WWW::SearchBroker - Parallel metasearcher for Internet-based services (WWW, IMAP , LDAP, etc.)

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2002-2003 Nathan Bailey. All rights reserved.
LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any later version.
LIMITATIONS
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
DESCRIPTION
See 'perldoc WWW::SearchBroker' and 'Personalised metasearch: Augmenting your brain' <http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/bailey/> for more details.
STATUS:

This code should be considered very much as work-in-progress. Any part of this release could be subject to change. 'Modules list' status is as follows:
Name DSLIP Description Info

WWW::SearchBroker adpOg Parallel metasearcher for 'net services NATE
INSTALLATION
WWW::SearchBroker uses the following modules/distributions. 
        LWP::UserAgent   - required (for non-WWW::Search searching)
        WWW::Search      - required (for handcrafted web searchers)
        Data::Serializer - required (for serialized socket communications)
        Net::LDAP        - required (for LDAP directory searching)
        Mail::IMAPClient - required (for IMAP mailbox searching)
        WWW::Scraper     - optional (for scraper-based searches, esp. Sherlock)

First ensure the above modules/distributions are installed (perhaps by using a command such as 'perl -e "use LWP::UserAgent; use \ WWW::Search; use Net::LDAP; use Mail::IMAPClient; use WWW::Scraper;"') then build/test/install WWW::SearchBroker by doing: 

            perl Makefile.PL
            make
            make test
            make install

This module contains documentation on the object and its methods. Once installed you can use the 'perldoc WWW::SearchBroker' command to obtain the documentation. This package also includes several test scripts with example code.

COMPATIBILITY:

This module was developed on Mac OS X 10.2.5, and has been tested on Red Hat (v8) Linux (kernel 2.4)

TODO
Convert existing file-based comms to debug-only code and use sockets exclusively. Look at using LWP::PUA (ParallelUserAgent) for WWW searches Complete refactoring to use of Common.pm Complete testing of LDAP and WWW components and add to distribution.
BUGS
Bug reports can be sent to the author via his CPAN address.