Develop Reference

Headless mode disable python web file downloading

I aim to download web files while in headless mode. My program downloads perfectly when NOT in headless mode, but once I add the constraint not to show MS Edge opening, the downloading is disregarded.
import time
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import Select
driver = webdriver.Edge()
driver.get("URL")
id_box = driver.find_element(By.ID,"...")
pw_box = driver.find_element(By.ID,"...")
id_box.send_keys("...")
pw_box.send_keys("...")
log_in = driver.find_element(By.ID,"...")
log_in.click()
time.sleep(0.1) # If not included, get error: "Unable to locate element"
drop_period = Select(driver.find_element(By.ID,"..."))
drop_period.select_by_index(1)
drop_consul = Select(driver.find_element(By.ID,"..."))
drop_consul.select_by_visible_text("...")
drop_client = Select(driver.find_element(By.ID,"..."))
drop_client.select_by_index(1)
# Following files do not download with headless inculded:
driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "...").click()
driver.find_element(By.XPATH, "...").click()

In that case, you might try downloading the file using the direct link (to the file) and python requests.
You'll need to get the url, by parsing the elemt its href:
Downloading and saving a file from url should work as following then:
import requests as req
remote_url = 'http://www.example.com/file.txt'
local_file_name = 'my_file.txt'
data = req.get(remote_url)
# Save file data to local copy
with open(local_file_name, 'wb')as file:
file.write(data.content)
resource

There are different headless modes for Chrome. If you want to download files, use one of the special ones.
For Chrome 109 and above, use:
options.add_argument("--headless=new")
For Chrome 108 and below, use:
options.add_argument("--headless=chrome")
Reference: https://github.com/chromium/chromium/commit/e9c516118e2e1923757ecb13e6d9fff36775d1f4

Downloading files in headless mode works for me on MicrosoftEdge version 110.0.1587.41 using following options:
MicrosoftEdge: [{
"browserName": "MicrosoftEdge",
"ms:edgeOptions": {
args: ['--headless=new'],
prefs: {
"download.prompt_for_download": false,
"plugins.always_open_pdf_externally": true,
'download.default_directory': "dlFolder"
}
},
}]
Nothing worked until I added the option '--headless=new'
N.B: Tested on a Mac environment using webdriverIO

Trouble renaming downloaded file from a folder

I've written a script in python in combination with selenium to download a file from a webpage by initiating a click on that file's link. When i run my script, the file seems to get downloaded in the predefined folder.
The problem is that I can't find any idea to rename the downloaded file. FYC there may be multiple files in that folder. I would like to rename the downloaded file to the variable newname in the script.
How can I rename a downloaded file from a folder?
This is I've written so far:
import os
from selenium import webdriver
url = "https://www.online-convert.com/file-format/docx"
folder_location = r"C:\Users\WCS\Desktop\file_storage"
newname = "document.docx"
def download_n_rename_file(link):
driver.get(link)
driver.find_element_by_css_selector("a[href$='example_multipage.docx']").click()
#how to rename the downloaded file to "document.docx"
#os.rename()
if __name__ == '__main__':
chromeOptions = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
prefs = {'download.default_directory': folder_location}
chromeOptions.add_experimental_option('prefs', prefs)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=chromeOptions)
download_n_rename_file(url)

I am assuming the file you've downloaded is named under example_multipage.docx:
import os
from selenium import webdriver
url = "https://www.online-convert.com/file-format/docx"
folder_location = r"C:\Users\WCS\Desktop\file_storage"
newname = "document.docx"
def download_n_rename_file(link):
driver.get(link)
driver.find_element_by_css_selector("a[href$='example_multipage.docx']").click()
# To rename the downloaded file to "document.docx"
os.rename('example_multipage.docx',newname)
if __name__ == '__main__':
chromeOptions = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
prefs = {'download.default_directory': folder_location}
chromeOptions.add_experimental_option('prefs', prefs)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options=chromeOptions)
download_n_rename_file(url)
EDIT:
OP: but the problem is there is no such existing name in advance.
This makes me think, what if we could find when a file has downloaded successfully and then grab its name? But, wait. that is not possible!
Or could there be a way to detect the name of a downloaded file? But, wait. You don't have control over the download file naming through selenium.

