Introduction

Welcome to WebSleuth!

Have you heard about all the things you can learn from the Internet – but not yet figured out how to do it?  Well, you are about to use a valuable tool for gathering that information.

With one simple query, you can compile and organize a vast amount of information available in your area of interest.

With WebSleuth’s unique phrase extraction and browsable cross-index presentation, navigating the Internet changes from a complicated and frustrating task -- to a fun and interesting adventure.

Go to:

Connecting to WebSleuth

Let's Start Sleuthing!

Common Questions and Answers

Glossary

Technical Support

Prompt Software, Inc.


Connecting to WebSleuth

The first thing you must do before you can begin searching the Internet with WebSleuth is to connect to the Internet.

WebSleuth uses your default dial-up settings to connect to the Internet and perform your research.

To connect to the Internet with WebSleuth:

1.	Log on to the Internet using your Internet provider.

2.	Click Start on your Windows 95 Task Bar, and select Programs, then WebSleuth.  The WebSleuth program launches.

For more questions on connecting to WebSleuth, go to:

Using Your Default Browser


Using Your Default Browser

WebSleuth automatically summons whatever web browser is the default web browser on your system.   However, Internet Explorer does need to be on your system for WebSleuth to run properly, regardless of whether you ever use it or not.  This is because Internet Explorer is not only a browser, but is also a PATCH to the Windows 95 operating system, and is required by several programs (including WebSleuth) in order for them to run properly.

So for example, If you have Netscape as your default browser, and then you install WebSleuth and Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer becomes the default browser.  The very next time you run Netscape, it should ask you if you want to make it the default browser again.  If you select no, you will not be asked again.  If you decide to make Netscape your default browser again, you must re-install it.


Let's Start Sleuthing!

Once you launch the WebSleuth program, three windows appear:

•	The Control Window

•	The Information Window

•	The Preview Window

To begin searching:

1.	From the Control Window, type a search word(s) in the Search For field.

2.	Click the Start Search button.

See also:

Research Wizard

Using WebSleuth’s Interface


New

Click here to clear your current search, and begin a new one.


Widen

Add more sources to your research.  Each click automatically adds ten more web pages from each search engine.

Note:  Widen Research is only available for existing research results.  If there is no existing query to add results to, this feature is not available.


Deepen

You can deepen your research.  For example, each click takes you one level deeper.

Choose this option to tell WebSleuth to follow all the links that it found in the first batch of documents that it processed, then go process all of those documents.

Note:  Be careful when choosing this option -- the number of links tends to grow exponentially!


Stop

Click here to stop researching.


Engines

Go to the Select Search Engines dialog from here.


Info

Click here to enlarge the Information Window.


Browser

Click here to enlarge the Preview Window.


Tile

This feature returns the WebSleuth screens to their original settings.


Search For

Type the word or words you want to search for in this field.


Start Search

Click here to begin your search.


Research Wizard

This is where you begin searching.

For more information on the Research Wizard dialog, click around in the illustration below:


Setup your query

Enter your search text here.  Type a word or a phrase which best-defines your subject of interest, or type the URL of a specific web site you want to index.


How much info do you want?

Move the bar to the left or right depending upon the depth of search you want WebSleuth to perform.


OK, Do The Research!

Click here when you are ready to begin your search.


Cancel

Click here to cancel your search, and to go directly to the Main Window of WebSleuth.


Clear all previous results

Check this box to clear all previous results from WebSleuth’s windows, and start fresh with a new query.


Using WebSleuth's Interface

Let’s explore the interface of WebSleuth.

Here you can find information as easily as flipping through the index at the back of a book.

You can even use this information to build a more elaborate query to extend your research, without retyping anything.

WebSleuth’s interface is divided into three major parts: the Control Window, the Information Window, and the Preview Window.

Click on any part of WebSleuth’s interface in the illustration below to see an explanation of that feature:


Control Window

This is your command center for WebSleuth’s features.

From here you can access the Menu Bar.

Enter search queries in the Search For field, then click Start Search.


Information Window

WebSleuth’s search results display here.

View the search results in the form of a table of contents, a cross-index of all the key words, or as a list of phrases taken from each of the source documents.

There are 5 tabs at the base of the Information Window, each tab represents a different view of the search results.


Preview Window

Preview an Abstract or a Web page from one of the documents found in your search.

There are 2 tabs at the base of the Preview Window, each tab represents a different type of Web document preview.


Contents

The Contents View of the Information Window shows a list of the titles and URLs of the Web documents found to match your search query.

This type of display is called a findings tree ; each document title is a branch on the tree.  You can expand any branch to see a list of content sentences, which are excerpts from the document containing your research query terms.

Click the Contents tab at the lower portion of the Information Window to make it active.  Next to the title of each Web source is its URL.

Select any title by clicking it with the left-mouse button.  An abstract for that document immediately appears in the Abstract View of the Preview Window.  If you want to view the document in its entirety, including graphics, double-click it to view it in the Web Page View of the Preview Window, or your default web browser.  (See the View Menu to find out how to change this setting).

See also:

Refine Menu - Contents View

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window


Refine Menu - Contents View

When you are in the Contents View of the Information Window, click Refine in the upper-left corner of the window to further narrow-down the results of your research.

The Contents View Refine Menu has 4 options:

Set Document Refine - Access the Set Refine Specification dialog.  In the entry field, type a word, phrase, or Boolean expression for which you want to further filter the search results that appear in the Contents View.  Click OK to begin the filtering process.

Clear Document Refine - Remove the current filter.

Discard Non-Matching - Delete from WebSleuth all items which failed the refinement tests.  Note:  Unless you select this option, the failed items will still be held in memory.

Limit words and phrases to filtered documents - With this option turned on, the Refine filter will be applied to the Words and Phrases Views, such that they will only display words and phrases from documents that satisfy the Refine filter that you set.

Go to:

Information Window


Refine Menu - Phrases View

When you are in the Phrases View of the Information Window, click Refine in the upper-left corner of the window to further narrow-down the results of your research.

The Phrases View Refine Menu has 3 options:

•	Set Phrase Refine - Access the Set Refine Specification dialog.  In the entry field, type a word, phrase, or Boolean expression for which you want to further filter the search results that appear in the Phrases View.  Click OK to begin the filtering process.

•	Clear Phrase Refine - Remove the current filter.

•	Discard documents without these phrases - Delete from WebSleuth all items which failed the refinement tests.  Note:  Unless you select this option, the failed items will still be held in memory.

Go to:

Information Window


Phrases

Click the Phrases tab to view the Phrases view of the Information Window.  WebSleuth displays the phrases in an alphabetic list for your review.  Click the letter tabs at the top of the window to quickly navigate through this list.

Select any phrase by clicking it with the left-mouse button.  The URL and name of the source document for that phrase displays in the upper part of the Preview Window.  An abstract for that document also immediately appears in the Abstract View.  If the phrase appears in more than one source, all sources are listed in the Preview Window.  Such multiple-source phrases appear in black, while phrases with only one source appear in magenta.

