The simplest tool to use for "automating" client requests is the
W3C line mode browser[1], which can be invoked from a Unix shell script.
Alternatively, if you want to do more elaborate stuff, I've found the
Python scripting language [2] very useful.
Bear in mind that automating the retrieval implies that you are storing
your password somewhere for the program to retrieve - not a good idea!
Steve Heaney
Schlumberger Cambridge Research.
[1] http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/LineMode/Status.html
[2] http://www.python.org/