Selenium Python Download popup pdf with specific filename

I need to download a set of individual pdf files from a webpage. It is publicly available by government (ministry of education in Turkey) so totally legal.
However my selenium browser only displays the pdf file, how can I download it and name as I wish.
(This code is also from web)
# Import your newly installed selenium package
from selenium import webdriver
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
# Now create an 'instance' of your driver
# This path should be to wherever you downloaded the driver
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path="/Users/ugur/Downloads/chromedriver")
# A new Chrome (or other browser) window should open up
download_dir = "/Users/ugur/Downloads/" # for linux/*nix, download_dir="/usr/Public"
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
profile = {"plugins.plugins_list": [{"enabled": False, "name": "Chrome PDF Viewer"}], # Disable Chrome's PDF Viewer
"download.default_directory": download_dir , "download.extensions_to_open": "applications/pdf"}
options.add_experimental_option("prefs", profile)
# Now just tell it wherever you want it to go
driver.get("https://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/kurslar/KazanimTestleri.aspx?sinifid=5&ders=29")
driver.find_element_by_id("ContentPlaceHolder1_dtYillikPlanlar_lnkIndir_2").click()
driver.get("https://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/kurslar/PDFFile.aspx?name=kazanimtestleri.pdf")
Thanks in advance
Extra information:
I had a python 2 code doing this perfectly. But somehow it creates empty files and I couldn't convert it to python 3. Maybe this helps (no offense but I never liked selenium)
import urllib
import urllib2
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import os
sinifId=5
maxOrd = 1
fileNames=[]
directory = '/Users/ugur/Downloads/Hasan'
print 'List of current files in directory '+ directory+'\n---------------------------------\n\n'
for current_file in os.listdir(directory):
if (current_file.find('pdf')>-1 and current_file.find(' ')>-1):
print current_file
order = int(current_file.split(' ',1)[0])
if order>maxOrd: maxOrd=order
fileNames.append(current_file.split(' ',2)[1])
print '\n\nStarting download \n---------------------------------\n'
ctA=int(maxOrd+1)
for ders in [29]:
urlSinif='http://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/kurslar/KazanimTestleri.aspx?sinifid='+str(sinifId)+'&ders='+str(ders)
page = urllib2.urlopen(urlSinif)
soup = BeautifulSoup(page,"lxml")
st = soup.prettify()
count=st.count('ctl00')-1
dersAdi = soup.find('a', href='/kurslar/CevapAnahtarlari.aspx?sinifid='+str(sinifId)+'&ders='+str(ders)).getText().strip()
for testNo in range(count):
if(str(sinifId)+str(ders)+str(testNo+1) in fileNames):
print str(ctA)+' '+str(sinifId)+str(ders)+str(testNo+1)+' '+dersAdi+str(testNo+1)+'.pdf'+' skipped'
else:
annex=""
if(testNo%2==1): annex="2"
eiha_url = u'http://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/kurslar/KazanimTestleri.aspx?sinifid='+str(sinifId)+'&ders='+str(ders)
data = ('__EVENTTARGET','ctl00$ContentPlaceHolder1$dtYillikPlanlar$ctl'+format(testNo, '02')+'$lnkIndir'+annex), ('__EVENTARGUMENT', '39')
print 'ctl00$ContentPlaceHolder1$dtYillikPlanlar$ctl'+format(testNo, '02')+'$lnkIndir'+annex
new_data = urllib.urlencode(data)
response = urllib2.urlopen(eiha_url, new_data)
urllib.urlretrieve (str(response.url), directory+'/{0:0>3}'.format(ctA)+' '+str(sinifId)+str(ders)+str(testNo+1)+' '+dersAdi+str(testNo+1)+'.pdf')
print str(ctA)+' '+str(sinifId)+str(ders)+str(testNo+1)+' '+dersAdi+str(testNo+1)+'.pdf'+' downloaded'
ctA=ctA+1

