use of youtube-dl in my own python script

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:39 -05:00

Owner

Originally created by @yasoob on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013).

I am trying to make a youtube downloading website and was going to use youtube-dl in my site. I wanted to know that how can i just get the variables with the results instead of results being printed on the screen.
for example if i run the main.py file with the url i get the printed output but i want that if i import Infoextractors file and then pass it a url it can give me back a variable possibly a list with the result which i can access for further use. Can anyone illustrate this with an example. I would be really grateful to you guys.

Originally created by @yasoob on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013). I am trying to make a youtube downloading website and was going to use youtube-dl in my site. I wanted to know that how can i just get the variables with the results instead of results being printed on the screen. for example if i run the **main**.py file with the url i get the printed output but i want that if i import Infoextractors file and then pass it a url it can give me back a variable possibly a list with the result which i can access for further use. Can anyone illustrate this with an example. I would be really grateful to you guys.

deekerman closed this issue

2026-02-20 21:18:41 -05:00

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:42 -05:00

Author

Owner

@rg3 commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013):

On Fri, Apr 26, 2013, at 12:58, yasoob wrote:

I am trying to make a youtube downloading website and was going to use
youtube-dl in my site. I wanted to know that how can i just get the
variables with the results instead of results being printed on the
screen.
for example if i run the main.py file with the url i get the printed
output but i want that if i import Infoextractors file and then pass it a
url it can give me back a variable possibly a list with the result which
i can access for further use. Can anyone illustrate this with an example.
I would be really grateful to you guys.

Side note: I should have separated the output methods to a different
class instead of including them in the downloader class when I rewrote
the program long ago. That could be a welcome change if the current
maintainers decide to do it, IMHO.

@rg3 commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013): On Fri, Apr 26, 2013, at 12:58, yasoob wrote: > I am trying to make a youtube downloading website and was going to use > youtube-dl in my site. I wanted to know that how can i just get the > variables with the results instead of results being printed on the > screen. > for example if i run the **main**.py file with the url i get the printed > output but i want that if i import Infoextractors file and then pass it a > url it can give me back a variable possibly a list with the result which > i can access for further use. Can anyone illustrate this with an example. > I would be really grateful to you guys. Side note: I should have separated the output methods to a different class instead of including them in the downloader class when I rewrote the program long ago. That could be a welcome change if the current maintainers decide to do it, IMHO.

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:42 -05:00

Author

Owner

@rg3 commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013):

Ouch, I shouldn't have quoted the original message while replying by
mail. I'll repeat my comment below.

Side note: I should have separated the output methods to a different
class instead of including them in the downloader class when I rewrote
the program long ago. That could be a welcome change if the current
maintainers decide to do it, IMHO.

@rg3 commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013): Ouch, I shouldn't have quoted the original message while replying by mail. I'll repeat my comment below. Side note: I should have separated the output methods to a different class instead of including them in the downloader class when I rewrote the program long ago. That could be a welcome change if the current maintainers decide to do it, IMHO.

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:42 -05:00

Author

Owner

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013):

You should look at the method extract_info in FileDownloader, it returns a list of info dictionaries for each element founded.

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2013): You should look at the method `extract_info` in FileDownloader, it returns a list of info dictionaries for each element founded.

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:42 -05:00

Author

Owner

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2013):

it is not working. It is throwing exceptions........ like the params does
not have a get method. Perhaps you can explaina bit more with an example?

On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 10:21 PM, Jaime Marquínez Ferrándiz <
notifications@github.com> wrote:

You should look at the method extract_info in FileDownloader, it returns
a list of info dictionaries for each element founded.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/806#issuecomment-17087730
.

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2013): it is not working. It is throwing exceptions........ like the params does not have a get method. Perhaps you can explaina bit more with an example? On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 10:21 PM, Jaime Marquínez Ferrándiz < notifications@github.com> wrote: > You should look at the method extract_info in FileDownloader, it returns > a list of info dictionaries for each element founded. > > — > Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/806#issuecomment-17087730 > .

