Property Types

Every dataset in RTILA X is made up of properties — individual fields that define what data to extract from each item on the page. Each property has a type that determines how the data is extracted.

Think of it this way: the item selector finds the repeating container (like a product card), and the properties define what to pull from each container (like the title, price, image URL, etc.).

RTILA X supports 9 property types, each designed for a different kind of data extraction.

Property Types Overview

Type	What It Extracts	Example Use Case
text	Visible text content of an element	Product names, descriptions, prices
html	Inner HTML including tags	Rich text content, formatted descriptions
attribute	A specific HTML attribute value	Links (href), image sources (src), data attributes
property	A JavaScript DOM property	Input values, checkbox states, scroll positions
count	Number of matching elements	Number of reviews, ratings count
page_url	The current page URL	Tracking which page data came from
selector_path	The CSS path of the matched element	Debugging selector issues
list	A nested list of sub-items	Reviews within a product, tags within an article
index	The row number (1-based)	Adding sequential row numbers to output

text

Description

The text type extracts the visible text content of an element. It returns all text within the element, including text in child elements, but excludes HTML tags.

When to Use

• Extracting product names, titles, headings
• Getting prices, descriptions, or any visible text
• Capturing button labels, link text
• Any situation where you need the human-readable text

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output (e.g., “title”, “price”)
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the element containing the text
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "text"

Example

Dataset configuration:

{
  "name": "title",
  "selector": "css=.product-card h2",
  "type": "text"
}

HTML on the page:

<div class="product-card">
  <h2>Wireless Bluetooth Headphones</h2>
  <span class="price">$49.99</span>
</div>

Extracted value: "Wireless Bluetooth Headphones"

Output

The output is always a string. Even if the text looks like a number (e.g., “49.99”), it’s returned as a string. Use the cast transformation if you need a numeric value.

Tips

Tip	Why
Text includes child element text	css=.card will include text from all children
Use specific selectors	css=.product-card h2 is more precise than css=.card
Whitespace is preserved	Use the trim transformation to remove extra whitespace
Empty elements return empty strings	If the element has no text, you get ""

html

Description

The html type extracts the inner HTML of an element, including all HTML tags. This is useful when you need the raw HTML structure, not just the visible text.

When to Use

• Extracting rich text content with formatting
• Getting HTML that you’ll process later
• Capturing structured content with links, bold text, etc.
• When you need to preserve HTML structure

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the element
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "html"

Example

Dataset configuration:

{
  "name": "description_html",
  "selector": "css=.product-description",
  "type": "html"
}

HTML on the page:

<div class="product-description">
  <p>Premium <strong>wireless</strong> headphones with <a href="/features">noise cancellation</a>.</p>
</div>

Extracted value:

<p>Premium <strong>wireless</strong> headphones with <a href="/features">noise cancellation</a>.</p>

Output

The output is a string containing HTML markup. Unlike text, this preserves all HTML tags.

Tips

Tip	Why
Use text if you only need readable text	html includes tags which may not be what you want
HTML output can be large	For long content, consider using text instead
HTML entities are preserved	&, <, etc. remain as-is

attribute

Description

The attribute type extracts the value of a specific HTML attribute from an element. HTML attributes provide metadata about elements — like where a link points (href), where an image loads from (src), or custom data stored in data-* attributes.

When to Use

• Extracting link URLs (href attribute)
• Getting image source URLs (src attribute)
• Reading custom data attributes (data-id, data-category, etc.)
• Getting alt text from images (alt attribute)
• Reading form input values (value attribute)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the element
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "attribute"
attribute	string	✅ Yes	The name of the HTML attribute to read

Common Attributes

Attribute	What It Contains	Example Element
href	URL of a link	<a href="/products/123">
src	Source URL of image/script	<img src="/images/photo.jpg">
alt	Alternative text for images	<img alt="Blue headphones">
title	Tooltip text	<span title="More info">
data-id	Custom data attribute	<div data-id="12345">
data-category	Custom category data	<div data-category="electronics">
value	Current value of input	<input value="search term">
placeholder	Placeholder text	<input placeholder="Enter email">
class	CSS classes	<div class="product-card featured">
id	Element ID	<div id="main-content">

