$aim->get_info($screen_name)

      Sends an info request to the server for $screen_name.
      The server should reply with a URL which will contain
      the info requested about the user.
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use Data::Dumper;
...
my $result = $aim->get_info("screenname");
print Dumper($result);
...
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Trying to get the info of a 7 character screenname and using Data::Dumper, it simply prints:
$VAR1 = 27;
(Notice the 20+7 pattern)

I checked the source code of Net::AIM::Connection, where the get_info method is defined, and found that it returns the value returned by the send_to_AOL method. The following is the code of send_to_AOL:


sub send_to_AOL {
   ...
   my $rv = send($self->{_socket}, $data, 0);
   ...
   return $rv;
}
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Note that the return value of socket send is the number of characters sent. That explains why you are getting a numeric value in the return value of get_info. You have found a bug in the Net::AIM::Connection module it seems. ;-)

I think you might be able to get around this problem by calling the method do_one_loop after the get_info, where do_one_loop reads the socket:


$aim->get_info("screenname");
$response = $aim->do_one_loop();
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My suggestion: switch to Net::OSCAR, which is much better documented. (there you need to create a callback/handler for 'buddy_info', maybe its the same name for the event in Net::AIM?)

C.