new

 my $wc = new WWW::Comic;

Creates a new WWW::Comic object.

comics

 my @comics = $wc->comics(probe => 1);

Returns a list of available comics. The "probe" paramater is optional. (See below).

probe

This paramater is an optional boolean value supported by a few plugins that do not automatically know what comics they support. Specifying a boolean true value for this paramater will tell those plugins that they should make HTTP requests to find out what comics they can make available. Plugins should cache this information in memory once they have performed an initial probe.

strip_url

 # Get the URL of the most recent "mycomic" comic image
 my $url = $wc->strip_url(comic => "mycomic");
 
 # Get the URl of a specific "mycomic" comic image
 my $specificStripUrl = $wc->strip_url(
                             comic => "mycomic",
                             id => 990317
                         );

Returns the URL of a comic strip. The "comic" paramater is mandatory and must be a valid supported comic as listed by the "comics()" method. The most recent comic strip image URL will be returned unless otherwise specified (see the "id" paramater below).

This method will return an "undef" value upon failure.

The "id" paramater is optional and can be used to specify a specific comic (if supported by the plugin in question). Comic IDs are typically date based in some way, but this is unique to each comic and follows no special format for the purposes of this module. See each plugin module's documentation for further information.

comic

This paramater is mandatory. It specifies the comic that this method should process. See the "comics()" method.

id

This paramater is optional. It specifies a specfic comic that should be processed.

get_strip

 # Retrieve the most recent "mycomic" comic strip image
 my $imageBlob = $wc->get_strip(comic => "mycomic");
 
 # Retrieve a specific "mycomic" comic strip image
 my $image2 = $wc->get_strip(
                        comic => "mycomic",
                        id => "0042304973"
                    );

Downloads a copy of a comic strip image and returns the binary data as a scalar. The "comic" paramater is mandatory and must be a valid supported comic as listed by the "comics()" method. The most recent comic strip image will be returned unless otherwise specified.

This method will return an "undef" value upon failure.

comic

This paramater is mandatory. It specifies the comic that this method should process. See the "comics()" method.

id

This paramater is optional. It specifies a specfic comic that should be processed.

url

This paramater is optional. It specifies a specific comic that should be processed. If specified it must be a fully qualified and valid absolute HTTP URL. This paramater is typically only used when being called indirectly by the "mirror_strip()" method.

mirror_strip

 # Write the most recent "mycomic" comic strip to disk
 # and return the name of the file that was written
 my $filename = $wc->mirror_strip(comic => "mycomic");
 
 # Write the "mycomic" comic strip image (reference 132)
 # to disk, specifcally to mycomic.gif, and return the
 # actual filename that was written to disk in to $file2
 my $file2 = $wc->mirror_strip(
                       comic => "mycomic",
                       id => "132",
                       filename => "mycomic.gif"
                  );

Download a copy of a comic strip image and write it to disk, returning the name of the file that was actually written. This method accepts the same paramaters as the "get_strip()" method, with the addition of the "filename" paramater.

This method will return an "undef" value upon failure.

comic

This paramater is mandatory. It specifies the comic that this method should process. See the "comics()" method.

id

This paramater is optional. It specifies a specfic comic that should be processed.

url

This paramater is optional. It specifies a specific comic that should be processed. If specified it must be a fully qualified and valid absolute HTTP URL.

filename

This paramater is optional. It specifiec the target filename that you would like to be written to disk. If you do not supply an image file extension, one will be added for you automatically. If you specify an image file extension that differs to the file format of the file that is to ultimately be written disk, it will be altered for you automatically.

plugins

 my @plugins = $wc->plugins;

Return a list of loaded plugins.