Add your options before launching Chrome and then specify the chrome_options parameter.
download_dir = "/Users/ugur/Downloads/"
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
profile = {"plugins.plugins_list": [{"enabled": False, "name": "Chrome PDF Viewer"}],
"download.default_directory": download_dir,
"download.extensions_to_open": "applications/pdf"}
options.add_experimental_option("prefs", profile)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(
executable_path="/Users/ugur/Downloads/chromedriver",
chrome_options=options
)
To answer your second question:
May I ask how to specify the filename as well?
I found this: Selenium give file name when downloading
What I do is:
file_name = ''
while file_name.lower().endswith('.pdf') is False:
time.sleep(.25)
try:
file_name = max([download_dir + '/' + f for f in os.listdir(download_dir)], key=os.path.getctime)
except ValueError:
pass

Here is the code sample I used to download pdf with a specific file name. First you need to configure chrome webdriver with required options. Then after clicking the button (to open pdf popup window), call a function to wait for download to finish and rename the downloaded file.
import os
import time
import shutil
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
# function to wait for download to finish and then rename the latest downloaded file
def wait_for_download_and_rename(newFilename):
# function to wait for all chrome downloads to finish
def chrome_downloads(drv):
if not "chrome://downloads" in drv.current_url: # if 'chrome downloads' is not current tab
drv.execute_script("window.open('');") # open a new tab
drv.switch_to.window(driver.window_handles[1]) # switch to the new tab
drv.get("chrome://downloads/") # navigate to chrome downloads
return drv.execute_script("""
return document.querySelector('downloads-manager')
.shadowRoot.querySelector('#downloadsList')
.items.filter(e => e.state === 'COMPLETE')
.map(e => e.filePath || e.file_path || e.fileUrl || e.file_url);
""")
# wait for all the downloads to be completed
dld_file_paths = WebDriverWait(driver, 120, 1).until(chrome_downloads) # returns list of downloaded file paths
# Close the current tab (chrome downloads)
if "chrome://downloads" in driver.current_url:
driver.close()
# Switch back to original tab
driver.switch_to.window(driver.window_handles[0])
# get latest downloaded file name and path
dlFilename = dld_file_paths[0] # latest downloaded file from the list
# wait till downloaded file appears in download directory
time_to_wait = 20 # adjust timeout as per your needs
time_counter = 0
while not os.path.isfile(dlFilename):
time.sleep(1)
time_counter += 1
if time_counter > time_to_wait:
break
# rename the downloaded file
shutil.move(dlFilename, os.path.join(download_dir,newFilename))
return
# specify custom download directory
download_dir = r'c:\Downloads\pdf_reports'
# for configuring chrome pdf viewer for downloading pdf popup reports
chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
chrome_options.add_experimental_option('prefs', {
"download.default_directory": download_dir, # Set own Download path
"download.prompt_for_download": False, # Do not ask for download at runtime
"download.directory_upgrade": True, # Also needed to suppress download prompt
"plugins.plugins_disabled": ["Chrome PDF Viewer"], # Disable this plugin
"plugins.always_open_pdf_externally": True, # Enable this plugin
})
# get webdriver with options for configuring chrome pdf viewer
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options = chrome_options)
# open desired webpage
driver.get('https://mywebsite.com/mywebpage')
# click the button to open pdf popup
driver.find_element_by_id('someid').click()
# call the function to wait for download to finish and rename the downloaded file
wait_for_download_and_rename('My file.pdf')
# close the browser windows
driver.quit()
Set timeout (120) to the wait time as per your needs.

Non-selenium solution, You can do something like:
import requests
pdf_resp = requests.get("https://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/kurslar/PDFFile.aspx?name=kazanimtestleri.pdf")
with open("save.pdf", "wb") as f:
f.write(pdf_resp.content)
Although you might want to check the content type before to make sure it's a pdf

