lynx Lynx is an InterNet tool to enter WWW (called also HTTP protocol) sites from terminals and computers without advanced graphic capabilities and the ability to become a graphics X station. In other words, it's Netscape for the poor. It allows access and seeing all the textual information but pictures cannot be displayed on such terminals and they appear as [image] to tell the user what he had lost. It's a WWW browser for terminals and computers which cannot use Netscape. starting The Lynx program can be started by typing: lynxDo you want to say anything else?where stands for the name of the WWW site to be accessed (without the <>). The best way to start in BGU is to type: lynx http://www.bgu.ac.il which will bring you to the BGU WWW site, which is being constructed in these very days (June 1995). You can also type: lynx and enter the default WWW site which is in University of Cansas, where lynx was invented. The lynx program can be used on the Bgumail computer or on the Menix computer. In the first time, connect to the default WWW site in university of Cansas. There you can access some explanation files, to learn lynx. It's not advisable to start later from the default site because once you know the basics of lynx, the stage of bringing the home page (the first page) from Cansas is not required and may take quite some time. Starting from a nearby site is a much better policy. www space The WWW space is one big Hypertext structure containing units of information which are located in many sites, all over the world, in the InterNet. You can start at any point and go from there to other points, usually without having to specify the name of the site and the name of the file. This space is divided into pages (frames) and each page may contain text, images (pictures) and other forms of information. Every page may contain several pointers (links) which poinnt to other pages, in the same file or in some other file in some other site in the world. Usually choosing any such pointer will cause you to connect to the pointed site and to the pointed file, and after some time the pointed page will appear on the screen. The movement in WWW space is according to the pointers that you choose. Each pointer which you choose brings you to another page where you may find some new pointers to choose from. Pointers are called links in the official terminology. moving Every page may be longer than one screen. The pointers appear on the screen as thick bold words and they have numbers in square brackets which precede each one. The pointer where the cursor is now, appears in inverse video (white on black). The movement is done by pressing the: key - see the next screen minus <-> key - go back to the previous screen (both like the pine program in Unix) down arrow key - go from one pointer to the next pointer up arrow key - go from one pointer to the previous pointer -> (the right arrow key) - look for the chosen page, either in the same file or anywhere in InterNet. <- (the left arrow key) - back to the previous page You go from one screen in the page to the other and from one pointer to another (by using the arrow keys).The cursor jumps from one pointer to another. The place where you see the inverse video part is the place of current pointer. When you get to the right pointer, you press the right arrow key, you send lynx to look for the chosen page, either in the same file or anywhere in InterNet. This may take some time and the lynx keeps telling you that it requested a connection (usually from the HTTP type) to some remote place or that it gets a stream of information from that file. Pressing the z key will stop this stream in the middle (if it's too long or if it is dripping too slowly). sites (URLs) You need not go in the paved path from one page to the chosen other. You may jump from one file to another or from one site to another. Each entrance point is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). You may ask to jump to any URL by pressing the g key. You'll be asked which URL and you should give the URL specification. A URL specification may look like this: http://www.bgu.ac.il/kuku/riku.html . The first word says the type of protocol. Usually it's http (HyperText Transfer Protocol) but it may be ftp, gopher or some other types. the InterNet name after the // is the name of the site and the rest are names of directories and files in this site. To know whwere you are in WWW space, which URL you using and which file, press the = (equal) key and lynx will tell you where you are now and where you'll go, if you go back, by pressing the <- (forward arrow) key. A URL has also a name. That name has no significance except to appear as a reminder to the nature of that URL. bookmarks There are thausands of URLs in the WWW space. The names are impossible and if you've found a good one, better keep it. This is done by recording it in the bookmark file in your account. To do that, press the a key to add it to the list. To see your list, press the v key (view). You'll see a list of the names of all the URLs in your bookmark file. If you didn't put some interesting URL in your bookmark file, and you did not yet quit the lynx session, you may recall the name of that URL by asking for the history of the current session. You do that by pressing the (backspace) key. You may choose any of these names, go back to it and add it to the bookmark file. list of interesting sites Many people ask me where can they go in WWW and what can they find there. So I prepared a list of URLs, which I've visited and which looked to me as worthwhile looking at. It's not a list of recommended URLs but a sample of sites I intend to go back to, when I have time. To see this list, type: cd ~regev/public Tell www list and you'll see it on your screen. There are categories, names (not necessarily the official ones), URL specifications and short descriptions of these sites. You can find there a group of URLs which will allow you to look for sites and files which you need by searching in the catalog of all URLs. explanation If you type ? (question mark), you get to a page of possible explanations. You can go to any of the explanations and learn how to use lynx . get it When you see something useful, you may want to get it and keep it in your posession. this can be done by pressing the p key (for print). Then you may print it on one of the available printers (e.g. lpz), save it as a local file in your account, or send it by e-mail to your electronic address. After saving it locally or getting it by e-mail, you may print it afterwards. If you save a page in Lynx, you get a simple text file, which can be printed on any regular printer. It's not a PostScript file and it doesn't contain any of the pictures which you could see in Netscape. That is sometimes a blessing and not a loss, because the file is smaller and can be printed on most printers, while a PostScript file requires a special laser printer, e.g. the lps printer in the computation centerx. search inside a page If you have a long page, with many screens, and you don't see there what you are looking for, press the / (slash) key and give a keywords or a string of characters. The cursor (the inverse video part) will go to the first pointer after that string or keyword. You may press n to go to the next occurrence of the string and so on. search in a database Some URLs are databases which contain many records, e.g. Webster dictionary, see www list ). To get the record with the information you are looking for, you have to search for it. When you get to such a URL, you get an explation page and when you get to the end of this page (last screen), you see an instruction (in the bottom of the information window) saying: This is a searchable index. Use 's' to search . You type s and you get the instruction: Enter a database search string: . You type the keyword or string of keywords and you wait a little. after some time you get a page with the records which apply to your query. You may press <- (left arrow) and go back to search for another keyword. list of commands These are the operations which you can ask the lynx to perform for you: ? - Help - next screen a - Add the current link to your bookmark file b - same as minus c - Send a comment to the document owner d - Download the current link e - Edit the current file g - Goto a user specified site (URL) or file. h - help i - Show an index of documents (InterNet MeteIndex of subjects) m - Return to main screen o - Set your options p - Print to a file, mail, printers, or other q - Quit lynx (capital 'Q' for quick quit) s - Enter a search string for an external search. n - Go to the next search string v - View your bookmark file z - Cancel transfer in progress / - Search for a string within the current document [backspace] - Go to the history page = - Show file and link info - - previous screen + - same as \ - Toggle document source/rendered view ! - Spawn your default shell - same as - next link - previous link - fetch the linked page - back to previous page ^R - Reload current file and refresh the screen ^W - Refresh the screen ^U - Erase input line ^G - Cancel input or transfer other internet services The lynx tool allows you to access other services besides WWW sites. You can access a gopher site and roam through the gopher space. You can acess an FTP site and copy files from there. You can access a telnet site and login remotely to that computer. All these are done as special cases of cyberspace.
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