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Determining a valid URL

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg112707] Determining a valid URL
• From: Mark Coleman <markspcoleman at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 06:02:20 -0400 (EDT)

Greetings,

I am exploring the use of  Mathematica (v7) to import information from web
sites. One step in my procedure is to validate that a given web
address is valid. One simple way that seems to work most of the time
is to use the Import["my url"] command. An invalid web site (e.g.,
mispelled URL, etc) returns a $Failed. But I've found instances where
valid web sites also return a $Failed if I issue the Import command
with no argument. For these sites, Import seems to work if I use
"Source".

I'm trying to understand this behavior better, so I can write a more
general URL checker (note: I am seeking to extract "Plaintext" from
these sites, and using "Plaintext" as the second argument in the
Import statement also yields a $Failed!)

Best,

Mark