sub check_url 
{
    local ($url) = @_;
    local ($current_host, $host, $service, $file, $first_line);

    if (($host, $service, $file) = 
        ($url =~ m|http://([^/:]+):{0,1}(\d*)(\S*)$|)) {

        chop ($current_host = `/bin/hostname`);
        $host = $current_host if ($host eq "localhost");

        $service = "http" unless ($service);
        $file = "/"      unless ($file);

        &open_connection (HTTP, $host, $service) || return (0);
    
        print HTTP "HEAD $file HTTP/1.0", "\n\n";

        chop ($first_line = <HTTP>);

        if ($first_line =~ /200/) {
            return (1);
        } else {
            return (0);
        }

        close (HTTP);
    } else {
        return (0);
    }
}
