False
			#exact match
			for result in all_results:
				gr_author = result.find('span', {'itemprop':'author'}).get_text().strip()
				gr_author = gr_author.replace(' (Goodreads Author)','')
				if "   " in gr_author:
					gr_author = gr_author.replace("   "," ")
				elif "  " in gr_author:
					gr_author = gr_author.replace("  "," ")
				gr_title = result.find('a', {'class':'bookTitle'})
				gr_title_string = gr_title.get_text().strip()
				title_url = gr_title['href']
				if gr_title_string.lower() == title_data['title'].lower() and gr_author.lower() == author_data['first_name'].lower() + " " + author_data['last_name'].lower():
					good_match = True
					break
			if good_match == True:
				url = 'https://www.goodreads.com' + title_url
				response = requests.get(url)
				soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")
			else:
				links = search_soup.find_all('a', href=True)
				books = [a['href'] for a in links if '/book/show/' in a['href']]
				for book in books:
					if not 'summary' in book and not 'analysis' in book and not 'lesson-plan' in book and not 'sidekick' in book and not 'teaching-with' in book and not 'study-guide' in book and not 'quicklet' in book and not 'lit-crit' in book and not author_data['last_name'].lower() in book:
						url = 'https://www.goodreads.com' + book
						response = requests.get(url)
						soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")
						heading = soup.find('h1', {'id': 'bookTitle'}).string
						break
	else:
		url = title_data['good_reads_url']
		response = requests.get(url)
		soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")

	
	if not title_data['good_reads_url']:
		if '?' in url:
			url = url[:url.rfind("?")]
		title_data['good_reads_url'] = url

	if not title_data['cover_url']:
		try:
			title_data['cover_url'] = soup.find('img', {"id" : "coverImage"})['src'].replace("compressed.","")
		except:
			pass
	
	
	details = soup.find('div', {"id" : "details"})
	details_text = details.get_text()
	
	if not title_data['published_date']:
		possible_dates = details.find_all('div', attrs={'class':'row'})
		for item in possible_dates:
			published_date = item.find(text=re.compile("Published"))
			if published_date:
				published_date = published_date.strip()
				numbers = numbers_in_string(published_date)
				if numbers > 4:
					title_data['published_date'] = search_dates(published_date,languages=['en'])[0][1]
				elif numbers == 4:
					year = int(re.search("\d\d\d\d", published_date).group())
					title_data['published_date'] = date(year,1,1)
	
	if not title_data['first_published']:
		try:
			first_published = details.find('nobr').string.strip()
			numbers = numbers_in_string(first_published)
			if numbers > 4:
				title_data['first_published'] = search_dates(first_published,languages=['en'])[0][1]
			elif numbers == 4:
				year = int(re.search("\d\d\d\d", first_published).group())
				title_data['first_published'] = date(year,1,1)			
		except:
			pass
	
	if not title_data['pages']:
		try:
			pages = details.find('span', {'itemprop': 'numberOfPages'}).string
			title_data['pages'] = int(pages[:pages.find(" ")])
		except:
			pass

	if not title_data['publisher']:
		try:
			by_location = details_text.find("by ")
			title_data['publisher'] = details_text[by_location+3:details_text.find("\n", by_location)]
		except:
			pass
	
	if not title_data['isbn']:
		try:
			isbn = re.search("\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d", details_text).group()
			title_data['isbn'] = isbn
		except:
			try:
				isbn = re.search("\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d", details_text).group()
				title_data['isbn'] = isbn
			except:
				pass

	if not title_data['original_title'] and title_data['read_language'] != title_data['original_language']:
		try:
			parent = details.find('div', text="Original Title").parent
			original_title = parent.find('div', {'class':'infoBoxRowItem'}).string
			title_data['original_title'] = original_title
		except:
			pass

	return title_data, author_data
	
def get_title(title_data, author_data):
	if title_data['read_language'] == 'da':
		title_data, author_data = get_ereolen(title_data, author_data)
		title_data, author_data = get_bibliotek_dk(title_data, author_data)
		title_data, author_data = get_goodreads(title_data, author_data)
		#cover from ereolen, mofibo, saxo
		# danish library request
	else:
		title_data, author_data = get_goodreads(title_data, author_data)
	return title_data, author_data

