phpman > perldoc > LWP::Simple

NAME
    LWP::Simple - simple procedural interface to LWP

SYNOPSIS
     perl -MLWP::Simple -e 'getprint "http://www.sn.no"'

     use LWP::Simple;
     $content = get("http://www.sn.no/");
     die "Couldn't get it!" unless defined $content;

     if (mirror("http://www.sn.no/", "foo") == RC_NOT_MODIFIED) {
         ...
     }

     if (is_success(getprint("http://www.sn.no/"))) {
         ...
     }

DESCRIPTION
    This module is meant for people who want a simplified view of the libwww-perl library. It should
    also be suitable for one-liners. If you need more control or access to the header fields in the
    requests sent and responses received, then you should use the full object-oriented interface
    provided by the LWP::UserAgent module.

    The module will also export the LWP::UserAgent object as $ua if you ask for it explicitly.

    The user agent created by this module will identify itself as "LWP::Simple/#.##" and will
    initialize its proxy defaults from the environment (by calling "$ua->env_proxy").

FUNCTIONS
    The following functions are provided (and exported) by this module:

  get
        my $res = get($url);

    The get() function will fetch the document identified by the given URL and return it. It returns
    "undef" if it fails. The $url argument can be either a string or a reference to a URI object.

    You will not be able to examine the response code or response headers (like "Content-Type") when
    you are accessing the web using this function. If you need that information you should use the
    full OO interface (see LWP::UserAgent).

  head
        my $res = head($url);

    Get document headers. Returns the following 5 values if successful: ($content_type,
    $document_length, $modified_time, $expires, $server)

    Returns an empty list if it fails. In scalar context returns TRUE if successful.

  getprint
        my $code = getprint($url);

    Get and print a document identified by a URL. The document is printed to the selected default
    filehandle for output (normally STDOUT) as data is received from the network. If the request
    fails, then the status code and message are printed on STDERR. The return value is the HTTP
    response code.

  getstore
        my $code = getstore($url, $file)

    Gets a document identified by a URL and stores it in the file. The return value is the HTTP
    response code.

  mirror
        my $code = mirror($url, $file);

    Get and store a document identified by a URL, using *If-modified-since*, and checking the
    *Content-Length*. Returns the HTTP response code.

STATUS CONSTANTS
    This module also exports the HTTP::Status constants and procedures. You can use them when you
    check the response code from "getprint" in LWP::Simple, "getstore" in LWP::Simple or "mirror" in
    LWP::Simple. The constants are:

       RC_CONTINUE
       RC_SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS
       RC_OK
       RC_CREATED
       RC_ACCEPTED
       RC_NON_AUTHORITATIVE_INFORMATION
       RC_NO_CONTENT
       RC_RESET_CONTENT
       RC_PARTIAL_CONTENT
       RC_MULTIPLE_CHOICES
       RC_MOVED_PERMANENTLY
       RC_MOVED_TEMPORARILY
       RC_SEE_OTHER
       RC_NOT_MODIFIED
       RC_USE_PROXY
       RC_BAD_REQUEST
       RC_UNAUTHORIZED
       RC_PAYMENT_REQUIRED
       RC_FORBIDDEN
       RC_NOT_FOUND
       RC_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED
       RC_NOT_ACCEPTABLE
       RC_PROXY_AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED
       RC_REQUEST_TIMEOUT
       RC_CONFLICT
       RC_GONE
       RC_LENGTH_REQUIRED
       RC_PRECONDITION_FAILED
       RC_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE
       RC_REQUEST_URI_TOO_LARGE
       RC_UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE
       RC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
       RC_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
       RC_BAD_GATEWAY
       RC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
       RC_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT
       RC_HTTP_VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED

CLASSIFICATION FUNCTIONS
    The HTTP::Status classification functions are:

  is_success
        my $bool = is_success($rc);

    True if response code indicated a successful request.

  is_error
        my $bool = is_error($rc)

    True if response code indicated that an error occurred.

CAVEAT
    Note that if you are using both LWP::Simple and the very popular CGI module, you may be
    importing a "head" function from each module, producing a warning like "Prototype mismatch: sub
    main::head ($) vs none". Get around this problem by just not importing LWP::Simple's "head"
    function, like so:

            use LWP::Simple qw(!head);
            use CGI qw(:standard);  # then only CGI.pm defines a head()

    Then if you do need LWP::Simple's "head" function, you can just call it as
    "LWP::Simple::head($url)".

SEE ALSO
    LWP, lwpcook, LWP::UserAgent, HTTP::Status, lwp-request, lwp-mirror