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"Enter text" is an action to simulate the behavior of entering text on a web page.

For example, we can input login credentials on the page to scrape the data behind a login. Also, if we have a list of keywords to search on websites, we can use this feature to input the keywords on the search box. In this tutorial, we'll be learning how to use the "Enter text" feature to input text on a web page.

1. Input a single keyword into the text box

2. Input multiple keywords into a search box

1. Input a single keyword into the text box

Entering a text or keyword in Octoparse is easy. With the built-in browser, you can interact with the web page by simply pointing and clicking, just like what you do using any normal browser. 

•  Click on the login box on the page  and select "Enter text" in the "Tips" panel 

•  Input text in the box on "Tips" and then click "Confirm"   

You will see an Enter Text step created in the workflow:

2. Input multiple keywords into a search box

If you have a series of pre-defined and specific text values, you can add them to the "Text list" to create a loop search action. Octoparse will automatically enter every word in the list into the search box, one word at a time.

•  Hover on the workflow and click the "+" button and select "Loop" 

•  Click "Loop Item" and switch the Loop Mode to "Text List"

•  Click and then input the keywords (one keyword per line) on the pop-up box.
• Click “Confirm” and "Apply" 

• Click on the search box on the page in the built-in browser and select "Enter text" 

• No need to input the text, just click confirm to create an Enter text step

• Select "Use text in the loop to enter the text box" then click "Apply" to save the settings.

• Click on the search  box on the page and choose “Click button”

Go through the workflow step by step, you will find Octoparse can go to the page you need automatically, which means your configuration is successfully set up.

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Happy Data Hunting!

Author: The Octoparse Team

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