{"id":88,"date":"2026-10-23T22:51:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glossary.clawoxy.com\/?p=88"},"modified":"2026-10-23T22:51:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T14:51:49","slug":"data-extraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clawoxy.com\/glossary\/data-extraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Extraction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data extraction is the step that turns a page, API response, or document into fields a task can use. A crawler may fetch HTML successfully and still extract nothing useful if it selects the wrong element, reads a placeholder, or misses content rendered after the initial response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From response to records<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Start by identifying the source format. JSON responses can often be mapped directly to fields; HTML requires a parser and selectors; a browser workflow may be needed when relevant content only appears after interaction. For each field, define its expected meaning and type before writing extraction logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reliable extractor should handle missing values, repeated elements, and small layout changes deliberately. For example, a product page may show a price in more than one place. The extraction rule should identify the primary price and preserve the currency instead of returning whichever matching number appears first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep extraction separate from cleaning and validation. Extraction answers \u201cwhat did the source contain?\u201d; later steps can normalize formats and decide whether the values meet the dataset’s requirements. Saving the source URL and capture time makes later corrections much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n