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Batch Wizard

The Batch Wizard (Pro, Std, Lite) is a powerful tool that helps you quickly validate multiple documents and view the results in a single or multi-page report. You can also use a tool on the targets (such as the template tool) instead of the validator. The Batch Wizard can follow links and also adds a link checking tool that lets you check the links of a web site without having to take the time to validate the individual documents. Note that the lite edition does not include the Batch Wizard.

Using the Batch Wizard Directly from the Editor (Pro, Std, Lite)

You can quickly use the Batch Wizard to generate an HTML validation report for the HTML file that you are editing in HTML Validator's integrated editor by choosing Tools->Validate with Batch Wizard or by pressing Shift+F6 in the integrated editor. To validate all the files that are open in the editor that are recognized (by file extension) as checkable documents, select Tools->Validate All with Batch Wizard.

Using the Batch Wizard Standalone (Pro, Std, Lite)

Open the Batch Wizard by running CSE HTML Validator Professional and then choosing Tools->Batch Wizard or pressing F2.
Create a list of targets that you want to process (you can process by validating or by using a tool on the targets). This is called a target list. Targets can be files, URLs, or folders. To add targets, use the Target menu or the context/pop-up menu for the Target List tab. You can also drag and drop files and folders onto the target list to add them. Duplicate targets that are already in the target list cannot and will not be added again.
When you've added all the targets to the target list, it is recommended that you save the target list (though this is not required). You can do this by choosing File->Save List. You can save the target list in the folder where HTML Validator is installed or in any other folder.
Set up the options by choosing Options->Batch Wizard Options, pressing F4, or using the button on the toolbar.
You can view and/or change the options for the individual targets by viewing an individual target's properties. Do this if you are validating the targets and you want the Batch Wizard to follow the links in a target so that the links are validated too. Again, you may want to save any changes you make by saving the target list.
Start processing the targets in the target list. An easy way to do this is to press the Process List button (or press F6). The processing progress will be displayed in the Batch Progress tab. If you want to abort the processing, you can press the Stop button (or press F7). Depending on where the Batch Wizard is in the processing cycle will determine how long it is until the processing is actually aborted so you may have to wait a few seconds for the processing to stop after you hit the Stop button.
If you used the validator on the targets, you can view the validation or link check report when processing is completed. When completed, the report will open automatically unless you have changed the options to not automatically open the report. If you used another tool, such as the template tool, reports are not generated.
To process the list again, press the Process List button (or press F6) again. To make sure that all targets are processed again, you may first want to choose Target->All Targets->Set Process to Yes.

Example: Validating a Website With a Single URL or File

Open the Batch Wizard by running CSE HTML Validator Professional and then choosing Tools->Batch Wizard or pressing F2.
Press Ctrl+N to create a new target list.
Add a target that specifies the root page of your website. This can be a local file or a URL. To add a local file target, press Ctrl+F. To add a URL, press Ctrl+U. For example, if your site is at "http://www.mydomain.com/mysite/" then press Ctrl+U to add the URL "http://www.mydomain.com/mysite/" to the target list. You can also specify a folder where your website files are located by adding a folder target (Ctrl+D).
Select the target that you just added and press F5 to view the target properties.
Go to the Follow Links tab and check the follow links checkbox. Click OK.
Press F4 to go to the Batch Wizard Options and select the "Validator" tool. Click OK.
Press the Process List button (or press F6) to start the validation and process the target list.

Troubleshooting

A common problem that may occur when trying to validate a website by following links is that not all pages will be checked. This can happen if any validation is terminated due to too many errors or too many warnings. When a validation is terminated, CSE HTML Validator stops parsing the document and stops extracting links. To limit this situation from happening for web sites containing pages with large numbers of errors and/or warnings, we recommend that an "Errors only" validation be performed first. You can select "Errors only" in the General tab of the Batch Wizard Options. In addition, you can increase the maximum number of errors by going to the Validator 1 tab of the Validator Engine Options. A value of 50 or 100 may work better. Once enough errors are corrected in the web pages so that the validations do not terminate, then an "Errors and warnings" only validation or "Normal" validation can be performed to find further issues.

Another solution to the above problem would be to address/fix the errors and warnings of the pages that the Batch Wizard was able to check, then process the target list again. Continue fixing the errors and warnings and then re-processing the target list (revalidating) until you are satisfied with the results. The key is to get the number of errors and warnings down so that the validations aren't terminated (due to too many errors or too many warnings) and all the links can be extracted and validated.

Another possible cause of pages not being checked are mismatched quotation marks. An extra or missing quotation mark in or around attribute values can confuse the parser. If this happens, then the document cannot be parsed properly and links may not be extracted. If this is the case, then many of these messages will be generated: "This line contains part of a quoted string that spans more than one line (not recommended) or a quoted string (like an attribute value) that is missing the start or end quotation mark. You should check this line for improperly quoted attribute values that may be missing a start or end quotation mark", but only if the allow multi-line quotes option is not checked in the Validator 2 tab of the Validator Engine Options. Look for these messages and correct the problem, then re-process (revalidate) the target list.

