Method and apparatus for defining data of interest

A system for extracting data of interest to a user from a web site, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• memory operatively coupled to the processor and containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of:
• receiving a description of data of interest from a user, the description of the data of interest being associated with an extraction parameter;
• querying a web site using a value of the extraction parameter and an extraction pattern, the extraction pattern being associated with the description of data of interest, wherein the extraction pattern is adapted to identify at least a portion of an output of a web site and extract information from one or more web pages associated with the web site, and wherein the extraction pattern comprises a regular expression;
• extracting the data of interest from the web site based on the query;
• and
• storing the extracted data of interest.

Non-transitory computer readable media having instructions recorded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to carry out a method for extracting data of interest to a user from a web site, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving a description of data of interest from a user, the description of the data of interest being associated with an extraction parameter;
• querying a web site using a value of the extraction parameter and an extraction pattern, the extraction pattern being associated with the description of data of interest, wherein the extraction pattern is adapted to identify at least a portion of an output of a web site and extract information from one or more web pages associated with the web site, and wherein the extraction pattern comprises a regular expression;
• extracting the data of interest from the web site based on the query;
• and
• storing the extracted data of interest.