NAME
weblint - pick fluff off web pages (HTML)
SYNOPSIS
weblint [ -d id ] [ -e id ] [ -f filename ] [ -i ] [ -l ] [ -s ] [ -
stderr ] [ -t ] [ -todo ] [ -help ] [ -U ] [ -urlget command ] [ -v ] [
-version ] [ -warnings ] [ -x extension ] 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:
+ 46 different checks and warnings
+ Warnings can be enabled/disabled individually, as per your
preference
+ basic structure and syntax checks
+ warnings for use of unknown elements and element attributes.
+ context checks (where a tag must appear within a certain ele-
ment).
+ overlapped or illegally nested elements.
+ do IMG elements have ALT text?
+ flags obsolete elements.
+ support for user and site configuration files
+ checks for html which is not portable across all browsers
+ flags markup embedded in comments, since this can confuse some
browsers
+ support for Netscape, Java, and Microsoft HTML extensions
+ HTML 3 elements such as TABLE, MATH, and FIG are supported
OPTIONS
-d warning-identifier
Disable the warning associated with the identifier. Multiple iden-
tifiers can be specified, with a comma between identifiers.
-e warning-identifier
Enable the warning associated with the identifier. Multiple iden-
tifiers can be specified, with a comma between identifiers.
-f config-file
Specify a weblint configuration file which should be used in place
of the user's default config file, or the site configuration file.
-help
Show a short usage summary.
-i Ignore case of element tags.
-l 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.
-pedantic
Turn on all warnings except the case-sensitive and bad-link warn-
ings.
-s Generate `short' warning messages, which do not include the
filename.
-stderr
Print warning messages to STDERR rather than STDOUT.
-t Enable terse warning mode, which is mainly useful for the weblint
testsuite.
-U Same as -help.
-urlget command
The command which should be used to retrieve HTML pages specified
by URL.
-version
Display the version number.
-todo
This prints out the URL for the online version of the weblint ToDo
list. This includes known bugs, and requested/planned features.
-warnings
List all supported warnings, with warning identifier, and whether
the warning is enabled.
-x extension
Include checks for the specified HTML extension; multiple exten-
sions can be specified, separated with a comma. Currently the only
extensions supported are Netscape and Java. This can also be set
in your weblint configuration file, described below.
HTML EXTENSIONS
Weblint supports a number of extensions to html, which are not recog-
nized by default. For example, weblint will complain that the BLINK
element is not known, unless you enable the Netscape extension. The
following extensions are currently supported:
Netscape
The HTML extensions supported by the Netscape browser, version 2.1.
Microsoft
The HTML extensions supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer, ver-
sion 2.1.
Java The extensions supported by Java-enhanced browsers. This is the
APPLET and PARAM elements.
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 Java extensions (APPLET and PARAM elements)
extension Java
Multiple extensions can be enabled at the same time - they are separated
with a comma, when using either mechanism:
% weblint -x Netscape,Java foobar.html
extension Netscape,Java
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
ing has a short identifier string, used to refer to the warning in con-
fig 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
# or, to enable both Netscape and Java extensions
extension Netscape,Java
# 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
All warnings generated by weblint are listed below, along with the asso-
ciated 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
WEBLINTRC
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.
TMPDIR
The directory where weblint will create temporary working files.
Defaults to /usr/tmp.
FILES
$HOME/.weblintrc
The user's configuration file. See the section `CONFIGURATION
FILE'.
SEE ALSO
perl(1)
VERSION
This man page describes weblint 1.017.
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.
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 Grin-
bergs <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>.