Example

Extract a product link:

{
  "name": "product_url",
  "selector": "css=.product-card a.product-link",
  "type": "attribute",
  "attribute": "href"
}

HTML on the page:

<a class="product-link" href="/products/wireless-headphones-123">View Product</a>

Extracted value: "/products/wireless-headphones-123"

Extract an image source:

{
  "name": "image_url",
  "selector": "css=.product-card img",
  "type": "attribute",
  "attribute": "src"
}

HTML on the page:

<img src="/images/products/headphones-blue.jpg" alt="Blue Headphones">

Extracted value: "/images/products/headphones-blue.jpg"

Output

The output is always a string containing the attribute value. If the attribute doesn’t exist on the element, the result is null.

Tips

Tip	Why
Use href for links	Gets the URL the link points to
Use src for images	Gets the image source URL
Use data-* for custom data	Many sites store IDs in data attributes
Check if attribute exists	If missing, result is null
Relative URLs stay relative	href="/products/123" stays as-is. Use transformations to make absolute.

property

Description

The property type extracts a JavaScript DOM property from an element. While HTML attributes are defined in the markup, DOM properties are the live JavaScript values that may differ from the HTML.

When to Use

• Getting the current value of an input field (value property)
• Checking if a checkbox is checked (checked property)
• Getting the scroll position of an element (scrollTop, scrollHeight)
• Reading the computed inner text (innerText)
• Getting the inner HTML (innerHTML)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the element
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "property"
property	string	✅ Yes	The name of the DOM property to read

Common DOM Properties

Property	Type	What It Returns	Example
value	string	Current value of input/textarea/select	What the user typed
checked	boolean	Whether checkbox/radio is checked	true or false
innerText	string	Visible text content	Same as text type
innerHTML	string	HTML content including tags	Same as html type
scrollHeight	number	Total scrollable height	1500 (pixels)
scrollTop	number	Current scroll position	350 (pixels)
clientWidth	number	Visible width of element	800 (pixels)
disabled	boolean	Whether element is disabled	true or false
selectedIndex	number	Selected option index in dropdown	2

Example

Get input field value:

{
  "name": "search_value",
  "selector": "css=input#search-box",
  "type": "property",
  "property": "value"
}

Check if checkbox is checked:

{
  "name": "is_subscribed",
  "selector": "css=input#newsletter",
  "type": "property",
  "property": "checked"
}

Output: true or false (boolean)

Difference Between attribute and property

Aspect	attribute	property
Source	HTML markup	Live JavaScript value
Example	value="initial" in HTML	element.value (what user typed)
Changes	Stays as originally written	Updates as user interacts
Type	Always string	Native type (string, boolean, number)
Use case	Static metadata	Dynamic state

Rule of thumb: Use attribute for static HTML attributes (href, src, data-*). Use property for dynamic JavaScript values (value, checked, scrollTop).

Tips

Tip	Why
Use property for input values	Gets what the user actually typed, not the initial HTML
Use property for checkbox state	checked returns true/false
Property types vary	value returns string, checked returns boolean, scrollHeight returns number
If property doesn’t exist	Result is undefined

count

Description

The count type counts the number of elements matching the selector. Instead of extracting data, it returns how many elements were found.

When to Use

• Counting the number of reviews for a product
• Counting items in a list or grid
• Counting search results
• Counting elements matching a specific pattern

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the elements to count
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "count"

Example

Count reviews:

{
  "name": "review_count",
  "selector": "css=.product-card .review",
  "type": "count"
}

HTML on the page:

<div class="product-card">
  <div class="review">Great product!</div>
  <div class="review">Good value</div>
  <div class="review">Would buy again</div>
</div>

Extracted value: 3 (number)

Output

The output is a number representing the count of matching elements. If no elements match, the count is 0.