The template

The simplicity:

<h1>Add book</h1>

{% if book_saved %}
	<p>Bogen blev gemt!</p>
{% endif %}	

<form method="post">
<p class="center"><input class="button blue" name="lookup" type="submit" value="Look up">
<input class="button green" name="save" type="submit" value="Save"></p>

<p class="center">
{% if author_form.biography.value %}
	<a href="{{ author_form.biography.value }}">biografi</a>
{% endif %}

{% if title_form.good_reads_url.value %}
	<a href="{{ title_form.good_reads_url.value }}">goodreads</a>
{% endif %}

{% if title_form.ereolen_url.value %}
	<a href="{{ title_form.ereolen_url.value }}">ereolen</a>
{% endif %}

{% if title_form.biblo_dk_url.value %}
	<a href="{{ title_form.biblo_dk_url.value }}">bibliotek.dk</a>
{% endif %}
</p>

{% csrf_token %}
<div class="grid addbook">
	<div>
		{{ author_form }}
	</div>
	
	<div>
		{{ title_form }}
	</div>
	<div>
		{{ read_form }}
		{% if title_form.cover_url.value %}
		<img class="cover" src="{{ title_form.cover_url.value }}">
		{% endif %}
	</div>
</div>
</form>

The data model

Here’s models.py with the embarrassing list of countries and languages (that I should have gotten from somewhere else) edited out:

from isbn_field import ISBNField

class Author(models.Model):
	GENDER_CHOICES = [
		('f', 'Female'),
		('m', 'Male'),
		('o', 'Other'),
	]

	DATA_QUALITY_CHOICES = [
		('good', 'Good'),
		('bad', 'Bad'),
		('med', 'Medium'),
	]

	first_name = models.CharField('First name', max_length=500, blank=True)
	last_name = models.CharField('Last name', max_length=500)
	def __str__(self):
		return self.first_name + " " + self.last_name
	def get_titles(self):
		return " & ".join([t.title for t in self.title_set.all()])
	gender = models.CharField('Gender', choices=GENDER_CHOICES, max_length=1, blank=True)
	birth_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
	country = models.CharField('Country', choices=COUNTRY_CHOICES, max_length=2, blank=True)
	biography = models.URLField('Biography url', max_length=500, blank=True) 
	data_quality = models.CharField('Datakvalitet', choices=DATA_QUALITY_CHOICES, max_length=4, blank=True)
	
	class Meta:
		ordering = ['last_name']
	
class Title(models.Model):
	GENRE_CHOICES = [
		('nf', 'Non-Fiction'),
		('fi', 'Fiction'),
	]

	authors = models.ManyToManyField(Author)
	def get_authors(self):
		return " & ".join([t.first_name + " " + t.last_name for t in self.authors.all()])
	get_authors.short_description = "Author(s)"	
	title = models.CharField('Title', max_length=500)
	def __str__(self):
		return self.title
	read_language = models.CharField('Read in language', choices=LANGUAGE_CHOICES, max_length=2)
	original_language = models.CharField('Original language', choices=LANGUAGE_CHOICES, max_length=2, blank=True)
	original_title = models.CharField('Original title', max_length=500, blank=True)
	genre = models.CharField('Overall genre', choices=GENRE_CHOICES, max_length=2)
	publisher = models.CharField('Publisher', max_length=100, blank=True)
	first_published = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
	published_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
	isbn = ISBNField(null=True, blank=True)
	cover_filename = models.CharField('Cover filename', max_length=100, blank=True)
	cover_url = models.URLField('Cover-url', max_length=500, blank=True)
	pages = models.PositiveIntegerField(blank=True, null=True)
	good_reads_url = models.URLField('Goodreads-url', max_length=500, blank=True)
	ereolen_url = models.URLField('Ereolen-url', max_length=500, blank=True)
	biblo_dk_url = models.URLField('Biblo-url', max_length=500, blank=True)

	class Meta:
		ordering = ['title']

class Read(models.Model):
	title = models.ForeignKey(Title, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
	date = models.DateField()
	sort_order = models.PositiveIntegerField(blank=True, null=True)

