TITLE

    GetURL.rexx

VERSION

    1.0

AUTHOR

    James Burton

    c/o
    Department of Computer Science & Computer Engineering
    Latrobe University
    Bundoora, Victoria, 3083
    Australia

    EMail:  burton@cs.latrobe.edu.au
    Web:    http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/

DESCRIPTION

    -- Script to download HTML systems across the network --

    GetURL.rexx is an ARexx script which will download World-Wide Web pages.
    With a simple command line it will download a specific page, and with
    more complex command lines it will be able to download specific sets of
    documents.

    The intention was to create a tool that allowed local caching of important
    Web pages and a flexible way of specifying what pages are important. The
    script has no GUI as of yet but may have at some stage in the future.

    If you have ever tried to download and save to disc a 200 page document
    using Mosaic, then you know what this script is for. Mosaic will only
    let you load a page, then load it to disc, then load another page etc.
    This is a very frustrating process. GetURL automates this process and
    will run in batch mode without user intervention.

    The major features of GetURL.rexx are as follows:

    * doesn't require AMosaic, you you can be browsing something else
        with AMosaic whilst this is running

    * save pages to your hard disc so that they can be read offline and
        you can also give them to friends on a floppy disc. Who know, 
        you may even be able to sell discs containing web pages :-)

    * flexible set of command line switches that allow you to restrict the 
        type of pages that it downloads

    * ability to specify files for the lists of URLs that it keeps so
        that any search for pages can be stopped and restarted at a later
        date. i.e. you could run GetURL for 2 hours a day whilst you are
        online and gradually download everything in the entire universe
        and it won't repeat itself.

    * ability to download itself when there are new versions.

    * will use a proxy if you have access to one, in order to both speed up
        access to pages and also to reduce network load.

    * will download binary files (*.gif, *.lha) as easily as text and html
        files.

    * documentation is in the top of the script file.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

    * Until somebody writes a TCP: device for the AS225 TCP/IP protocol
        stack unfortunately this script will require AmiTCP.

    * requires the TCP: device be mounted

    * either restraint, or an extremely large hard disc - your choice :-)

    * This script is no use at all unless you have AmiTCP set up and running.
      If you don't know what this means then please ask me
      (burton@cs.latrobe.edu.au).

LOCATION

    This script is available via

    Anonymous FTP to AmiNet
        wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)
        /pub/aminet/comm/tcp/GetURL-1.0.rexx

        and all of it's mirrors. Please check the closest mirror FIRST.

    HTTP from my university account
        http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~burton/Public/GetURL.rexx
        (this URL will always point to the newest version)

FILE NAMES

    GetURL-1.0.rexx            41770 Bytes
    GetURL-1.0.readme           3874 Bytes

PRICE

    Absolutely free to humans

DISTRIBUTABILITY

    Public domain. But so that a hundred different versions of this don't 
    appear, please send corrections, new features, bug fixes etc. to me
    and I will coordinate.