get("http://user:passwd\@www.somesite.com/subdir/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/po
+st.htm?474")
[download]

$w->form_number(1);
$w->field('Comments', 'woo-hoo');
[download]

$w->submit_form();
[download]

my $r = $w->response();
print 'error_as_HTML: '.$r->error_as_HTML."\n";
[download]

I think the problem is that the ?474 in the url is a dynamic number assigned by the shtml code. That's one thing I have NO idea how to automate. I don't know the logic on how Microsoft generates that number or on how I can make the post.

Do you have any idea? Or can you point me in the right direction? I've given up.

Thanks,
monktim

If that 474 is handed to you from MS, then you need to back up a level to the part of the transaction where you DO get that URL.

As to how mech-dump works, just call "mech-dump --forms URL"

xoxo,
Andy

Thanks Andy,

I installed WWW:Mechanize by just downloading the code, I didn't get the zip which included mech-dump. I found the mech-dump on CPAN and it works like a champ. Thanks.

I found out why my post wasn't working. When I turned on LWP debugging I saw that the user name and password weren't included in the URI for the submit(). The debug output looked somethig like this.

LWP::UserAgent::new: ()
LWP::UserAgent::proxy: http http://xxx.xx.xx.xx:8080
LWP::UserAgent::request: ()
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking www.site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking .site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking .com for cookies
LWP::UserAgent::send_request: GET http://user:pwd@www.site.com/dir/_vt
+i_bin/shtml.exe/post.htm?474
LWP::UserAgent::_need_proxy: Proxied to http://xxx.xx.xx.xx:8080
LWP::Protocol::http::request: ()
LWP::Protocol::collect: read 808 bytes
LWP::Protocol::collect: read 1001 bytes
LWP::UserAgent::request: Simple response: OK
LWP::UserAgent::request: ()
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking www.site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking .site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking site.com for cookies
HTTP::Cookies::add_cookie_header: Checking .com for cookies
LWP::UserAgent::send_request: POST http://www.site.com/dir/_vti_bin/sh
+tml.exe/post.htm?474
LWP::UserAgent::_need_proxy: Proxied to http://xxx.xx.xx.xx:8080
LWP::Protocol::http::request: ()
LWP::Protocol::collect: read 397 bytes
LWP::UserAgent::request: Simple response: Unauthorized
[download]

I thought that since I did the get() with the user:pwd that the post would include it too. Do you know how I can fix this using Mechanize? Here is a code snippet, the first commented out block worked, the second doesn't.

use strict;
use warnings;
use WWW::Mechanize;

# Post article works!
#my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
#$mech ->get('http://user:pwd@www.site.com/dir/post.htm');
#$mech ->form_number(1);
#$mech ->field('Subject', 'test');
#$mech ->field('Comments', 'test');
#$mech ->click();

#Reply article fails!
LWP::Debug::level('+');
my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
$mech->get('http://user:pwd@www.site.com/dir/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/post.h
+tm?474');
$mech->form_number(1);
$mech->field('Comments', 'woo-hoo');
my $response = $mech->submit();
if ($response->is_success) {
  print $response->content;
} else {
  print $response->status_line."\n";
}
exit 0;
[download]

Thanks in advance,
monktim