The front page

The views.py function for the front page is short and sweet:

def index(request):
	context = {}
	context['request'] = request
	reads = Read.objects.order_by('-date__year', 'date__month','sort_order','id').select_related('title')
	context['reads'] = reads
	context['months'] = [[i, calendar.month_abbr[i]] for i in range(1,13)]
	return render(request, 'books/index.html', context)

And, while longer, I think the template loop is nice too, (although there is that clumsy nested loop):

{% regroup reads by date.year as years_list %}

{% for year, readings in years_list %}
	<h2>{{ year }}</h2>
	{% if year == 2015 %}
		<p>I was on paternity leave most of this year which gave me time to read a lot, but not the mental surplus to register by month. This year I bought a Kindle which re-kindled (durr) my interest in reading.</p>
	{% elif year == 2004 %}
		<p>I was working in England from around September 2003 to February 2004. This gave me time to read a lot, but not the computer access at home necessary to register my reads precisely.</p>
	{% elif year == 2003 %}
		<p>The year I began registering my reads.</p>
	{% elif year == 2002 %}	
		<p>This - and all years before - is from memory in 2003, so not really precise.</p>
	{% endif %}
	
	{% regroup readings by date.month as months_list %}
	
	{% if year > 2004 and not year == 2015 %}
		<div class="grid reads">
			{% for month in months %}
				<div class="flex">
					<div>{{ month.1 }}</div>
					{% for mon, reads in months_list %}
						{% if mon == month.0 %}
							{% for read in reads %}
								<a title="{{ read.title }}" href="{% url 'books_book' read.title.id %}"><img class="frontcover" loading="lazy" src="{% static 'books/covers/150/' %}{{ read.title.id }}.webp"></a>
							{% endfor %}
						{% endif %}
					{% endfor %}
				</div>
			{% endfor %}
		</div>
	{% else %}
		{% for read in readings %}
			<a href="{% url 'books_book' read.title.id %}"><img class="frontcover" loading="lazy" src="{% static 'books/covers/150/' %}{{ read.title.id }}.webp"></a>
		{% endfor %}
	{% endif %}

The statistics page

The charts on the statistics page are made with Chart.js which is so easy that you don’t even need to know Javascript.

Here’s the views.py function which could probably be sped up if I had any idea how (which I don’t):

def statistics(request):
	context = {}
	
	# All reads, used for lots of charts
	reads = Read.objects.order_by('date__year').select_related('title').prefetch_related('title__authors')
	context['reads'] = reads
	
	# Books per year chart queryset
	books_pages_per_year = Read.objects.values('date__year').annotate(Count('id'), Sum('title__pages'), Avg('title__pages')).order_by('date__year')
	context['books_pages_per_year'] = books_pages_per_year
	
	# Prepare year, value-dictionaries
	genre_structure = {}	# fiction vs. non-fiction
	author_gender_structure = {}	# male vs. female
	author_birth_structure = {}	# median age of authors
	read_language_structure = {} # language of read
	original_language_structure = {} # original language of read
	language_choices = dict(Title.LANGUAGE_CHOICES)	# look up dict for original languages
	author_country_structure = {} # country of author
	country_choices = dict(Author.COUNTRY_CHOICES)
	book_age_structure = {} # median age of books

	for read in reads:
		year_of_read = read.date.year
		# Put year keys in dictionaries
		if not year_of_read in genre_structure:	# check one = check all
			genre_structure[year_of_read] = []
			author_gender_structure[year_of_read] = []
			author_birth_structure[year_of_read] = []
			read_language_structure[year_of_read] = []
			original_language_structure[year_of_read] = []
			author_country_structure[year_of_read] = []
			book_age_structure[year_of_read] = []
		
		# Put values in dictionaries
		if read.title.read_language == 'da' or read.title.read_language == 'en':
			read_language_structure[year_of_read].append(read.title.read_language)
		
		if read.title.original_language:
			original_language_structure[year_of_read].append(language_choices[read.title.original_language])
		
		if read.title.genre:
			genre_structure[year_of_read].append(read.title.genre)
		
		if read.title.first_published:
			book_age_structure[year_of_read].append(read.title.first_published.year)
		
		for author in read.title.authors.all():
			if author.gender:
				author_gender_structure[year_of_read].append(author.gender)
			if author.birth_date:
				author_birth_structure[year_of_read].append(author.birth_date.year)
			if author.country:
				author_country_structure[year_of_read].append(country_choices[author.country])
		
