gistfile1.py

# How it would work in strict python/ Java's HTTPClient

import urllib2
import cookielib
import urllib
import re

csrf_token_re = re.compile(r"csrfmiddlewaretoken.*?value=['\"?](\w+)")

def main():
    host = 'splashchicago.learningu.org'
    cookiejar = cookielib.CookieJar()
    url_opener = urllib2.build_opener()
    url_opener.add_handler(urllib2.HTTPCookieProcessor(cookielib.CookieJar()))
    main_request = urllib2.Request('https://%s/' % host)
    main_response = url_opener.open(main_request)
    match = csrf_token_re.search(main_response.read())
    if match:
        token = match.group(1)
    else:
        raise RuntimeError("Could not get CSRF token.")

    login_request = urllib2.Request('https://%s/myesp/ajax_login/' % host,
                                    urllib.urlencode({
                'username': 'axiak',
                'password': '***password***',
                'csrfmiddlewaretoken': token,
                }))
    response = url_opener.open(login_request)
    # Do stuff with url_opener to open the ajax scheduling pages...

#################################################
# Using python's mechanize library
#################################################

import mechanize


def main():
    host = 'splashchicago.learningu.org'
    br = mechanize.Browser()
    br.open('https://%s/' % host)
    br.select_form(name=br.forms().next().name)
    br['username'] = 'axiak'
    br['password'] = '***password***'
    response = br.submit()
    # Do stuff with br to open the ajax scheduling pages...