lynx-dev Automate Login to set Cookie or Lynxing from a Script

[bjm]

I am new to lynx and have a problem which seems related to Lynx's cookie support.

 

I am using Lynx Version 2.8.1pre.9 (10 Oct 1998) on Redhat Linux 5.2.

 

I use ebay alot. When I want to ask a seller a question, I have to login with my ebay

username/password. A cookie is set in my browser which makes subsequent pages that

contain other ebay usernames also contain their email address. In other words,

the first time you go to this URL:

http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserEmail&requested=bmurphee

 

you are prompted to login. After you login and do a refresh on the above URL

(in the same Netscape window, ie, session), the page will yield the email

address I want.

 

I am trying to write a script that will automate the login and setting of that

cookie so that my script can go on to check on the data from my auctions.

 

Ebay says its cookies are one session only. Lynx documentation I have read says

cookies it supports are one session only. How can I make that cookie information

permanent so that I dont have to login each time I go to those web pages to

get the email addresses? 

 

I am an extreme beginner to shell scripting using awk, sed and perl. Question: If I write

a script that includes a command like

 

lynx -dump URL

 

and then grab data from the output to create something like

 

lynx -dump newupdatedURL

 

have I just created two lynx sessions? Will cookie information carry over to the second

instance of the lynx -dump command?

 

If not, if I can't automate the login and setting of the cookie and have it carry over to

other instances of lynx -dump or -get_data in the script, can anyone suggest something

better.....should I use a Perl library or something like that to better interact with the

logins and setting of the cookies?

 

Any assistance on this is greatly appreciated. Anything--resources I can read, things

I can try, scripts you have written to do similar things that I can look at--all would

be appreciated. I am a beginner so any help is greatly appreciated. Oh, also, I am not

a member of this list but if solid advice comes from this query, I would probably

consider joining. In the meantime, please reply to my address: address@hidden

 

Thanks much!!

 

-brennan

IT for paymentsource.com