NAME
    HTTP::WebTest - Test remote URLs or local web files

DESCRIPTION
  Beta software warning
    THIS IS A BETA VERSION THAT IS A REWRITE OF VERSION 1.07 AND IS PROBABLY
    NOT AS WELL DEBUGGED AS VERSION 1.07. Version 1.07 can be downloaded at
    http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=HTTP-WebTest-1.07

  Introduction
    This module runs tests on remote URLs or local web files containing
    Perl/JSP/HTML/JavaScript/etc. and generates a detailed test report. This
    module can be used "as-is" or its functionality can be extended using
    plugins. Plugins can define test types and provide additional report
    capabilities. This module comes with a set of default plugins but can be
    easily extended with third party plugins.

    The wt script is provided for running "HTTP::WebTest" from the command
    line.

    The test specifications can be read from a parameter file in wtscript
    format or input as method arguments. If you are testing a local file,
    Apache is started on a private/dynamic port with a configuration file in a
    temporary directory.

    The test results can be displayed on the terminal, directed to a file,
    stored in a scalar variable. The test results can also be emailed. The
    report can be modified and extended using report plugins.

    Each URL/web file is tested by fetching it from the web server using a
    local instance of an HTTP user agent. The basic test is simply whether or
    not the fetch was successful. You may also test using literal strings or
    regular expressions that are either required to exist or forbidden to
    exist in the fetched page. You may also specify tests for the minimum and
    maximum number of bytes in the returned page. You may also specify tests
    for the minimum and maximum web server response time.

    Data flow for "HTTP::WebTest" using a remote URL:

              --------------              -------------
              |            |              |           |
              | Input      |------------->|  WebTest  |
              | parameters |              |           |
              |            |              -------------
              --------------                  |   ^
                                              |   |
                                              V   |
              -------------               ------------
              |           |    request    |          |
              | Remote    |<--------------|   HTTP   |
              | webserver |-------------->|   user   |
              |           |    response   |   agent  |
              -------------               |          |
                                          ------------

    Data flow diagram for "HTTP::WebTest" using a local web file:

              --------------           ---------------------
              |            |           |                   |
              | Input      |           |  Web page code    |
              | parameters |           |  (Perl/HTML/etc.) |
              |            |           |                   |
              --------------           ---------------------
                    |                            |
                    |  ---------------------------
                    |  |
                    V  V              ------------------------
              -------------           |                      |
              |           |---------->| Temporary Apache     |
              |  WebTest  |           | directories (htdocs, |
              |           |<----------| conf, logs)          |
              -------------           |                      |
                  |  ^                ------------------------
                  |  |                        |    ^
                  V  |                        V    |
              ------------             ----------------------
              |          |   request   |                    |
              |   HTTP   |------------>| Temporary local    |
              |   user   |             | instance of Apache |
              |   agent  |<------------|                    |
              |          |   response  ----------------------
              ------------

RESTRICTIONS / BUGS
    This module have been tested only on Unix (e.g., Solaris, Linux, AIX,
    etc.) but it should work on Win32 systems.

    Local file tests don't work on Win32 systems.

    The module's HTTP requests time out after 3 minutes (the default value for
    LWP::UserAgent). If the "file_path" parameter is specified, Apache must be
    installed.

SUPPORT
    Please email bug reports, suggestions, questions, etc. to "HTTP::WebTest"
    maillist "http-webtest-general@lists.sourceforge.net". You can sign up at
    http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/http-webtest-general.

AUTHORS
    Richard Anderson <richard@richard-anderson.org> have wrote "HTTP::WebTest
    1.xx".

    Ilya Martynov <ilya@martynov.org> made rewrite of "HTTP::WebTest". New
    version of "HTTP::WebTest" have introduced extended API and plugin based
    architecture.

    Please don't email authors directly. Use "HTTP::WebTest" maillists.

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Richard Anderson. All rights reserved.

    Copyright (c) 2001,2002 Ilya Martynov. All rights reserved.

    This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or
    modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License.
