UI for data: https://scheduler.zohair.dev

TMS-Scraper

Scrapes data from the Drexel Term Master Schedule and outputs a JSON file. Note that this scraper is not officially supported by Drexel University, and may break if the term master schedule website changes.

Installation

Make sure git is installed. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Zohair-coder/drexel-scraper.git
cd drexel-scraper

Make sure you have Python 3 installed. Then install the dependencies by running the following command:

Mac/Linux

pip3 install -r requirements.txt
playwright install

Windows

pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install

Usage

First, set up authentication. Then, to run the scraper, simply run:

Mac/Linux

python3 src/main.py

Windows

python src/main.py

The scraper will output a JSON file called data.json in the same directory as the scraper.

Automatic Quarter Detection

The scraper now automatically detects the current Drexel quarter based on the current date. You no longer need to manually update the year and quarter values in src/config.py. The system uses the following schedule:

• Fall Quarter (15): July 1 - September 27
• Winter Quarter (25): September 28 - January 15
• Spring Quarter (35): January 16 - April 14
• Summer Quarter (45): April 15 - June 30

If you need to override the automatic detection (e.g., for testing or scraping a specific past/future quarter), you can set the DREXEL_YEAR and DREXEL_QUARTER environment variables:

export DREXEL_YEAR=2024
export DREXEL_QUARTER=35  # Spring quarter

You can still modify the college_code variable in src/config.py to scrape a specific college.

To view all the options that the scraper supports, run python3 src/main.py --help on Mac/Linux, or python src/main.py --help on Windows.

Authentication

Since the term master schedule is only accessible to logged-in Drexel students, to run the scraper, you will need to provide your Drexel credentials as well as provide multi-factor authentication (MFA).

To provide your Drexel credentials, set the environment variable DREXEL_EMAIL to your Drexel email (abc123@drexel.edu) and DREXEL_PASSWORD to the password you use to login to Drexel One. You can follow this guide for Windows, and this guide for MacOS to set environment variables.

You will also need to go to this page and make sure "Authenticator app or hardware token" is the preferred sign-in method. Unfortunately, if you use Microsoft Authenticator as your MFA app you will not be able to run the scraper. You will have to delete the Microsoft Authenticator sign in method and install a different MFA app.

There are two ways to provide MFA for the script to authenticate with. The first is easier if you're looking to run the script manually and quickly. The second is better if you are going to be running the script frequently, or if it needs to be automated.

Authenticate manually

You will authenticate the scraper manually as if you were logging into Drexel One, using a one-time code either from an authenticator app or that is texted to you. After setting the DREXEL_EMAIL and DREXEL_PASSWORD environment variables, run the scraper as explained above, and you will be prompted for your verification code.

Authenticate using a secret key

If you set this up, you will not need to manually enter an authentication code each time you run the scraper.

1. Go to connect.drexel.edu.
2. Click 'Help & Settings', then 'Change MFA settings'.
3. Log in to the Microsoft portal, then click 'Add sign-in method' on the 'Security info' tab.
4. Select 'Authenticator app' for the method, and click 'Add'.
5. Select 'I want to use a different authenticator app', and then 'Next'.
6. Select 'Can't scan image?' when prompted with a QR code, and you should see an Account name and Secret key.
7. Set your DREXEL_MFA_SECRET_KEY environment variable to the given Secret key.
8. Select 'Next', you should be prompted to enter an authentication code.
9. With the secret key environment variable set, run python3 src/totp.py which will generate a one-time code.
10. Enter this code into the Microsoft website, and select 'Next'
11. 'Authenticator app' with TOTP should have been added to the list of available methods.

Now, when you run the scraper as explained above, it should authenticate itself automatically using this secret key.