Tips

Tip	Why
Count is relative to the item selector	If your item selector is .product-card, count counts elements within each card
Use for statistics	Count of reviews, ratings, images, etc.
Zero is valid	If no elements match, count returns 0

page_url

Description

The page_url type returns the current page URL. This is useful for tracking which page each extracted record came from, especially when scraping multiple pages.

When to Use

• Tracking the source URL for each extracted record
• Building relative URLs into absolute URLs
• Debugging which page produced specific data
• Multi-page scraping where you need to know the source

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "page_url"

Note: The page_url type does not require a selector parameter. It automatically returns the current page URL.

Example

{
  "name": "source_url",
  "type": "page_url"
}

If the current page is: https://example.com/products?page=2

Extracted value: "https://example.com/products?page=2"

Output

The output is a string containing the full URL of the current page.

Tips

Tip	Why
No selector needed	page_url automatically returns the current URL
Great for multi-page scraping	Tracks which page each record came from
Combine with transformations	Use prefix or replace to modify the URL
Useful for debugging	Helps identify which page produced specific data

selector_path

Description

The selector_path type returns the CSS selector path of the matched element. This is primarily a debugging tool that shows you the exact selector path RTILA used to find an element.

When to Use

• Debugging selector issues
• Understanding how RTILA found an element
• Verifying selector generation
• Learning how selectors are constructed

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the element
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "selector_path"

Example

{
  "name": "element_path",
  "selector": "css=.product-card h2",
  "type": "selector_path"
}

Extracted value: "div.product-list > div.product-card > h2.title"

Output

The output is a string containing the CSS path from the root of the page to the matched element.

Tips

Tip	Why
Primarily for debugging	Not typically used in production scraping
Shows the full path	From page root to the matched element
Helps verify selectors	Confirms RTILA found the right element

list

Description

The list type extracts a nested list of sub-items from within each parent item. This is used for hierarchical data — for example, extracting all reviews within each product, or all tags within each article.

When to Use

• Extracting reviews within each product
• Extracting tags/categories within each article
• Extracting options within each dropdown
• Any nested repeating structure within a parent item

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
selector	string	✅ Yes	The selector for the repeating sub-items
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "list"
properties	array	✅ Yes	Sub-properties to extract from each sub-item

Sub-Properties

Each sub-property inside a list property works just like a regular property. It has its own name, selector, and type. The selectors are relative to each sub-item, not to the page.

Example

Extract reviews within each product:

{
  "name": "reviews",
  "selector": "css=.review",
  "type": "list",
  "properties": [
    {
      "name": "reviewer_name",
      "selector": "css=.reviewer",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "rating",
      "selector": "css=.stars",
      "type": "attribute",
      "attribute": "data-rating"
    },
    {
      "name": "comment",
      "selector": "css=.comment",
      "type": "text"
    }
  ]
}

HTML on the page:

<div class="product-card">
  <h2>Wireless Headphones</h2>
  <div class="review">
    <span class="reviewer">John D.</span>
    <span class="stars" data-rating="5">★★★★★</span>
    <p class="comment">Excellent sound quality!</p>
  </div>
  <div class="review">
    <span class="reviewer">Sarah M.</span>
    <span class="stars" data-rating="4">★★★★☆</span>
    <p class="comment">Good value for money.</p>
  </div>
</div>

Extracted value:

[
  {
    "reviewer_name": "John D.",
    "rating": "5",
    "comment": "Excellent sound quality!"
  },
  {
    "reviewer_name": "Sarah M.",
    "rating": "4",
    "comment": "Good value for money."
  }
]

Output

The output is an array of objects. Each object represents one sub-item and contains all the sub-properties.

Tips

Tip	Why
Sub-selectors are relative	They’re relative to each sub-item, not the page
Can nest lists	You can have a list inside a list for deep nesting
Empty lists return empty arrays	If no sub-items match, you get []
Use for hierarchical data	Reviews, tags, options, variants

index

Description

The index type returns the row number (1-based) of each extracted item. The first item is index 1, the second is index 2, and so on.

