Gas Price Database that is java accessible???
in [Java Programming]
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From: tiewknvc9 on 23 Jul 2008 01:53 Does anyone know of a free gas prices database that is available online??? Trying to do something unique for a client (not a lowest gas price finder, but something that gets a good idea as to what the average price is for the US.
From: Peter Duniho on 23 Jul 2008 02:00 On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:53:17 -0700, tiewknvc9 <aotemp(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > Does anyone know of a free gas prices database that is available > online??? > > Trying to do something unique for a client (not a lowest gas price > finder, but something that gets a good idea as to what the average > price is for the US. 15 seconds with Google turned up: http://mashable.com/2008/05/05/check-gas-prices-online-11-handy-tools/ and: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2006/research-gas-prices-online-6-06/overview/0606_research-gas-prices-online_ov.htm I suppose something like what you're looking for might be found in there. At the very least, you might be able to scrape the results from one of the above-mentioned web sites. Not that your question really has anything to do with Java. But what the heck... :)
From: Roedy Green on 23 Jul 2008 05:26 On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:53:17 -0700 (PDT), tiewknvc9 <aotemp(a)hotmail.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >Does anyone know of a free gas prices database that is available >online??? > >Trying to do something unique for a client (not a lowest gas price >finder, but something that gets a good idea as to what the average >price is for the US. You might do screenscraping of any online database that posts prices. Screenscraping refers to extracting information from web pages on the web. Unless the authors permit reuse, you are violating copyright by doing that. I got in trouble by screenscraping foreign exchange rates off the Oanda site. Even material that looks fair game for reuse, e.g. prices, is not necessarily so. It is a legal minefield. It seems that manually extracting information is considered less sinful that using a program to do it, but you can still get in trouble. Even if you screen-scrape for non-commercial purposes, even if you don�t repost the data, and even if you don�t put much load on their server, they can still get irate, block you and send lawyer letters. I think the main reason is they put up their site primarily to serve ads, (the data offered are just bait), and you obviously are not reading the ads if you are screenscraping see http://mindprod.com/jgloss/screenscraping.html -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products The Java Glossary http://mindprod.com
From: Roedy Green on 23 Jul 2008 05:33 On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:00:36 -0700, "Peter Duniho" <NpOeStPeAdM(a)nnowslpianmk.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >Not that your question really has anything to do with Java. I have a different attitude toward off-topicness. Java programming requires all kinds of peripheral information. The people most likely to have it are fellow Java programmers who have done similar apps before. Further, they will explain in Javaesque terms and will presume only ordinary Java knowledge. So when you post, you are asking a COMMUNITY of people. Further it is better to ask these people, with whom you have a reputation, and presumably for whom you have done favours in past, than do a one-shot question to some pig-in-the poke newsgroup you don't even know is active or occupied by competent people. My tolerance for off-topicness varies with the amount of traffic. When it gets high, my tolerance drops off. Right now traffic is relatively low, so I welcome interesting mild diversions. ON-TOPIC questions that have been answered hundreds of times before or are answered on many websites accessible via Google I think deserve more of a stink bomb. -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products The Java Glossary http://mindprod.com
From: Arved Sandstrom on 23 Jul 2008 09:28
"Roedy Green" <see_website(a)mindprod.com.invalid> wrote in message news:3rtd84dm256hh5ln3ptddvtukh01ooub2c(a)4ax.com... > On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:53:17 -0700 (PDT), tiewknvc9 > <aotemp(a)hotmail.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who > said : > >>Does anyone know of a free gas prices database that is available >>online??? >> >>Trying to do something unique for a client (not a lowest gas price >>finder, but something that gets a good idea as to what the average >>price is for the US. > > You might do screenscraping of any online database that posts prices. > > Screenscraping refers to extracting information from web pages on the > web. Unless the authors permit reuse, you are violating copyright by > doing that. I got in trouble by screenscraping foreign exchange rates > off the Oanda site. Even material that looks fair game for reuse, e.g. > prices, is not necessarily so. It is a legal minefield. It seems that > manually extracting information is considered less sinful that using a > program to do it, but you can still get in trouble. > > Even if you screen-scrape for non-commercial purposes, even if you > don't repost the data, and even if you don't put much load on their > server, they can still get irate, block you and send lawyer letters. I > think the main reason is they put up their site primarily to serve > ads, (the data offered are just bait), and you obviously are not > reading the ads if you are screenscraping > > see http://mindprod.com/jgloss/screenscraping.html > -- Good points. Seems to me that you're probably OK if you screenscrape government data, though, like http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_gnd_a_epmr_pte_cpgal_w.htm (Got to this from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/gasprices/states/index.shtml) As an aside, I'd say that these links are exactly what the OP is looking for. AHS |