Obtain updated PDF URLs automatically

[grimord]

Create simple web scraper to automatically obtain links to all ISEL PDF timetables from the programme page (it can also include official programme name and degree level - licenciatura / mestrado).

To consider:

• The current solution uses a ".properties" file for each programme that contains a couple of key-value pairs containing the PDF URL and an alert recipient email address. These files have to be updated manually.
• Should the files used to store programme metadata and PDF URL be updated automatically as soon as a new URL is found?
• Should we keep a file "history" of some sort?
• If yes, should we fallback to previous working URL if a new one fails? (downloading or parsing? both?)
• Should the source file format be changed to store this data in a more structured format like YAML, JSON or CSV?
• Is there any other source of information that could be scraped that would prove useful for other components?

[grimord]

Created a basic throwaway scraper as a practical proof of concept using Node JS.
ISEL's current website doesn't include ID attributes in most elements so DOM queries will have to rely on element type + class combinations and even a little filtering through href attributes.

const fetch = require("node-fetch");
const cheerio = require("cheerio");

const LEIC = "https://www.isel.pt/cursos/licenciaturas/engenharia-informatica-e-computadores/horarios";
const LEM = "https://www.isel.pt/cursos/licenciaturas/engenharia-mecanica/horarios";
const LEC = "https://www.isel.pt/cursos/licenciaturas/engenharia-civil/horarios";
const programmes = [LEIC, LEC, LEM];

const getSchedule = async (uri) => {
  const body = await fetch(uri).then((resp) => resp.text());

  const $ = cheerio.load(body);

  let pdf_anchor = $("a[class=sizer]")
    .filter((i, data) => $(data).attr("href").endsWith("pdf"))
    .first();

  return {
    programme: $("h1[class=sizer]").text(),
    pdf: $(pdf_anchor).attr("href"),
  };
};

programmes.forEach((url) =>
  getSchedule(url).then((d) => console.log(`${d.programme} => ${d.pdf}`))
);