Citation: © Copyright 1997, Anawave Software, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.


Welcome
Welcome to WebSnake, the next generation in web surfing!  Your days of spending long hours slogging from page to page, link to link are over.  Sound too good to be true?  Believe it.  With WebSnake’s dynamic Internet tools, you can:

	Download a website for off-line browsing, which means you can view the entire site on your own computer much faster than if you were on-line.  And, you save money on dial-up costs, too!
	Duplicate or mirror a website, including the directory structure.  Great for webmasters and web designers to see how a website is setup.
	Copy e-mail addresses referenced in a website’s HTML files. These e-mail addresses can later be exported into a comma or tab delimited database file.  The applications of this range from simple research to broadcast e-mail marketing.
	Build a map of the HTML files referenced in a website.  Need to know the structure of a remote website?  This is your tool.
	Search for specific keywords on a website.  Get the information you need in a flash.
	Retrieve specific types of files – like all the cool graphics, sounds (WAV files), or movies (AVI files).  WebSnake automatically downloads anything you want quickly and easily.

We use the term “snake” to refer to the process of retrieving something from a website.  You can snake anything from a single file to all the e-mail addresses to the entire site.  The only limitation is your imagination.

See Also:

What You Absolutely Need to Know


   What You Absolutely Need to Know

To get up and running quickly with WebSnake, there are a several concepts that you really need to understand.  They’re simple and will only take a few moments to cover:

Session vs. Project

Perhaps the most important concept is knowing the difference between a session and a project.  Simply put, a session contains one or more projects.

A project contains all the necessary items to perform a snake, including the type of snake, the URL, and other associated properties.  For example, snaking e-mail addresses from “www.anawave.com” is a different project than building a site map from the same address.  One limitation in other off-line browsers is that it’s difficult to perform separate snaking operations on the same website.

Think of a session as a group of projects.  You can more effectively organize your projects by separating them into sessions.  This will reduce the amount of clutter on WebSnake’s main screen by streamlining what is displayed in the session tree.  Also, grouping projects into sessions can aid in security.  For example, if you had some websites that you didn’t want anyone else to see, you could group their corresponding projects into a session, then place it in a secured location.

If You Get Stuck

Whenever you’re not sure what to do or how to snake something, use our Project Wizard to lead you step-by-step through the process.  It’s fast and easy.  If you’re ready to start, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.  For more information on using the Project Wizard, see Use WebSnake’s Project Wizards to Guide You.


Tips and Tricks

This topic is intended as a grab-bag of helpful hints, tips, and tricks to make snaking websites easier.  There’s no particular order to the points, so just dive in and hopefully you’ll find something that helps.

Downloading Incomplete Files

If some or all of your snaked files (especially graphics) are incomplete – meaning only part of the file was downloaded to your system – chances are that the website server could not handle all the traffic on it and just gave up.  One possible solution to this problem is reducing the maximum number of threads from ten (the default) to three (3) or five (5), then trying again.  The reduced threading may retrieve complete files because the server will not be overloaded.


   Create a New Session for Snaking

A session is a group of projects, which can be related (e.g. Entertainment, Sports, Business, etc.).  You can organize your projects by categorizing them into sessions.  Another application may be at home; each member of the family has their own session of favorite projects.

To create a new session, click on the New button on the toolbar on the main screen or select the New Session command in the File menu.  You’ll be asked to provide the name and location of the session.  We recommend using a name that will be easy to remember, like “Mom’s favorites” or “Personal” or “Stocks.”


Open a Previously Made Session
   Open a Previously Created Session

Websites are frequently updated, and you may want to occasionally re-snake them to keep up on the latest and greatest.  As an example, there may be a monthly magazine that you could snake every few weeks when an update is made to its website.  In this case, you would want to save the settings when you snake that website for the first time so that you can access it later.

WebSnake lets you open an existing session for the purpose of re-snaking.  To open a previously created session, click on the Open button on the toolbar on the main screen or select the Open Session command in the File menu.


   Use WebSnake's Project Wizards to Guide You

A wizard is a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through a process – so you don’t get lost.  The wizard gathers the information it needs by asking you questions and providing detailed explanations about what you’re doing.  It’s more than a help file that simply states information or a tutorial that demonstrates how to do something.  It’s an interactive guide to help you use a program.

WebSnake comes with a comprehensive set of wizards to assist you in using the main functions of the program.  We highly recommend that you use the wizards when you’re starting out with WebSnake.  From the main screen, you can access the wizards by clicking on the Add button in the toolbar or selecting the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

See Also:

Create Site Map Wizard
Mirror a Website Wizard
Off-line Browsing Project Wizard
Search and Retrieve Project Wizard
Snake E-mail Addresses Project Wizard


   Main Screen

Click on the different areas of the screen for a brief explanation:


New Button

Starts a new session under which you can create different projects.


Open Button

Opens a previously created session so that you can access a particular project.


Add Button

Opens WebSnake’s Project Wizard to guide you through the process of creating and snaking a project as well as saving the session.


Folders Button

Allows you to configure the properties of a session.


Properties Button

Only appears when a project is highlighted.  Lets you specify properties for a project.  This is useful if you want to change a project’s settings before snaking a website.


Snake Button

Initiates the snaking process based on the project that is chosen and its corresponding properties.


Cancel Button

Stops a snake operation immediately.


Folder Window

Lists sessions and their respective projects in a hierarchical tree.


Display Window

Lists the files that are being snaked or have been snaked from a remote website.


Status Window

Displays the connection and retrieval of the files from a remote website.


Status Bar

During a snake operation, this displays cumulative figures of what’s being snaked -- the number of HTML files, the number of overall files, and the overall size of all the files.


   Off-line Browsing Project Wizard

This project wizard allows you to set the basic parameters for copying a remote website to your local hard drive.  The wizard will ask for the starting domain/URL , user name and password as well as a limited number of project parameters.  At the end of the wizard, you will have the option to run or “snake” the project, schedule the snake to occur at a later time, go to the advanced setup settings associated with the particular project, or cancel the project.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of the HTML files that are displayed in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations.

See Also:

Advanced Off-line Browsing Settings
Off-Line Browsing Wizard Default Settings


Off-Line Browsing Wizard Default Settings

The WebSnake Wizard will automatically set the following defaults, which can be changed in the Properties dialog in the Project menu:

1.	The project will stay by default within the Starting Domain/URL.

2.	The project will not explore paths that contain the “/~” string.  This prevents WebSnake from downloading aliased websites.

3.	Three directory levels of HTML files will be searched.

4.	WebSnake will stop the project if the remaining space on your hard drive is less than 10 megabytes.

5.	All file types recognized by WebSnake will be retrieved.

6.	When retrieving HTML files, links can be resolved to point to files on the local hard drive.  Occasionally, there are links to files or remote CGI scripts that WebSnake is unable to retrieve.  In this case, the wizard will default to link to the original URL.

7.	Failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of this displayed HTML files in the main Display Window.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations.


Advanced Off-line Browsing Settings

Advanced settings for each project type can be found by selecting the Properties command in the Project menu.

For a WebSnake Off-line Browsing project, you will find the following Properties tabs:

General. In order to create a successful Off-line Browsing project, you’ll need to select a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) as well as a name for your project. You can also configure WebSnake to stay within a limited number of levels, the starting domain/URL, and paths without special characters such as (“/~”).

Filters. The five Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.

Stop project if downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified size allotment (default is 100MB).  This field reduces clutter and download time.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

Stop project if number of downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if number of HTML files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 50).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Do not download files whose size exceeds:  Prevents a snake from downloading files that are too large and exceed the specified size limit (default is 500Kb).  This field helps to reduce download time.

File Types. You can select the file types for WebSnake to search and retrieve by using the check boxes included in this tab.  They include: Images (jpeg, jpg, gif, bmp); Text Files (doc, asp, txt, html, htm); Video (avi); Audio (wav, aiff); and Other (class, dll, cgi).  Using these check boxes, you can selectively download just the files you want.

Linking. When retrieving HTML files, links can be resolved to point to files on the local hard drive.  Occasionally, there are links to files or remote CGI scripts that WebSnake is unable to retrieve.  You can handle situations like these in one of three ways:

Link to the original URL:  points back to the original URL on the Internet.

Link to a message file:  brings up a default HTML message explaining that the link is unavailable.

Ignore dead links:  proceeds without the link.

Password. A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  WebSnake will give the remote server a default User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

Schedule. For greater flexibility, you can schedule a snake to occur at a given time – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup, or every time your computer has been idle for a specified period of time.  This way, you can automate the snaking process.  For more information of how to set the schedule parameters, see How To Schedule a Snake.

You can tell which projects are scheduled by looking at the project name on the main screen.  If there is an icon of a clock next to the name, the project is scheduled to run at a later point in time.


