Release date: March 28, 2021

Summary

• Structured comments export has been upgraded to include comments of all levels.
  • Structured comments are now the default export format. Exporting to raw format requires including the --raw flag.
• Tons of metadata has been added to all scrapers. See the Full Changelog section for a full list of attributes that have been added.
• Credentials.py has been deprecated in favor of .env to avoid hard-coding API credentials.
• Added more terminal eye candy - Halo has been implemented to spice up the output.

Full Changelog

Added

• User interface
  • Added Halo to spice up the output while maintaining minimalism.
• Source code
  • Created a comment Forest and accompanying CommentNode.
    • The Forest contains methods for inserting CommentNodes, including a depth-first search algorithm to do so.
  • Subreddit.py has been refactored and submission metadata has been added to scrape files:
    • "author"
    • "created_utc"
    • "distinguished"
    • "edited"
    • "id"
    • "is_original_content"
    • "is_self"
    • "link_flair_text"
    • "locked"
    • "name"
    • "num_comments"
    • "nsfw"
    • "permalink"
    • "score"
    • "selftext"
    • "spoiler"
    • "stickied"
    • "title"
    • "upvote_ratio"
    • "url"
  • Comments.py has been refactored and submission comments now include the following metadata:
    • "author"
    • "body"
    • "body_html"
    • "created_utc"
    • "distinguished"
    • "edited"
    • "id"
    • "is_submitter"
    • "link_id"
    • "parent_id"
    • "score"
    • "stickied"
  • Major refactor for Redditor.py on top of adding additional metadata.
    • Additional Redditor information has been added to scrape files:
      • "has_verified_email"
      • "icon_img"
      • "subreddit"
      • "trophies"
    • Additional Redditor comment, submission, and multireddit metadata has been added to scrape files:
      • subreddit objects are nested within comment and submission objects and contain the following metadata:
        • "can_assign_link_flair"
        • "can_assign_user_flair"
        • "created_utc"
        • "description"
        • "description_html"
        • "display_name"
        • "id"
        • "name"
        • "nsfw"
        • "public_description"
        • "spoilers_enabled"
        • "subscribers"
        • "user_is_banned"
        • "user_is_moderator"
        • "user_is_subscriber"
      • comment objects will contain the following metadata:
        • "type"
        • "body"
        • "body_html"
        • "created_utc"
        • "distinguished"
        • "edited"
        • "id"
        • "is_submitter"
        • "link_id"
        • "parent_id"
        • "score"
        • "stickied"
        • "submission" - contains additional metadata
        • "subreddit_id"
      • submission objects will contain the following metadata:
        • "type"
        • "author"
        • "created_utc"
        • "distinguished"
        • "edited"
        • "id"
        • "is_original_content"
        • "is_self"
        • "link_flair_text"
        • "locked"
        • "name"
        • "num_comments"
        • "nsfw"
        • "permalink"
        • "score"
        • "selftext"
        • "spoiler"
        • "stickied"
        • "subreddit" - contains additional metadata
        • "title"
        • "upvote_ratio"
        • "url"
      • multireddit objects will contain the following metadata:
        • "can_edit"
        • "copied_from"
        • "created_utc"
        • "description_html"
        • "description_md"
        • "display_name"
        • "name"
        • "nsfw"
        • "subreddits"
        • "visibility"
    • interactions are now sorted in alphabetical order.
  • CLI
    • Flags
      • --raw - Export comments in raw format instead (structure format is the default)
  • Created a new .env file to store API credentials.
• README
  • Added new bullet point for The Forest Markdown file.
• Tests
  • Added a new test for the Status class in Global.py.
• Repository documents
  • Added "The Forest".
    • This Markdown file is just a place where I describe how I implemented the Forest.

Changed

• User interface
  • Submission comments scraping parameters have changed due to the improvements made in this pull request.
    • Structured comments is now the default format.
      • Users will have to include the new --raw flag to export to raw format.
    • Both structured and raw formats can now scrape all comments from a submission.
• Source code
  • The submission comments JSON file's structure has been modified to fit the new submission_metadata dictionary. "data" is now a dictionary that contains the submission metadata dictionary and scraped comments list. Comments are now stored in the "comments" field within "data".
  • Exporting Redditor or submission comments to CSV is now forbidden.
    • URS will ignore the --csv flag if it is present while trying to use either scraper.
  • The created_utc field for each Subreddit rule is now converted to readable time.
  • requirements.txt has been updated.
    • As of v1.20.0, numpy has dropped support for Python 3.6, which means Python 3.7+ is required for URS.
      • .travis.yml has been modified to exclude Python 3.6. Added Python 3.9 to test configuration.
      • Note: Older versions of Python can still be used by downgrading to numpy<=1.19.5.
  • Reddit object validation block has been refactored.
    • A new reusable module has been defined at the bottom of Validation.py.
  • Urs.py no longer pulls API credentials from Credentials.py as it is now deprecated.
    • Credentials are now read from the .env file.
  • Minor refactoring within Validation.py to ensure an extra Halo line is not rendered on failed credential validation.
• README
  • Updated the Comments section to reflect new changes to comments scraper UI.
• Repository documents
  • Updated How to Get PRAW Credentials.md to reflect new changes.
• Tests
  • Updated CLI usage and examples tests.
  • Updated c_fname() test because submission comments scrapes now follow a different naming convention.

Deprecated

• User interface
  • Specifying 0 comments does not only export all comments to raw format anymore. Defaults to structured format.
• Source code
  • Deprecated many global variables defined in Global.py:
    • eo
    • options
    • s_t
    • analytical_tools
  • Credentials.py has been replaced with the .env file.
  • The LogError.log_login decorator has been deprecated due to the refactor within Validation.py.