Creating basic HTML pages is easy, but creating pages that comply with HTML specifications is not. Everybody makes mistakes and not everybody knows all the rules. Have you ever forgotten to add that </BODY> tag to the bottom of a page? Did you know that the <TITLE> </TITLE> tag pair should be enveloped in the <HEAD> </HEAD> tag pair? This is where WebLint steps in. WebLint, a syntax checker for HTML, can parse your pages for any problems and then - for each mistake that it finds - report the line number of the mistake and what it thinks the problem might be. WebLint does not modify documents, so after you see a report, you must manually correct the problems.
The freeware MacWebLint brings the Unix Perl version of WebLint to the Macintosh with the help of MacPerl 5 by Matthias Ulrich Neeracher. To use MacWebLint, you must have a copy of the freeware MacPerl 5 on your hard disk. Once both MacPerl and MacWebLint are installed, all you do is drop files or an entire folder of files on the MacWebLint icon. MacWebLint responds by creating a text file report and placing that file in the same folder as MacWebLint. You can download MacPerl and MacWebLint from the URL below.
<ftp://sparc.clearink.com/pub/mac/>
[As Jon explained it when I asked, "ClearInk provides services associated with marketing products and maintaining a presence in cyberspace, including HTML programming and back-end scripting, pinpointing and capitalizing on strategic areas of the Internet for executing innovative programs, and installing and/or maintaining systems to perpetuate these programs." That sounds like a lot of work, and one thing Jon did to help was to port WebLint to the Macintosh. ClearInk has made the port publicly available; Jon says its partly as a way for ClearInk to "contribute back to the Net for all that we have received." -Tonya]