Saving embedded .pdf not as .pdf file

I'm trying to download a embedded pdf from the chrome browser with below code, however the file is being stored on my C:\ drive as a the following file: C:\TEST_A_15.pdf.crdownload.
def download_pdf(lnk):
from selenium import webdriver
from time import sleep
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
download_folder = "C:\\"
profile = {"plugins.plugins_list": [{"enabled": False,
"name": "Chrome PDF Viewer"}],
"download.default_directory": download_folder,
"download.extensions_to_open": ""}
options.add_experimental_option("prefs", profile)
print("Downloading file from link: {}".format(lnk))
driver = webdriver.Chrome(chrome_options = options)
driver.get(lnk)
filename = lnk.split("=")[3]
print("File: {}".format(filename))
print("Status: Download Complete.")
print("Folder: {}".format(download_folder))
driver.close()
If I adjust the line for filename to what's below, then I get the C:\TEST_A_15.pdf file desired on my harddrive without the .crdownload at the end. But then I get a IndexError: list index out of range which is logical because the "=" is not be found in position 4.
filename = lnk.split("=")[4]
The URL used (I changed the hostname and name of pdf file so URL don't work):
https://testing.nl/getpdf.asp?id=ORsP5UqX6IikuikcGiLD&unique=adda3b24-f9ca-4007-898a-caed5309c140&filename=TEST_A_15.pdf
Even more strange when I use a network drive together with the filename = lnk.split("=")[3] then the file will be stored as a .tmp file i.e.: 2498d715-84aa-4e81-8037-264bb0211b4b.tmp and when I use the incorrect code (filename = lnk.split("=")[4]) it gives the IndexError but saves the file correctly as .pdf file on the network drive.

I've solved it, the problem was that the webdriver closed before the entire pdf was downloaded resulting in .tmp or .crdownload files. So I built in a sleep before closing the driver.

How to read a file downloaded by selenium webdriver in python

I am using selenium with webdriver in python to download a csv file from a site . The file gets downloaded into the download directory specified. Here is an overview of my code
fp = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
fp.set_preference("browser.download.folderList", 2)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", False)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.dir",'xx/yy')
fp.set_preference('browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk', "text/plain, application/vnd.ms-excel, text/csv, text/comma-separated-values, application/octet-stream")
driver = webdriver.Firefox(fp)
driver.get('url')
I need to print the contents of this csv to the terminal . A lot of similar files with random names will be downloaded into the same folder so accessing the file via filename wont work as I don't know what it will be in advance

You can get the last downloaded file from that location and then read the file:
path = /path to folder
list = os.listdir(path)
time_sorted_list = sorted(list, key=os.path.getmtime)
file_name = time_sorted_list[len(time_sorted_list)-1]
and then u can read from this file. Hoping not multiple files are getting there by parallel processes.
EDIT:
Just saw comment that multiple instances are up for downloading, so other way around you can use urllib and download the file by using its url as:
import urllib
urllib.urlretrieve( "http://www.example.com/yourfile.ext", "your-file-name.ext") // you can provide unique-id to your file name

This answer was formed from a combination of previous stack overflow questions , answers as well as comments in this post so thank you everyone.
I combined selenium webdriver and the python requests module for this solution . I essentially logged into the site using selenium, copied the cookies from the webdriver session and then used a requests.get(url,cookies = webdriver_cookies) to get the file.
Here's the gist of my solution
fp = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
fp.set_preference("browser.download.folderList", 2)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", False)
fp.set_preference("browser.download.dir",'xx/yy')
fp.set_preference('browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk', "text/plain, application/vnd.ms-excel, text/csv, text/comma-separated-values, application/octet-stream")
driver = webdriver.Firefox(fp)
# selenium login code ...
driver_cookies = driver.get_cookies()
cookies_copy = {}
for driver_cookie in driver_cookies:
cookies_copy[driver_cookie["name"]] = driver_cookie["value"]
r = requests.get('url',cookies = cookies_copy)
print r.text
I hope that this helps someone

Downloading files in Selenium is never a good idea. You cannot control where and under which filename the file is downloaded, and if you want to find out, then you have to use dirty hacks. It depends on the browser and its settings and if the same file has already been downloaded before or not.
Plus, you have to take care of deleting the file after the download, bc otherwise, numerous copies of the same file will spam your hard drive until it's completely full.
If possible, you should call something like
string downloadUrl = ButtonDownloadPdf.GetAttribute("href");
and then handle the downloading yourself, using conventional methods, not Selenium.