@end iftex
@c This should really be auto-generated!
-@set VERSION 1.7-dev
-@set UPDATED Jan 2001
+@set VERSION 1.7-pre1
+@set UPDATED May 2001
@dircategory Net Utilities
@dircategory World Wide Web
This manual documents version @value{VERSION} of GNU Wget, the freely
available utility for network download.
-Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 Free Software
+Foundation, Inc.
@menu
* Overview:: Features of Wget.
Without @samp{-c}, the previous example would just download the remote
file to @file{ls-lR.Z.1}, leaving the truncated @file{ls-lR.Z} file
-alone.
+alone.
+
+Beginning with Wget 1.7, if you use @samp{-c} on a non-empty file, and
+it turns out that the server does not support continued downloading,
+Wget will refuse to start the download from scratch, which would
+effectively ruin existing contents. If you really want the download to
+start from scratch, remove the file.
-If you use @samp{-c} on a file which is now smaller on the server than
-locally (presumably because it was changed on the server since your last
-download attempt), the file will be re-downloaded from scratch.
-Unfortunately this also happens if the local file is the same length as
-the server file---this will be fixed in a future version of Wget, but in
-the meantime you can use @samp{--timestamping} to prevent this on files
-for which the server gives timestamps (e.g. static files but not CGI
-output or @sc{http} directory listings).
+Also beginning with Wget 1.7, if you use @samp{-c} on a file which is of
+equal size as the one on the server, Wget will refuse to download the
+file and print an explanatory message. The same happens when the file
+is smaller on the server than locally (presumably because it was changed
+on the server since your last download attempt)---because ``continuing''
+is not meaningful, no download occurs.
On the other side of the coin, while using @samp{-c}, any file that's
bigger on the server than locally will be considered an incomplete
-download and only @code{(length(server) - length(local))} bytes will
-be downloaded and tacked onto the end of the local file. This behavior
-can be desirable in certain cases---for instance, you can use @samp{wget
--c} to download just the new portion that's been appended to a data
+download and only @code{(length(remote) - length(local))} bytes will be
+downloaded and tacked onto the end of the local file. This behavior can
+be desirable in certain cases---for instance, you can use @samp{wget -c}
+to download just the new portion that's been appended to a data
collection or log file.
However, if the file is bigger on the server because it's been
Caching is allowed by default.
+@cindex cookies
+@item --cookies=on/off
+When set to off, disable the use of cookies. Cookies are a mechanism
+for maintaining server-side state. The server sends the client a cookie
+using the @code{Set-Cookie} header, and the client responds with the
+same cookie upon further requests. Since cookies allow the server
+owners to keep track of visitors and for sites to exchange this
+information, some consider them a breach of privacy. The default is to
+use cookies; however, @emph{storing} cookies is not on by default.
+
+@cindex loading cookies
+@cindex cookies, loading
+@item --load-cookies @var{file}
+Load cookies from @var{file} before the first HTTP retrieval. The
+format of @var{file} is one used by Netscape and Mozilla, at least their
+Unix version.
+
+@cindex saving cookies
+@cindex cookies, saving
+@item --save-cookies @var{file}
+Save cookies from @var{file} at the end of session. Cookies whose
+expiry time is not specified, or those that have already expired, are
+not saved.
+
@cindex Content-Length, ignore
@cindex ignore length
@item --ignore-length
@cindex link conversion
@item -k
@itemx --convert-links
-Convert the non-relative links to relative ones locally. Only the
-references to the documents actually downloaded will be converted; the
-rest will be left unchanged.
+After the download is complete, convert the links in the document to
+make them suitable for local viewing. This affects not only the visible
+hyperlinks, but any part of the document that links to external content,
+such as embedded images, links to style sheets, hyperlinks to non-HTML
+content, etc.
+
+Each link will be changed in one of the two ways:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+The links to files that have been downloaded by Wget will be changed to
+refer to the file they point to as a relative link.
+
+Example: if the downloaded file @file{/foo/doc.html} links to
+@file{/bar/img.gif}, also downloaded, then the link in @file{doc.html}
+will be modified to point to @samp{../bar/img.gif}. This kind of
+transformation works reliably for arbitrary combinations of directories.
+
+@item
+The links to files that have not been downloaded by Wget will be changed
+to include host name and absolute path of the location they point to.
+
+Example: if the downloaded file @file{/foo/doc.html} links to
+@file{/bar/img.gif} (or to @file{../bar/img.gif}), then the link in
+@file{doc.html} will be modified to point to
+@file{http://@var{hostname}/bar/img.gif}.
+@end itemize
+
+Because of this, local browsing works reliably: if a linked file was
+downloaded, the link will refer to its local name; if it was not
+downloaded, the link will refer to its full Internet address rather than
+presenting a broken link. The fact that the former links are converted
+to relative links ensures that you can move the downloaded hierarchy to
+another directory.
Note that only at the end of the download can Wget know which links have
-been downloaded. Because of that, much of the work done by @samp{-k}
-will be performed at the end of the downloads.
+been downloaded. Because of that, the work done by @samp{-k} will be
+performed at the end of all the downloads.
@cindex backing up converted files
@item -K
Enable/disable host-prefixed file names. @samp{-nH} disables it.
@item continue = on/off
-Enable/disable continuation of the retrieval---the same as @samp{-c}
-(which enables it).
+If set to on, force continuation of preexistent partially retrieved
+files. See @samp{-c} before setting it.
@item background = on/off
Enable/disable going to background---the same as @samp{-b} (which
@item convert links = on/off
Convert non-relative links locally. The same as @samp{-k}.
+@item cookies = on/off
+When set to off, disallow cookies. See the @samp{--cookies} option.
+
+@item load_cookies = @var{file}
+Load cookies from @var{file}. See @samp{--load-cookies}.
+
+@item save_cookies = @var{file}
+Save cookies to @var{file}. See @samp{--save-cookies}.
+
@item cut_dirs = @var{n}
Ignore @var{n} remote directory components.