   Mirror a Website Wizard

This project wizard lets you to copy a remote website including the directory structure to your local hard drive.  The wizard will ask for the starting domain/URL, user name and password as well as a limited number of project parameters.  At the end of the wizard, you will have the option to run or “snake” the project, schedule the snake to occur at a later time, go to the advanced setup settings associated with the particular project, or cancel the project.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of the HTML files that are displayed in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations .

See Also:

Advanced Mirroring Settings
Mirror a Website Wizard Default Settings


Mirror a Website Wizard Default Settings

The WebSnake Wizard will automatically set the following defaults, which can be changed in the Properties dialog in the Project menu:

1.	The project will stay by default within the Starting Domain/URL.

2.	The project will not explore paths that contain the “/~” string.  This prevents WebSnake from downloading aliased websites.

3.	Three directory levels of HTML files will be searched.

4.	WebSnake will stop the project if the remaining space on your hard drive is less than 10 megabytes.

5.	All file types recognized by WebSnake will be retrieved.

6.	When retrieving HTML files, links can be resolved to point to files on the local hard drive. Occasionally, there are links to files or remote CGI scripts that WebSnake is unable to retrieve. In this case, the wizard will default to link to the original URL.

7.	Failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of this displayed HTML files in the main Display Window.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations.


Advanced Mirroring Settings

Advanced settings for each project type can be found by selecting the Properties command in the Project menu.

For a Mirroring project, you will find the following Properties tabs:

General. In order to create a successful Mirroring project, you’ll need to select a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) as well as a name for your project. You can also configure WebSnake to stay within a limited number of levels, the starting domain/URL, and paths without special characters such as (“/~”).

Filters. The five Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.

Stop project if downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified size allotment (default is 100MB).  This field reduces clutter and download time.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

Stop project if number of downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if number of HTML files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 50).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Do not download files whose size exceeds:  Prevents a snake from downloading files that are too large and exceed the specified size limit (default is 500Kb).  This field helps to reduce download time.

File Types. You can select the file types for WebSnake to search and retrieve by using the check boxes included in this tab.  They include: Images (jpeg, jpg, gif, bmp); Text Files (doc, asp, txt, html, htm); Video (avi); Audio (wav, aiff); and Other (class, dll, cgi).  Using these check boxes, you can selectively download just the files you want.

Password. A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  WebSnake will give the remote server a default User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

Schedule. For greater flexibility, you can schedule a snake to occur at a given time – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup, or every time your computer has been idle for a specified period of time.  This way, you can automate the snaking process.  For more information of how to set the schedule parameters, see How To Schedule a Snake.

You can tell which projects are scheduled by looking at the project name on the main screen.  If there is an icon of a clock next to the name, the project is scheduled to run at a later point in time.


   Create Site Map Wizard

This project wizard lets you can build a map of the HTML files referenced from a Starting Domain/URL. This is useful if you wish to know the structure of a remote website.

The wizard will ask for the starting domain/URL, user name and password as well as a limited number of project parameters.  At the end of the wizard, you will have the option to run or “snake” the project, schedule the snake to occur at a later time, go to the advanced setup settings associated with the particular project, or cancel the project.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of the HTML files that are displayed in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations .  Since a site map does not download any files to your local computer, your web browser will attempt to find the remote URL that you selected.

See Also:

Advanced Site Map Project Settings
Create a Site Map Wizard Default Settings


Create a Site Map Wizard Default Settings

The WebSnake wizard will automatically set the following defaults, which can be changed in the Properties dialog in the Project menu:

1.	The project will stay by default within the Starting Domain/URL.

2.	The project will not explore paths that contain the “/~” string.  This prevents WebSnake from downloading aliased websites.

3.	You can set the number of HTML files to be searched. There is no default limit set.

4.	Failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of this displayed HTML files in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations.  Since a site map does not download any files to your local computer, your web browser will attempt to find the remote domain/URL that you selected.


Advanced Site Map Project Settings

Advanced settings for each project type can be found by selecting the Properties command in the Project menu.

For a WebSnake Site Map project, you will find the following Properties tabs:

General. In order to create a successful Site Map project, you’ll need to select a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) as well as a name for your project. You can also configure WebSnake to stay within a limited number of levels, the starting domain/URL, and paths without special characters such as (“/~”).

Filters. The two Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.

Stop project if number of number of files searched exceed:  Halts a snake when the search exceeds the specified number of files (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

Password. A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  WebSnake will give the remote server a default User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

Schedule. For greater flexibility, you can schedule a snake to occur at a given time – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup, or every time your computer has been idle for a specified period of time.  This way, you can automate the snaking process.  For more information of how to set the schedule parameters, see How To Schedule a Snake.

You can tell which projects are scheduled by looking at the project name on the main screen.  If there is an icon of a clock next to the name, the project is scheduled to run at a later point in time.


   Search and Retrieve Project Wizard

With WebSnake’s Search and Retrieve, you can search for HTML files that contain defined keywords. Or, you can search and retrieve files by looking for keywords in the filename and/or by file type. In either case, WebSnake can also automatically download any files found by the search.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of the files that are displayed in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations. In addition, you can select a single file from the main Display Window with a single-click and select the WebSnake feature. This will download the selected file to your Projects Folder.

See Also:

Advanced Search and Retrieve Settings
Search and Retrieve Wizard Default Settings


Search and Retrieve Wizard Default Settings

The WebSnake New Project Wizard will automatically set the following defaults, which can be changed in the Properties dialog box associated with this project type:

1.	The project will stay by default within the Starting Domain/URL.

2.	The project will not explore paths that contain the “/~” string.  This prevents WebSnake from downloading aliased websites.

3.	Three directory levels of HTML files will be searched.

4.	Matching files will be automatically downloaded to your hard drive.

5.	All file types recognized by WebSnake will be retrieved unless you select broad file types (i.e. Text, Audio, Video and Other) to exclude from your search.

6.	Or, you can search by keyword. If you select this type of WebSnake search project. you’ll be able to select from a number of keyword search parameters. If you do not enter any information, WebSnake will find all recognized files from the Starting Domain/URL. The “*.*” and “?” wildcards are accepted by WebSnake for this type of operation.

7.	When retrieving HTML files, links can be resolved to point to files on the local hard drive.  Occasionally, there are links to files or remote CGI scripts that WebSnake is unable to retrieve.  In this case, the wizard will default to link to the original URL.

8.	Failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of this displayed HTML files in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch your default browser as defined by your Windows associations.  In addition, you can select a single file from the main Display Window with a single-click and select the WebSnake feature. This will download the selected file to your Projects Folder, accessible via the Folder button in the toolbar.


Advanced Search and Retrieve Settings

Advanced settings for each project type can be found by selecting the Properties command in the Project menu.

For a WebSnake Search and Retrieve project, you will find the following Properties tabs:

General. In order to create a successful Search and Retrieve project, you’ll need to select a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) as well as a name for your project. You can also configure WebSnake to stay within a limited number of levels, the starting domain/URL, and paths without special characters such as (“/~”).  WebSnake can also automatically download all matching files to your Project Folder.

Search. One of WebSnake’s most powerful features is the ability to search a website for files that contain keywords.  WebSnake can find matching keywords in the displayed text of HTML files, the HTML source code, and in the actual file names.  For the most thorough search-and-retrieve snaking, we recommend leaving the default setting of “Search All (displayed text, HTML source and file names).”

Filters. The five Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.

Stop project if downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified size allotment (default is 100MB).  This field reduces clutter and download time.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

Stop project if number of downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if number of HTML files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 50).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Do not download files whose size exceeds:  Prevents a snake from downloading files that are too large and exceed the specified size limit (default is 500Kb).  This field helps to reduce download time.

File Types. You can select the file types for WebSnake to search and retrieve by using the check boxes included in this tab.  They include: Images (jpeg, jpg, gif, bmp); Text Files (doc, asp, txt, html, htm); Video (avi); Audio (wav, aiff); and Other (class, dll, cgi).  Using these check boxes, you can selectively download just the files you want.

Password. A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  WebSnake will give the remote server a default User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

Schedule. For greater flexibility, you can schedule a snake to occur at a given time – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup, or every time your computer has been idle for a specified period of time.  This way, you can automate the snaking process.  For more information of how to set the schedule parameters, see How To Schedule a Snake.

You can tell which projects are scheduled by looking at the project name on the main screen.  If there is an icon of a clock next to the name, the project is scheduled to run at a later point in time.


   Snake E-mail Addresses Project Wizard

With the Snake e-mail Addresses feature, you can copy virtually all e-mail addresses referenced in a website’s HTML files. These e-mail addresses can later be exported into a comma- or tab-delimited file. The Snake e-mail Addresses Project Wizard will ask for basic information such as the Starting Domain/URL, User Name and Password as well as a limited number of Project Filters. This Wizard also gives you the option to run or “Snake” the project, snake the project later, go to the Advanced Settings or Properties associated with this particular project, or cancel the project.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of e-mail addresses shown in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch the default mail application as defined by your Windows Associations.  You can also copy e-mail addresses one at a time or export all or part of the search results through the Export menu item.

