NAME

       Bio::WebAgent - A base class for Web (any protocol) access

SYNOPSIS

         # This is a abstract superclass for bioperl modules accessing web
         # resources - normally you do not instantiate it but one of its
         # subclasess.

DESCRIPTION

       This abstract superclass is a subclass of LWP::UserAgent which allows protocol independent
       access of remote locations over the Net.

       It takes care of error handling, proxies and various net protocols.  BioPerl classes
       accessing the net should inherit from it.  For details, see LWP::UserAgent.

       The interface is still evolving. For now, two public methods have been copied from
       Bio::DB::WebDBSeqI: delay() and delay_policy. These are used to prevent overwhelming the
       server by rapidly repeated . Ideally there should be a common abstract superclass with
       these. See delay.

SEE ALSO

       LWP::UserAgent, Bio::DB::WebDBSeqI,

FEEDBACK

   Mailing Lists
       User feedback is an integral part of the evolution of this and other Bioperl modules. Send
       your comments and suggestions preferably to the Bioperl mailing list.  Your participation
       is much appreciated.

         bioperl-l@bioperl.org                  - General discussion
         http://bioperl.org/wiki/Mailing_lists  - About the mailing lists

   Support
       Please direct usage questions or support issues to the mailing list:

       bioperl-l@bioperl.org

       rather than to the module maintainer directly. Many experienced and reponsive experts will
       be able look at the problem and quickly address it. Please include a thorough description
       of the problem with code and data examples if at all possible.

   Reporting Bugs
       Report bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track of the bugs and their
       resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web:

         https://github.com/bioperl/bioperl-live/issues

AUTHOR

       Heikki Lehvaslaiho, heikki-at-bioperl-dot-org

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2003, Heikki Lehvaslaiho and EMBL-EBI.  All Rights Reserved.

       This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself.

DISCLAIMER

       This software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.

APPENDIX

       The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are
       usually preceded with a _

   url
        Usage   : $agent->url
        Returns : URL to reach out to Net
        Args    : string

   delay
        Title   : delay
        Usage   : $secs = $self->delay([$secs])
        Function: get/set number of seconds to delay between fetches
        Returns : number of seconds to delay
        Args    : new value

       NOTE: the default is to use the value specified by delay_policy().  This can be overridden
       by calling this method, or by passing the -delay argument to new().

   delay_policy
        Title   : delay_policy
        Usage   : $secs = $self->delay_policy
        Function: return number of seconds to delay between calls to remote db
        Returns : number of seconds to delay
        Args    : none

       NOTE: The default delay policy is 3s.  Override in subclasses to implement other delays.
       The timer has only second resolution, so the delay will actually be +/- 1s.

   sleep
        Title   : sleep
        Usage   : $self->sleep
        Function: sleep for a number of seconds indicated by the delay policy
        Returns : none
        Args    : none

       NOTE: This method keeps track of the last time it was called and only imposes a sleep if
       it was called more recently than the delay_policy() allows.