A Quick introduction to TLink
Presentation
TLink is an engine, capable of browsing the WWW. The goal of TLink is to perform various tasks on the WWW. TLink is made of two main parts, an engine, which is the browser itself, and plugins, which allow TLink to perform the tasks you want. So it is very easy to use TLink for almost any tasks you have to do since you just have to create or use the appropriate plugin.
A very simple introduction
To simplify, we can consider that Tlink browses the pages one by one. When TLink browses a page, it parses the page and retrieves all the links that are on the page. Then TLink start browsing another page, a link contained on the previous page for exemple. It is easy to understand that if Tlink follows every link it find, the whole internet will be browsed, what is not the aim of course. So we need a system to keep Tlink inside a restricted area, one site for exemple. This is done by the restrictions system, which is described in the next paragraph.
Restrictions
Restrictions are used to tell Tlink where it can go and where it must not go. A link can either be 'included' or 'restricted'. Before browsing a page, TLink will determine the restrictions that will be applied. If the page is defined as included by the restricions, Tlink will download the page, parse it and retrieve all the links contained on it. If the page is restricted, Tlink will just test the page (a HEAD request) without downloading it. TLink will not retrieve any links on restricted pages. By default, all the pages are considered as restricted. You will have to add explicit restrictions to include the pages you want.
Speed
To improve speed, Tlink browses more that one page at the same time. To avoid errors from the browsed site Tlink uses a system of classification of links. There are 3 classes of links. Class 1 links are the dynamic pages (PHP for exemple) which could (maybe) bring errors. For exemple, pages which connect to databases often generates errors if you open more than 3 or 4 connexions. Class 2 links are static content (images, static pages like HTML, files, ...). Static content can generally be tested quite fast. Class 3 links are FTP links. TLink uses a different speed for each class of links. It is recommended to use a slow speed (few simultaneous connexions) on classe 1 and class 3 links. Class 2 links can generally tested with many simultaneous connexions.
Links classification
Of course the classification of links is not perfect. It is easy to determine class 3 links. But for class 1 or 2 links, it is more difficult. The class of a link is guessed according to the extension of the file. By default, a link is always considered as class 1. If a specific extension is found, for exemple .png or .zip, the link will be considered as class 2. TLink natively includes a list of extensions for class 2 links. However you can define you own extensions for class 2 links.
Configuration
TLink can either be configured using the GUI (Graphical User Interface) or using option files. The GUI is very simple and doesn't need much explanations. The option file configuration is more complex. Here is the global syntax :
Option = Value
Where Option is a string identifying the parameter to be configured and Value is the value of the parameter. Option cannot contain spaces. Value must be quoted if it containes spaces (simple or double quotes are accepted).
Any text placed after a # character is ignored.
The detailed list of options is available in the main documentation (options are in english anyway).
To use the GUI you simply need to launch TLink without any paramaters. If you want to use a configuration file, uses the folowing command :
tlink.exe FILE_PATH
Where FILE_PATH is the full path to the option file (NOT QUOTED even if it contains spaces).
For exemple of configuration, have a look at the end of the main documentation.