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Alabama Appeals Court Parser (ParserAppealsAL)

ParserAppealsAL

The Alabama Appeals Court Parser (ParserAppealsAL) is OPAL's specialized parser for extracting court case data from the Alabama Appeals Court Public Portal.

Overview

This parser uses Selenium to handle JavaScript-rendered content on the Alabama Appeals Court website, extracting comprehensive case data including case numbers, titles, filing dates, and case status.

Prerequisites

  • OPAL installed and configured
  • Chrome/Chromium browser installed
  • Internet connection
  • Basic understanding of command-line tools

Basic Usage

Simple Extraction

# Extract court cases from Alabama Appeals Court
python -m opal --url "https://publicportal.alacourt.gov" --parser ParserAppealsAL

# With max pages limit
python -m opal --url "https://publicportal.alacourt.gov" --parser ParserAppealsAL --max_pages 5

Command Line Arguments

# Required arguments
--url        # Base URL of the court website
--parser     # Must be "ParserAppealsAL"

# Optional arguments
--max_pages  # Maximum number of pages to scrape
--suffix     # URL suffix (not typically used for court parser)

Features

JavaScript Rendering

The parser uses Selenium WebDriver to: - Handle dynamic JavaScript content - Navigate through court portal pages - Extract data from rendered tables - Handle pagination automatically

Rate Limiting

  • Built-in rate limiting (3 seconds default between requests)
  • Prevents overwhelming the court website
  • Configurable through parser initialization

Headless Mode

  • Runs in headless mode by default (no browser window)
  • Can be configured to show browser for debugging

Data Fields Extracted

The parser extracts the following information for each case:

Field Description Example
court Court name "01-AUTAUGA"
case_number Case number with link {"text": "01-CC-1983-000002.00", "link": "url"}
case_title Full case title "JOHN DOE VS JANE DOE"
filed_date Date case was filed "06/28/1985"
status Current case status "CLOSED"
case_url Direct link to case Full URL to case details

Output Format

JSON Structure

{
  "status": "success",
  "timestamp": "2024-03-15T10:30:45",
  "total_cases": 150,
  "page_info": {
    "current_page": 1,
    "total_pages": 3,
    "results_per_page": 50
  },
  "cases": [
    {
      "court": "01-AUTAUGA",
      "case_number": {
        "text": "01-CC-1983-000002.00",
        "link": "https://v2.alacourt.com/frmCaseDetail.aspx?caseID=..."
      },
      "case_title": "JOHN DOE VS JANE DOE",
      "filed_date": "06/28/1985",
      "status": "CLOSED",
      "case_url": "https://v2.alacourt.com/frmCaseDetail.aspx?caseID=..."
    }
  ]
}

Advanced Usage

Processing Multiple Pages

# Process first 10 pages
python -m opal --url "https://publicportal.alacourt.gov" --parser ParserAppealsAL --max_pages 10

# Process all available pages (use with caution)
python -m opal --url "https://publicportal.alacourt.gov" --parser ParserAppealsAL

Integration with Scripts

from opal.court_case_parser import ParserAppealsAL
from opal.integrated_parser import IntegratedParser

# Create parser instance
court_parser = IntegratedParser(ParserAppealsAL)

# Process court website
results = court_parser.process_site(
    base_url="https://publicportal.alacourt.gov",
    max_pages=5
)

# Parse results
import json
data = json.loads(results)
print(f"Found {data['total_cases']} cases")

Common Use Cases

Daily Court Updates

# Daily scrape with date in filename
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
python -m opal --url "https://publicportal.alacourt.gov" --parser ParserAppealsAL --max_pages 3
# Output saved as: YYYY-MM-DD_ParserAppealsAL.json

Specific Court Monitoring

Since the parser extracts court information, you can filter results post-processing: 

# Filter for specific court
import json

with open('2024-03-15_ParserAppealsAL.json', 'r') as f:
    data = json.load(f)

autauga_cases = [
    case for case in data['cases'] 
    if case['court'] == '01-AUTAUGA'
]

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Chrome Driver Issues - The parser automatically installs ChromeDriver using webdriver-manager - Ensure Chrome/Chromium is installed on your system - Check Chrome version compatibility

Timeout Errors - Court website may be slow to respond - Parser includes WebDriverWait for dynamic content - Default timeout is 10 seconds

No Data Found - Verify the URL is correct - Check if the court website structure has changed - Enable non-headless mode for debugging

Debug Mode

# Run with visible browser for debugging
from opal.court_case_parser import ParserAppealsAL

parser = ParserAppealsAL(headless=False)

Performance Considerations

  1. Rate Limiting: Default 3-second delay between page requests
  2. Memory Usage: Selenium requires more memory than simple HTTP requests
  3. Processing Time: Each page takes 10-15 seconds to fully load and parse
  4. Recommended Limits: Use --max_pages to limit scope

Error Handling

The parser includes robust error handling for: - Network timeouts - Missing elements on page - Invalid page structures - Browser crashes

Failed pages are logged but don't stop the entire process.

Next Steps