Is it possible to automate button clicks and text input in a web browser or a frame. Maybe even using a desktop tool if necessary?

I've been tasked with building a screen scraping a开发者_运维技巧pplication, and I'm looking for information on the best way to cope with web pages that would normally require user input and interaction.

Can this be done via standard web / javascript coding. Is there any API that would allow a desktop application to achieve the same effect?

Thanks for any advice.

Selenium RC can do this: http://seleniumhq.org/

You could use Selenium IDE (firefox plugin) together with firefox for a simple easy and free solution

IRobotSoft Web Scraper is also a good choice. See http://irobotsoft.com/help/.