Runtime Entities

Counters

Counters are used for more convenient organization of calculations, for example, when you need to count iterations. There can be as many counters as you want, you just need to specify the name of the counter and initialize it. After that, you can increase or decrease its value by a given amount, and also read its current value and change the flow of logic depending on the result.

A few key points about counters:

  1. Counter commands can only be used in a block context.
  2. Counters exist in all contexts and are context-independent.
  3. Counters work only with integer numbers.
  4. Can be used to substitute data like variables and arguments.

Example of using counters: 

              ---
config:
    debug: 2
    agent: Firefox
do:
- walk:
    to: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
    do:
    # initializing counter with name `page` and value 1
    - counter_set:
        name: page
        value: 1
    - walk:
        repeat: 'yes'
        to: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html?to=<%page%>
        do:
        - find:
            path: body
            do:
            # incrementing counter `page` (by 1 - default)
            - counter_increment:
                name: page
            # read value of counter to the register
            - counter_get: page
            # check if value of register is equal to 3, stop execution
            - if:
                match: 3
                do:
                - exit
Time Level Message
2017-10-21 20:24:52:954 info Stopped by exit command
2017-10-21 20:24:52:946 debug True
2017-10-21 20:24:52:940 debug Matching register value with: 3
2017-10-21 20:24:52:933 debug Set register to counter's page value: 3
2017-10-21 20:24:52:926 debug Counter page has been incremented to: 3
2017-10-21 20:24:52:918 debug Block content: <h1>Title-1</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>
2017-10-21 20:24:52:910 debug Number of found blocks: 1
2017-10-21 20:24:52:902 debug Looking for: body
2017-10-21 20:24:52:890 debug Page content: <html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
<title>Diggernaut | Meta-Language | Object sample</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Title-1</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>
</body>
</html>
2017-10-21 20:24:52:865 debug Referers: Referer: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
2017-10-21 20:24:52:858 debug Referer: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
2017-10-21 20:24:52:850 info Retrieving page (GET): https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html?to=2
2017-10-21 20:24:52:841 debug False
2017-10-21 20:24:52:833 debug Matching register value with: 3
2017-10-21 20:24:52:821 debug Set register to counter's page value: 2
2017-10-21 20:24:52:812 debug Counter page has been incremented to: 2
2017-10-21 20:24:52:804 debug Block content: <h1>Title-1</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>
2017-10-21 20:24:52:796 debug Number of found blocks: 1
2017-10-21 20:24:52:788 debug Looking for: body
2017-10-21 20:24:52:775 debug Page content: <html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
<title>Diggernaut | Meta-Language | Object sample</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Title-1</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>
</body>
</html>
2017-10-21 20:24:52:751 debug Referers: Referer: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
2017-10-21 20:24:52:740 debug Referer: https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
2017-10-21 20:24:52:733 info Retrieving page (GET): https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html?to=1
2017-10-21 20:24:52:726 debug Set counter page to value: 1
2017-10-21 20:24:52:713 debug Page content: <html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
<title>Diggernaut | Meta-Language | Object sample</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Title-1</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>
</body>
</html>
2017-10-21 20:24:52:454 info Retrieving page (GET): https://www.diggernaut.com/sandbox/meta-lang-object-en.html
2017-10-21 20:24:52:447 info Starting scrape
2017-10-21 20:24:52:434 debug Setting up default proxy
2017-10-21 20:24:52:421 debug Setting up surf
2017-10-21 20:24:52:394 info Starting digger: meta-lang-counter [1854]