Tips

Select an Errors only or an Errors and warnings only validation instead of a Normal validation if there's too many "non-important" messages being generated. This can be selected in the General tab of the Batch Wizard Options.
Each folder target can be set to include subfolders. If a folder target includes subfolders, an I will be included in the Flags column of the target. You can change whether subfolders are included in the target or not by selecting the folder target or targets that you want to change, bringing up the context menu, and then selecting Selection->Set I Flag or Selection->Clear I Flag.
Double-clicking on a file or URL target will open it in the editor or view its properties. Which action is performed is determined by a Batch Wizard option that you can change.
Multiple targets can be selected at the same time by using the standard multiple file selection technique (using Ctrl and/or Shift when selecting targets). You can also select all targets by pressing Ctrl+A
To delete a target or targets, select the target or targets to delete and press the Delete key or select Target->Delete.
Targets matching specified strings can be excluded. This allows certain folders to be excluded from processing. These strings may be specified in the Target List Options tab of the Batch Wizard.
Links matching specified strings can be excluded from the link check. These strings may be specified in the Target List Options tab of the Batch Wizard.
Targets matching specified strings can be treated as case insensitive. This allows better target handling for case insensitive servers. These strings may be specified in the Target List Options tab of the Batch Wizard.
A URL can be added to test dynamic web pages like ASP, PHP, and CGI pages. Variables can also be included in the URL, like in "http://www.test.com/mycgi.cgi?var1=value1&var2=value2". Agents can also be specified in case the document returned by the server is sensitive to the agent. For example, some dynamic URLs may return a different page for Internet Explorer users than for Netscape users (the server uses the agent to determine what browser is requesting the document). Furthermore, usernames and passwords can also be specified for protected URLs.

Notes

The Batch Wizard does not support cookies.
If a username and password is set for a parent URL target and the Batch Wizard is following links, then that same username and password will be used to follow child links if the domain and path of the child links match the domain and path of the parent URL. If, for some reason, the domain and path do not match and the Batch Wizard is not using the username and password to fetch the child links as desired, then checking the Set usernames and passwords when only domains match option in the Editor Options, General 2 tab may correct the problem.
When a folder target is processed, the files in the folder that match an HTML file type extension will be processed. If the folder target includes subfolders, then the files in the subfolders that match an HTML file type extension will also be processed. The HTML file type extensions that the Batch Wizard recognizes are configurable in the File Types tab of the Editor Options. If a file has no extension, then it will be processed if CSE HTML Validator Professional is configured to assume that files with no extension have an HTML file type. You can configure this in the File Types tab of the Editor Options.
There is no undo function. If you do something that you want to undo, you will have to manually undo it. For example, if you delete a target that you did not want to delete, you will have to manually add it back to the target list.
In the target list, the Batch Wizard normally displays an icon for folder and file targets (not for URL targets). If a file or folder target is or becomes inaccessible (such as if it is on a network or removable drive that is not currently available), the icon may disappear or not be shown. This is normal behavior.

Advanced

You can manually or automatically (using your own automatic methods) create a target list file that can be loaded into the Batch Wizard if you know the file format for target lists.

Legend

Proc - this column can be 'Yes' or 'No'. Set to 'Yes' to process the target when the target list is processed. Set to 'No' to ignore the target.
Flags - this column gives additional information about the target.
- D - target is a directory/folder
- F - target is a file
- I - for folders: include subfolders/subdirectories
- L - follow links: when validating, the links in the target will be extracted and validated (with certain exceptions that can be specified) (New v4.50)
- N - never validate: targets will never be validated; only the other tools will ever be used on the target (N flags for URL targets don't make any sense-- it causes the URL to never be validated and another tool can't be used on a URL target either, so if the N flag is set for a URL target, then it will never be processed.)
- P - for URLs: uses a username and password to download the URL. Note that the password used to download the URL is not stored securely in the *.lst file when you save the target list.
- U - target is a URL
Results - This column shows the number of errors, warnings, bad links, and unique misspellings found during the last completed (not aborted) target list processing that used the validator tool (example: 05e,03w,05b,03m for 5 errors, 3 warnings, 5 bad links, and 3 uniquely misspelled words). Note that the number of bad links will always be zero unless link checking is enabled. Furthermore, the displayed number of errors, warnings, bad links, and misspellings is limited to two digits each, making 99 the maximum number that will be displayed. Note also that this column shows the cumulative number of errors, warnings, bad links, and misspellings for all the targets validated under the specific target. For example, if the target is a folder target that resulted in validating ten documents because the ten documents were in the folder, then the number of errors, warnings, bad links, and misspellings is the cumulative number of errors, warnings, bad links, and misspellings for all ten documents. Similarly, for targets where follow links is enabled, the results shown include the cumulative results of all documents followed for that target.

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