LinkScan for Windows. Reference Manual.

Section 9

File System Scanning and Orphaned Files

LinkScan incorporates the ability to examine the files on your local hard drive and interpret them in a manner very similar to a web server. This capability has two major applications:

• It can dramatically accelerate the scanning of large numbers of static HTML documents.

• It enables the identification of Orphaned Files.

Configuration is inherently significantly more complex when compared to normal HTTP Scanning. In particular, you must configure the following items:

• The mapping between the URL's of your website and the corresponding File System Pathnames
• The mapping between the various file extensions and the file types
• The names of the files that are served by default when a hyperlink points at a directory reference (e.g. <a href="/Products/">)
• Various other options that enable LinkScan to emulate the behavior of your web server and the manner in which it has been configured

HTTP Scanning with Orphaned Files Detection

1. From the main LinkScan Window, select a Project and click Plan.

2. On the Basic Settings Tab of the Project Planning property sheet, select HTTP Scanning with Orphans. [Screenshot]

3. Select the Root Tab and use the Find button to navigate to the folder that corresponds to the root of the website you wish to scan.

4. Click OK to save.

If and only if you have different URL's mapped to different File System Folders, you will need to select the Aliases Tab and configure the additional mappings.

File System Scanning with Orphaned Files Detection

1. From the main LinkScan Window, select a Project and click Plan.

2. On the Basic Settings Tab of the Project Planning property sheet, select File System Scanning. [Screenshot]

3. Select the Root Tab and use the Find button to navigate to the folder that corresponds to the root of the website you wish to scan.

4. Select the Files Tab to review and, if necessary, modify the list of HTML file extensions and default pages.

5. Click OK to save.

If and only if you have different URL's mapped to different File System Folders, you will need to select the Aliases Tab and configure the additional mappings.

Remote File Systems

In some cases, the file system directories containing the web site may reside on a physically different computer from LinkScan. In these cases, LinkScan will support Network Shares (subject to any locally imposed security controls).

In other cases, the file system of the remote system may not be visible via the network, quite possibly for security reasons. LinkScan will be unable to scan the remote computer using the File System Scanning Method. You must use HTTP Scanning.

However, it is still possible to enable Orphaned File checking. In summary, you will need to execute a small, self-contained Perl program on the remote computer. It will assemble a "picture" of the file system and save it as a simple ASCII file. That file may be transferred to the LinkScan computer using FTP (or any other more secure technique) and used to perform the orphan analysis in lieu of direct access to the remote server.

1. Fully configure the selected Project as described in HTTP Scanning with Orphaned Files Detection above. However, when setting the Website Root Folder use the pathname applicable to the remote server.

2. Set the Imported Orphans Data File to the pathname of a file on your local computer. For example:

   
   Orphanfile = C:/LinkScan/someproject/orphans.txt
   

3. Transfer the following files to the remote server:

   
   C:/LinkScan10/lsfind.pl
   C:/LinkScan10/someproject/linkscan.cfg
   

4. On the remote server, execute the lsfind.pl program:

   
   perl lsfind.pl orphans.txt
   

5. Transfer the orphans.txt file back to the LinkScan machine.

6. Initiate a scan of the target website in the normal manner. LinkScan will use the orphans.txt file from the remote server in lieu of scanning the file system on the local server.

LinkScan for Windows. Reference Manual. Section 9. File System Scanning and Orphaned Files
LinkScan Version 12.3
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