	# Prepare datasets for charts
	genres = {}
	for year, genre_list in genre_structure.items():
		number_of_titles = len(genre_list)
		number_of_fiction_titles = sum(1 for genre in genre_list if genre == 'fi')
		fiction_percentage = int(number_of_fiction_titles/number_of_titles*100)
		non_fiction_percentage = 100 - fiction_percentage
		genres[year] = [fiction_percentage, non_fiction_percentage]
	context['genres'] = genres
	
	median_author_age = {}
	for year, birthyears in author_birth_structure.items():
		birthyears = sorted(birthyears)
		median_birthyear = birthyears[len(birthyears) // 2]
		median_author_age[year] = year - median_birthyear
	context['median_author_age'] = median_author_age
				
	author_genders = {}
	for year, genders in author_gender_structure.items():
		number_of_authors = len(genders)
		males = sum(1 for gender in genders if gender == 'm')
		male_percentage = int(males/number_of_authors*100)
		female_percentage = 100 - male_percentage
		author_genders[year] = [male_percentage, female_percentage]
	context['author_genders'] = author_genders
	
	read_languages = {}
	for year, languages in read_language_structure.items():
		number_of_languages = len(languages)
		danish = sum(1 for language in languages if language == 'da')
		danish_percentage = int(danish / number_of_languages * 100)
		english_percentage = 100 - danish_percentage
		read_languages[year] = [danish_percentage, english_percentage]
	context['read_languages'] = read_languages
	
	original_languages = []
	original_languages_years = []
	for year, languages in original_language_structure.items():
		if not year in original_languages_years:
			original_languages_years.append(year)
		for lang in languages:
			if lang not in original_languages:
				original_languages.append(lang)
	original_languages_template = {}
	for language in original_languages:
		original_languages_template[language] = []
		for year in original_languages_years:
			count_of_language_in_year = sum(1 for lang in original_language_structure[year] if language == lang)
			original_languages_template[language].append(count_of_language_in_year)
	context['original_languages_template'] = original_languages_template
	context['original_languages_years'] = original_languages_years

	author_countries = []
	author_countries_years = []
	for year, countries in author_country_structure.items():
		if not year in author_countries_years:
			author_countries_years.append(year)
		for country in countries:
			if country not in author_countries:
				author_countries.append(country)
	author_countries_template = {}
	for country in author_countries:
		author_countries_template[country] = []
		for year in author_countries_years:
			count_of_country_in_year = sum(1 for countr in author_country_structure[year] if country == countr)
			author_countries_template[country].append(count_of_country_in_year)
	context['author_countries_template'] = author_countries_template
	context['author_countries_years'] = author_countries_years			

	median_book_age = {}
	for year, publish_years in book_age_structure.items():
		publish_years = sorted(publish_years)
		# account for no data in years
		if len(publish_years) >= 2:
			median_publish_year = publish_years[len(publish_years) // 2]
		elif len(publish_years) == 1:
			median_publish_year = publish_years[0]
		else:
			median_publish_year = 0
		median_book_age[year] = year - median_publish_year
	context['median_book_age'] = median_book_age
	
	return render(request, 'books/statistics.html', context)

And a template example:

<div>
	<h2>Reads per year</a>
	<canvas id="books_per_year"></canvas>
</div>

<script>
var ctx = document.getElementById('books_per_year').getContext('2d');
var myChart = new Chart(ctx, {
	type: 'bar',
	data: {
		labels: [{% for year in books_pages_per_year %}{% if not forloop.last %}{{ year.date__year }}, {% else %}{{ year.date__year }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}],
		datasets: [{
			label: 'Read',
			data: [{% for year in books_pages_per_year %}{% if not forloop.last %}{{ year.id__count }}, {% else %}{{ year.id__count }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}],
			backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 99, 132, 0.2)',
			borderColor: 'rgba(255, 99, 132, 1)',
			borderWidth: 1
		}]
	},
	options: {
		tooltips: {
			callbacks: {
				label: function(tooltipItem, data) {
					return data.datasets[tooltipItem.datasetIndex].label + ': ' + tooltipItem.value + ' books';
				}
			}
		},
		legend: {
			display: false
		},
		responsive: true,
		scales: {
			yAxes: [{
				ticks: {
					beginAtZero: true
				}
			}]
		}
	}
});
</script>

THANK YOU FOR SKIMMING

En crawler til mappe-visninger på nettet

Hvis du har været på internettet, er du sikkert en gang stødt på sådan ét her:

Mange webadministratorer vælger at skjule disse oversigter over filer på en webserver, som webserversoftwaren Apache kan generere automatisk.