If you point to any phrase and hold down the right-mouse button, a Context Menu appears offering several options:

•	Choose from a list of sources that contain the word or phrase you have chosen.  The first 10 items have keyboard accelerators.  If there are more sources, select More URLs.

•	Use Delete All, Do New Research On This Word.  WebSleuth clears your present research findings, and constructs a new query from the word or phrase you chose.

•	Build a new query that works within your current research base – use And, Or or Not.

•	To filter the Contents View and see only those documents containing a certain phrase, choose Use for Refine.

See also:

Refine Menu - Phrases View

Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window


Words

Click the Words tab at the bottom of the Information Window to see the Words View.

When you click the alphabetic tabs at the top of the window, WebSleuth takes you to that part of the list.  The location marker (the blue highlighted line) displays at the beginning of that alphabetic location in the list.

Click a word with your right-mouse button to select it.  The URL and name of the source document for that word displays in the upper part of the Preview Window.  An abstract for that document also immediately appears in the Abstract View.  If the word appears in more than one source, all sources are listed in the Preview Window.  Such multiple-source words appear in black, while words with only one source appear in magenta.

If you point to any word and hold down the right-mouse button, a Context Menu appears offering several options:

•	Choose from a list of up to 16 Web sources containing the word or phrase.  Choose More URLs to see 16 additional URLs (if available).

•	The first 10 URLs have keyboard accelerators.

•	To build a brand new query, choose Delete All, Do New Research On This Word.

•	To build a new query using your current research base and refine it, use the AndAnd_Include_tool_pop, OrOr_Include_tool_pop,  or NotNot_Exclude_tool_pop tools.

•	To Filter the Contents View to show only documents containing this word, choose Use for Document Refine.

•	To filter the Phrases View and see only phrases containing this word, choose Use for Phrase Refine.

See also:

Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window


Links

The Links View lists all of the URLs that WebSleuth receives from the search engines it queries.  This includes both the good links and the bad links.  To see just the good links, switch to Contents View; to see just the bad links, switch to Discards View.

Click the Links tab in the Information Window, while WebSleuth researches your query.  You will see an animated findings tree of all the URLs and document titles that match your query criteria up to that point.

To further investigate a document that interests you, right-click the title or its URL . A Context Menu offers further choices.

Note:  Double-click a  URL or title to automatically load a document into either the Web Page view or your default web browser, depending upon whether the Use Preview Window option is turned ON or not.

See also:

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window

Findings Tree


Discards

This is a list of URLs that were marked as irrelevant to your search.  This includes any page that has an error indication (for example,  File Not Found or Access Denied).

When you use WebSleuth's Exact Match command, the Discard view also lists the pages that do not include your research query terms.

Click the Discards tab at the bottom of the Information Window to see a list of these URLs.

See also:

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window


Contents View

The Contents View of the Information Window shows a list of the titles and URLs of the Web documents found to match your research query.

This type of display is called a ‘findings tree’; each document title is a ‘branch’ on the tree.  You can expand any branch to see a list of content sentences which are excerpts from the document containing your research query terms.

Click the Contents tab at the lower portion of the Information Window to make it active.  Next to the title of each Web source is its URL.

Select any title by clicking it with the left-mouse button.  An abstract for that document immediately appears in the Abstract View of the Preview Window.  If you want to view the document in its entirety, including graphics, double-click it to view it in the Web Page View of the Preview Window, or your default web browser.  (See the View Menu for how to change this setting).

See also:

Refine Menu - Contents View

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window


Phrases View

Click the Phrases tab to see the Phrases View of the Information Window.

WebSleuth displays the phrases in an alphabetic list for your review.  Click the letter tabs found at the top of the Information Window to quickly navigate through this list.

Select any phrase by clicking it with the left-mouse button.  The URL and name of the source document for that phrase displays in the upper part of the Preview Window.  An abstract for that document also immediately appears in the Abstract View.  If the phrase appears in more than one source, all sources are listed in the Preview Window.  Such multiple-source phrases appear in black, while phrases with only one source appear in magenta.

If you point to any phrase and hold down the right-mouse button, a Context Menu appears offering several options:

•	Choose from a list of sources that contain the word or phrase you have chosen.  The first 10 items have keyboard accelerators.  If there are more sources, select More URLs.

•	Select Delete All, Do New Research On This Word to clear your present research findings, and constructs a new query from the word or phrase you have chosen.

•	To build a new query that works within your current research base – use And , Or , or Not.

•	Choose the Use for Refine button to filter the Contents View and see only those documents containing this phrase.

See also:

Refine Menu - Phrases View

Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window


Words View

Click the Words tab at the bottom of the Information Window to see the Words View.

When you click the alphabetic tabs (found at the top of the Information Screen), WebSleuth takes you to that part of the list.  The location marker (the blue highlighted line) displays at the beginning of that alphabetic location in the list.

Click a word with your right-mouse button to select it.  The URL and name of the source document for that word displays in the upper part of the Preview Window.  An abstract for that document also immediately appears in Abstract View.  If the word appears in more than one source, all sources are listed in the Preview Window.  Such multiple-source words appear in black, while words with only one source appear in magenta.

If you point to any word and hold down the right-mouse button, a Context Menu appears offering several options:

•	Choose from a list of up to 16 Web sources containing the word or phrase.  Choose More URLs to see 16 additional URLs (if available).

•	The first 10 URLs have keyboard accelerators.

•	To build a brand new query,  choose Delete All, Do New Research On This Word.

•	To build a new query using your current research base, refine it with And , Or , or Not.

•	Choose Use for Document Refine, to filter the Contents View to show only documents containing this word.

•	Choose Use for Phrase Refine, to filter the Phrases View to show only phrases containing this word.

See also:

Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window


Links View

The Links View lists all of the URLs that WebSleuth receives from the search engines it queries.  This includes both the good links and the bad links.  To see just the good links, switch to Contents View; to see just the bad links, switch to Discards View.

Click the Links tab in the Information Window, while WebSleuth researches your query.  You will see an animated findings tree of all the URLs and document titles that match your query criteria up to that point.

To further investigate a document that interests you, right-click the title or its URL . A Context Menu offers further choices.

Note:  Double-click a URL or title to automatically load a document into either the Web Page view or your default web browser, depending whether the Use Preview Window option is turned ON or not.

See also:

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window

Findings Tree


Discards View

This is a list of URLs that were marked as irrelevant to your search.  This includes any page that has an error indication (for example,  File Not Found or Access Denied).

When you use WebSleuth's Exact Match command, the Discard View also lists the pages that do not include your research query terms.

Click the Discards tab at the bottom of the Information Window to see a list of these URLs.

See also:

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window


Control Window

The Control Window is where you enter your search queries.  See Research A Topic  for more details.

Select one of the following to find out about the other important parts of the Control Window:

Title Bar

Menu Bar

Text Entry Box

Status Bar

Go to:

Using WebSleuth's Interface


Title Bar

The Title Bar of the Control Window shows your current research query.


