“ Your Data Extractor appeared in front of my eyes at just the right time. Here's why.

I use a web Content Management System to manage the website at internettips.com I wanted to get a list of all articles that I've written, along with their associated aid reference. Here's an example article URL with its associate aid number:

http://www.internettips.com/articles.php?a=read&aid=129

You'll see that sample article ends with aid=129.

The reason I wanted a list of all article titles with their associated aid numbers is that this info would make things easy for me to go over existing articles and add a "Related Articles" section at the bottom of all relevant article pages (as already done at:
http://www.internettips.com/articles.php?a=read&aid=129 )

This function is not currently installed within the CMS, so I used Data Extractor instead to give me a snapshot of the relevant information, from which I could easily create hyperlinks.

I first saved the web page within the CMS that listed all of my article titles with their associated aid numbers. Then used Data Extractor to first extract all the titles and exported this info to Excel (and saved as a standalone plain text file).

I then applied the Data Extractor to the same saved web page on my PC, but this time used the wildcard search option to look for "aid=???", likewise, removed the duplicates and then copied and pasted all of the results into the columns immediately to the right of the Titles list previously created. Again, I also saved the aid list as another, separate plain text file as well, just in case I might need it later.

In Excel, I now had a list of titles with their associated aid numbers all in the correct order. There was a few extraneous "a" characters in some of the aid results, so I could have used Windows Notepad Search and Replace to simply remove these. However, on this occasion, it was quicker and simpler to delete these manually.

So from start to finish, within about 10 minutes, I ended up with a list of titles with their associated aid numbers all in the correct order and providing an easy reference for later. With Data Extractor and a little bit of trial and error, this was a breeze, saving a lot of time! Now that I've got this list, it's a simple job to keep it up to date as new articles are created.

Of course, this is only one use of Data Extractor. Looking at the options available, I'm sure, there's a wide range of ways you can use this neat little tool - especially valuable for website providers.

So I'll certainly be recommending your Data Extractor tool to other VisionGate users on the VisionGate forum (http://www.visiongateportal.com/?afID=289), and may even create an article based around this approach.

So, thanks again and best wishes :-) ”