Import Bookmarks from html file

Question

Im trying to add a import bookmarks function to my app. I have some of it but it will just extract all URLs and titles.

- (NSArray *)urlsInHTML:(NSString *)html {
    NSError *error;
    NSRegularExpression *regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:@"(?<=href=\").*?(?=\")" options:NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive error:&error];

    NSArray *arrayOfAllMatches = [regex matchesInString:html options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0, [html length])];

    NSMutableArray *arrayOfURLs = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    for (NSTextCheckingResult *match in arrayOfAllMatches) {
        NSString* substringForMatch = [html substringWithRange:match.range];
        NSLog(@"Extracted URL: %@",substringForMatch);

        [arrayOfURLs addObject:substringForMatch];
    }

    // return non-mutable version of the array
    return [NSArray arrayWithArray:arrayOfURLs];
}

- (NSArray *)titlesOfTagsInHTML:(NSString *)html {
    NSError *error;
    NSRegularExpression *regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:@"(?<=\"\\>)(.*?)(?=\\<\\/)" options:NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive error:&error];

    NSArray *arrayOfAllMatches = [regex matchesInString:html options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0, [html length])];

    NSMutableArray *arrayOfURLs = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    for (NSTextCheckingResult *match in arrayOfAllMatches) {
        NSString* substringForMatch = [html substringWithRange:match.range];
        NSLog(@"Extracted Title: %@",substringForMatch);

        [arrayOfURLs addObject:substringForMatch];
    }

    // return non-mutable version of the array
    return [NSArray arrayWithArray:arrayOfURLs];
}

- (IBAction)import {

    ProgressAlertView *progressAlert = [[ProgressAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Crux" message:@"Importing Bookmarks..." delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:nil otherButtonTitles:nil];
    [progressAlert show];

    NSString *htmlString = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:importingBookmarkFilePath encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:nil];
    NSArray *urls = [self urlsInHTML:htmlString];
    NSArray *titles = [self titlesOfTagsInHTML:htmlString];
    //float progress = [[NSNumber numberWithInt:i] floatValue]/[[NSNumber numberWithInteger:[urls count]-1] floatValue];
    for (int i=0; i<[urls count]; i++) {
        Bookmark *importedBookmark = [[Bookmark alloc] init];
        importedBookmark.url = urls[i];
        importedBookmark.title = titles[i];
        [[[BookmarkManager sharedInstance] bookmarks] addObject:importedBookmark];
        [[BookmarkManager sharedInstance] saveBookmarks];
    }
}

But I cant find how to determine folders so i can keep theme exactly the way they were in the other browser. To see how safari exports them just go to file>export bookmarks and you can see the html file. It puts everything in a definition list with the folder titles. Using NSREgularExpression or other ways, how can i get each folder title, and everything in that folder?

I have tried using NSXMLParser to parse the html, but it stops at the first definition list tag and fails.

Since the contents are hierarchical, using XML parsing is better than regex parsing to achieve the results you are looking for.(This comment assumes that you are using the html file exported by Safari) — Rajesh, Feb 21 '13 at 06:32
Yes I am, I didn't know I could parse it with XML. Can NSXMLParser do this? — Maximilian Litteral, Feb 21 '13 at 14:56
The exported html file doesn't look well formed. That may be reason why NSXMLParser is failing. Please see this question http://stackoverflow.com/q/405749/1321873 and its suggested answers. — Rajesh, Feb 22 '13 at 05:45

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 22 '13 at 09:16

The format is not that complicated, so you should be able to parse it using NSScanner. The general flow will go like this:

Scan up to <DT>
Check to see if the following is H3 or A (Folder or Bookmark)
Process accordingly
Repeat

Folders can have subfolders, so you will need to create the object recursively. Good luck.

Import Bookmarks from html file

1 Answers1