What would be the best way to retrieve the HTML source for a web page in a WebView?

Thanks, and merry Christmas.

---

The main frame of the web view is probably the best place to start.

• (NSData *)HTMLDataFromWebView:(WebView *)webView {

  WebFrame *mainFrame = [webView mainFrame]; WebDataSource *dataSource = [mainFrame dataSource]; NSURLRequest *initialRequest = [dataSource initialRequest]; NSURL *url = [initialRequest URL]; DOMDocument *doc = [mainFrame DOMDocument];

  return [dataSource data];

}

The DOMDocument is an object model of the web view’s content. Check out DOMCore for more info. –zootbobbalu

---

Why exactly are you creating initialRequest, url, and doc in that example? And why are you returning an NSData object, when he most likely is going to want it as a string? To anyone copying and pasting that code, it is a little over the top and has three unused variables.

• (NSString *)HTMLSourceFromWebView:(WebView *)webView { WebFrame *mainFrame = [webView mainFrame]; WebDataSource *dataSource = [mainFrame dataSource];

  return dataSource representation] documentSource]; }

// or, more simply put as:

• ([[NSString *)HTMLSourceFromWebView:(WebView *)webView { return [[webView mainFrame] dataSource] representation] documentSource]; }

---

Thanks guys. Yeah, the string is what need the most.

---

Why exactly are you creating initialRequest, url, and doc in that example? And why are you returning an [[NSData object, when he most likely is going to want it as a string? To anyone copying and pasting that code, it is a little over the top and has three unused variables.

I’m trying to give as much info as possible. Of course those variables are doing nothing. I intentionally put them there to enlighten the original poster to the basics of working with WebKit. –zootbobbalu

---

Reformatted for clarity.

January 4, 2005 - The above example retrieves the original document contents. However, if you make the WebView editable and make changes, the above will not retrieve the changed text. The following example will:

• (NSString *)HTMLSourceFromWebView:(WebView *)webView { return [[webView mainFrame] [[DOMDocument] documentElement] outerHTML]; }

The above example uses DOMDocument, which was introduced in Tiger so your app’s minimum requirements would become Tiger or above. Just a note.

---

How would you get the source from a URL or URL string directly without loading it in a WebView?