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:42 -05:00

Author

Owner

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2013):

What are the errors you get?
For example this is what I use:

class NoneFile(object):
    '''
    A file-like object that does nothing
    '''
    def write(self,msg):
        pass
    def flush(self,*args,**kaargs):
        pass
    def isatty(self):
        return False

class ScreenFile(NoneFile):
    def write(self,msg):
        logging.debug(msg)

class SimpleFileDownloader(youtube_dl.FileDownloader):
    def __init__(self,*args,**kargs):
        super(SimpleFileDownloader,self).__init__(*args,**kargs)
        self._screen_file=ScreenFile()
        self._ies = youtube_dl.gen_extractors()
        for ie in self._ies:
            ie.set_downloader(self)

Then I can do:

fd = SimpleFileDownloader({'outtmpl':'%(title)s'})
results = fd.extract_info(url, download = False)

This will get the videos information.

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 27, 2013): What are the errors you get? For example this is what I use: ``` python class NoneFile(object): ''' A file-like object that does nothing ''' def write(self,msg): pass def flush(self,*args,**kaargs): pass def isatty(self): return False class ScreenFile(NoneFile): def write(self,msg): logging.debug(msg) class SimpleFileDownloader(youtube_dl.FileDownloader): def __init__(self,*args,**kargs): super(SimpleFileDownloader,self).__init__(*args,**kargs) self._screen_file=ScreenFile() self._ies = youtube_dl.gen_extractors() for ie in self._ies: ie.set_downloader(self) ``` Then I can do: ``` python fd = SimpleFileDownloader({'outtmpl':'%(title)s'}) results = fd.extract_info(url, download = False) ``` This will get the videos information.

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:43 -05:00

Author

Owner

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013):

this is the whole input and the error which i get after following your method

import youtube_dl
class NoneFile(object):
... '''
... A file-like object that does nothing
... '''
... def write(self,msg):
... pass
... def flush(self,_args,__kaargs):
... pass
... def isatty(self):
... return False
...
class ScreenFile(NoneFile):
... def write(self,msg):
... logging.debug(msg)
...
class SimpleFileDownloader(youtube_dl.FileDownloader):
... def init(self,_args,**kargs):
... super(SimpleFileDownloader,self).init(*args,**kargs)
... self._screen_file=ScreenFile()
... self._ies = youtube_dl.gen_extractors()
... for ie in self._ies:
... ie.set_downloader(self)
...
fd = SimpleFileDownloader({'outtmpl':'%(title)s'})
results = fd.extract_info("http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy8ddj_zindagi-gulzar-hai-by-hum-tv-episode-16-part-1-3_shortfilms", download = False)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py", line 466, in extract_info
ie_results = ie.extract(url)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 96, in extract
return self._real_extract(url)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 803, in _real_extract
webpage = self._download_webpage(request, video_id)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 129, in _download_webpage
urlh = self._request_webpage(url_or_request, video_id, note, errnote)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 117, in _request_webpage
self.report_download_webpage(video_id)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 157, in report_download_webpage
self.to_screen(u'%s: Downloading webpage' % video_id)
File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 149, in to_screen
self._downloader.to_screen(u'[%s] %s' % (self.IE_NAME, msg))
File "youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py", line 197, in to_screen
self._screen_file.write(output)
File "", line 3, in write
NameError: global name 'logging' is not defined

