NAME
WebFetch::Slashdot - download and save Slashdot (or any Slashdot-compatible) headlines
SYNOPSIS
In perl scripts:
use WebFetch::Slashdot;
From the command line:
perl -w -MWebFetch::Slashdot -e "&fetch_main" -- --dir directory [--segfault] [--alt_url url] [--alt_file file]
Alternative command line to filter out specific authors:
perl -w -MWebFetch::Slashdot -e "&fetch_main" -- --dir directory --filter author [--segfault] [--alt_url url] [--alt_file file]
DESCRIPTION
This module gets the current headlines from Slashdot.org. It can also be directed to other sites because Slashdot's discussion forum software is Open Source and used elsewhere.
The optional --alt_url parameter allows you to select a different URL to get the headlines from.
An optional command-line argument of --filter may be used to filter out specific authors. This is not necessarily recommended but it was in use at SVLUG when this module was first developed.
After this runs, by default the file sdot.html will be created or replaced. If there already was an sdot.html file, it will be moved to Osdot.html. These filenames can be overridden by the --alt_file parameter.
The optional --segfault parameter is a flag that directs WebFetch::Slashdot to retreive headlines from Segfault.org and save them in a segfault.html file. This parameter should not be used at the same time as --alt_url and --alt_file because they will override it.
If WebFetch::Slashdot can find XML::Parser in your Perl libraries, it will fetch Slashdot's XML version of its headlines. Otherwise it will fetch the plain text version.
AUTHOR
WebFetch was written by Ian Kluft for the Silicon Valley Linux User Group (SVLUG). Send patches, bug reports, suggestions and questions to webfetch-maint@svlug.org.