See Also:

Advanced E-mail Snake Settings
Exporting E-mail Addresses
Snake E-mail Addresses Wizard Default Settings


Snake E-mail Addresses Wizard Default Settings

The WebSnake New Project Wizard will automatically set the following defaults, which can be changed in the Properties dialog box associated with this project type:

1.	The project will stay by default within the Starting Domain/URL.

2.	Three directory levels of HTML files will be searched.

3.	WebSnake will stop the project if the remaining space on your hard drive is less than 10 megabytes.

4.	You have the option to limit the number of snaked e-mail addresses. This number can be an integer between 1 and 999,999,999,999.

5.	WebSnake will search by default both the displayed HTML text and the HTML source code for e-mail addresses.

6.	Failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other e-mail addresses.

When this project is finished running, you can double-click on any of the displayed e-mail addresses in the Display Window on the main screen.  WebSnake will launch the default mail application as defined by your Windows Associations.  You can also copy e-mail addresses one at a time or export all or part of the search results using the Export e-mail command in the File menu.


   Exporting E-mail Addresses

After snaking e-mail addresses from a website, you can export the search results into a comma- or tab-delimited file.

To use this feature, select the Export e-mail command from the File menu. You’ll have four choices of what to export, including: e-mail Addresses only (e.g. frank@websnake.com), e-mail titles (HREFs in the HTML source code), the URL/Parent (e.g. www.websnake.com), or everything (e-mail address, e-mail titles, URL/Parent).

Also, you must select the manner in which the e-mail values will be exported, either comma- or tab-delimited file.  Your choice here depends on the intended use.  If you’re a programmer writing code, you may want a comma-delimited file as opposed to a someone importing the values into a marketing database who may want a tab-delimited file.  The default is comma delimited.

After you make your selections, click on the OK button to save the e-mail values.


Advanced E-mail Snake Settings

Advanced Settings for each project type can be found in the Properties dialog box.  The options available in the Properties dialog box can be accessed directly for each project through the Main Program Interface.

For a Snake e-mail Addresses project, you will find the following Properties tabs:

General. In order to create a successful Snake E-mail Addresses project, you’ll need to select a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) as well as a name for your project.  You can also configure WebSnake to stay within a limited number of levels, the starting address/URL, and paths without special characters such as (“/~”).

Filters. The two Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.

Stop project if snaked e-mail addresses exceed:  Halts a snake when the amount of downloaded e-mail addresses exceeds the specified number (default is 2147483637).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

You can filter by keyword.  For example, entering the keyword “WebSnake” will only retrieve e-mail addresses that contain the keyword “WebSnake” (such as frank@websnake.com).

Password. A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  WebSnake will give the remote server a default User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

Schedule. For greater flexibility, you can schedule a snake to occur at a given time – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup, or every time your computer has been idle for a specified period of time.  This way, you can automate the snaking process.  For more information of how to set the schedule parameters, see How To Schedule a Snake.

You can tell which projects are scheduled by looking at the project name on the main screen.  If there is an icon of a clock next to the name, the project is scheduled to run at a later point in time.


Run or "Snake" a Project
   Run or "Snake" a Project/Session

A Snake operation can be started by selecting the project or session that you wish to snake in the Folder Tree on the main screen.  When the session/project is highlighted, do one of the following:  choose the Snake Now! command from the Project menu, click on the Snake button on the toolbar, or select the Snake Now! command from the menu when you right mouse-click.

WebSnake checks the database for existing files and the parameters that are defined in the project’s Properties.  When WebSnake completes a snake operation, the program will display the results from past and present snakes of the project.  The only exception is if you have selected the Changes Only command in the View menu.  In this case, only the new or updated results will be displayed.

If you change any of the parameters of a WebSnake project, running a subsequent snake operation will show only those items that match the new parameters.


   Stop Snaking a Project

You can stop the snaking process at any time.

To Stop Snaking a Project

1.	While a project is snaking, choose the Cancel Snake command from the Project Menu
Or, click on the Cancel button on the Toolbar
Or, select the Cancel Snake command from the menu when you right mouse-click
Or, press the Esc key.

2.	When you stop a snaking a project, WebSnake will take a few moments to tie up loose ends, then end all activity.  All open threads will immediately stop, and any files or operations running will be lost.

3.	When you stop a snaking a session that contains multiple projects, a list box is displayed.  This box allows you to selectively choose which projects to continue to snake.  This way, if you snake a session with a lot of projects that you don’t want, you can stop the process to pick just the ones you want, then continue with the snake.

NOTE:  You can tell that a snake has stopped when the rotating logo in the upper right of the main screen stops spinning.

We highly recommend that you wait for WebSnake to complete a snake operation before stopping it.


   Delete a Project

The more projects that you snake, the more space is taken on your hard disk.  If you’re running out of room and need to free up some space, you can do one of three things: delete the project, zip it, or clean it.

Deleting a project gets rid of the entire project including its settings.  Meaning that if you wanted to re-snake the project down the line, you could not.

Zipping the project compresses all the files to save room on the hard disk, but there is still space taken by the zip file itself.

Cleaning a project deletes the contents of the project, but preserves the project’s settings so you can easily re-snake the project later.

To Delete a Project

1.	Highlight a project in the Folder Tree on the main screen.

2.	Select the Delete Project command in the File menu

3.	A prompt appears confirming the deletion.  Click on the Yes button to get rid of the project.  Click on the No button to keep the project.

NOTE:  Deleting a project erases all its snaked files as well.  So, be careful.


   View a Snaked File

To View a Snaked File

1.	After you have performed a snake, the files are listed in the display window on the right side of the main screen.

2.	Double-click your mouse on the file that you want to see.
Or, select the View File command from the Edit menu.
Or, right-click on the file and choose the Open File command.


   Access WebSnake's Help Tutorial

To Access WebSnake’s Help Tutorial

1.	Select the Tutorial command in the Help menu.

2.	WebSnake will open the tutorial.  Once there, follow the links to your area of interest.


   Change What Is Displayed on the Main Screen

You can customize the interface of WebSnake’s main screen any way you like it using the commands under the View menu.

To Change What Is Displayed

1.	Open the View menu.  Listed are four items that you can switch on and off – the toolbar, toolbar text, messages, and status bar.  As a default, all four commands are active.  A checkmark next the command name signifies whether or not the item is displayed.  If you find the screen too cluttered for your taste, you can selectively cause certain items not to appear.

2.	To make the toolbar disappear, select the Toolbar command.  To make it re-appear, select the Toolbar command again.  Remember, all commands are still available from the pull-down menus.

3.	To make the toolbar text (the names under the icon [e.g. New, Open, Add, etc.] disappear, select the Toolbar Text command.  To make it re-appear, select the Toolbar Text command again.

4.	To make the messages disappear, select the Toolbar command.  To make it re-appear, select the Messages command again.

5.	To make the status bar at the bottom of the screen disappear, select the Status Bar command.  To make it re-appear, select the Status Bar command again.

We recommend leaving all four items displayed.


   Open a Folder to See What's Been Snaked

You can open a session or project folder to see its contents.  A session folder contains folders for each project in the session.  A project folder contains the directories that were snaked from a remote website.  With an open folder, you can directly access a project’s snaked files to manipulate them as you please.

To Display a Folder’s Contents

1.	In the Folder Tree, highlight a session or project.

2.	Click on the Folder button in the toolbar on the main screen.  Or, select the Open Session/Project Folder command in the Project menu.


   Clean a Project

The more projects that you snake, the more space is taken on your hard disk.  If you’re running out of room and need to free up some space, you can do one of three things: delete the project, zip it, or clean it.

Deleting a project gets rid of the entire project including its settings.  Meaning that if you wanted to re-snake the project down the line, you could not.

Zipping the project compresses all the files to save room on the hard disk, but there is still space taken by the zip file itself.

Cleaning a project deletes the contents of the project, but preserves the project’s settings so you can easily re-snake the project later.  If you think you may want to snake the project in the future, we recommend choosing this option.

To Clean a Project

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Choose the Clean Project command from the File menu.

3.	Click on the Yes button to delete the contents of the project.  Click on the No button to end the process.


   Zipping a Project

For archiving or space-saving sake, WebSnake lets you compress the contents of a project into a standard zip file, which can be restored later.

To Zip a Project

4.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

5.	Choose the Zip Project command from the File menu.

6.	A standard Windows Save dialog appears.  In it, type in a name for the zip file in the File name field (the ZIP extension is optional; it will be added if absent).

7.	Choose the location where you want the zip file to be saved.

8.	Click on the Save button.


Setting General Properties
   Setting General Project Properties

The General project properties define the absolute essentials for snaking any website: its URL, the project name, and how deep the snake goes.

