following links in php

[backpacklondon.com]

Is there a function in php that will allow easy following of links or would I need to carry out string manipulation (i.e. do it manually) with strpos and substr e.t.c...

The idea is to index different sites for the purposes of a search engine.....


Thanks if you can help,

Jason

[TWTCommish]

It would probably have to be done with string manipulation - or a JavaScript - JavaScript uses a links[] array automatically populated by all the links on the page - things like the HREF attribute can be access this way if you know the name (or index number/order) of the link on the page.

[kunal]

Couldnt you just read the whole page into one variable eg, $webapge. And then check for http:// or href= using Regular Expression?

[backpacklondon.com]

Thanks - I just wanted to confirm there's no way other than good old fashioned string manipulation...


Cheers,

Jason

[TWTCommish]

Originally posted by kunal
Couldnt you just read the whole page into one variable eg, $webapge. And then check for http:// or href= using Regular Expression?

Ack - I don't know too much about Regular Expressions, but that would probably be a big pain in the you-know-what.

[kunal]

Originally posted by TWTCommish


Ack - I don't know too much about Regular Expressions, but that would probably be a big pain in the you-know-what.

lol.. thats true when your new to it. But once you get used to it, its an awesome thing to use.