=head1 README for LinkController 0.005

LinkController is a package which is designed to allow the checking
of links in sophisticated ways.  If you have ever noticed that link
checkers spend more time sending you to sites which just happen to be
down for the day due to maintainance problems than to real broken
links, this should be for you.  

LinkController normally works by checking all of your links to a
database during low usage times on your network.  After a few days, it
will have built up a list of those links which are really broken and
you can then examine them and do what repairs and changes are needed.

Once you have the database built, you can selectively report problems
with your links across all of your pages and repair broken ones
rapidly, either using LinkControllers direct substitution system, or
by directly opening the page up in your favorite editor (direct emacs
support is provided).

LinkController includes a system for rapidly changing links through
your html pages, for example as you write new ones.  To do this it
uses the database that it has already built up.

Link controller is based over the World Wide Web capabilities provided
by LibWWW-Perl and as such should be easy to modify and extend.  It
should also be reliable and safe to use.

Link Controller is available under the GNU Public License to protect
your rights as a user of the software.

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Link checking

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Link repair

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network efficient

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works in network low usage time

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obeys robot exclusion rules

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has features for intranet usage

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source code included and protected under the GPL

=back

That the source code is under the GPL means that your right to modify
it is protected and that you can be sure that if you come across a
version of this software in use somewhere, and have to do maintainance
on it, you will at least have access to the source code.  That means
that even if you can't fix it yourself, you can hire someone who can.  

Link controller is user supported software, and no warantee is
provided, no support is guaranteed.  Bugs and patches are gratefully
accepted (link-controller@tardis.ed.ac.uk) no response is guaranteed or
expected.  Of course, if you were willing to pay for support the
situation might be different (mail mikedlr@it.com.pl if contacting me
for commercial reasons).

See the file INSTALL included in the distribution for information on
how to install it.

You can download LinkController from 

	ftp://ftp.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~mikedlr/link-controller

or

	http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/pub/users/mikedlr/link-controller


=head1 Thanks

Thanks must go to various people and institutions which provided
access or help.

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Esoterica Internet Portugal

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IPPT PAN Institute in Poland and in particular

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Piotr Pogorzelszi there

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The Tardis Project at the University of Edinburgh CS Department

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Please see the LinkController user guide included with the
distribution.

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