To Set General Project Properties

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.  The General tab appears.

3.	Type in a new a starting URL (such as http://www.websnake.com or www.websnake.com) or modify a previously existing one.  This tells WebSnake where to go to perform a snake.

4.	Rename the project by typing in a new name in the Project Name field.  Otherwise, leave it as is.

5.	Configure the number of levels that you want WebSnake to dig into a website.  Use this field to continue the thoroughness of your project.

6.	Tell WebSnake whether or not to stay within the starting address/URL.  Otherwise, WebSnake will follow each link that it discovers to its logical conclusion, wherever it leads.  And that could lead to rather large, time-consuming snakes.  We recommend leaving this option selected as it is by default.

7.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting Snake Limit Properties

Often times, there are links in an HTML page that point outside of the qualified domain, server, or Starting URL.  WebSnake notifies you when this happens – a link redirects your snake to an outside entity.

You can configure WebSnake to limit the extent that it follows these types of links.

To Set Snake Limit Properties

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Click on the Limits tab.

4.	Choose one of the four limit radio buttons:

Stay within the qualified domain (e.g., anawave.com).  Broadens the limit to include any pages that include domain name.  For example, if a link points to a different site called home.anawave.com (as opposed to www.anawave.com), WebSnake would continue a snake operation there.

Stay within the current server (e.g., www.anawave.com).  Broadens the limit to include the entire server where the domain resides.

Stay within the starting address/URL (e.g., http://www.anawave.com).  This setting is especially important if you begin your snake in a subdirectory within the directory tree of a website (e.g., http://www.anawave.com/websnake where the “websnake” subdirectory represents part of a larger site).  We recommend leaving this option selected, as it is by default.

Follow all links found.  The snake will explore each link to its fullest extent.  Use caution with this setting, though.  It could yield many, many megabytes of unwanted files.

5.	Tell WebSnake whether or not to explore paths that include a specific character (the default is tilde [~]).  Selecting this check box will reduce the amount of files snaked, which reduces download time, but also may limit the thoroughness of the snake.  This feature is not selected by default.

6.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting Filter Properties

The Filters fields define the extent of your snake operation in terms of how much and what is downloaded.  The Filter parameters vary from project type to project type.  Refer to the following sections for the proper parameters that match your project.  Regardless of the project type, you access the Filters parameters the same way:

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Click on the Filters tab.

For Off-Line Browsing a Website, Mirroring a Website, and Search/Retrieve

Select the check boxes you want.  The only one that’s selected by default is “Stop project if space left on drive is less than.”

Stop project if downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified size allotment (default is 100MB).  This field reduces clutter and download time.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.  Prevents your computer from being completely overloaded.

Stop project if number of downloaded files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if number of HTML files exceed:  Halts a snake when it exceeds the specified number allotted (default is 50).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Do not download files whose size exceeds:  Prevents a snake from downloading files that are too large and exceed the specified size limit (default is 500Kb).  This field helps to reduce download time.

For E-Mail Address Snaking

Select the check boxes you want.  Both are selected by default.

Stop project if snaked e-mail addresses exceed:  Halts a snake when the amount of downloaded e-mail addresses exceeds the specified number (default is 2147483637).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

You can filter by keyword.  For example, entering the keyword “WebSnake” will only retrieve e-mail addresses that contain the keyword “WebSnake” (such as frank@websnake.com).

For Building Site Maps

Select the check boxes you want.  Both are selected by default.

Stop project if number of number of files searched exceed:  Halts a snake when the search exceeds the specified number of files (default is 500).  This field helps to reduce clutter on your drive.

Stop project if space left on drive is less than:  Halts a snake when there is less than the specified amount (default is 10MB) of space left on the drive.

When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting File Type Properties

You can select the file types for WebSnake to search and retrieve by using the check boxes included in this tab, which only applies to Off-line Browsing, Mirroring, and Search/Retrieve projects.

To Set File Type Properties

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Select the Filetypes tab.

4.	Selectively choose the file types for WebSnake to search and retrieve:

•	Images (jpeg, jpg, gif, bmp)

•	Text Files (doc, shtml, asp, txt, html, nsf, htm)

•	Video (qt, mpeg, mov, mpg, avi)

•	Audio (snd, wav, ram, aiff, mp2, mp3)

•	Other (class, cfm, rar, dll, cgi, zip, arj, exe, sit).

5.	You can specify additional file types by clicking on the Add button.  A placeholder extension appears under the User-Defined section.  Type in the extension of the file type you want (for example, if you wanted to snake Adobe Acrobat files, type in PDF for the extension).  You can also get rid of any extensions that you added by highlighting it, then clicking on the Remove button.

6.	Use the “Download all unknown file types” check box to download any file types that are not covered in the general categories.  By default, this setting is selected.

7.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting Linking Properties

When retrieving HTML files, links can be resolved to point to files on the local hard drive.  Occasionally, there are links to files or remote CGI scripts that WebSnake is unable to retrieve.  Also, some links are difficult to resolve when the snake gets to the last level.

You can tell WebSnake how to deal with such links.

To Change Your Linking Properties

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Select the Linking tab.

4.	Choose one of the three ways to deal with a link that WebSnake cannot retrieve:

•	Link to the original URL:  points back to the original URL on the Internet.

•	Link to a message file:  brings up a default HTML message explaining that the link is unavailable.

•	Ignore dead links:  proceeds without the link.

5.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting Password Properties

Password Properties define how you interact with password-protected sites.

To Set Password Properties

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Select the Password tab.

4.	Type in a user name and password.

5.	A number of websites require one or more passwords in order to access their HTML files.  By default, WebSnake does not give the remote server a User Name and Password.  If they are rejected by the remote server, you can configure WebSnake to respond with your choice of preferences.  By default, failed passwords will be ignored and WebSnake will continue to search the Starting Domain/URL for other matching files.

•	Ignore and continue to search for other matching files:  disregards the page and continues with the snake.

•	Prompt for user name and password:  displays a dialog prompting you for a password.  You don’t want this setting unless you have a good idea of what the password may be.

•	Stop project:  halts the snaking of a project.

6.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   Setting Schedule Properties

You can schedule a snake to perform at a time of your choosing (e.g. late night when Internet traffic is down and connection costs are lower).

To Schedule a Snake

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Select the Schedule tab.

4.	Select the “Schedule the project” check box to set scheduling parameters.

5.	Under the Run section, choose an interval to perform the snake – either hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, at startup (when you boot up Windows), or when your computer is idle (i.e. you’re not using it).

6.	In the event you are using your computer when a project is scheduled to be run, you can tell WebSnake to wait until the next time the computer is idle, then perform the snake.  For example, you schedule a snake to occur on Friday at noon, but you’re using your computer at that time, WebSnake will wait until the next period of idle time, then snake the project.

Select the “Wait until the computer has been idle for” check box and a prescribed amount of time in the “minutes” field.

7.	Depending on which interval you choose, the settings under the Start At section vary.  Select the proper time and, if necessary, the day.

NOTE:  For the Startup and When Idle intervals, there is no Start At section.

8.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.

It is important to note that if there is a conflict in the scheduling of two or more projects at the same time, they will be run in a queue.  Specifically, each project will run one-after-the-other until they are all finished.  You can cancel a WebSnake project by choosing the Cancel Snake command from the Project Menu, clicking on the Cancel button on the Toolbar, or selecting the Cancel Snake command from the menu when you right mouse-click.  You can also stop a project by pressing the Esc key.


   Setting Search Properties for Keywords

One of WebSnake’s most powerful features is the ability to search a website for files that contain keywords.  This tab only appears when a Search and Retrieve project is selected.

To Define Search and Retrieve Parameters

1.	Highlight the project you want in the Folder Tree.

2.	Go to the Properties dialog by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar or selecting the Properties command from the Project menu.

3.	Select the Search tab.

4.	Type in a keyword in the Keyword field.  This entry will be the basis of your search.  The entry can be a whole word or a partial string of text (e.g. “web” would yield website, webmaster, etc.).

5.	To make the search match the case of the keyword, select the “Match case” check box.  This narrows the focus of your search.  For example, if you type in “Address” as your keyword and select this check box, the search would yield “State of the Union Address,” but not “White House addresses” because the latter is lowercase.

6.	To make the search match the entire keyword, select the “Match entire word” check box.  This narrows the focus of your search.  For example, if you type in “address” as your keyword and select this check box, the search would yield “State of the Union Address,” but not “White House addresses” because the latter includes the word addresses, not address.

7.	Tell WebSnake where to search for the keyword – either in the displayed text of HTML files or the HTML source code.  For the most thorough search-and-retrieve snaking, we recommend leaving the default setting of “Search All (displayed text, HTML source and file names).”

