Path: usenet.cise.ufl.edu!newsfeeds.nerdc.ufl.edu!newsfeeds.nerdc.ufl.edu!news.magicnet.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nntp.abs.net!outfeed1.news.cais.net!news.neta.com!not-for-mail From: John Heidemann Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.modules Subject: WWW::Search 1.021 released Followup-To: comp.lang.perl.modules Date: 28 Aug 1998 14:51:29 GMT Organization: Internet Access Inc. NetA.Com Lines: 136 Approved: merlyn@stonehenge.com (comp.lang.perl.announce) Message-ID: <6s6g5h$24l$1@news.neta.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gadget.cscaper.com X-Trace: news.neta.com 904315889 2197 206.67.186.3 (28 Aug 1998 14:51:29 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@neta.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 28 Aug 1998 14:51:29 GMT X-Disclaimer: The "Approved" header verifies header information for article transmission and does not imply approval of content. Xref: usenet.cise.ufl.edu comp.lang.perl.announce:120 comp.lang.perl.modules:3662 WWW::Search and AutoSearch ========================== WHAT IS NEW WITH WWW::Search 1.021? (27-Aug-98) ------------------------------------------------ overview: a general release - new: Windows installation is now supported by Jim Smyser ; please see his web page for details. - new: MacPerl should now be supported. Thanks to Chris Nandor for the problem and a fix. - bug fix: Infoseek, WebCrawler, Dejanews, HotBot by Martin Thurn - bug fix: AltaVista approx_count bug found by Darren Stalder - bug fix: documentation cleanups from Neil Bowers Since the recent 1.020 was not widely announced, here's what was new then: 1.020, 12-Aug-98 overview: lots of bug fixes and new back-ends - bug fix: maximum_to_retrieve now works for very small values. (Problem identified by Vidyut Luther .) - new back-ends: ExciteForWebServers, FolioViews, Livelink, MSIndexServer, Null, Search97 all from Paul Lindner (thanks!) - bug fix: Gopher, PLweb, SFgate, Simple, Verity from Paul Lindner - bug fix: Lycos from John Heidemann - new test suites: PLweb, FolioViews, Null, MSIndexServer, Search97, SFgate, ExciteForWebServers rom Paul Lindner - bug fix: HotBot repair from Martin Thurn Note: WWW::Search may have problems with older libwww's (5.08). If "make test" dies with an error in RobotUA, upgrade libwww. (Tested with libwww-5.30.) WHAT IS WWW::Search? -------------------- WWW::Search is a collection of Perl modules which provide an API to WWW search engines. Currently WWW::Search includes back-ends for variations of AltaVista, Dejanews, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Magellan, PLweb, SFgate, Verity, WebCrawler, and Yahoo. We include two applications built from this library: AutoSearch (an program to automate tracking of search results over time), and WebSearch, a small demonstration program to drive the library. Back-ends for other search engines and more sophisticated clients are currently under development. Because WWW::Search depends on parsing the HTML output of web search engines it will fail of the search engine operators change their format (an unfortunately frequent occurrence). WWW::Search includes a test suite for most back-ends which verifies that it's functioning correctly. As of the day of the release the current back-end status is: AltaVista working Dejanews working Excite working ExciteForWebServers working FolioViews working Gopher not working? (not in test suite) HotBot working Infoseek working Livelink not working? (not in test suite) Lycos working Magellan not working (maybe gone?) MSIndexServer working Null working PLweb working Search97 working SFgate working Simple not working? (not in test suite) Verity not working (not in test suite) WebCrawler working? Yahoo working Yahoo's test suites are sometimes flakey. (others are currently under development, see contributors below for details) WHAT IS AutoSearch? ------------------- WWW::Search's primary client is AutoSearch. AutoSearch performs a web-based search and puts the results set in a web page. It periodically updates this web page, indicating how the search changes over time. Sample output from WWW::Search can be found at . Output format is configurable. See the man page for AutoSearch details, or Demonstration section below for the quick-start instructions. REQUIREMENTS ------------ WWW::Search requires Perl5 and libwww-perl. For information on Perl5, see . For libwww-perl, see . Both are also available from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit to find a CPAN site near you. At this time WWW::Search is tested under Perl version 5.004_04. AVAILABILITY ------------ The latest version of WWW::Search should always be available from . Alpha releases are only available here (not at CPAN). WWW::Search is also available as part of CPAN. Visit to find a CPAN site near you. Feedback about WWW::Search is encouraged. If you're using it for a neat application, please let us know. If you'd like to (or have) implemented a new back-end for WWW::Search, let us know so we don't duplicate work.