#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use LWP::Simple; &update_database("microsoft","20070102","20070601"); sub update_database { my ($company, $date1, $date2) = shift; print $company . " " . $date1 . " " . $date2; my $url = "http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FP$ $url .= "&Refine=Refine+Search&Refine=Refine+Search&Query="; $url .= "an%2F"; $url .= $company; #"microsoft"; # define company $url .= "+and+"; $url .= "isd%2F"; $url .= $date1 . "-%3E" . $date2; #20070102-%3E20070601"; # define date range my $file = "gettotalnumber.html"; my $response = getstore($url, $file); my $number; open $number, "<", $file or die("Can't open file"); while (<$number>) { if (/<\/strong>\sout\sof\s(.*?)<\/strong>/) { print $1; } } close $number; }