From: Nomen Nescio Subject: cURL manpage "--cookie-jar" option misleading; how are cookie jars used? Message-ID: <14b1be85fa69d03170ae88170a6787cb@dizum.com> Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 19:04:38 +0200 (CEST) Newsgroups: alt.comp.misc.scripting Path: csiph.com!news.mixmin.net!sewer!news.dizum.net!not-for-mail Organization: dizum.com - The Internet Problem Provider X-Abuse: abuse@dizum.com Injection-Info: sewer.dizum.com - 194.109.206.211 Xref: csiph.com alt.comp.misc.scripting:1 The cURL man page describing the use of --cookie-jar is contradictory. It starts off talking only about *writing* cookies, leaving the reader confused as to when cookies are *read*: manpg> -c, --cookie-jar manpg> manpg> Specify to which file you want curl to write all cookies after manpg> a completed operation. Curl writes all cookies previously read manpg> from a specified file as well as all cookies received from manpg> remote server(s). If no cookies are known, no file will be manpg> written. The file will be written using the Netscape cookie manpg> file format. If you set the file name to a single dash, "-", manpg> the cookies will be written to stdout. As the reader wonders how/when cookies are read, the manpage continues to say: manpg> This command line option will activate the cookie engine that manpg> makes curl record and use cookies. Use of the term "cookie engine" implies to the user that some fully-featured machinery is going to take care of all the cookie handling, as a GUI browser does. Then it says the engine will "record /and use/ cookies". "Using" a cookie implies /reading/ it. But the --cookie-jar option never causes cookies to be read, does it? manpg> Another way to activate it is to use the -b, --cookie option. Saying "another way to..." implies that the --cookie option is an alternative to the --cookie-jar, but I've heard that the --cookie option is generally used *in tandem* with the --cookie-jar. Where can I find clear documentation on this topic, with working examples?