Menu Bar

The Menu Bar provides most options available in the WebSleuth program.

Choose one of the following options to find out more about the Menu Bar:

File Menu

Edit Menu

Research Menu

Options Menu

View Menu

Window Menu

Help Menu

Go to:

Using WebSleuth's Interface


File Menu

Choose one of the following options to find out more about the File menu:

Open Contents as Web Page

Save Contents as Framed Web Pages

Exit

Go to:

Menu Bar


Open Contents as Web Page

Use this command to open a previously-saved Contents Page, and re-load the results of a previous WebSleuth session, or to open any HTML document, and load its links into the Links View for indexing.

Short cut:  Ctrl+O


Save Contents as Framed Web Pages

Save your Contents View in HTML format.

You can edit any item in Contents View before saving it.  A list of all the Web documents matching your queries appears here.

Short cut:  Ctrl+S


Exit

Click here to quit WebSleuth, and save your research for future reference.

Tip:  To save your Web document titles and URLs for future reference, choose Save Contents as Web page, before you exit.  (Make sure you first hear the voice say Goodbye  if you decided to re-launch WebSleuth.)


Edit Menu

The Edit menu helps you to construct more complex queries.

Choose one of the following options to find out more about the Edit menu:

And - All pages must contain this word

Or - All pages may contain this word

Not - Exclude pages that contain this

Delete Query

Delete All!  (Delete query, words, phrases, and URLs - start over)

Go to:

Menu Bar


And - All pages must contain this word

And - Searches for items that contain all the terms in your search query.

For example, lions And tigers locates all items containing both lions and tigers.

Short cut:  F6


Or - All pages may contain this word

Or - Searches for items that contain one or both of the terms.

For example, lions Or tigers locates items containing lions or tigers, or lions and tigers.

Short cut:  F7


Not - Exclude pages that contain this

Not -  Searches for items that contain one of the words or phrases, but not the other.

For example, jersey Not new locates all items containing the word jersey, but not the word new.

Short cut:  F8


Delete Query

Delete your research query, but retain your existing index.  The results of a new search can then be added to an existing index.

Short cut: Ctrl-W


Delete All!  (Delete query, words, phrases, and URLs - start over)

Choose this option for WebSleuth to completely clear your research findings.

Short cut: Ctrl-D


Research Menu

The Research menu is essential to your search.

Choose one of the following options to find out more about the Research menu:

Start Research Wizard

Start Research

Widen Research

Stop Research

Status of Current Research

Go to:

Menu Bar


Start Research Wizard

Select this command at any time to start WebSleuth’s Research Wizard.


Start Research

This command performs two functions simultaneously:

1.	If there is a new query in the text entry box, WebSleuth submits it to the search engines and processes the results.  Or, if there is a URL instead in the text entry box, WebSleuth reads and processes the web page at that address.

2.	If there are any unread links currently in the Links View, WebSleuth reads and processes them.

Note:  Every time WebSleuth processes a web page, it adds all of the links found on that page to the Links View as unread links.  Choose Start Research again for WebSleuth to process those links, and so on…

Shortcut:  F2


Widen Research

Select this command to add ten more sources from each search engine you have selected.

Note:  Widen Research is only available for existing research results.  If there is no existing query to add results to, this feature is not available.

Shortcut:  F3


Stop Research

Select this option to stop the current research process.  When you select this option, WebSleuth stops reading any additional material off the Internet.

Note:  It may take a few seconds for WebSleuth to finish its Internet operations.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+Q


Status of Current Research

Take a snapshot of the current progression of your research.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+I

For more information, see Status of Research .


Status of Research

To find out the status of your research:

1.	Click the Research pulldown menu

2.	Select Status of Current Research.  The Status of Research dialog appears.

Click the hotspots on the illustration below to see explanations for the various parts of the Status of Research dialog:


Web Pages To Be Read

This represents the number of  web documents currently in queue to be downloaded from the Web, and processed by WebSleuth.


Web Agent Count

This is the number of web agents WebSleuth is currently running.  Each agent independently loads and analyzes the next document in the queue.  You can change the number of web agents by selecting Web Agent Quantity from the Options pulldown menu.


Currently Reading

This is a list of URLs of the web documents currently being downloaded from the Web by WebSleuth's agents.  The number of URLs in this list depends upon the number of web agents you have specified.

This can be helpful for troubleshooting when some web pages seem to be taking an exceptionally long time to load.  WebSleuth tries to detect problem pages, although it is impossible to predict every possible Internet malfunction.


Pages Read, But Not Yet Analyzed For Phrases

Find out how many web documents are currently between the reading stage (downloading) and the analysis stage (processing for matching criteria, words, phrases, excerpts, and abstracts).


Currently Analyzing

View the URL for the web document currently being processed.


Document Count

This is the number of completed pages.  That is, the number of web documents which have been downloaded, analyzed, and have satisfied the Exact Match criteria.

These are the documents which are listed in the Contents View.


Keyword Count

This is the number of unique words that  have been culled from all the web documents WebSleuth has analyzed.

The navigable index of these words is accessible when you click the Words tab in the Information Window.


Memory in use

This indicates what percentage of your computer's physical memory (RAM) is currently in use.

The higher the percentage, the more that Windows is making use of what is called virtual memory.  This is an actual block of space on your hard disk to which Windows temporarily copies some of the data stored in RAM.

By use of Virtual Memory, your computer’s RAM is freed-up to store more data.  Windows then swaps data between the hard disk and RAM as needed.

This can slow down your system a bit.  If you often find the percentage of memory in use to be in the upper 80’s or 90’s, you might want to consider purchasing more memory, more hard disk space, or both.

All of this is handled transparently by Windows.


Total Physical Memory

This informs you of how much RAM your computer has, in bytes.

One megabyte is equivalent to 1048576 bytes.


Available Physical Memory

This indicates, in bytes, how much of your computer’s RAM is currently not in use.


Paging File Size

This value helps to provide Technical Support professionals to troubleshoot any problems you might be experiencing with the WebSleuth program.


Paging File Free Space

This value helps to provide Technical Support professionals to troubleshoot any problems you might be experiencing with the WebSleuth program.


Total Virtual Memory

This value helps to provide Technical Support professionals to troubleshoot any problems you might be experiencing with the WebSleuth program.


Available Virtual Memory

This value helps to provide Technical Support professionals to troubleshoot any problems you might be experiencing with the WebSleuth program.


Options Menu

The Options menu offers you multiple ways to modify your research settings.

First of all… you must choose your User Level:

To choose your User Level:

1.	Click the Options pulldown menu.

2.	Select User Level.

3.	Choose Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced.

Note:  The WebSleuth program defaults to the Novice user level.

