BBEdit Remote Link Checker

Introduction

The BBEdit Remote Link Checker is a BBEdit extension for web authoring that allows you to check all of the remote http and ftp links in a web page. It installs a "Check Remote Links..." command to the internet window. An error browser window is used to present the bad links. It is compatible with BBEdit 3.5 or later, including BBEdit Lite.

The BBEdit Remote Link Checker is shareware. A single user license is $10. You can register using the enclosed Register program.

Latest version

The latest version is 1.1, dated 1/8/97.

Usage

When you choose "Check Remote Links...", you are presented with a dialog that lets you specify the base URL. This is used for relative links. For example, <a href="otherpage.html">. If you set the base URL to "http://mysite.com/mypath/", then it will look for the URL "http://mysite.com/mypath/otherpage.html". The extension recognizes the <base href=""> tag, which must be placed in the <head> section. This tag specifies the base URL for the page, and will override what is specified in the dialog box.

You also have the option to just check the selection, if there is one. The selection must contain the full tag. It cannot be just a URL.

Choosing "Check Remote Links..." with the option key down will use the default options, which is the last base URL you used, and checking the entire document.

When you select "Check", the extension will try to contact each site that is referenced, and will return a list of errors, if any.

Scripting Support

The extension can be scripted with AppleScript, using the following interface:

	check remote URL [string]  -- URL to check
	Result: boolean  -- Is link valid?

Acknowlegements

Thanks to Rich Siegel of BareBones, and John C. Daub of Metrowerks.

Dan Crevier