All Colleges

To scrape all colleges instead of just the one specified in the src/config.py, run the following command:

Mac/Linux

python3 src/main.py --all-colleges

Windows

python src/main.py --all-colleges

Ratings

To also include the ratings field in data.json that requests data from RateMyProfessor, run the following command:

Mac/Linux

python3 src/main.py --ratings

Windows

python src/main.py --ratings

Note that this will take longer to run since the scraper has to look up the rating on RateMyProfessors. However, it will cache the ratings in a file called ratings_cache.json (inside the cache directory) so that it doesn't have to look up the same professor again, which will run much faster. If you want to clear the cache to get new ratings, simply delete the ratings_cache.json file.

PostgreSQL

To add the data to a PostgreSQL database, make sure the PostgreSQL server is installed and running in the background. Check the settings in the db_config.py file. It is recommended that you set the necessary environment variables listed in the file, but if not, it will use the defaults for Postgres. You can follow this guide for Windows, and this guide for MacOS to set environment variables.

Then run the scraper with the --db flag:

Mac/Linux

python3 src/main.py --db

Windows

python src/main.py --db

This will create a new database schedulerdb and the necessary tables if they aren't already created, and then insert the data into the database. If the data is already populated, it will update the existing data. To delete all the data, make sure the environment variables specified in src/db_config.py are set and then run the following command (make sure you're using the Git Bash terminal if you're using Windows):

./scripts/reset-db.sh

To view the schema for the tables, you can look at the src/create_tables.sql file.

Connect to the database using the following command:

psql -U postgres schedulerdb

schedulerdb=# SELECT * FROM courses;
schedulerdb=# SELECT * FROM instructors;
schedulerdb=# SELECT * FROM course_instructor;
schedulerdb=# SELECT * FROM all_course_instructor_data;

I recommend viewing the data using another program like pgAdmin.

You can also combine all the options together:

Mac/Linux

python3 src/main.py --db --all-colleges --ratings

Windows

python src/main.py --db --all-colleges --ratings

Docker

You can also run the scraper in a Docker container. Make sure Docker is installed. You can then either open up the folder in VS Code as a Dev Container (preferred), or run the following command to run it:

docker compose up -d --build

Make sure you execute this in the project root directory. Let the scraper container finish/exit. The scraper should then output the data.json file in the same directory. You can view the data inside the database by going to http://localhost:30012 in your browser.

You can also view a Grafana instance by going to http://localhost:3000. You will have to log in with the username admin and password admin. The first time you log in, you will have to set up the datasource and dashboard. To set up the datasource, click the sidebar menu and go to Connections -> Data Sources -> Add new data source and search for PostgreSQL. Enter in the following information:

Host: postgres
Database: postgres
User: postgres
Password: super-secret-password
TLS/SSL Mode: disable

And then click Save and test.

You will also have to import the dashboard at schedulerdev.zohair.dev. Click the share icon at the top and then go to the export tab. Check the "Export for sharing externally" box and then click "Save to file". You can then import this dashboard by going to Home > Dashboards on your local Grafana instance and then clicking New > Import. Upload the file you just downloaded and everything should be set up.

To run the script again after the container has exited, run the following command:

docker compose up -d

To delete the containers, run the following command:

docker compose down

If you want to reset the database, delete the postgres-data directory inside the project root directory.

If you want to reset the Grafana settings, delete the grafana_data directory inside the project root directory.

NOTE: Docker Compose is only used for local development. The production version of the scraper uses Kubernetes. The Kubernetes configuration files live in the k8s directory.

Contributing

If you wish to contribute, please take a look at the "Issues" tab and see if there are any issues you can help with. If you wish to add/request a new feature, you can create a new issue, and we can talk about it there before you start working on it. If you wish to work on an existing issue, please comment on the issue so that I can assign it to you. Once you have completed the issue, you can create a pull request to the dev branch, and I will review it. After merging the changes to the dev branch, the job will be deployed on the dev server (https://schedulerdev.zohair.dev). If there are no issues, I will merge the changes to the main branch, and the job will be deployed on the main server (https://scheduler.zohair.dev).

If you want to contact me directly, you can email me at zohair.ul.hasan@gmail.com.