To find out about one or more of the possible Option Menu features, choose one of the following pop-ups:

Note:  The following list reflects the Advanced User Level.  If you are currently using another level, you will only see a subset of the following features:

Exact Match

Content Sentence Quantity

Page Quantity

Page Size Limit

Search Engine Selection

Web Agent Quantity

Phrase Verbosity

Abstracts Verbosity

Number filtering

Save as Web Page Settings

Quick Start

Animate Findings

Read pages in random order

Double-click keyword opens URL

Make all words and phrases lowercase

Optimize for English

Ignore system and hidden files

Delete empty queries from links

Proxy Server

Update engine configuration

Site Password

Go to:

Menu Bar


Exact Match

Select this option to filter the information WebSleuth locates in the research process.   This eliminates  extraneous material.

Choose from:

•	None - Analyze and display the contents of all matches given by all search engines.

•	Filter - Discard, but still analyze any sources that do not fully match the search query.

•	Discard - Discard, and do not analyze any sources that do not fully match the search query.

•	Check for Complete Phrases - Confirm that all words and the entire phrase(s) included in the search query are present in every source document retained.

Note:  All URLs appear in the Links View, whether or not they meet Exact Match requirements.  The Contents View, by contrast, displays only those URLs which do satisfy Exact Match.  Those  URLs which do not meet the Exact Match requirements are listed in the Discards View.


Content Sentence Quantity

Choose the maximum number of content sentences (excerpts) for WebSleuth to display below each document title in the Contents View.


Page Quantity

Select the maximum number of pages to be analyzed for each research session.


Page Size Limit

Choose how much of each Web document to process:  the first 5 kilobytes, the first 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 kilobytes, or the whole document.


Search Engine Selection

Select which search engines WebSleuth uses to gather research sources (references, or hits -- i.e. URL's) for analysis.  Specify also how many references each search engine should gather.

To perform the most thorough research, select more engines -- and a higher number of references.

Keep in mind that the more search engines you select, the longer the entire research process takes.

You do have the option, though, to start working with the results before the entire research process is complete.

For more information, see Select Search Engines.


Web Agent Quantity

Specify the number of web agents WebSleuth uses during your research session.

Think of web agents as virtual researchers.  They divide up the task to get it done faster.  Each web agent performs the next task waiting to be done.  This includes submitting a query to a search engine, downloading a page, or analyzing a page.

The recommended amount of web agents is 4-10, depending on speed of your machine -- and also the  speed of your connection.

Tip:  Select more web agents to increase the speed of your search.  However, if you select too many web agents, your system’s performance can be seriously impacted.


Phrase Verbosity

Limit the number of phrases displayed in the Phrases View for each analyzed Web source.

•	Choose a lower number to decrease the filtering (more phrases display for each source).

•	Choose a higher number to increase the filtering (only the higher-ranked phrases display for each source).


Abstracts Verbosity

Set the amount of text that you want to see in the Abstracts View of the Preview Window.


Number filtering

Choose which type of items containing numbers to filter.


Save as Web Page Settings

Save your Context Sentences or your Abstracts.

Note:  You can click the Don’t show this on next save checkbox to disable the dialog.


Quick Start

Set the Enter key to be the command for Setup your query.

WebSleuth automatically begins researching the information entered in the text entry box of the Control Window.

Note:  Quick Start analyzes only the information in the text box at the time you press Enter.  The Start Research command researches the query you have built, as well as any links listed for URLs that have already been read.  This command is best used for simple research queries such as single word or single-phrase queries.


Animate Findings

This option activates the Findings Tree animation in the Contents, Links and Discards Views of the Information Window.

This feature creates a dynamic display of the current status of analysis during the research process.

Note:  When you select a URL in the tree, the Animate Findings feature temporarily disables.


Read pages in random order

Maximize the variety of sources you index, even when you are limited to the total number of Web sources to be analyzed.


Double-click keyword opens URL

Turn this option ON so that you can double-click a word or phrase in the Words or Phrases Views of the Information Window -- the source document in which they were found displays in your web browser.

Note:  This only works with unique words or phrases (shown in magenta).

If you double-click a word or phrase with multiple sources (shown in black), the Context Menu appears.

At this point, you can choose which source document to display.  The source document  appears in either the Web View of the Preview Window, or in your default web browser, depending upon which setting you selected for the Use Preview window for opening web pages option in the View menu.


Make all words and phrases lowercase

Select this option for all text that appears in both the Words or Phrases View of the Information Window to be in lowercase.

Note:  In certain languages, the case of a word can change its meaning.


Optimize for English

Turn off the appearance of graphics and symbols not needed in the English language.

Note:  This improves WebSleuth’s performance.


Ignore system and hidden files

Ignore all system and hidden files while researching your queries.


Delete empty queries from links

Remove all unsuccessful queries from the Links View.


Proxy Server

This feature enables WebSleuth to access the Internet through a Proxy Server.

Note:  Contact your network administrator for the specific settings of your Proxy Server.


Update engine configuration

We are constantly adding to the list of Internet Search Engines that WebSleuth supports.  The Search Engine Automatic Configuration List dialog enables you to update your copy of WebSleuth with the latest Search Engine support.


Site Password

Index restricted-access web sites.  If a web site you want to index requires you to submit a username and a password, simply type them here before starting the research process.

Note:  WebSleuth cannot remember more than one site password at a time.  If you need to index another web site with a different password, you must come back to this screen and change it.


Select Search Engines

The number of results you actually get back from your search varies with the type and amount of search engines you are using.

There are many differences between search engines -- you should always have at least 2 or 3 search engines selected in order to combine their various strengths.

To configure WebSleuth for use with certain search engines, select Search Engine Selection from the Options pulldown menu.  The Select Search Engines dialog appears.

Click the hotspots on the illustration below to see explanations for the various parts of the dialog:


Select Engines By Name

This is a list of the Internet search engines WebSleuth currently supports.

The engines which are currently selected are the highlighted ones in the list.  Click any individual search engine to select it -- click it again to deselect it.


Select All

Select all of the search engines.


Deselect All

Deselect all of the search engines.


Select Engines By Category

Choose a Search Engine Category.


Select

Once you have chosen a Search Engine Category, click Select to make it active.


Deselect

Click here to deactivate a Search Engine Category.


How many references to request from each?

When WebSleuth sends a research query to a search engine, a certain number of references, or hits come back.

A search engine might return hundreds or thousands of hits, but WebSleuth only takes a certain maximum number off the top.  Change the maximum number of hits you want here.


OK

Save your changes to this dialog.


Search Engine Automatic Configuration List

To update your engine configuration list, select the Options pulldown menu, then select Update engine configuration… The Search Engine Automatic Configuration List dialog appears.

This dialog allows you to update WebSleuth with new search engine support.  This is done by directing WebSleuth to load in one or several engine configuration files and process them.  These configuration files are HTML files encoded specifically for WebSleuth, and they can be found Online, or on your hard disk.

Click the hotspots on the illustration below to see explanations for the various parts of the dialog:


Search Engine Configuration List

This is a list of configuration files which WebSleuth loads and processes in sequence when you click  Update.

Whenever support is added for another search engine, the latest URL configuration file appears on WebSleuth’s web site.  Thus, all users can keep their copy of WebSleuth up-to-date with the latest search engine support just by going to this screen occasionally (like once a month) and clicking Update.