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013): this is the whole input and the error which i get after following your method # > > > import youtube_dl > > > class NoneFile(object): > > > ... ''' > > > ... A file-like object that does nothing > > > ... ''' > > > ... def write(self,msg): > > > ... pass > > > ... def flush(self,_args,__kaargs): > > > ... pass > > > ... def isatty(self): > > > ... return False > > > ... > > > class ScreenFile(NoneFile): > > > ... def write(self,msg): > > > ... logging.debug(msg) > > > ... > > > class SimpleFileDownloader(youtube_dl.FileDownloader): > > > ... def **init**(self,_args,**kargs): > > > ... super(SimpleFileDownloader,self).**init**(*args,**kargs) > > > ... self._screen_file=ScreenFile() > > > ... self._ies = youtube_dl.gen_extractors() > > > ... for ie in self._ies: > > > ... ie.set_downloader(self) > > > ... > > > fd = SimpleFileDownloader({'outtmpl':'%(title)s'}) > > > results = fd.extract_info("http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy8ddj_zindagi-gulzar-hai-by-hum-tv-episode-16-part-1-3_shortfilms", download = False) > > > Traceback (most recent call last): > > > File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> > > > File "youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py", line 466, in extract_info > > > ie_results = ie.extract(url) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 96, in extract > > > return self._real_extract(url) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 803, in _real_extract > > > webpage = self._download_webpage(request, video_id) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 129, in _download_webpage > > > urlh = self._request_webpage(url_or_request, video_id, note, errnote) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 117, in _request_webpage > > > self.report_download_webpage(video_id) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 157, in report_download_webpage > > > self.to_screen(u'%s: Downloading webpage' % video_id) > > > File "youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py", line 149, in to_screen > > > self._downloader.to_screen(u'[%s] %s' % (self.IE_NAME, msg)) > > > File "youtube_dl/FileDownloader.py", line 197, in to_screen > > > self._screen_file.write(output) > > > File "<stdin>", line 3, in write > > > NameError: global name 'logging' is not defined > > > > > > #

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:43 -05:00

Author

Owner

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013):

Sorry, I forgot to mention that you needed to include the logging module, add import logging at the start of the file. (I use it because I didn't want to get the messages in the screen)

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013): Sorry, I forgot to mention that you needed to include the logging module, add `import logging` at the start of the file. (I use it because I didn't want to get the messages in the screen)

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:43 -05:00

Author

Owner

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013):

Thanx it worked.........:).........now i realize how much effort you guys
have put into making this.......you guys rock.......<3

On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 7:34 PM, Jaime Marquínez Ferrándiz <
notifications@github.com> wrote:

Sorry, I forgot to mention that you needed to include the logging module,
add import logging at the start of the file. (I use it because I didn't
want to get the messages in the screen)

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/806#issuecomment-17134942
.

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 28, 2013): Thanx it worked.........:).........now i realize how much effort you guys have put into making this.......you guys rock.......<3 On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 7:34 PM, Jaime Marquínez Ferrándiz < notifications@github.com> wrote: > Sorry, I forgot to mention that you needed to include the logging module, > add import logging at the start of the file. (I use it because I didn't > want to get the messages in the screen) > > — > Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/806#issuecomment-17134942 > .

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:43 -05:00

Author

Owner

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2013):

hey sorry for bothering you again . Now the problem is that my script is working great and is producing the download links........you can visit it on yasoobcode.appspot.com but now the problem is that when i click on download button the download page gives me a 403 forbidden header......Is there some problem with my header.......does youtube and other websites require some different header and if so how can i accomplish this that when the user clicks on download button the video starts to download.......Btw i am making this in flask.

I hope to hear from you guys soon. Thanx for your previous help as well

@yasoob commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2013): hey sorry for bothering you again . Now the problem is that my script is working great and is producing the download links........you can visit it on yasoobcode.appspot.com but now the problem is that when i click on download button the download page gives me a 403 forbidden header......Is there some problem with my header.......does youtube and other websites require some different header and if so how can i accomplish this that when the user clicks on download button the video starts to download.......Btw i am making this in flask. I hope to hear from you guys soon. Thanx for your previous help as well

deekerman commented

2026-02-20 21:18:43 -05:00

Author

Owner

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2013):

I'm not sure this issues should be discussed here, so if you don't mind you can email me (see my profile).

@jaimeMF commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2013): I'm not sure this issues should be discussed here, so if you don't mind you can email me (see my profile).

Rows
Columns

use of youtube-dl in my own python script #622