Collecting Data

[Andeh]

Hello,

Bit of an odd question, I admit, but something I have no knowledge of and would appreciate some help.

What I need is the following information from this website.

Dealer Name
Town
Postcode

The first two are on the main page, and I can obviously copy and paste the lot, then delete the irrelevant data easily enough. However, is there some way I could collect the postcode automatically without having to click on all 654 links and paste them by hand?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[narf]

That should be easy enough with a combination of wget and sed/grep - remind me later when home

 

[Andeh]

Thanks narf, would be very much appreciated! Will poke you tonight, if that's okay.

It's a shame the list is quite out of date, but it's the best and most comprehensive online. I've contacted Ford UK as well, but I'm very doubtful they'll ever respond.

 

[LeVeL]

Copy the list into an excel spreadsheet, then copy a listing of UK post codes into another spreadsheet, and use vlookup in the first spreadsheet to match the town name to the post code?

 

[Andeh]

Copy the list into an excel spreadsheet, then copy a listing of UK post codes into another spreadsheet, and use vlookup in the first spreadsheet to match the town name to the post code?

It's a good idea, but I need full postcodes (down to street level), so town name wouldn't be accurate enough. Besides that, I have a full list of UK postcodes in a spreadsheet, and it's that big Excel can't open it all at once. :lol:

 

[narf]

Does this seem right?



Locations are based on some free outcode to lat/lon lookup, so are most certainly inaccurate

 

[narf]

Found a more precise lookup using the full postcode, now the dots are within sight of their actual location



Here's the extracted data in CSV, XML, and JSON: http://files.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2014/04/30/fords.zip

 

[Andeh]

Absolutely perfect narf, just what I need!

I'm now running this data set alongside a 1962 one which I typed in manually from an old book, and intend to map the change over time.

 

[narf]

Absolutely perfect narf, just what I need!

I'm now running this data set alongside a 1962 one which I typed in manually from an old book, and intend to map the change over time.

If you throw me that old dataset I can plot it on a map alongside the new one in seconds Shameless plug: http://www.splunk.com/

 

[Andeh]

1962 Main Dealers next to 2014 Dealers.

Interesting to someone, I'm sure. Thanks again narf!

 

[Andeh]

If you throw me that old dataset I can plot it on a map alongside the new one in seconds Shameless plug: http://www.splunk.com/

Aha, sorry just saw this post. Afraid I'm doing all my mapping in ArcGIS, because I'm a masochist.