8.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Properties dialog.


   General Options

You can change WebSnake’s agent identity and the number of threads that are spawned as well as designate special startup instructions.

To Change Your General Options

1.	Select the Options command under the View menu.  The General tab appears.

2.	Some websites are optimized for certain browsers and change their HTML output based on those browsers.  Choose an agent identity (what WebSnake tells a remote website it is).  Your options are Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, an entry of your choosing, or an anonymous client.

3.	Set the maximum number of active threads that WebSnake can spawn.  We recommend that you keep the default setting of ten (10) threads.  Reason being that on a slower computer you can adversely affect throughput if the processor if busy managing a large number of threads.

TIP:  If some or all of your snaked files (especially graphics) are incomplete – meaning only part of the file was downloaded to your system – chances are that the website server could not handle all the traffic on it and just gave up.  One possible solution to this problem is reducing the maximum number of threads from ten (the default) to three (3) or five (5), then trying again.  The reduced threading may retrieve complete files because the server will not be overloaded.

4.	Choose whether or not to load the last active session when you boot up WebSnake.  Whatever session you were viewing when you closed WebSnake will be opened.

5.	Choose whether or not to disable the automatic start-up of the WebSnake Project Wizard.  As you become more experienced using WebSnake, you may not need the Project Wizard to guide you.

6.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Options screen.

See Also:

General Options Screen


General Options Screen

Click on the different areas of the screen for a brief explanation:


Agent Identification

Since some websites are optimized for certain browsers, WebSnake can represent itself as either Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, an entry of your choosing, or an anonymous client.


Threads

Specify the maximum number of active threads that WebSnake can spawn.  Keep in mind, on slower computers, the more threads you specify, the more the processor has to manage those threads, potentially slowing down system performance.


Open Last Active Session at Startup

When this check box is selected, whatever session you were viewing when you last closed WebSnake will be opened when you start the program.


Launch New Project Wizard at Startup

When this check box is selected, the New Project Wizard will appear everytime you start WebSnake.


Browser Compatibility

By selecting this option, WebSnake will intelligently replace or fill in file extensions for snaked files so that you can view them in whichever browser you are using.  We recommend leaving this option selected, as it is by default.


   Transfer Options

You can set parameters having to do with transferring data.  We highly recommend that you provide your e-mail address in the proper field.  Otherwise, you should consult your system administrator as to the values for the advanced Internet connection fields... unless, of course, you are the system administrator.

To Change Your Transfer Options

1.	Select the Options command under the View menu.

2.	Select the Transfer tab.

3.	Typically, e-mail addresses are used as a password to log onto anonymous FTP sites.  So, enter your e-mail address in the space provided.

4.	If necessary, modify the values for the Receive Bytes, Send Bytes, Connection Retries, Send Timeout, Receive Timeout, and Connection Timeout fields.

5.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Options screen.

See Also:

Transfer Options Screen


Transfer Options Screen

Click on the different areas of the screen for a brief explanation:


FTP Anonymous Login

Typically, e-mail addresses are used to log onto anonymous FTP sites.  Enter your e-mail address in the space provided.


Receive Bytes

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


Send Bytes

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


Connection Retries

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


Send Timeout

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


Receive Timeout

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


Connection Timeout

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


   Firewall Options

WebSnake allows you to connect to an outside server through a firewall.  These options let you enable firewall access and choose the firewall type.  You may have to consult your system administrator as to the values for these fields.

To Change Your Firewall Options

1.	Select the Options command under the View menu.

2.	Select the Firewall tab.

3.	With the Use Firewall checkbox, specify whether or not you want to connect to an outside server through a firewall.

4.	Provide an HTTP proxy address and port number as well as a user ID and password.

5.	Provide an FTP proxy address and port number as well as a user ID and password.

6.	Select the firewall type using the appropriate radio button:

•	Logon proxy then SITE remote_host

•	Logon proxy then USER remote_user@remote_host

•	USER remote_user@remote_host

•	OPEN remote_host

7.	When all your settings are correct, click on the OK button to accept the values and exit the Options screen.

See Also:

Firewall Options Screen


Firewall Options Screen

Click on the different areas of the screen for a brief explanation:


Use Firewall

You can specify whether or not you want to connect to an outside server through a firewall.  If you’re not sure how to address this issue, contact your system administrator.


HTTP Options

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.


FTP Options

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.


Firewall Type

If you don’t know what this is, leave it alone.  This field is important for system administrators and Anawave’s technical support staff.  The default value is optimized.


   Exclusion List

As you snake various websites, there are frequently reoccurring links (such as linking to microsoft.com) that you would not want to snake repeatedly, especially when snaking an E-Mail Project.  The Exclusion List acts as a filter to keep from snaking multiple instances of the same link.

Adding a URL to the List

1	Select the Options… command from the View menu, then choose the Exclusion List tab.

2	Click on the Add button.

3	Type in the URL in the space provided.

4	Click on the OK button to save the URL to the list.  Click on the Cancel button to exit the dialog without saving the URL.

Deleting a URL from the List

1	Select the Options… command from the View menu, then choose the Exclusion List tab.

2	Choose the URL to be deleted.

3	Click on the Remove button.

4	Click on the OK button.

The Exclusion List is applied globally to all snake projects, meaning, if you want to exclude a URL for one project type but not for another, add the URL to the list for that project but be sure to remove it afterward.  Otherwise, the URL will be excluded from all future snakes.


   Netiquette Options

The term “netiquette” (etiquette of the net) refers to a standard of proper behavior on the Internet.  Netiquette applies to you and I, and how we interact with others.  In addition, it pertains to how a program works.  There are some things that are okay to do and some things that are not (some would argue that spamming – the practice of e-mail blasting – is not proper netiquette).

To access the Netiquette options, select the Options… command from the View menu, then choose the Netiquette tab.

The Netiquette Options tab lets you manage how WebSnake interacts with websites that it encounters.  Due to its multi-threading retrieval process, WebSnake can tax slower servers, thus slowing things down for other users who may be on the site.  Also, because of its thoroughness, WebSnake may attempt to access areas that are prohibited from robotic agents.

To avoid any potential problems, WebSnake provides a set of defaults that should be okay for most projects that you run.  But more-experienced users may need the flexibility to change some of these settings.

Robot Exclusions

Webmasters can use what’s called the Robot Exclusion Standard to limit WebSnake’s (and any other automated agent’s) accessibility to certain parts of their website (e.g., online forums where people chat, password-protected areas, hit counters, and so on).  You can specify whether or not WebSnake adheres to the Robot Exclusion Standard by selecting the Obey the Robot Exclusion Standard checkbox.  We recommend leaving the option selected (otherwise you may waste time attempting to snake inaccessible areas).

Smart Dispersion

When snaking a website, WebSnake may have to span multiple servers to retrieve all the necessary files.  Problem is, the snaking process may be slowed considerably if WebSnake encounters a slow server.  The Smart Dispersion feature allows WebSnake to pursue retrieval threads on other better-responding servers, thus cutting the snake time by as much as half.

In addition, with Smart Dispersion enabled, WebSnake will not flood a server with too many requests if there are other servers to be tapped.  This avoids slowing the server down for other users.  We recommend leaving this feature selected, as it is by default.

Interval Between Hits

To avoid inundating a website with too many requests that may affect response time for you and other users, WebSnake can wait a certain amount of time between submitting requests to a server.

This option is disabled by default.  To enable it, select the Wait checkbox, then specify a time period (the default is one [1] second).  Increasing the time period probably is not necessary, but, if you do increase it, be aware that the additional time will significantly slow down your snaking.  Making the value zero will effectively disable the option even if the Wait checkbox is selected.  We recommend using this feature if you notice a significant degradation in response time from a website that you are snaking.

Threads Per Server

This option limits the number of retrieval threads that WebSnake uses on a website.  Like the other netiquette options, this prevents a snake operation from overwhelming a server and slowing it down.

This option is disabled by default.  To enable it, select the proper checkbox, then specify a number of threads (the default is five [5]).

You may think that by increasing the number of threads you will make WebSnake work faster.  While that may be the result, resist the temptation to do so.  Remember, it’s not good netiquette.  Besides, you risk taxing the server beyond its capability to process all your requests (thus, your snake may crash or retrieve corrupted data).

We recommend using this feature if you notice a significant degradation in response time from a website that you are snaking.  In this case, you should reduce the number of threads.


   Miscellaneous Options

This options screen presents a grab-bag of different WebSnake options:

To access the Miscellaneous options, select the Options… command from the View menu, then choose the Miscellaneous tab.

Appearance

To accentuate files that have been updated as a result of a snake operation, this option tells WebSnake to display changed files in boldface type.  This option is disabled by default.

