# Cheerio with Function and HTML Nodes
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243
**Category:** Core Development
**Created:** [21 November 2019 18:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243 "2019-11-21T18:22:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@baqwas](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/baqwas)
#### Post date: [21 November 2019 18:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/1 "2019-11-21T18:22:03Z")
Hello,
I need to extract just two values from the page at the [RCP](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html) web site. A sample sub-string is shown below. For the keyword _Approve_, I need to retrieve the corresponding value _44.0_:
```auto
44.0
Approve
```
I understand the **cheerio** would be the best utility for this purpose. I've entered the basic "load" instruction in the **Function** node but don't quite understand the next steps. Is there some interactive helper tool (_a la_ JSONata) to drill down the object model?
I've wired up the **HTML** node in the flow for parallel evaluation (and self-learning). How could I use **cheerio** here?
All comments welcome. Tried RTxM for **cheerio** but obviously didn't get past the _Selector_ control.
Kind regards.
```auto
[{"id":"d1e9b9ad.1c8d88","type":"comment","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"Data Analysis Exercises","info":"","x":130,"y":80,"wires":[]},{"id":"e5fd9a77.835468","type":"inject","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"POTUS Job Approval","topic":"JobApproval","payload":"https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html","payloadType":"str","repeat":"60","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":150,"y":140,"wires":[["72d99cfb.0c2804"]]},{"id":"72d99cfb.0c2804","type":"http request","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"RCP POTUS Poll","method":"GET","ret":"txt","paytoqs":false,"url":"https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html","tls":"","proxy":"","authType":"","x":390,"y":140,"wires":[["abaf1307.7c2df8","20650b1a.78eaac"]]},{"id":"1e786658.63578a","type":"debug","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"RCP POTUS debug","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","x":880,"y":140,"wires":[]},{"id":"20650b1a.78eaac","type":"html","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"RCP POTUS filter","property":"payload","outproperty":"payload","tag":"candidate","ret":"html","as":"single","x":610,"y":220,"wires":[["69ac9252.e90754"]],"info":"https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html\n\n\n\n | \n \n 44.0\n \n Approve \n | \n
\n\n | \n \n 53.4\n \n Disapprove \n +9.4\n \n | \n
\n"},{"id":"abaf1307.7c2df8","type":"function","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":"RCP page scrape","func":"const cheerio = global.get('cheerio')\nconst $ = cheerio.load(msg.payload)\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":610,"y":140,"wires":[["1e786658.63578a"]],"info":"https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html\n\n\n\n | \n \n 44.0\n \n Approve \n | \n
\n\n | \n \n 53.4\n \n Disapprove \n +9.4\n \n | \n
\n"},{"id":"69ac9252.e90754","type":"debug","z":"e9169fe6.11ecc8","name":" RCP http request","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","x":870,"y":220,"wires":[]}]
```
---
### Author:  [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)
#### Post date: [21 November 2019 18:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/2 "2019-11-21T18:32:13Z")
Have you looked at the html node? It is a core node and uses cheerio under the skin.
---
### Author:  [@baqwas](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/baqwas)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 14:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/3 "2019-11-22T14:32:51Z")
@TotallyInformation, thanks for the heads up.
How does one invoke a **cheerio** function inside the HTML node? That guidance could help me to drill down.
Using the Function node and trying to explicitly load **cheerio** failed. I have also installed the _contrib-cheerio_ node (and rebooted) but to no avail. I noticed others mentioning the intrinsic support via **cheerio** in the HTML node but so far I've been going in the wrong direction.
Kind regards.
---
### Author:  [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 17:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/4 "2019-11-22T17:20:51Z")
I don't think you have any control over cheerio using the html node. It is a wrapper around cheerio but, like much of Node-RED core, is designed to be easy to use rather than totally comprehensive.
The following article on my blog shows you how to reference cheerio manually:
> **[How to extract a table from HTML](https://it.knightnet.org.uk/kb/nr-qa/extract-html-table/)**
>
> While Node-RED has some nodes for extracting data from HTML, the nodes are rather simplistic. Here is a quick way to extract the data from an HTML table element.
---
### Author:  [@baqwas](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/baqwas)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 17:33 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/5 "2019-11-22T17:33:34Z")
Beautiful Soup version 4?
---
### Author:  [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 17:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/6 "2019-11-22T17:34:40Z")
? ? ? Sorry, I don't understand
---
### Author:  [@baqwas](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/baqwas)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 17:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/7 "2019-11-22T17:53:19Z")
Given your advanced understanding of the **HTML** node and **cheerio** , I was trying to understand whether I should re-orient myself to another package (_e.g._ **Beautiful Soup** as suggested by a colleague a few days ago) or should I just try to trudge along with **cheerio**. I guess the latter would be better for now since I may be able to bug you again in a few days. (just thinking aloud)
Kind regards.
---
### Author:  [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 18:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/8 "2019-11-22T18:05:15Z")
I've never used it so I can't really comment I'm afraid. Generally speaking, you can use any JavaScript library the way I did in my post. So use whatever suits you best. Choice is part of the beauty of using a node.js based system.
---
### Author:  [@baqwas](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/baqwas)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 18:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/9 "2019-11-22T18:34:13Z")
Fair enough. Thx again.
---
### Author:  [@afelix](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/afelix)
#### Post date: [22 November 2019 20:01 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/cheerio-with-function-and-html-nodes/18243/10 "2019-11-22T20:01:44Z")
For future readers, Beautiful Soup, whether version 3 or 4, are python libraries for parsing html/xml.
For (partial) html parsing in Node-RED I nowadays put together a solution with the html node to get a selection out using a css selector. Then I put a wrapper div around it to have a single outer element. I use either a function node or a change node with JSONata (concatenation) for it. Next the xml node that uses xml2js inside, followed by a change node with a JSONata parser on the inside to create a specific object containing the information I need.
I’m sick with a fever so I don’t trust myself to work out the parser now, but I would suggest to take a look at the `()` syntax in JSONata and loop over the element blocks, with a ternary check for the keyword you’re looking for.