Men jeg opdagede ved et tilfælde, at jeg kunne se, hvad fotoagenturet Magnum havde lagt op i deres WordPress-installation.

Jeg besluttede at forsøge at lave en lokal kopi, så jeg kunne kigge på flotte fotografier uden at skulle vente på downloads fra internettet.

Først forsøgte jeg med Wget, som er et lille program, der er designet til at dublere websteder lokalt. Men Wget havde problemer med at hente og tygge sig igennem de lange lister med filer. En af dem fyldte fx 36 megabytes. Det er altså rigtig mange links.

Derfor lavede jeg et lille Python-program, der kan tygge sig igennem denne type mappe- og filoversigter og downloade dem lokalt.

Her er det:

# apache-directory-downloader.py
# Author: Morten Helmstedt. E-mail: helmstedt@gmail.com
'''A program to fetch files from standard apache directory listings on the internet.
See https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=apache%2Bdirectory%2Blisting&ia=images&iax=images
for examples of what this is.'''

import requests					# Send http requests and receive responses
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup	# Parse HTML data structures, e.g. to search for links
import os						# Used to create directories at local destination
import shutil					# Used to copy binary files from http response to local destination
import re						# Regex parser and search functions

# Terms to exclude, files with these strings in them are not downloaded
exclude = [
	"-medium",
	"-overlay",
	"-teaser-",
	"-overlay",
	"-thumbnail",
	"-collaboration",
	"-scaled",
	"-photographer-featured",
	"-photographer-listing",
	"-full-on-mobile",
	"-theme-small-teaser",
	"-post",
	"-large",
	"-breaker",
	]

# Takes an url and collects all links
def request(url, save_location):
	# Print status to let user know that something is going on
	print("Requesting:", url)
	# Fetch url
	response = requests.get(url)
	# Parse response
	soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "lxml")
	# Search for all links and exclude certain strings and patterns from links
	urllist = [a['href'] for a in soup.find_all('a', href=True) if not '?C=' in a['href'] and not a['href'][0] == "/" and not any(term in a['href'] for term in exclude) and not re.search("\d\d[x]\d\d",a['href'])]
	# If status code is not 200 (OK), add url to list of errors
	if not response.status_code == 200:
		errorlist.append(url)
	# Send current url, list of links and current local save collection to scrape function
	return scrape(url, urllist, save_location)

def scrape(path, content, save_location):
	# Loop through all links
	for url in content:
		# Print status to let user know that something is going on
		print("Parsing/downloading:", path+url)
		# If there's a slash ("/") in the link, it is a directory
		if "/" in url:
			# Create local directory if it doesn't exists
			try:
				os.mkdir(save_location+url)
			except:
				pass
			# Run request function to fetch contents of directory
			request(path+url, save_location+url)
		# If the link doesn't contain a slash, it's a file and is saved
		else:
			# Check if file already exists, e.g. has been downloaded in a prior run
			if not os.path.isfile(save_location+url):
				# If file doesn't exist, fetch it from remote location
				file = requests.get(path+url, stream=True)
				# Print status to let user know that something is going on
				print("Saving file:", save_location+url)
				# Save file to local destination
				with open(save_location+url, 'wb') as f:
					# Decodes file if received compressed from server
					file.raw.decode_content = True
					# Copies binary file to local destination
					shutil.copyfileobj(file.raw, f)

# List to collect crawling errors
errorlist = []
# Local destination, e.g. 'C:\Downloads' for Windows
save_location = "C:/Downloads/"
# Remote location, e.g. https://example.com/files
url = "https://content.magnumphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/"
# Call function to start crawling
request(url, save_location)
# Print any crawling errors
print(errorlist)