You can also add your own configuration files to this list.  For example, you might be given a configuration file  that your system administrator created, perhaps to add to support to WebSleuth, but also to add the ability to send queries to your own Intranet search engine.

To add a configuration file to the list:

1.	Type the name of the file into the text box at the top of the dialog

2.	Press Enter.  The URL configuration file appears in the list.

Note:  You have the option to either type a local file path (like "c:\path\myconfig.htm") or a URL path (like http://www.mysite.com/myaccount/myconfig.htm).

To delete a configuration file from the list:

1.	Select the file.

2.	Then press Delete.


Update

Click Update to process all new configuration files.


Add New Search Engines

To add the support for new search engines as provided by the configuration file(s) in the list, check this box.


Advanced Diagnostics Messages In Log

This log provides more information in the Configuration Activity while the Update process occurs.


Configuration Activity Log

This displays the details of the Update process as it occurs.


View Menu

Decide what you want to see, and how you want to see it…

To find out more about the View Menu, choose one of the following options:

Refresh Words and Phrases

Auto Refresh

Use Preview Window for opening web pages

Link Window Sizes (*NEW*)

Allow Sounds

Automatically show current selection in web view

Statistics

Go to:

Menu Bar


Refresh Words and Phrases

Select this command to update your view of the Words or Phrases Views while results are still being processed.  Without selecting this command, the Views do not automatically update to reflect the latest  results.

Shortcut:  F5


Auto Refresh

Automatically refresh the Words and Phrases Views of the Information Window.


Use Preview Window for opening web pages

Automatically display the selected Web documents in the Preview Window.

Note:  If you do not turn this option on, the Web documents display in your default web browser.


Link Window Sizes (*NEW*)

Use this option to link the Information and Preview windows together.  This way when you move one window, the other moves with it.


Allow Sounds

Keep this selection turned ON to hear the WebSleuth sounds.


Automatically show current selection in web view

Turn this option ON so that any Web document you select (either by clicking its title in the Contents View or its URL in the Links View) automatically loads (complete with graphics) into the Web Page View of the Preview Window.

Note:  You may want to keep this option turned off if you have a low-bandwidth connection.


Statistics

View a snapshot of the current progression of the research in process.

For more information, see Status of Research .


Window Menu

Select one of the following options from the Window pulldown menu to change the focus of your cursor to that area of the program:

Control Window

Information Window

Preview Window

Status Bar

Go to:

Menu Bar


Help Menu

Choose one of the following options to find out more about WebSleuth:

Help Topics

Using Help

Show Research Wizard at Startup

Show Splash Tutorials at Startup

Register

About

Go to:

Menu Bar


Help Topics

Use this command to get step-by-step instructions for using the WebSleuth program.


Using Help

Learn how to access and work with help topics in Windows 95.


Show Research Wizard at Startup

Display the Research Wizard automatically at start up.


Show Splash Tutorials at Startup

Turn this option ON if you want to view the WebSleuth Tutorial screens when you launch the program.


Register

Register your copy of WebSleuth here.

For technical support, please email your questions to  support@promptsoftware.com.

Note:  Please be sure to include the version of WebSleuth you are using.


About

Find out the copyright notice and version number of your copy of WebSleuth.


Discard all work and start fresh

Clear the current query and all retrieved research data (words, phrases, and URLs) from the entire research session.

Then start a new research session.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+D


Open Web Page

Open a previously-saved Contents Page and reload those results, or open any HTML document and load its links into Links View for indexing.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+O


Save Web Page

WebSleuth saves your Contents View in HTML format.

With the constantly-changing nature of the Internet, this option allows you to save your sources without filling your drives with outdated information.

Edit your sources in the Contents View before choosing to save them.  Afterwards, a list of all of the Web documents matching your queries appear there.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+O


And (Include)

And - Searches for items that contain all the terms in your search query.

For example, lions And tigers locates all items containing both lions and tigers.

Short cut:  F6


Or (Include)

Or - Searches for items that contain one or both of the terms.

For example, lions Or tigers locates items containing lions or tigers, or lions and tigers.

Short cut:  F7


Not (Exclude)

Not -  Searches for items that contain one of the words or phrases, but not the other.

For example, jersey Not new locates all items containing the word jersey, but not the word new.

Short cut:  F8


Start a fresh query

This command deletes your research query, but retains your existing index.  The results of a new search can then be added to the existing index.

Shortcut:  Ctrl+W


Text Entry Box

In the text entry box, enter the words or phrases to be included in your research query.

Tip:  Click the text entry down-arrow to view a list of your previous search queries.


Research Wizard

For a quick and easy way to start research,  the Research Wizard automatically appears upon startup.

Otherwise, to access the Research Wizard dialog, just select the Start Research Wizard option from the Research pulldown menu.

User the slider in the How much info do you want? portion of the dialog to decide the number of search engines invoked, the quantity of results hits to get from each of them, the verbosity of phrases and abstracts, and the option to include numbers in the index.


Widen Research

Add more sources to your research.  Each click automatically adds ten more web pages  from each search engine.

Note:  Widen Research is only available for existing research results.  If there is no existing query to add results to, this feature is not available.

Shortcut:  F3


Initiate Research

This command performs two functions simultaneously:

1.	If there is a new query in the text entry box, WebSleuth submits it to the search engines and processes the results.  Or, if there is a URL instead in the text entry box, WebSleuth reads and processes the web page at that address.

2.	If there are any unread links currently in the Links View, WebSleuth reads and processes them.

Note:  Every time WebSleuth processes a web page, it adds all the links found on that page to the Links View as unread links.  Choose Initiate Research again for WebSleuth to process those links and so on…

Shortcut:  F2


Quit Researching!

Stop the current research process.  When the research stops, WebSleuth finishes reading any additional material downloading from the Internet.

Note:  (It may take a few seconds for WebSleuth to finish its Internet operations.)

Shortcut:  Ctrl+Q


Select Search Engines

Configure WebSleuth for use with certain search engines.


Status Bar

This displays either a pop-up explanation of a button, or the status of the current activity.


Information Window

This is where WebSleuth displays the results of your research.

Click one of the following to find out more about the Information Window:

Contents View

Phrases View

Words View

Links View

Discards View

Context Menu

Go to:

Using WebSleuth's Interface


Preview Window

The two views of the Preview Window allow you to look at a Web document as either a summary (Abstract View ), or as the actual Web page (Browser View ).

In addition, you can use the More Menu to move through and analyze the Web documents that you are currently viewing or have already viewed.

Abstract View

Web Page View

More_menu Menu

Context Menu

Go to:

Using WebSleuth's Main Window


Abstract

Whenever you select a word or phrase in the Information Window, the Abstract View instantly gives a summary of the current Web page or document from which the word or phrase was found.

You can also see a summary of any page in the Contents or Links Views by selecting its URL.  This is a concentrated version of the source that interests you, instead of taking the time to load it into your web browser.

See also:

Context Menu - Abstracts View of Preview Window


Web Page

Choose the Web Page View from the Preview Window.

