Error Handling#

Guide to handling errors and exceptions in GPlay Scraper.

Exception Types#

GPlay Scraper provides 6 custom exception types:

AppNotFoundError#

Raised when an app, developer, or resource is not found.

from gplay_scraper import GPlayScraper
from gplay_scraper.exceptions import AppNotFoundError

scraper = GPlayScraper()

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('invalid.app.id')
except AppNotFoundError as e:
    print(f"App not found: {e}")

NetworkError#

Raised when network or HTTP errors occur.

from gplay_scraper.exceptions import NetworkError

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('com.whatsapp')
except NetworkError as e:
    print(f"Network error: {e}")

DataParsingError#

Raised when JSON parsing or data extraction fails.

from gplay_scraper.exceptions import DataParsingError

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('com.whatsapp')
except DataParsingError as e:
    print(f"Parsing error: {e}")

RateLimitError#

Raised when rate limits are exceeded.

from gplay_scraper.exceptions import RateLimitError

try:
    # Making too many requests too quickly
    for i in range(1000):
        app = scraper.app_analyze(f'com.app{i}')
except RateLimitError as e:
    print(f"Rate limited: {e}")

InvalidAppIdError#

Raised when input validation fails.

from gplay_scraper.exceptions import InvalidAppIdError

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('')  # Empty app ID
except InvalidAppIdError as e:
    print(f"Invalid input: {e}")

GPlayScraperError#

Base exception for all library errors.

from gplay_scraper.exceptions import GPlayScraperError

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('com.whatsapp')
except GPlayScraperError as e:
    print(f"Library error: {e}")

Comprehensive Error Handling#

Handle all common exceptions.

from gplay_scraper import GPlayScraper
from gplay_scraper.exceptions import (
    AppNotFoundError,
    NetworkError,
    DataParsingError,
    RateLimitError,
    InvalidAppIdError,
    GPlayScraperError
)

scraper = GPlayScraper()

try:
    app = scraper.app_analyze('com.whatsapp')
except InvalidAppIdError as e:
    print(f"Invalid app ID: {e}")
except AppNotFoundError as e:
    print(f"App not found: {e}")
except NetworkError as e:
    print(f"Network error: {e}")
except DataParsingError as e:
    print(f"Parsing error: {e}")
except RateLimitError as e:
    print(f"Rate limited: {e}")
except GPlayScraperError as e:
    print(f"Unknown library error: {e}")

Automatic Retries#

The library automatically retries failed requests with HTTP client fallback.

from gplay_scraper import Config

# Configure retries
Config.DEFAULT_RETRY_COUNT = 5  # Try 5 times

scraper = GPlayScraper()
app = scraper.app_analyze('com.whatsapp')
# Automatically retries up to 5 times if it fails
# Switches HTTP clients between retries

Graceful Degradation#

Methods return None or empty lists on failure instead of crashing.

scraper = GPlayScraper()

# Returns None if app not found (after retries)
app = scraper.app_analyze('invalid.app')
if app is None:
    print("App not found")

# Returns empty list if search fails
results = scraper.search_analyze('invalid query')
if not results:
    print("No results found")

Production Error Handling#

Example for production use.

import logging
from gplay_scraper import GPlayScraper, Config
from gplay_scraper.exceptions import GPlayScraperError

# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.ERROR,
    format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s',
    filename='gplay_scraper.log'
)

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# Configure retries
Config.DEFAULT_RETRY_COUNT = 5

scraper = GPlayScraper(http_client='curl_cffi')

def safe_analyze_app(app_id):
    """Safely analyze an app with error handling."""
    try:
        return scraper.app_analyze(app_id)
    except GPlayScraperError as e:
        logger.error(f"Failed to analyze {app_id}: {e}")
        return None

# Use in production
app_ids = ['com.app1', 'com.app2', 'com.app3']
results = []

for app_id in app_ids:
    app = safe_analyze_app(app_id)
    if app:
        results.append(app)

print(f"Successfully analyzed {len(results)}/{len(app_ids)} apps")

Batch Processing with Error Handling#

from gplay_scraper import GPlayScraper
from gplay_scraper.exceptions import GPlayScraperError

scraper = GPlayScraper()

app_ids = ['com.app1', 'com.app2', 'invalid.app', 'com.app3']

successful = []
failed = []

for app_id in app_ids:
    try:
        app = scraper.app_analyze(app_id)
        if app:
            successful.append(app)
    except GPlayScraperError as e:
        failed.append((app_id, str(e)))

print(f"Successful: {len(successful)}")
print(f"Failed: {len(failed)}")

if failed:
    print("\nFailed apps:")
    for app_id, error in failed:
        print(f"  {app_id}: {error}")

Best Practices#

Always handle exceptions in production code
Use specific exceptions when possible instead of catching all
Log errors for debugging and monitoring
Implement retries for transient failures
Use graceful degradation - continue processing even if some items fail
Monitor error rates to detect issues early

Error Handling

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