NAME

WWW::Search::AltaVista - class for searching www.altavista.com

SYNOPSIS

    require WWW::Search;
    $search = new WWW::Search('AltaVista');

DESCRIPTION

This class is an AltaVista specialization of WWW::Search. It handles making and interpreting AltaVista searches http://www.altavista.com.

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

OPTIONS

The default is "any of these words" (OR of query terms).

aqa=all+of+these+words: Add the AND of these words to the query.
aqp=this+exact+phrase: Add "this exact phrase" to the query.
aqo=any+of+these+words: Add the OR of these words to the query. This is where the query is placed by default.
aqn=none+of+these+words: Add NOT these words to the query.
aqb=(boolean+AND+expression)+NEAR+entry: Add a boolean expression to the query. Operators are AND, OR, AND NOT, and NEAR. In the browser interface, the boolean expression can not be combined with any other query types listed above. You should probably build the boolean expression with parentheses and spaces and urlescape it.
aqs=these+words: Pages containing "these words" will be ranked highest.
kgs=[0,1]: To restrict the search to U.S. websites, set kgs=1. The default is world-wide, kgs=0.
kls=[0,1]: To restrict the search to pages in English and Spanish, set kls=1. The default is no language restrictions, kls=0.
filetype=[html,pdf]: To restrict the search to HTML pages only, set filetype=html. To restrict the search to PDF pages only, set filetype=pdf. The default is no restriction on page type, filetype=.
rc=dmn&swd=net+org+or.jp: To restrict the search to pages from certain domains, set rc=dmn and set swd to a list of desired toplevel domains.
rc=url&lh=www.sandcrawler.com/SWB: To restrict the search to pages from a particular site, set rc=url and set lh to the site name and path. Leave off the http:// from the site.

PUBLIC METHODS

gui_query

Call this instead of native_query() if you want to get the same results as your average Joe web surfer.

PRIVATE METHODS

native_setup_search

This private method does the heavy lifting after you call native_query() or gui_query().

parse_tree

This private method does the hard work of parsing the results out of the HTML.

BUGS

Not all of the above options have been tested.
Please report bugs and send feature requests via email to "bug-WWW-Search-AltaVista@rt.cpan.org", or via the web interface at <https://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=WWW-Search-AltaVista>.

AUTHOR

Written by John Heidemann, "johnh@isi.edu"; maintained by Martin Thurn, "mthurn@cpan.org".

LICENSE

This software is released under the same license as Perl itself.

COPYRIGHT

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

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.