View the actual Web document that you have selected.

The Web Page View is a fully-functional web browser from within WebSleuth.

Click the More Menu button for a selection of standard browser commands.

•	The title display area (center) shows the title of the currently-displayed document; or the name of the link the cursor is currently held over.

•	The target button (right) tells you the status of current page loading.  Click this button if you want to stop a page from loading.

See also:

Context Menu - WebPage View of Preview Window


Abstract View

Whenever you select a word or a phrase in the Information Window, the Abstract View instantly gives you a summary of the Web pages or documents found.

You also have the option to see a summary of any Web page by selecting its URL.  You can do this in the Contents or Links Views.  From there --  you can view a concentrated version of the source that interests you, instead of taking the time to load the information into your Web Browser.

See also:

Context Menu - Abstracts View of Preview Window


Web Page View

View the entire Web page by using Web Page View.  This view displays the actual document you have selected.

The Web Page View in the Preview Window is a fully-functional web browser from within WebSleuth.

Click the More Menu button (left) for a menu of standard browser commands.

•	The title display area (center) shows the title of the currently-displayed document; or the name of the link the cursor is currently held over.

•	The target button (right) tells you the status of current page loading.  Click this button if you want to stop a page from loading.

See also:

Context Menu - WebPage View of Preview Window


More Menu

This menu is intended to help you to manipulate the Web document, or documents that you have viewed in the Preview Window.

Please note:  The More Menu is only available when the Web Page tab is selected at the bottom of the Preview Window.

Some of the most commonly-used options of the More Menu have shortcut icons, as well as being available from the menu itself.

These shortcut icons are illustrated below:

 Go Back - Go backward through the list of already-viewed Web documents

 Go Forward - Go forward in the list of viewed Web documents.

  Stop - Stop loading the currently-selected Web document.

 Refresh - Reload the current Web document.

 Go Home - Return to the Web site designated as Home in your browser preferences.  Note:  This defaults to the WebSleuth Home Page.

 More - Click here to see the More pulldown menu.

Choose one of the following options to find out how to use the More menu:

Go Back

Go Forward

Go Home

Refresh

Stop

Copy

Select All

Find (on this page)

Print

Analyze

View Source

Fonts

Browser Options

See also:

Preview Window


Go Back

Go backward through the list of already-viewed Web documents.


Go Forward

Go forward in the list of viewed Web documents.


Go Home

Return to the Web site designated as Home in your browser preferences.  Note:  This defaults to the WebSleuth Home Page.


Refresh

Reload the current Web document.


Stop

Stop loading the currently-selected Web document.


Copy

Copy the contents of the Web document to the Windows clipboard.

Note:  You can use this feature in one of two ways:  Either select the desired portion of the Web document with your cursor, then select Copy, or choose the Select All option from the More Menu, then select Copy to copy the entire contents of the Web document.


Select All

Select the entire contents of the currently-viewed Web document.


Find (on this page)

Locate a specific word or group of words with this feature.  When you select Find, the Find dialog appears, and it operates like all other Windows Find dialogs.


Print

Print the currently-viewed Web document.


Analyze

Read this page, process it, and then the results are added to the Information Window.  From there you can access all the Information Window features – just for that specific document.

Note:  If there are other web pages currently being processed, this page is placed in the queue to wait for an available Web Agent to process it.


View Source

View the HTML source information of the currently-viewed Web document.  This information generally appears in your Windows Notepad application.


Fonts

Change the font size of the currently-viewed Web document to your preference.  You can choose between Large, Medium, Small, or  Smallest.


Browser Options

Go to the Internet Options dialog.  Click the tabs at the top of the dialog to access all of the features.


Findings Tree

The Links Findings Tree represents an animated, hierarchical view of all the Web pages related to your query.  At the highest level are your research terms, or URLs, to be indexed.  WebSleuth first analyzes the home pages for each URL.

Below each item that has a "+" is a list of other URLs.  These are the links found at the home pages during your research query.  WebSleuth keeps a list of these URLs pending, and automatically researches  these URLs during the next research run.

To find out the content of these linked pages, select the unexplored sublinks you want to research, and  press the right mouse button.  Select Research these URLs.  WebSleuth analyzes these pages, then  performs the above procedure again.

If you want to analyze all of the unexplored sublinks, simply choose Start Research again from the Research menu.  Notice though, that the breadth of the research increases exponentially if you do this repeatedly.

Findings Tree Symbols

See also:

Links View


Context Menu

The Context Menus include specific sets of commands for each individual window.

Right-click in any window to display the applicable Context Menu for that window.

Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window

Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window

Context Menu - Abstract View of Preview Window

Context Menu - Web Page View of Preview Window


Context Menu - Contents, Links and Discards Views of Information Window

From the Contents, Links or Discards View of the Information Window, you can right- click a URL to view a Context Menu of choices for further research.

The choices are as follows:

•	Open this URL - Open the selected URL in the Preview Window or in your default web browser, depending on your View Menu settings…

•	Delete this URL - Remove all references to a Web page from all of the indices.  This affects all views.

•	Delete Sublinks - Remove the selected Web page and all links to other Web pages that were indexed.  This affects all views.

•	Research this URL - Tell WebSleuth to go to this Web site and index its contents.

•	Research Sublinks - Index all of the links for this Web page.

•	Copy to Clipboard - Use this command to copy text to the clipboard, then paste it into another application for example, a word processor.

Go to:

Context Menu


Context Menu - Words and Phrases Views of Information Window

From the Words and Phrases Views of the Information Window, you can right- click a word or phrase to view a Context Menu of choices for further research.

The choices are as follows:

•	URLs List - WebSleuth lists the URLs for the Web sources matching your query.  Up to 16 sources display.  The first ten sources have a keyboard accelerator.  Press the keyboard accelerator number, or left-click on the URL to load that Web document.  WebSleuth opens your default Web browser and displays that source.

•	Discard all documents referencing this keyword. - If you select this option, all documents found containing this keyword are discarded.

•	Delete all.  Do new research on this word. - WebSleuth can completely clear your present research findings and run a new query on the word or phrase select.  To run your research request, press F2 or click the Start Research button.

•	And / Or / Not - Use these choices to build a new query from the words or phrases in your current index.  Select words and/or phrases and choose And, Or, or Not until you have finished  constructing your query.  Then press F2 or click the Start Research button.  Your new research is  added to your existing index.

•	Use for Document Refine - Select this option to filter the Contents View to show only documents containing a particular word.

•	Use for Phrase Refine - Select this option to filter the Phrases View to show only phrases containing a particular phrase.

Properties:

•	Smaller Font - To fit more words into your current view, right-click any text in the window, and choose Properties/Smaller Font.

•	Larger Font - To make your index easier to read, right-click any text in the window, and choose Properties/Larger Font.

Go to:

Context Menu


Context Menu - Abstracts View of Preview Window
Context Menu - Abstract View of Preview Window

When you right-click in the Abstract View of the Preview Window, the Abstract View Context Menu appears.