When to Use

• Adding sequential row numbers to your output
• Creating unique identifiers for each record
• Tracking the order of extracted items
• Generating sequential IDs for database insertion

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	✅ Yes	The column name in your output
type	string	✅ Yes	Set to "index"

Note: The index type does not require a selector parameter. It automatically returns the position of the current item.

Example

{
  "name": "row_number",
  "type": "index"
}

If 5 items are extracted:

row_number	title	price
1	Wireless Headphones	$49.99
2	Bluetooth Speaker	$29.99
3	USB-C Cable	$9.99
4	Phone Case	$14.99
5	Screen Protector	$7.99

Output

The output is a number starting from 1 for the first item.

Tips

Tip	Why
No selector needed	index automatically returns the position
1-based indexing	First item is 1, not 0
Resets per extraction	Each extract_data call starts counting from 1
Great for row numbers	Adds sequential numbering to output

Download Option

For properties that extract URLs (like image sources or file links), you can enable the Download option. When enabled, RTILA X automatically downloads the file and stores the local file path instead of the URL.

How It Works

1. The property extracts a URL value (e.g., an image src).
2. If Download is enabled, RTILA checks if the value is a valid URL.
3. If it’s a URL, RTILA downloads the file to the local output directory.
4. The output value becomes the local file path instead of the URL.
5. If the value is not a URL or the download fails, the original value is kept.

When to Use

Scenario	Enable Download?	Why
Extracting image URLs for local storage	✅ Yes	Downloads images locally
Extracting PDF links	✅ Yes	Downloads PDFs for offline access
Extracting product page URLs	❌ No	You want the URL, not the page content
Extracting API endpoints	❌ No	You want the URL for API calls
Extracting external links	❌ No	You want the link URL

Enabling Download

In the Visual Builder:

1. Select a property in the Data Extraction tab.
2. Find the Download checkbox in the property configuration.
3. Check the box to enable automatic downloading.

Behavior Details

Aspect	Description
File location	Downloaded files are saved to RTILA’s output directory
File naming	Files are named based on the URL’s filename
Duplicate handling	If the file already exists, it may be overwritten
Failed downloads	If download fails, the original URL value is kept
Non-URL values	If the value isn’t a URL, it’s kept as-is

Example

Property configuration:

{
  "name": "product_image",
  "selector": "css=.product-card img",
  "type": "attribute",
  "attribute": "src",
  "download": true
}

Without Download enabled:

"product_image": "/images/products/headphones.jpg"

With Download enabled:

"product_image": "output/downloads/headphones.jpg"

Tips

Tip	Why
Use for images and files	Downloads images, PDFs, and other files locally
Don’t use for page URLs	You want the URL, not the page content
Check file paths after download	Verify files were downloaded correctly
Large files take time	Downloading many large files slows down extraction

Choosing the Right Property Type

Use this decision table to pick the best property type:

What You Need	Property Type	Example
Visible text (name, price, description)	text	Product title
HTML with formatting	html	Rich text description
Link URL	attribute with href	Product page URL
Image source URL	attribute with src	Product image URL
Custom data attribute	attribute with data-*	Product ID
Input field value	property with value	Search box content
Checkbox state	property with checked	Newsletter subscription
Number of items	count	Number of reviews
Current page URL	page_url	Source URL tracking
Element’s CSS path	selector_path	Debugging
Nested sub-items	list	Reviews within products
Row number	index	Sequential numbering

Property Type Comparison Table

Type	Needs Selector	Output Type	Common Use
text	✅ Yes	String	Names, prices, descriptions
html	✅ Yes	String (HTML)	Rich text content
attribute	✅ Yes	String	URLs, data attributes
property	✅ Yes	Varies (string, boolean, number)	Input values, states
count	✅ Yes	Number	Counting elements
page_url	❌ No	String	Source URL
selector_path	✅ Yes	String	Debugging
list	✅ Yes	Array of objects	Nested data
index	❌ No	Number	Row numbering