INSTALLATION PROCEDURE 


This program was built using the GNU autoconf mechanism.  If you are
familiar with GNU applications, then linkcheck should present few problems
especially on the above mentioned platforms. For best results, use gcc.

"Hey! I'm impatient, I only read these things when things go wrong!"
If that is the case, then follow the steps in item #1 below...

1. In a nutshell, to install the application in the default directory,
   ( /usr/local ), run the following commands:
   $ ./configure
   $ make
   $ make install

   This will install the application (linkcheck) in the default directory
   /usr/local/bin.  If that directory is in your PATH, then to run linkcheck 
   and view the online help type:
   $ linkcheck --help

   To learn more about linkcheck, make sure /usr/local/man is in your MANPATH
   and type:
   $ man linkcheck

   For more details, read on. Especially if you want to install linkcheck
   in a directory other that /usr/local/bin

2. Configuration
   The configure script attempts to guess the values which are set
   on your platform.  If all goes well, you should only have to run it
   with some preferred arguments.  The more notable ones are listed
   below:
   --help                 prints the configure script's help section
   --prefix=/some/dir     installs the files in /some/dir
   --bindir=/some/bin     installs the executable in /some/bin
   --mandir=/some/man     installs the man page in /some/man

   Since linkcheck is a pretty esoteric program, I prefer to install it in my
   home directory. If the program is going to be used by many users, then you
   probably want to install it in a publically available bin dir.  To install
   linkcheck in my home directory, this is how I configure it: 

   $ ./configure --prefix=/export/home/jdfulmer

   If you don't already, make sure $HOME/bin and $HOME/man are set appropriately
   in your .profile.  In my case, I set them like this:

   # jdfulmer's profile
   PATH=/export/home/jdfulmer/bin:$PATH
   MANPATH=/export/home/jdfulmer/man:$MANPATH

   If you don't already, make sure $HOME/bin and $HOME/man are set appropriately
   in your .profile.  In my case, I set them like this:

   # jdfulmer's profile
   PATH=/export/home/jdfulmer/bin:$PATH
   MANPATH=/export/home/jdfulmer/man:$MANPATH

   export PATH MANPATH
   ~
   ~

   To reload your profile without logging out, do this:

   $ . .profile

   If it runs successfully, the configure script creates the Makefiles which
   lets you build the program.  After you configure your environment, the next
   step is to build linkcheck. If that next step fails, you may have to return to
   this step.  Reasons for reconfiguring are mentioned below.  If configure
   failed to create Makefiles, then you have problems which may be beyond the
   scope of this document, such as no compiler ( you'll have to get one ), no
   libraries ( again, an aquisition on your part ).

3. Compilation
   To compile the program, execute the second step of the nutshell version
   mentioned in item #1: type "make" and hope for the best.  If your environment
   was configured without errors, then configure should have generated the Makefiles
   that will enable this step to work.

   The make command will invoke your compiler and build linkcheck.  If you are using
   gcc on any of the platforms mentioned above, then you should not have problems.
   In general, any ANSI C compiler should work.  

   Some systems may require options that were not set by the configure script. You
   can set them using the configure step mentioned above:
   $ CC=c89 CFLAGS=-O2 LIBS=-lposix ./configure

   You can also set them by editing the Makefiles that were created as a result of
   running configure, but this is not preferred.

4. Installation
   If the program compiled successfully, follow the third nutshell step
   and type "make install"  This will install the package in the directories
   that you've selected in the configuration step.  If they are not already,
   make sure PREFIX/bin and PREFIX/man are in your PATH and MANPATH
   respectively. This process is described in detail in item #2.

5. Uninstall
   To remove the package, type "make uninstall"  To make the source
   directory completely clean, type "make distclean".  There are differences
   of opinion regarding this option.  Some people claim that it should not
   be available as it depends the orginal Makefiles from the source
   directory.  Since I tend to hoard all sourcecode, I like this feature. 

6. Read the documentation
   The online help is pretty straight forward ( linkcheck --help ):
   linkcheck 1.20
   Usage: linkcheck [options] URL
   Options:
     -V, --version         VERSION, prints version number to screen.
     -h, --help            HELP, prints this section.
     -v, --verbose         VERBOSE, prints notification to screen.
     -f, --file=FILE       FILE, change the output file to FILE.
     -r, --remote          REMOTE, do not check remote sites (runs faster)
     -p, --port=PORT       PORT, change from standard http port 80 to PORT

   Read the man page:
   $ man linkcheck