Browser Compatibility

Choose whether or not to have WebSnake add a universal file extension to files that are snaked.  Sometimes, websites use custom file extensions (or, in the case of a Macintosh server, there are no extensions) for their files.  Well, these custom extensions may not be compatible with your default browser when it comes to off-line browsing.  By selecting this option, WebSnake will intelligently replace or fill in file extensions for snaked files so that you can view them in whichever browser you are using.  We recommend leaving this option selected, as it is by default.

Short File Names

This option converts snaked LFNs (Long File Names) into the standard DOS 8.3 format, where the filename is eight characters and the extension is three characters (e.g., autoexec.bat).  This way, if you need the downloaded files in 8.3 format for a specific purpose (like burning the contents of a website on a CD-ROM, which does not currently support LFNs), you can do it.

This option is disabled by default.  We do not recommend enabling it unless you have a specific need for the 8.3 format.

HTML Script Parsing

With the proliferation of cool effects on websites, it’s likely that a snake operation will encounter Java or Visual Basic (VB) scripts.  Within these scripts, there may be support files that are required for the script to run properly.

Using the two checkboxes under the HTML Script Parsing section, you can have WebSnake attempt to retrieve all the support files within Java and/or Visual Basic scripts.  The Parse Java Script checkbox is selected by default; the Parse VB Script checkbox is not.

NOTE:  Because of the complex connection between Java/Visual Basic scripts and their support files, a snake operation may not be able to retrieve all the necessary components.  In this case, the script may not work properly (or at all) when viewing it off-line.


   Import Netscape Bookmarks

You can import Netscape bookmarks into WebSnake for the purpose of converting them into projects that can be snaked.  Now you can snake all or some of your favorite websites as easily as you would visit them using Netscape.  This feature significantly reduces the amount of time it would take to set up each bookmark as its own project.

To Import Your Netscape Bookmarks

1.	Click on the Bookmarks command in the File Menu

2.	Select the Import Netscape Bookmarks… command

3.	The Bookmarks screen appears containing the bookmark’s URL, project name, and project type.

You can de-select/select projects either individually or in blocks by clicking the checkbox in the URL column.

You can also change the project type of an individual project or block of projects by selecting it/them, right-clicking your mouse, clicking on the Change Project Type To command, then choosing the project type you want.

NOTE:  You can also de-select/select projects by right-clicking your mouse, then choosing the proper command.

4.	When you are ready to create individual projects based on your bookmarks, click on the OK button.  Of course, click on Cancel to end the process at any time.

5.	If there is currently open session in WebSnake, the new projects will be added to it.

If there is not an open session, you must provide a name for the new session you are about to create.  In the Save As window, type in the name of the session in the File Name field (the SNK extension is optional – it will be added automatically if absent).

6.	Click on the Save button to create the session.

Changing Your Default Settings

You can change your default settings for converting bookmarks to projects at any time by selecting the Options… command under the Bookmarks menu item or clicking on the Options button on the Bookmarks screen.

Keep in mind, any changes that you make to the default settings will not affect the current display of the Bookmarks screen.  For example, if you want to change all the project types, you cannot switch the Default Project Type option and expect all the settings to change.  You would have to use the right-clicking method described above or switch the option, then re-import your bookmarks.


   Import Internet Explorer Bookmarks

You can import Netscape bookmarks into WebSnake for the purpose of converting them into projects that can be snaked.  Now you can snake all or some of your favorite websites as easily as you would visit them using Internet Explorer.  This feature significantly reduces the amount of time it would take to set up each bookmark as its own project.

To Import Your Internet Explorer Bookmarks

1.	Click on the Bookmarks command in the File Menu

2.	Select the Import Explorer Bookmarks… command

3.	The Bookmarks screen appears containing the bookmark’s URL, project name, and project type.

You can de-select/select projects either individually or in blocks by clicking the checkbox in the URL column.

You can also change the project type of an individual project or block of projects by selecting it/them, right-clicking your mouse, clicking on the Change Project Type To command, then choosing the project type you want.

NOTE:  You can also de-select/select projects by right-clicking your mouse, then choosing the proper command.

4.	When you are ready to create individual projects based on your bookmarks, click on the OK button.  Of course, click on Cancel to end the process at any time.

5.	If there is currently open session in WebSnake, the new projects will be added to it.

If there is not an open session, you must provide a name for the new session you are about to create.  In the Save As window, type in the name of the session in the File Name field (the SNK extension is optional – it will be added automatically if absent).

6.	Click on the Save button to create the session.

Changing Your Default Settings

You can change your default settings for converting bookmarks to projects at any time by selecting the Options… command under the Bookmarks menu item or clicking on the Options button on the Bookmarks screen.

Keep in mind, any changes that you make to the default settings will not affect the current display of the Bookmarks screen.  For example, if you want to change all the project types, you cannot switch the Default Project Type option and expect all the settings to change.  You would have to use the right-clicking method described above or switch the option, then re-import your bookmarks.


   Import Links From a File

You can import links that are embedded within a file for the purpose of converting them into projects that can be snaked.  For example, if you snake a site and find a page that contains lots of links, you can turn them into projects by importing the HTML file that corresponds to the page.  This feature significantly reduces the amount of time it would take to set up each link as its own project.

To Import Links From a File

1.	Click on the Bookmarks command in the File Menu

2.	Select the Import links from a file… command

3.	A standard Open window appears.  Choose the file you want to import.

4.	Click on the Open button.

5.	The Bookmarks screen appears containing the bookmark’s URL, project name, and project type.

You can de-select/select projects either individually or in blocks by clicking the checkbox in the URL column.

You can also change the project type of an individual project or block of projects by selecting it/them, right-clicking your mouse, clicking on the Change Project Type To command, then choosing the project type you want.

NOTE:  You can also de-select/select projects by right-clicking your mouse, then choosing the proper command.

6.	When you are ready to create individual projects based on your bookmarks, click on the OK button.  Of course, click on Cancel to end the process at any time.

7.	If there is currently open session in WebSnake, the new projects will be added to it.

If there is not an open session, you must provide a name for the new session you are about to create.  In the Save As window, type in the name of the session in the File Name field (the SNK extension is optional – it will be added automatically if absent).

8.	Click on the Save button to create the session.

Changing Your Default Settings

You can change your default settings for converting bookmarks to projects at any time by selecting the Options… command under the Bookmarks menu item or clicking on the Options button on the Bookmarks screen.

Keep in mind, any changes that you make to the default settings will not affect the current display of the Bookmarks screen.  For example, if you want to change all the project types, you cannot switch the Default Project Type option and expect all the settings to change.  You would have to use the right-clicking method described above or switch the option, then re-import your bookmarks.


   Setting Import Options

You can set up default parameters for importing bookmarks into WebSnake.  To avoid handling bookmarks individually – especially when you are dealing with a large number of them, you can specify a default project type for all the newly created projects.

NOTE:  You can change the project type for all or some of the bookmarks after they have been imported.

You can also specify the location of your Netscape or Internet Explorer bookmarks.  If you are not sure of the location(s), don’t worry – WebSnake will find them automatically.

To Define Import Options

1.	Click on the Bookmarks command in the File Menu

2.	Select the Import Options… command

3.	The Bookmark Options screen appears.

Depending on which browser is installed on your computer, WebSnake should automatically detect the path for your Netscape and Internet Explorer bookmarks.  If you have both browsers loaded, then both bookmark paths should appear.

You can change the Default Project Type by clicking on the proper radio button.  When you import your bookmarks, all of the projects will have the type that you choose.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that you can always change some or all of the project types on the Bookmark screen by selecting the project(s), right-clicking your mouse, clicking on the Change Project Type To command, then choosing the project type you want.

4.	When you are finished, click on the OK button.


   WebSnake's Help Tutorial

For those of you who want to see which steps are taken to run a Snake Project, you can access separate tutorials that cover the five project types.  We’ve performed the different Snake Projects on our website “www.anawave.com.”  So, if you want to go on a test run, you can print out the topic, follow the directions, and receive similar results (keeping in mind that our website changes constantly).  Screen shots provide a frame of reference as you read through the topic.

See Also:

Off-Line Browsing
Mirroring or Duplicating a Website
Snaking E-Mail Addresses from a Website
Building a Site Map
Search and Retrieve Keywords/Files from a Website


   Off-Line Browsing Tutorial

What exactly is “off-line browsing?”  It’s viewing your favorite websites without being on-line.  Using WebSnake, you download a website – graphics, text, movies, sound, etc. – to view at your leisure through your default browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape).

Benefits of Off-Line Browsing

Some of the benefits that off-line browsing affords include:

•	Since your favorite websites are on your computer, you don’t have to wait for them to download.

•	If you’re on the road or away from your office, you don’t have to hassle with connecting to your favorite website.

•	You cut your costs on connection fees because you’re not on-line.  Also, if you schedule your download to occur late at night, there is less Internet traffic, which makes for a more reliable and faster connection.

