weblint 1.020(1L)

NAME
weblint - pick fluff off web pages (HTML)

SYNOPSIS
weblint file1 .. fileN

DESCRIPTION
Weblint is a Perl script which picks fluff off HTML pages. Files to be checked are passed on the command-line:
    % weblint foobar.html ./dodgy-files/ index.html
If any of the arguments are directories weblint will recurse in the directory, and check any HTML files found. If an argument is a URL, then weblint will get the file using a URL retrieval program, and then check the file:
    % weblint http://www.foobar.com/
By default weblint will use lynx to retrieve URLs, but this can be over-ridden. A filename of `-' specifies that weblint should read from standard input:
    % lynx -source http://www.foobar.com/ | weblint -
Warnings are generated a la lint:

    home.html(9): unmatched </A> (no matching <A> seen).

Weblint includes the following features:

OPTIONS
Disable the warning associated with the identifier. Multiple identifiers can be specified, with a comma between identifiers. Enable the warning associated with the identifier. Multiple identifiers can be specified, with a comma between identifiers. Specify a weblint configuration file which should be used in place of the user's default config file, or the site configuration file. Show a short usage summary. Ignore case of element tags. When recursing in directories, ignore any files which are symlinks (also known as soft links). This will also cause files on the command-line to be ignored if they are symlinks, unless only one file is given. Turn on all warnings except the case-sensitive and bad-link warnings. Generate `short' warning messages, which do not include the filename. Print warning messages to STDERR rather than STDOUT. Enable terse warning mode, which is mainly useful for the weblint testsuite. Same as -help. The command which should be used to retrieve HTML pages specified by URL. Display the version number. Display the version number. This prints out the URL for the online version of the weblint ToDo list. This includes known bugs, and requested/planned features. List all supported warnings, with warning identifier, and whether the warning is enabled. Include checks for the specified HTML extension; multiple extensions can be specified, separated with a comma. Currently the only extensions supported are Netscape and Microsoft. This can also be set in your weblint configuration file, described below.

HTML EXTENSIONS
Unless you specify otherwise, weblint assumes you are using HTML 3.2. Weblint supports the Netscape and Microsoft HTML extensions in addition. For example, weblint will complain that the BLINK element is not known, unless you enable the Netscape extension. The following extensions are currently supported: The HTML extensions supported by the Netscape browser, version 4. The HTML extensions supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 4.

To enable an extension, you can either use the -x command-line switch:
    % weblint -x Netscape foobar.html
Or you can use the extension keyword in your .weblintrc:
    # enable the Microsoft extensions
    extension Microsoft

CONFIGURATION FILE
Weblint can be configured using a file .weblintrc in your home directory (or a file referenced by the WEBLINTRC environment variable). This file can be used to enable or disable specific warnings, set weblint variables, and include HTML extensions, as described above. Each warning has a short identifier string, used to refer to the warning in config files, and from the command-line. For example, if you want to enable the check for tags in upper-case, but disable the check for obsolete elements, then you would include the following lines in your .weblintrc:

    # specify the command used to retrieve URLs (-urlget switch)
    set url-get = lynx -source
    # the style of warning message to generate (lint, short, or terse)
    set message-style = lint
    # enable warning for tags not in upper-case
    enable upper-case
    # disable the warning for obsolete tags
    disable obsolete
    # enable the Netscape HTML extensions
    extension Netscape
    # when recursing in a directory,
    # ignore files which are symlinks (also known as soft links)
    ignore symlinks

The keywords can be followed by any number of arguments, separated by spaces or tabs. Anything following a `#' is treated as a comment.

A sample configuration file is included in the weblint distribution (as of version 1.004), which mirrors the configuration built-in to weblint.

Weblint also supports a site configuration file. If a user does not have a personal configuration file, then weblint will check for a local site configuration file. To provide such a file, create a directory such as /usr/local/weblint, and create a file global.weblintrc. You need to edit the weblint script and modify the $SITE_DIR variable, which you will find near the top of the file. For example:
    $SITE_DIR = '/usr/local/weblint';
At some point in the future there will be configuration support for weblint, so you won't have to modify the script directly yourself.

If you have a site configuration file, then users can inherit the site defaults by adding the following line at the top of their .weblintrc file:
    use global weblintrc

WARNINGS
All warnings generated by weblint are listed below, along with the associated identifier, and whether the warning is enabled or disabled by default.

TESTSUITE
A simple regression testsuite is included with weblint, in the Perl script test.pl. You can run the testsuite with either of the following commands:
    % make test
    % ./test.pl
The results are printed to STDERR, with a more complete report generated in test.log.

