wptools 0.0.4

Get Wikipedia article lead (summary), infobox, and more via MediaWiki API

Wikipedia tools (for Humans)

Get the plain text, wikitext, HTML, or parse tree of an article via MediaWiki API. You may get the whole article in those formats, just the “lead” section (summary), the Infobox (if extant), or a representative image for the article.

These are purpose-built python methods intended to ease use for common requests (by me anyway ;) in the style of @kennethreitz requests. We say “(for Humans)” because that is a goal.

You can learn more about the API paths we use here: NOTES.txt, and the many other wrappers for the MediaWiki API that do more or less here: MediaWiki API:Client code. A newer (and perhaps more performant) path to content is provided by RESTBase which we hope to make use of.

Contributions are happily welcome!

Install

$ pip install wptools

Usage

python examples

Get an article as HTML:

>>> import wptools
>>> wptools.html('Aardvark')
<div role="note" class="hatnote">For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Aa...

Get the lead section of an article:

>>> wptools.lead('Aardvark')
<p>The <b>aardvark</b> (<span class="nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups">...

Get the lead section of an article as plain text:

>>> wptools.lead('Aardvark', plain=True)
The **aardvark** (/ˈɑːrd.vɑːrk/ _**ARD**-vark_; _Orycteropus afer_)...

Get an article’s Infobox as a python object:

>>> wptools.infobox("Aardvark")['genus']
Orycteropus

Get an article’s thumbnail image (or full original image):

>>> wptools.images("Aardvark")["thumbnail"]["source"]
u'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Porc_formiguer.JPG/320px-Porc_formiguer.JPG'

>>> wptools.images("Aardvark")["source"]
u'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Porc_formiguer.JPG'

Get the Wikitext behind an article:

>>> wptools.wikitext('Aardvark')
{{Other uses}}{{pp-move-indef}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}{{species...

All wptools.api interfaces are available as CLI scripts:

wp_html
wp_image
wp_infobox
wp_lead
wp_parsetree
wp_text
wp_wikitext

CLI examples

Get the lead section as plain text:

$ wp_lead Aardvark -p | fold -s
The **aardvark** (/ˈɑːrd.vɑːrk/ _**ARD**-vark_; _Orycteropus afer_) is a
medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only
living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species
and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike other insectivores, it has a long
pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the
southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly
rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig
out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to
create burrows in which to live and rear its young. It receives a "least
concern" rating from the IUCN, although its numbers seem to be decreasing.

Get the lead section as HTML:

$ wp_lead Aardvark | fold | head
<p>The <b>aardvark</b> (<span class="nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href=
"/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English">/<span style="border-b
ottom:1px dotted"><span title="/&#712;/ primary stress follows">&#712;</span><sp
an title="/&#593;&#720;r/ 'ar' in 'bard'">&#593;&#720;r</span><span title="'d' i
n 'dye'">d</span><span title="/./ syllable break">.</span><span title="'v' in 'v
ie'">v</span><span title="/&#593;&#720;r/ 'ar' in 'bard'">&#593;&#720;r</span><s
pan title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span></span>/</a></span></span> <span title="Englis
h pronunciation respelling"><a href="/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key" ti
tle="Help:Pronunciation respelling key"><i><b><span class="smallcaps"><span styl
e="font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;">ARD</span></span></b>-v

Get the Infobox:

$ wp_infobox Aardvark | jsonlint | fold
{
    "binomial_authority": "([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1766)",
    "display_parents": "4",
    "fossil_range": "<template><title>Fossil range</title><part><name in...",
    "genus": "Orycteropus",
    "grandparent_authority": "[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1821",
    "greatgrandparent_authority": "[[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]], 1872",
    "image": "Porc formiguer.JPG",
    "image_caption": "",
    "name": "Aardvark",
    "parent_authority": "[[Georges Cuvier|G. Cuvier]], 1798",
    "range_map": "Aardvark area.png",
    "range_map_caption": "Aardvark range",
    "species": "afer",
    "status": "LC",
    "status_ref": "",
    "status_system": "iucn3.1",
    "subdivision": "See Text",
    "subdivision_ranks": "[[Subspecies]]",
    "trend": "unknown",
    "wptools.extract ERROR": "<title>speciesbox\n</title>"
}

Get the Wikitext:

$ wp_wikitext Aardvark | head
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}
{{speciesbox
| genus = Orycteropus
| species = afer
| name = Aardvark
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|5|0}}<small>Early [[Pliocene]] – Recent</small>
| status = LC
| status_system = iucn3.1

Get an article’s Parse tree:

$ wp_parsetree Aardvark | fold | head
<root><template><title>Other uses</title></template>
<template lineStart="1"><title>pp-move-indef</title></template>
<template lineStart="1"><title>Use dmy dates</title><part><name>date</name>=<val
ue>July 2012</value></part></template>
<template lineStart="1"><title>speciesbox
</title><part><name> genus </name>=<value> Orycteropus
</value></part><part><name> species </name>=<value> afer
</value></part><part><name> name </name>=<value> Aardvark
</value></part><part><name> fossil_range </name>=<value> <template><title>Fossil
 range</title><part><name index="1"/><value>5</value></part><part><name index="2

@siznax

Release History

0.0.4 (2016-08-16)

• Added wptools.lead.

• Added safe_exit() to CLI scripts.

• Removed a fair amount of unused code.

0.0.3 (2016-08-12)

• Implemented wptools.image choices.

• Added wptools.api to simplify python i/f and CLI scripts.

• Merged @0x9900’s CLI dist fixes.

• A little more test coverage.

0.0.2 (2016-08-02)

• Starting to look like a legit module.

0.0.1 (2015)

• Still better than alternatives for working with articles.

0.0.0 (2012)

• It seems to work!