A Tutorial

To show you a live example of snaking a website, let’s use Anawave’s website “www.anawave.com.”

1.	Open WebSnake through the Start Menu.  By default, the program opens with the Project Wizard (a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through the process).  If you’re already in the program, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

2.	Select the top radio button “Snake a copy of a website for off-line browsing,” then click on the Next button.

3.	Type in “www.anawave.com” in the Starting Address/URL field.  Also, give the project a name.  Call our project “Anawave.”  So, type the word “Anawave” in the Project Name field, then click on the Next button.

4.	The next wizard screen asks if you need a password to access the website.  For our example, just click on the Next button to go to the following screen.

5.	You must tell WebSnake how many levels you want it to snake as well as give tell it when to stop in the event that you’re snaking a large website.  For expediency, use the arrow buttons to reduce the number of levels from “3” (which is the default) to “1” in the “How many levels do you wish to snake?” field, then click on the Next button.  You’re not going to be snaking that much so the “Stop project if space left on local drive is less than” field doesn’t come into play.

6.	On the next wizard screen, click on the Finish button to conclude the project setup.

7.	Name your session.  A session is a collection of projects.  This feature provides a helpful way to group projects into categories such as Entertainment-related or Sports-related.  For our example, type in “browsers” in the file name field, the click on the Save button to initiate the snaking process.

8.	WebSnake will snake “www.anawave.com” for off-line browsing.  When the process is complete, the main screen will look like the following:

9.	Double-click on the “index.html” file to open the website in your default browser.

10.	Notice that the URL is pointing to your local hard drive.

11.	That’s it, you’re done.  You’ve just performed your first off-line browsing snake!


   Mirroring or Duplicating a Website Tutorial

If you’re a webmaster or web designer, this is a great tool for seeing how a website is set up by looking at its directory structure.

A Tutorial

To show you a live example of duplicating or mirroring a website, let’s use Anawave’s website “www.anawave.com.”

1.	Open WebSnake through the Start Menu.  By default, the program opens with the Project Wizard (a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through the process).  If you’re already in the program, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

2.	Select the second radio button “Snake a mirrored copy of a website including directory structure,” then click on the Next button.

3.	Type in “www.anawave.com” in the Starting Address/URL field.  Also, give the project a name.  Call our project “Anawave Mirror.”  So, type the words “Anawave Mirror” in the Project Name field, then click on the Next button.

4.	The next wizard screen asks if you need a password to access the website.  For our example, just click on the Next button to go to the following screen.

5.	You must tell WebSnake how many levels you want it to snake as well as tell it when to stop in the event that you’re snaking a large website.  For expediency, use the arrow buttons to reduce the number of levels from “3” (which is the default) to “1” in the “How many levels do you wish to snake?” field, then click on the Next button.  You’re not going to be snaking that much so the “Stop project if space left on local drive is less than” field doesn’t come into play.  And leave the two checkboxes selected.

6.	On the next wizard screen, click on the Finish button to conclude the project setup.

7.	Name your session.  A session is a collection of projects.  This feature provides a helpful way to group projects into categories such as Entertainment-related or Sports-related.  For our example, type in “browsers” in the file name field, the click on the Save button to initiate the snaking process.  Note that this step is skipped if you’ve already created a session and are saving the project into that session.

8.	WebSnake will snake a mirror copy of the “www.anawave.com” website.  When the process is complete, the main screen will look like the following:

9.	Double-click on the “index.html” file to open the website in your default browser.

10.	Notice that the URL is pointing to your local hard drive.

11.	That’s it, you’re done.  You’ve just performed your first website-mirroring snake!


   Snaking E-mail Addresses from a Website Tutorial

You can copy virtually all the e-mail addresses referenced in a website’s HTML files.  These e-mail addresses can later be exported into a comma or tab delimited file.

Benefits of Snaking E-mail Addresses

Some of the benefits of snaking e-mail addresses include:

•	See all the addresses in a website, even those that are not obvious (like ones tied to a graphic).

•	Collect e-mail addresses for research or broadcast marketing.

A Tutorial

To show you a live example of snaking e-mail addresses, let’s use Anawave’s website “www.anawave.com.”

1.	Open WebSnake through the Start Menu.  By default, the program opens with the Project Wizard (a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through the process).  If you’re already in the program, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

2.	Select the third radio button “Snake e-mail addresses from a website,” then click on the Next button.

3.	Type in “www.anawave.com” in the Starting Address/URL field.  Also, give the project a name.  Call our project “Anawave e-mail.”  So, type the words “Anawave e-mail” in the Project Name field, then click on the Next button.

4.	The next wizard screen asks if you need a password to access the website.  For our example, just click on the Next button to go to the following screen.

5.	You must tell WebSnake how many levels you want it to snake as well as give tell it when to stop in the event that you’re snaking a large website.  For expediency, use the arrow buttons to reduce the number of levels from “3” (which is the default) to “1” in the “How many levels do you wish to snake?” field, then click on the Next button.  You’re not going to be snaking that much so the “Stop project if space left on local drive is less than” field doesn’t come into play.

6.	On the next wizard screen, click on the Finish button to conclude the project setup.

7.	Name your session.  A session is a collection of projects.  This feature provides a helpful way to group projects into categories such as Entertainment-related or Sports-related.  For our example, type in “browsers” in the file name field, the click on the Save button to initiate the snaking process.  Note that this step is skipped if you’ve already created a session and are saving the project into that session.

8.	WebSnake will snake “www.anawave.com” for e-mail addresses.  When the process is complete, the main screen will look like the following:

9.	That’s it, you’re done.  You’ve just performed your first e-mail address snake!


   Building a Site Map Tutorial

You can build a site map of the HTML files referenced in a website, giving you an overview of its structure in a tree format.  If you need to know the structure of a remote website, this is your tool.

A Tutorial

To show you a live example of building a site map of a website, let’s use Anawave’s website “www.anawave.com.”

1.	Open WebSnake through the Start Menu.  By default, the program opens with the Project Wizard (a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through the process).  If you’re already in the program, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

2.	Select the fourth radio button “Create a site map of a website,” then click on the Next button.

3.	Type in “www.anawave.com” in the Starting Address/URL field.  Also, give the project a name.  Call our project “Anawave Site Map.”  So, type the words “Anawave Site Map” in the Project Name field, then click on the Next button.

4.	The next wizard screen asks if you need a password to access the website.  For our example, just click on the Next button to go to the following screen.

5.	You must tell WebSnake how many levels you want it to snake as well as give tell it when to stop in the event that you’re snaking a large website.  For expediency, use the arrow buttons to reduce the number of levels from “3” (which is the default) to “1” in the “How many levels do you wish to snake?” field, then click on the Next button.  You’re not going to be snaking that much so the “Stop project if number of HTML files search exceed” field doesn’t come into play.

6.	On the next wizard screen, click on the Finish button to conclude the project setup.

7.	Name your session.  A session is a collection of projects.  This feature provides a helpful way to group projects into categories such as Entertainment-related or Sports-related.  For our example, type in “browsers” in the file name field, the click on the Save button to initiate the snaking process.  Note that this step is skipped if you’ve already created a session and are saving the project into that session.

8.	WebSnake will snake a site map of the “www.anawave.com” website.  When the process is complete, the main screen will look like the following:

9.	That’s it, you’re done.  You’ve just performed your first site map snake!


   Searching and Retrieving Keywords/Files Tutorial

Search and retrieve anything you want from a remote website – graphics, text, movies, images, sounds, programs, and zip files just to mention a few.

Benefits of Searching and Retrieving

Some of the benefits include:

•	Perform surgical searches for items of interest.

•	Drastically cut down time looking for what you want.

A Tutorial

To show you a live example of searching and retrieving a keyword from a website, let’s use Anawave’s website “www.anawave.com.”

1.	Open WebSnake through the Start Menu.  By default, the program opens with the Project Wizard (a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through the process).  If you’re already in the program, click on the Add button on the main screen or select the Add Project Wizard command in the File menu.

2.	Select the last radio button “Search and retrieve files from a website,” then click on the Next button.

3.	For our example, we’ll search by keywords in the HTML files.  So, leave the “Search by keywords in HTML files” radio button selected, then click on the Next button.

4.	Type in “www.anawave.com” in the Starting Address/URL field.  Also, give the project a name.  Call our project “Anawave Search.”  So, type the words “Anawave Search” in the Project Name field, then click on the Next button.

5.	The next wizard screen asks if you need a password to access the website.  For our example, just click on the Next button to go to the following screen.

6.	You must tell WebSnake how many levels you want it to snake as well as give tell it when to stop in the event that you’re snaking a large website.  For expediency, use the arrow buttons to reduce the number of levels from “3” (which is the default) to “1” in the “How many levels do you wish to snake?” field, then click on the Next button.  You’re not going to be snaking that much so the “Automatically Snake/download all matching files to local hard drive” field doesn’t come into play.