All tests should pass. If any tests fail, please email test.log to the address given in the AUTHOR section below.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
If this variable is defined, and references a file, then weblint will read the referenced file for the user's configuration, rather than $HOME/.weblintrc. The directory where weblint will create temporary working files. Defaults to /usr/tmp.

FILES
The user's configuration file. See the section `CONFIGURATION FILE'.

SEE ALSO
perl(1)

VERSION
This man page describes weblint 1.020.

AVAILABILITY
ftp://ftp.cre.canon.co.uk/pub/weblint/weblint.tar.gz
http://www.cre.canon.co.uk/~neilb/weblint/

KNOWN BUGS
The list of known bugs can be found on the weblint home page:
    http://www.cre.canon.co.uk/~neilb/weblint/todo/
Certain versions of Perl have bugs which are triggered by weblint. You shouldn't experience problems if you have 4.036, or 5.002.

AUTHOR
Neil Bowers, Canon Research Centre Europe
neilb@cre.canon.co.uk

CONTRIBUTIONS
Lots of people have contributed to weblint, in the form of suggestions, bug reports, fixes, and contributed code. Please email me if your name should appear in the roll call below.

Abigail <abigail@mars.ic.iaf.nl>; Anthony Thyssen <anthony@cit.gu.edu.au>; Axel Boldt <axel@uni-paderborn.de>; Barry Bakalor <barry@hal.com>; Bill Arnett <billa@netcom.com>; Bob Friesenhahn <bfriesen@simple.dallas.tx.us>; Mark Gates <mr-gates@uiuc.edu>; Bruce Speyer <bspeyer@texas-one.org>; Chris Siebenmann <cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu>; Clay Webster <clay@unipress.com>; Dana Jacobsen <dana@acm.org>; David Begley <david@bacall.nepean.uws.edu.au>; David J. MacKenzie <djm@va.pubnix.com>; Douglas Brick <dbrick@u.washington.edu>; Gil Citro; Eric de Mund <ead@ixian.com>; Richard Finegold <goldfndr@eskimo.com>; Joerg Heitkoetter <Joerg.Heitkoetter@germany.eu.net>; David Koblas <koblas@homepages.com>; John Labovitz <johnl@ora.com>; Eric Maryniak <E.Maryniak@rgd.nl>; John F. Whitehead <jfw@wral-tv.com> Juergen Schoenwaelder <schoenw@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de>; Frank Steinke <fsteinke@zeta.org.au>; Larry Virden <lvirden@cas.org>; Paul Black <black@lal.cs.byu.edu>; Doug Grinbergs <dougg@qualcomm.com>; Philip Hallstrom <philip@wolfe.net>; Craig Leres <leres@ee.lbl.gov>; Richard Lloyd <R.K.Lloyd@csc.liv.ac.uk>; Charles F. Randall <crandall@dmacc.cc.ia.us>; Robert Schmunk <pcrxs@nasagiss.giss.nasa.gov>; Jeff Schave <schave@engr.wisc.edu>; Jon Thackray <jrmt@uk.gdscorp.com>; Jens Thordarson <thordurh@rhi.hi.is>; Ryan Waldron <rew@nuance.com>; Thomas Leavitt <leavitt@webcom.com>; Tom Neff <tneff@panix.com>; Victor Parada <vparada@inf.utfsm.cl>; Erick Branderhorst <branderhorst@fgg.eur.nl>; Bryan O'Sullivan <bos@serpentine.com>; Alan J. Flavell <FLAVELL@v2.ph.gla.ac.uk>; Raphael Manfredi <Raphael_Manfredi@grenoble.hp.com>; Keith Iosso <a-keithi@microsoft.com>; Chris Lambert <lambertc@sharelink.com>; Tristan Savatier <tristan@creative.net>; Phil Hooper <hooper@bcci.eng.sun.com>; Gerald Viers <grviers@csupomona.edu>; Dean Brissinger <brissing@bvsd.k12.co.us>; Dave Schmitt <dschmi1@gl.umbc.edu>; John Van Essen <vanes002@maroon.tc.umn.edu>; Brandon Bell <brandon@arcs.bcit.bc.ca>; Fumio Moriya and Toshiaki Nomura <dsfrsoft@oai6.yk.fujitsu.co.jp>; Vincent Lefevre <vlefevre@ens-lyon.fr>; Jason Mathews <mathews@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov>; Lars Balker Rasmussen <lbr@mjolner.dk>; Richard L. Hawes <rhawes@dmapub.dma.org>.