Results Window

After validating a document, the Results Window shows the validator messages, links, document structure, and more. Note that the lite edition only shows validator messages and does not have any tabs.

Note that you can disable the validator messages that you don't want to see.

Tabs (Pro, Std, Lite)

The Messages tab shows the validator messages that do not belong in one of the other tabs. This is probably the most important tab that you'll be working with.

NOTE: If you want the Messages tab to also show the messages in the Grouped, Accessibility, and/or Styles tabs then you can do so by checking the appropriate option in the HTML and Results tab of the Editor Options.

The Line tab shows all the validator messages for the line that the cursor is on.

The Grouped tab helps to separate more important messages, such as errors and warnings, from the less important messages. Error and warning messages will normally be concentrated in the Messages tab while less important messages are normally concentrated in the Grouped tab. The Grouped tab also groups messages by category for easier viewing.

The Accessibility tab shows accessibility messages generated by the validator. The validator engine can help check documents for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) compliance as well as compliance with US Section 508 federal standards. Accessibility checking may be disabled in the Validator Engine Options. If accessibility checking is disabled then no messages will appear under the Accessibility tab.

The Styles tab shows messages generated by the CSS style checker. The CSS style checker can check CSS embedded in HTML and XHTML documents as well as external style sheets. The style checker can be disabled in the Validator Engine Options. If style checking is disabled then no messages will appear under the Styles tab.

The Links tab displays the links that were found in the document. Note that if the validation terminates due to too many errors or warnings, then not all the links may be listed. Links can also be checked in this tab. NOTE: You can double-click a link to search for that link in the document.

The Structure tab shows a tag count of start and end tags as well as a structure tree in text format. Click on a line in the structure tree to go to the relevant line in the document.

The Scratch tab contains two editors that you can use for cutting and pasting, taking notes, or any other helpful use.

Links Tab (Pro, Std, Lite)

This is the tab in the Results Window where you can view the links contained in a document and check them for validity.

Also see the Check Links topic for basic information about checking links.

How to View the Links

A document must first be validated before the links will be displayed. This is because HTML Validator compiles the list of links during validation. If the validation is terminated early due to too many errors or warnings, then all the links contained in the document may not be listed. Note that if you are using a very old configuration file (pre v4.0), a list of links may not be compiled because the configuration file that is being used must support this feature.

Base URL

If a relative link is used in the document, then CSE HTML Validator will try to calculate its absolute URL. In order to do this, HTML Validator needs a base URL from which to compute the absolute URL. The base URL is obtained by the following:

• If the validated document has a filename or URL but not a "base href" attribute, then the full path to the filename or URL is used.
• If the document contains a "base href" attribute, then the value of the "href" attribute is used. "base href" has the highest priority when finding a base URL.
• If a base URL cannot be obtained, then the program will not be able to compute absolute URLs for relative paths.
• To change the base URL used to calculate absolute URLs for relative URLs, add a "base" element in the "head" section of the document with an "href" attribute with the base.

After the "base" element is added, revalidate the document to recompile and display the list of links.

Checking Links

To check the links to make sure that they exist and are valid, press the Check Links button ().

NOTE: CSE HTML Validator will only check local file or HTTP links. HTML Validator does not currently support HTTPS or FTP link checking.

NOTE: CSE HTML Validator makes "HEAD" requests to web servers in order to verify links. Some valid links may return error codes because the web server may behave differently or incorrectly for "HEAD" requests than for more common "GET" and "POST" requests. In many cases, HTML Validator will try a "GET" request if the "HEAD" request fails. When reporting back, HTML Validator simply reports the error and status code that is returned by the web server. Therefore, if HTML Validator reports an error for a valid link, then it is probably because the web server is reporting the error and not because of a bug in CSE HTML Validator.

CSE HTML Validator Std/Pro's integrated editor supports automatic link checking if enabled. This will cause HTML Validator to automatically check the links of any documents that are validated without having to press the Check Links button ().

By checking multiple links at a time and using a link cache, HTML Validator will efficiently check the links in the background so that you may continue to work. When the link check is completely finished, the results will be available and displayed if the Links tab is selected. If the Links tab is not selected, selecting the Links tab after a link check will display the most current link check results.

To abort a link check that is currently in progress, press the Stop Checking Links button in the Links tab. (this button looks like a "stop" button and is a square). Any links that are currently being checked will be checked, but no more unchecked links will be checked, so it may take a few seconds (or even a minute or two) for all link checking to stop after pressing this button.

Redirected Links

If one or more of the links is redirected then CSE HTML Validator will tell you in the link status. This means that the server redirected the request to another URL or location. You should normally change your link so that it is not redirected, except in certain circumstances when you want the redirection. To do this, find out what location the server is redirecting the URL to (check the comment column which will appear for redirected links) and change the URL so that it points directly to the redirected location.

A common reason for a redirected URL is when linking to a folder/directory. For example, to link to the directory "http://www.htmlvalidator.com/htmlval/", the link should be to "http://www.htmlvalidator.com/htmlval/" and not to "http://www.htmlvalidator.com/htmlval". Note the missing forward slash on the end of the incorrect link. A missing slash on a directory link will normally cause the HTTP server to send a redirect to the correct URL. Another side effect of having a redirect is that it is slightly slower because of the extra overhead. The solution is to make sure that all directory links correctly end in a slash.