7.	Type in the keyword “Gravity” in the Keyword field.  Also, click on the “Match entire word” checkbox, then click on the Next button.

8.	On the next wizard screen, click on the Finish button to conclude the project setup.

9.	Name your session.  A session is a collection of projects.  This feature provides a helpful way to group projects into categories such as Entertainment-related or Sports-related.  For our example, type in “browsers” in the file name field, the click on the Save button to initiate the snaking process.  Note that this step is skipped if you’ve already created a session and are saving the project into that session.

10.	WebSnake will snake “www.anawave.com” for off-line browsing.  When the process is complete, the main screen will look like the following:

11.	That’s it, you’re done.  You’ve just performed your first search-and-retrieve snake!


   Registering WebSnake

When you wish to register your software, please contact Anawave Software using the instructions outlined below. As soon as we process your information, you’ll receive a registration code and instructions via e-mail.

Registered Users Receive:

•	Free product information

•	Free savings on future products

•	Free technical support for life of version

•	Free upgrade information

If you would like to register WebSnake, please contact us by using one of the following options:

Phone:	(800) 711-6030 United States or Canada
(714) 250-7262 Worldwide

Fax:	(714) 250-7265

e-mail:	sales@anawave.com

URL:	http://www.anawave.com

Mail:	Anawave Software, Inc.
1300 Bristol North, Suite 220
Newport Beach, CA, USA  92660

For site license or OEM pricing please call (714) 250-7262, Ext. 230.

Pricing and Payment

WebSnake is only $29.95 (US dollars) per registered copy.

To purchase WebSnake, we accept the following credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, and Visa.  In addition, we accept United States bank checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders.

It is important to note that we will add 7.75% sales tax for Orange County, California residents. All other California residents will have 7.25% sales tax added to their total.

If you wish to check the status of an order, please feel free to call us during the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (PST).


   Technical Support Contact Information

Anawave Software, Inc. provides free technical support for our registered users.  Our friendly, qualified technical support team is available to speak with you Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (PST).

In addition, you can get answers to your questions by visiting the Anawave website, sending us an e-mail, or faxing your questions.  A technical support representative will get back to you within 24 hours.  You can contact us using the following options:

URL:	http://www.anawave.com

e-mail:	support@anawave.com

Phone:	(714) 250-7263

Fax:	(714) 250-7265

Mail:	Anawave Software, Inc.
1300 Bristol North, Suite 220
Newport Beach, CA, USA  92660


CGI scripts

A Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script is a program, generally written in the PERL language that performs special functions that HTML is not capable of performing.  These functions can range from a simple page counter to complex interactive services. There are a wide variety of functions that CGI can perform for your web pages.


Comma Delimited

Separating entries in a file by commas.  This makes the entries easier to import/export into a database or spreadsheet application.


Database

A collection of information organized in a manner that makes it easy to access. There are many different ways to organize or structure the data stored in databases. There are thousands of databases on the Internet containing a wide variety of information.


Default Browser

Whichever browser (e.g. Netscape or Internet Explorer) you have set up as the default in Windows.  For example, if you receive an e-mail with a hyperlink to a website embedded in it, and you click on the link, this browser will boot up and make the connection.


Default Internet Connection

In Windows 95, if you have multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs), you must define which one is dialed up by default when you start an Internet application.


Directory Structure

A directory is like a folder that contains one or more documents or files. Typically, related files are kept in the same directory. For example, all the files for an application are usually kept in one directory. When accessing a file, you might have to specify the directory in which it is kept.


Download

To transfer a file from a remote computer to your computer. You can download files to your computer using File Transfer Protocol (FTP).


e-mail

A method used to send and receive messages over a network.  You use an e-mail program to compose and send a message, and it is sent to a remote mailbox, where it can be retrieved and read by the addressee.


e-mail addresses

The location where e-mail messages can be sent to a user. An e-mail address consists of a username and an Internet address separated by an @ sign. For example, an e-mail address might be drhodes@anawave.com where drhodes is the username and anawave.com is the Internet address.


Exporting

To save a file or data in a format that can be read by various applications.  A good example of exporting in WebSnake is exporting the e-mail addresses that are snaked from a website into a comma- or tab-delimited file that can be opened in a spreadsheet (e.g. Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3) or database (e.g. Microsoft Access or FoxPro) application.


Firewall

In some network configurations, the connection between your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and a remote server is blocked by a firewall. Firewalls protect information in internal computer networks from external access.


FTP Site

By accessing a page whose URL begins with ftp (short for file transport protocol), you can navigate directories, view files (including HTML and image files), download software, and upload software.


HTML

HyperText Markup Language, the document formatting language used to design most World Wide Web pages.


HTML Source Code

HTML uses embedded codes (tags) to designate graphical elements and links.


Icon

A graphic, usually small, that represents a file type, program, parameter, parameter, etc.  For example, you can have icons on your Windows 95 desktop that are shortcuts to programs, drives, directories, or files.


Keyword

A specific word or string of characters that WebSnake uses for website searches.


Levels

This term refers to the hierarchical nature of a website.  In WebSnake, the number of levels you choose determines how deep your snake penetrates into the website for the information that it’s after.  The default setting for levels is three.


Link

A link is a connection from one page to another.  You find a link by looking for one or more words highlighted with color, underlining, or both in the content area of a page.  Images and icons with colored borders also serve as links.


Mirroring

Duplicating a copy of a website, including its directory structure.  It’s great for understanding the structure of a website.


Off-line Browsing

Viewing your favorite websites without being on-line.  Using WebSnake, you download a website – graphics, text, movies, sound, etc. – to view at your leisure through your default browser (e.g. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Netscape).


Password

A word or sequence of characters that uniquely identifies you. A password is typically associated with your user name. The combination of your user name and password is used to verify that you are who you say you are, and that you are authorized to use certain systems or resources on the Internet. Typically, when you login to a computer, you must specify your user name and password.


Path

The location of a file in terms of its directory tree.  An example of a path would be “C:\Program Files\Anawave WebSnake\websnake.exe” (where WebSnake’s program executable file for WebSnake is located).


Properties

The parameters that define a project, including everything from its URL to a scheduled time when the project is snaked.


Remote Server

Another computer on the Internet to which you connect. Interactions between computers are often described using the terms local and remote system. The local system is your computer and the remote system is the other computer to which you connect. Another common term for system is host (remote host, or local host).


Snake

The process of retrieving an item from a remote website.


Snake Now

The command instructing WebSnake to perform a snake operation based on a project’s properties.


Spawn

The process of creating a new thread to perform a specific function, such as downloading a file.


Starting Domain/URL

Uniform Resource Locator, a string of characters that represents the location or address of a resource on the Internet and how that resource should be accessed.  World Wide Web pages are assigned a unique URL.  Each hyperlink on a web page contains the URL of the page to be linked to.  A sample URL is http://www.anawave.com.


System Administrator

The person who is typically responsible for managing your company’s network and Internet connection.


Tab Delimited

Separating entries in a file by tabs.  This makes the entries easier to import/export into a database or spreadsheet application.


Toolbar

A row of buttons the give access to the more commonly used features in a program.


URL

Uniform Resource Locator.  Every page has a unique URL just like every person has a unique palm print.  Not only does each page have a unique URL, but also each image and frame on a page.  You can access a page, an image, or an individual frame by supplying its URL.


USENET

A network of newsgroups. There are thousands of newsgroups available through USENET. Each newsgroup covers a specific topic or subject area.


User Name

The string of characters that identifies you. When connecting to a computer, you typically need to provide your user name and password. This information is used to verify that you are authorized to use the system.


Web Browser

A program that provides a front-end interface to the Internet.  It lets you surf the World Wide Web without having to deal with the mind numbingly painful UNIX commands that actually get you from place to place.  The two most recognizable browsers are Netscape and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.


Website

An HTML-based presence on the World Wide Web that can be accessed by a browser.


Wild Cards

Characters that are used to expand or narrow the focus of a search.

An asterisk is used in place of a series of characters (for example, search by the parameter “new*.doc” yields new1.doc as well as newyork.doc).  Another common use of the asterisk is finding file types (for example, searching by “new.*” yields new.doc, new.bmp, new.txt, etc.).

A question mark replaces a single character in a search.  For example, search by “New?.doc” yields new1.doc and newt.doc, but not newyork.doc (because its more than one character).


Windows Associations

Windows associates certain programs with certain file extensions.  If you load a file, Windows will look at its extension, and, if there’s a corresponding program in the Windows registry, it will open that file in the proper application.


Wizard

A wizard is a Windows feature that leads you step-by-step through a process – so you don’t get lost.  The wizard gathers the information it needs by asking you questions and providing detailed explanations about what you’re doing.  It’s more than a help file that simply states information or a tutorial that demonstrates how to do something.  It’s an interactive guide to help you use a program.