Re: lynx-dev form fill with Lynx - oops

[David Woolley]

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> How can I correctly tell Lynx (on the command line) to fill in the form in
> the attached document (fastasite.html at http://www2.ebi.ac.uk/fasta3),
> post it, and dump the result of the interaction with the remote host to a
> local file?

You can't do it simply, as it uses multipart/form-data and you cannot
send that content type header value with the post data option.  Chances
are that the server doesn't check and it is also possible that it does
check, and switches to the standard format.

multipart/form-data is basically MIME format, but there are enough 
subtleties that you need to get the spec.

You may be better using something like expect to script the client,
ending up with a print to file command.

Also note the Javascript.  Although I couldn't find the definitions of
the functions and don't think they are built-ins on Netscape, there are
scripts whose names imply that they attempt to take browser specific
actions and to try and fake a connection oriented environment by trying
to tell the server when you finally leave the page.  You may need to
understand the purpose of these.

If this is a read only query, I would suggest that your best option is
to ask them to convert it into a standard GET mode form.  One reason
for them refusing might be that automatic fetching conflicts with their
business model, e.g. by preventing you from seeing sponsors adverts.
(Even universities are interested in any source of revenue they can find
in the UK as the government is increasingly withdrawing funding.)

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