411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
GET/Site list
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Search Engines
Clusty
Clusty (http://clusty.com) groups the results of other search engines into clusters.
Location: http://clusty.com/search
Arguments:
query=search query http://clusty.com/search?query=hypertext+transfer+protocol
See also
How To Search/Google
http://www.google.com/searchcode.html embedding Google search bar on your web page
Backlinks, Google backlinks, but what is the GET syntax for Altavista and Gooogle?
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff has some techniques for modifying the GET syntax for Google and turning it into a bookmark.
C2: GoogleSearch
describes a way to get a "short URL" into Google Groups.
FreeBSD Manual Pages
FreeBSD's "man.cgi" script presents the online manual pages for several versions of FreeBSD and other manual pages.
Location: http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi
Similar service: http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi
With no arguments: presents an index page with HTML form allowing user to enter query
Arguments:
query=name of a manual page http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=printf
null string: error message http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=
not specified: presents index page deriving default form values from the other arguments http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?sektion=8
sektion=section of manual page http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=printf&sektion=3
1...9: the usual sections
0 or null string: a section containing a matching manual page
manpath=name of operating system (NetBSD+2.0, others)
NetBSD+2.0 manual page from NetBSD 2.0 http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=cgd&manpath=NetBSD+2.0
nonexistent choice: uses latest FreeBSD release and ports http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=nethack&manpath=Government+of+Earth
not specified: uses latest FreeBSD release and ports
apropos=type of query (0 or 1)
0 or null string: present manual page
2 or any greater integer: download a .tar.gz (what???)
1 or anything else: present apropos search (searches the one-line synopsis strings of the manual pages) http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=printf&apropos=1
format=format of result page (html, others)
html: HTML web page
To see pages such as nethack from FreeBSD ports, you must not set manpath to an OS that does not include ports. Note that the choice (currently FreeBSD+5.4-RELEASE+and+Ports) that contains ports changes when the site adds a new version of FreeBSD. Note that if you bookmarked an old manpath (like FreeBSD+5.2-RELEASE+and+Ports) it acts like a nonexistent choice, which by the above list "uses latest FreeBSD release and ports".
Wikis
UseMod
UseMod exists as a Perl script.
Location: http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl and several other places
With no arguments: fetches the front page (same as http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?UseModWiki)
Arguments:
NameOfWikiPage fetch that page http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WhatIsaWiki
RecentChanges read recent changes to wiki http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?RecentChanges
search=string to search for http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=administrator+password
back=NameOfWikiPage search, but call them backlinks http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?back=WhatIsaWiki
compare http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=WhatIsaWiki
works for searching non-links: http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?back=administrator+password
action= (login, others)
login: go to login screen http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?action=login
For more information: UseMod:System
MediaWiki
The MediaWiki PHP script allows users to retrieve and edit wiki pages.
Location: http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php and several other places
With no arguments: redirects to Main Page
Arguments:
title=name of a wiki page fetch that page http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=GET:Site_list
On sites that use slash ("wiki/") in addition to question mark ("index.php?") for URIs, using title without an action gives a different URI from normal. The normal URI would be http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GET:Site_list
not specified: applies action to Main Page http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?action=edit
action=type of action (edit, submit, others)
edit: presents HTML form allowing user to edit a wiki page http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=GET:Site_list&action=edit
submit: if no POST data, same as edit
raw: Displays raw code (using mimetype of text/x-wiki unless overridden by ctype)
purge purges pages cache
history show history
delete
not specified: retrieves the page (using a different than normal URI)
section= section to edit
0 section between title and first header
1 first section (under first header), etc. for 2, 3 ...
new make new section (add comment)
really high number add to end
ctype=: override mime type (only allows specific types)
text/css (Useful, as Firefox displays as plain text. To get around a log in only to see source, do &action=raw&ctype=text/css)
text/javascript (or one of the other mimetypes for js, can't remember)
text/x-wiki
application/x-zope-edit
editintro= Ads an instructional page on top of edit box (needs &action=edit). commonly used in inputbox extension. only works if page doesn't exist
any page in wiki
preload= preload a page's source into editbox (needs &action=edit). only works if page does not exist
any random page
For more information: Wikipedia:Wikipedia:URLs; meta:Help:URL.
RFC: Request for Comment
You can get any particular numbered RFC by slotting the number into a base URL.
The definitive, official version is in plain ASCII text.
ASCII version of RFC 5000: http://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5000.txt
HTML version of RFC 5000: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5000
Some RFC search tools, and the official list of non-obsolete RFCs is updated daily at http://www.rfc-editor.org/ .
further reading
The LibraryLookup Bookmarklet Generator -- these "GET" techniques work with (some) public libraries.
Wikipedia: Amazon Standard Identification Number describes how to construct an Amazon URL for a book or product from a ISBN or ASIN.
"How do I use an <A HREF> tag link to a particular verse from my site?"
"I Don’t Need No Stinking API: Web Scraping For Fun and Profit" by Hartley Brody has some tips for reverse-engineering "GET" parameters.
Many web sites have special GET queries that, instead of returning data as a HTML page, return data as semantic RDF or JSON.