Xenu's Link Sleuth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xenu, or Xenu's Link Sleuth, is a computer program that checks websites for broken hyperlinks. It is written by Tilman Hausherr and is available at no charge.
Commercial tools that offer similar functionality include Linkbot, InfoLink, LinkScan, LinkAlarm and Web Link Validator.
Link Sleuth runs on Microsoft Windows. Link verification is performed on links which appear in <a> tags, as well as images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and Java applets. The program follows links to other pages, and checks the links on those pages also, so it is possible to check an entire site for broken links in one session. Xenu displays a continuously updated list of URLs which can be sorted according to different criteria.
The program is named after Xenu, the Galactic Ruler from Scientology mythology. Hausherr is a noted critic of Scientology and chose the name to popularise the story of Xenu.
