• NAME
• SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
• SYNOPSIS
• DESCRIPTION
• LINUX SEARCH
• SEE ALSO
• HOW DOES IT WORK?
• TESTING
• AUTHOR
• BUGS
• VERSION HISTORY
• LEGALESE

NAME

WWW::Search::Google - class for searching Google

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

• Windows

SYNOPSIS

use WWW::Search; my $Search = new WWW::Search('Google'); # cAsE matters my $Query = WWW::Search::escape_query(``Where is Jimbo''); $Search->native_query($Query); while (my $Result = $Search->next_result()) { print $Result->url, ``\n''; }

DESCRIPTION

This class is a Google specialization of WWW::Search. It handles making and interpreting Google searches. http://www.google.com.

Googles returns 100 Hits per page. Custom Linux Only search capable.

This class exports no public interface; all interaction should be done through the WWW::Search manpage objects.

LINUX SEARCH

For LINUX lovers like me, you can put Googles in a LINUX only search mode by changing search URL from:

 'search_url' => 'http://www.google.com/search',

to:

 'search_url' => 'http://www.google.com/linux',

SEE ALSO

To make new back-ends, see the WWW::Search manpage.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

native_setup_search is called (from WWW::Search::setup_search) before we do anything. It initializes our private variables (which all begin with underscore) and sets up a URL to the first results page in {_next_url}.

native_retrieve_some is called (from WWW::Search::retrieve_some) whenever more hits are needed. It calls WWW::Search::http_request to fetch the page specified by {_next_url}. It then parses this page, appending any search hits it finds to {cache}. If it finds a ``next'' button in the text, it sets {_next_url} to point to the page for the next set of results, otherwise it sets it to undef to indicate we''re done.

TESTING

This module adheres to the WWW::Search test suite mechanism.

AUTHOR

This backend is written and maintained/supported by Jim Smyser. <jsmyser@bigfoot.com>

BUGS

Google is not an easy search engine to parse in that it is capable of altering it's output ever so slightly on different search terms. There may be new slight results output the author has not yet seen that will pop at any given time for certain searches. So, if you think you see a bug keep the above in mind and send me the search words you used so I may code for any new variations.

VERSION HISTORY

2.17 Insert url as a title when no title is found.

2.13 New regexp to parse newly found results format with certain search terms.

2.10 removed warning on absence of description; new test case

2.09 Google NOW returning url and title on one line.

2.07 Added a new parsing routine for yet another found result line. Added a substitute for whacky url links some queries can produce. Added Kingpin's new hash_to_cgi_string() 10/12/99

2.06 Fixed missing links / regexp crap.

2.05 Matching overhaul to get the code parsing right due to multiple tags being used by google on the hit lines. 9/25/99

2.02 Last Minute description changes 7/13/99

2.01 New test mechanism 7/13/99

1.00 First release 7/11/99

LEGALESE

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.