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I'm trying to create a wpf application such as a movies library because i would like to manage and sort out my movies with a pretty interface.

I'd like to create a library with all my movies getting information from the web, but i don't know how very well. I thought to get the information from a web site, for example imdb, but i don't know if it's legally to capture html from page to get the nested information.

It's my first desktop application and I would also like to know if it is necessary to create a database within the project and then create a setup project with specified script for deploy it.

Sorry for the confusion but i would like to know too much things :)

Thanks a lot in advance.

Jay
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2 Answers2

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The legality of web scraping is a grey area. See my question, "Legality of Web Scraping vs Normal Use" and the corresponding answers for some insight.

Even if the legality is not a problem, web scraping is a flimsy approach because the webpage structure may change without notice, making your application suddenly useless until you update it to the new format. You are much better off using some sort of web API (if the site providing the information offers it).

Whether you need a database or not depends entirely on what your application will be doing and how you design it - it's not something any of us can tell you.

Same goes for the setup project - in fact I wouldn't worry about that until you actually have a working application. Take it step by step and keep the scope within control.

Community
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Gigi
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Yes I did not think about api. It's a great idea, maybe use "themoviedb".

But if i create an application based on it, that has to show all the movies that you have stored on your hdd and get , for example, the posters, the description and the ranking, i have to create a database according to you?

Thanks a lot.

Jay
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  • @gigi is answer seems directed to you, but was meant as a comment. Jay please use comments for further clarification or if you have another question about code and errors you get along the way please ask another question – Robert Snyder Sep 27 '14 at 13:22