HTML::Parse is deprecated... Use HTML::TreeBuilder or HTML::Parser instead. Also, you might want to check out HTML::FormParser since you want to parse forms. For the URL parsing, URI::URL.

See the synopsis of those fine modules for sample scripts.

HTLM::FormParser seems the right module for this problem

From the readme file: This module can be used to parse HTML text for forms. Each type of tag that is commonly found in a form (such as input, select, textarea etc) will trigger callbacks provided at the application level.

The callback routines can then be used to cobble together the URL.

CountZero

"If you have four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler." - Conway's Law

HTML::Form is simpler to use for this sort of thing than HTML::FormParser (and comes with LWP, so it's probably more available).

my $form=HTML::Form->parse($page, $url);
$form->find_input('q1')->value($target);
return $form->click;
[download]

This will extract the first form from the HTML held in $page ($url is used to resolve relative URLs), and then q1 has its value set to $target. Finally, we return an HTTP::Request object (representing the form submission). If you want to turn this into a URL, then invoke uri_as_string on it.

--
Tommy
Too stupid to live.
Too stubborn to die.

update: I'd like to point out that Simon Drabble, the author of Mail::Webmail::Yahoo is also the author of HTML::FormParser, which he uses in Mail::Webmail::Yahoo (along with his other modules) to parse forms, fill them appropriately, and send them back to yahoo .

MJD says you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo! ** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

I was looking at HTML::FormParser and noticed that at the end the module is calling $self->SUPER::parse($data). Can anyone please explain what does this mean? The only thing I can gather is that it is somehow calling HTML::Parser.