The choices are as follows:

•	Copy - To copy text from the Preview Window to your clipboard, select the text, then right-click and select Copy from the Context Menu.  Your text can then be pasted into the text entry box, or into any other application -- for example, a word processor.

•	Select All - To select all of the displayed text in the Abstract view, right-click and then choose Select All. Your text can then be pasted into the text entry box, or into any other application -- for example, a word processor.

Go to:

Context Menu


Context Menu - Web Page View of Preview Window

When you right-click in the Web Page View of the Preview Window, the Web Page View Context Menu appears.

The choices are as follows:

•	Save Background As - Save the background of the Web document to your hard drive for future use.

•	Set As Wallpaper - Set the graphic of the currently-selected Web document as the wallpaper for your PC desktop.

•	Copy Background - Copy the background of the currently-selected Web document to your clipboard.

•	Select All - Select all of the content of the currently-selected Web document.

•	Create Shortcut - Create a shortcut to the currently-selected Web document.

•	Add to Favorites - Adds the currently-selected Web document to your list of favorite Internet sites.  (Note:  This option only works if you are using Internet Explorer.)

•	View Source - Check out the HTML code for the currently-selected Web document.

•	Refresh - Reload the currently-selected Web document in your browser.

•	Properties - View the Page properties for the currently-selected Web document.

Note:  This menu varies slightly depending whether you are using Internet Explorer version 3 or Internet Explorer version 4.

Go to:

Context Menu


Page Properties

If the currently-selected Web document has any important properties, check this dialog for the explanations of those properties.

Note:  This menu will vary slightly depending upon whether or not you are using Internet Explorer Ver.3 or Internet Explorer Ver.4 – or some other browser.


General

Select this tab to find out the Protocol, Type, and Address of the currently-selected Web document.


Security

Select this tab to find out what security issues, if any, apply to the currently-selected Web document.


Tutorial

To learn about WebSleuth’s features, choose one of the tasks below, and the that Tutorial option will walk you through the task.

Research A Topic

Index a Web Site

Refine Previous Research

Using the Contents Page

Learn About WebSleuth

Prompt Software, Inc.


Research A Topic

To research a topic:

1.	Type a single word or phrase in the Search For box.

2.	Choose the word or words that would be most common to any document relevant to your area of interest.

Note:  You can also build a more complex query by entering several query terms (a word or a phrase) separated by the words AND , OR , or NOT.

3.	Press F2 or click the Start Search button to begin your research.

4.	View and navigate your results in the Information and Preview Windows.

Go to:

View the Results

Configuration Activity Log


View the Results

To view the results:

1.	While WebSleuth works, you can review the results as they come in.  WebSleuth displays the results in the Information Window .  At the bottom of this window are several tabs; each representing a different view.

2.	Choose a tab to review your research.

3.	WebSleuth notifies you when your research is complete.

Note:  To make your index easier to read, right-click from within the Control Window and choose Properties/Larger Font.  To fit more words into your current view, choose Properties/Smaller Font.

Go to:

Improving WebSleuth's Performance

Getting Optimal Search Results

Control Window

Tutorial


Improving WebSleuth's Performance

You can improve WebSleuth’s search performance by:

•	Adding more RAM

•	Freeing up more disk space

•	Reducing the number of web agents in WebSleuth.

See also:

Getting Optimal Search Results


Getting Optimal Search Results

The design of WebSleuth's indices makes it unnecessary for you to narrow  down your search.  Once the results of your initial search have been processed, just look through the Words View, and you will find all the pages within your initial search criteria.

You can also add to that return list by expanding the search in two possible directions:

•	You can widen your research by selecting Widen Research from the Research menu, or by clicking the binoculars button with the sideways arrow; this tells WebSleuth to fetch the next ten results from each of the search engines you've selected, and add them to the index.

•	You can also deepen your research by choosing the downward binoculars button; this tells WebSleuth to follow all the links that it finds in the first batch of documents that it processes, and then go process all of those documents.

Note:  Be careful when choosing this option, though, as the number of links tends to grow exponentially!

•	Finally, if you want to save what you've got and continue later, you can save all the valid links to disk as an HTML page, which you can then load back in later.  When you load it back in, you need to select Start Research again to re-index the pages; but it will be faster this time, because you are not querying the search engines again -- you are just processing the links directly.

Other Optimization Issues:

•	If you have your Exact Match option set to Discard (the default setting), then you should get a better percentage of relevant hits than if you use the search engines directly, because WebSleuth is filtering out those documents (e.g. Web pages that don't actually meet your search criteria).  It also throws out all of the invalid links.

•	Second of all, the real power of WebSleuth is all the ways in which it speeds up the wading through process.  Click any URL in the Contents View, and an abstract of that document instantly appears in the Abstract View.  Click the + sign next to the URL and see a list of excerpts from the text containing your query text.  These two features give you a quick preview of a document that saves you from loading the whole thing into your web browser before deciding if it's truly relevant.

•	Then there's the Words and Phrases indices.  Instead of paging through a list of document titles, think of the entire collection of documents as one big knowledge base that WebSleuth has created for you on the fly, with fully cross-referenced indices of all individual words, and all meaningful word combinations.  Browse the indices as you would an encyclopedia, or the back of a textbook.  Or look up specific sub-category of information.  It's all there in alphabetical order.

•	In the Options Menu, select Exact Match, then select Check for Complete Phrases to turn it on.  This causes WebSleuth's filter to only accept documents that contain the complete contiguous phrases that you enter.  (You might also try including quotes to see if that produces different results).


Index a Web Site

If you're interested in a specific Web site, you can ask WebSleuth to index the entire site.

For example, if you wish to review the contents of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Web site, but do not want to read it page by page, WebSleuth will produce an analysis for you.  You can now simply browse through the indexed words and phrases to review what interests you.

To index a Web Site (URL):

1.	Type the URL "http://www.rockhall.com" into the Search For box in the Control Window.

2.	Press Start Search.  WebSleuth will go to the URL you've specified, and index the top web page at that Web site.

3.	To include all of the links from that page, press the Deepen (binoculars) button again.

4.	Repeat until WebSleuth has processed all of the pages you want indexed.

While your research is being performed, you can browse through the Words and Phrases Views, even while WebSleuth continues to index the site.

The Status Bar displays Ready when the research process is complete.

In the research findings, you can look for what interests you.

Go to:

Tutorial


Refine Previous Research

After completing your initial research, you can now further investigate the results…

To investigate a Word or Phrase:

In the Information Window, WebSleuth displays a list of the words and phrases it found.

•	Click the Words or Phrases tabs at the bottom of the Information Window to browse through your alphabetic research index, and find key words and meaningful word combinations.

•	When you find something you like, perform further research on this item, and add it to the existing index --  or create a brand-new index for this item.

•	To learn more about a specific word or phrase, right-click the item.  Then choose a command from the Context menu.

•	To view the documents matching your query, select them from the listed URLs.

See also:

Refine Menu - Contents View

Refine Menu - Phrases View

Go to:

Tutorial


Using the Contents Page

The Contents Page is a special file that saves all of your research findings.  The Contents Page allows you to update and review the information you need.

To saving your work as a Contents Page:

You can save your research results list as a Contents Page.  Choose Save As Contents Page from the File menu.  WebSleuth saves all of the Web addresses of the Web sites in your Contents view.  You can later review and update this information very easily.  If you have already saved the contents, you may want to revisit these sources.

To open a Contents Page:

1.	Click WebSleuth's Control Window.

2.	Choose Open Contents Page from the File menu.

3.	Select a saved Contents Page file from your previous research.

With the Contents Page file open, WebSleuth can update the information from those Web sites you want to review.

To get the latest from your Contents Page:

1.	Click the WebSleuth Control Window.

2.	Click Start Search, or press F2.

3.	After you log on, WebSleuth automatically re-indexes those Web sites.

To view your re-indexed research:

•	Click the Links tab to see the progress as WebSleuth researches your sources.

•	Click the + signs on the findings tree to see the Web sources in your file and their links.

Go to:

Tutorial


Learn About WebSleuth

WebSleuth is the best Content Discovery tool available.

Use it to:

•	Analyze everything on the Web about a topic.

•	Index each and every Web site you select.

What Makes WebSleuth Different?

WebSleuth is not a search engine.  It is a research tool.  Search engines require you to know exactly what you’re searching for and enter the queries using Boolean logic.  The result is often thousands of Web pages for you to review, wasting countless hours on analyzing irrelevant material.

Search engine queries need to be very specific and unique.  But what if the specifics -- names, places, titles, technical terms, etc. -- are what you're looking for, and all you have is the general topic of field of inquiry?  Then you need a different tool --  A Content Discovery tool.

WebSleuth takes you from the general to the specific, the same way your natural thinking process works.  You start with a concept, an idea, or a subject area.  WebSleuth queries all the search engines and analyzes the documents they find, presenting you with one complete, dynamic index of just the sources that match your criteria.  You can then browse through this index as if it were an encyclopedia.

Go to:

Tutorial


Prompt Software, Inc.

Address:	4 Commercial Boulevard Novato, CA  94949
Phone:	(800)289-1948  or  (415)382-8840
Technical Support: Sales:	(303)739-4166 (888) 4 SLEUTH  or (888) 475-3884 490 Division Street Campbell, CA 95008
Fax:	415/382-8868
Email:	sales@promptsoftware.com  or support@promptsoftware.com
Visit our World Wide Web site at:	http://www.promptsoftware.com

Go to:

Tutorial


Common Questions and Answers

Q:  I started downloading WebSleuth from your web site, but something happened to the connection and the download didn't finish.  What went wrong?

A:  Sometimes Internet connections break.  This is probably the fault of your Internet service provider.  Unfortunately, this is something which we have no control over.  All we can suggest is to try again!

Q:  I successfully downloaded WebSleuth, but I cannot find it on my system.  Where is it?

A:  When you download a software program from the Internet, there are two main steps to make it run on your computer:

•	Downloading the program file is the first step.

•	The second step is to install the program.

In the case of WebSleuth, the second step is simple:  Just run the program file you downloaded, and automatically the setup program launches.  (In Windows, it is easy to run a program, just double-click it.   The program file has a name like WSxxxx.EXE [where the x's are numbers], and it is located in the folder on your hard disk where your Web browser or FTP program saves files that it downloads.)

Q:  I have successfully downloaded a newer version of WebSleuth.  Unfortunately, when I ran it for the first time, it still came up as the older version.  What went wrong?

A:  You need to install the new version before you can run it.  It is okay to install the new version it to the same location that the previous version was installed to; the new version simply replaces the older version.

Q:  How do I find out what version of WebSleuth I am using?

A:  As in question #3 above, you need to install the new version before you can run it. It is okay to install the new version it to the same location that the previous version was installed to; the new version simply replaces the older version.

In the Menu Bar along the top part of WebSleuth's Control Window, click Help to pull down the Help menu, then select About WebSleuth.  This will tell you the version number.

Q:  I am a paid user of WebSleuth (or a beta tester) -- and was issued a permanent serial number.  Now I want to get the free upgrade to the latest version.  Do I need a new serial number?

A:  You would only need a new serial number if you have never used WebSleuth 1.1 or sooner.  Serial  numbers issued to paying customers for WebSleuth 1.1 remain valid for all future versions.

Q:  One or more of my WebSleuth windows are missing.  I cannot find them anywhere on the screen.

A:  WebSleuth has three windows (The Control, Information, and Preview window), each window can be resized, repositioned, minimized, maximized, or restored to its original position.

There are a number of ways you could lose track of one of the windows.  For instance, if you start with the windows in their default positions (with the Information Window and Preview windows side-by-side), and you minimize the Preview window, it appears to vanish, when actually it's just hidden behind the Information Window in its minimized state.  Similar confusion can result from accidentally moving one of the windows off-screen, or re-sizing a window down to almost nothing.  You just have to undo what you did.  If that is not possible, try exiting WebSleuth, wait for it to say "Goodbye", then restart it.  In most cases, particularly with newer versions of WebSleuth, this should restore your window positions.  If it does not, there is one last resort: Exit WebSleuth, go to your Windows folder, and delete the file IDE.INI.  This will restore all of WebSleuth's original default settings, including window size.  The only downside is that you will lose any special Options settings that you have made.

Q:  My Internet provider is America Online, and WebSleuth does not seem to be working.  What is wrong?

A:  There are actually two current Windows versions of America Online.  One is called "America Online 3.0 for Windows", and the other one is called "America Online 3.0 for Windows 95".  Both versions work in Windows 95, but only the latter one is supported by WebSleuth.

The technical reason for this is that WebSleuth requires something called a "32-bit Winsock" to work properly, and only "America Online 3.0 for Windows 95" provides this.

If you have the wrong version of AOL, here is what you do:

Sign on to AOL, go to Keyword: UPGRADE, click the image where it says "Upgrade NOW!", then follow the instructions to download and install AOL for Windows 95.

Q:  When I double-click (or right-click and select Open This URL) an item in the Information Window, instead of opening that item in my browser, WebSleuth either does not do anything, or gives me an error message, like "Execute error 2: File not found".  Is this a bug?

A:  No, this is not a bug in WebSleuth.  Some older Windows 95 systems are lacking certain system components which WebSleuth needs in order to work properly.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to replace these missing system components:

Install Microsoft's FREE Internet Explorer.  Important Note: This does NOT mean that you have to switch to using Internet Explorer as your Web browser if that is not your choice.  When you install Internet Explorer, if you do indeed prefer to continue using your existing Web browser (e.g. Netscape Navigator) as your default browser, simply choose No when asked if you want Internet Explorer to be your default browser.  WebSleuth works with whichever browser is the default browser on your system.  Internet Explorer just needs to be installed on your system; you need never actually run it.

To download the current FREE version of Internet Explorer, go to Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/default.asp.

Q:  I have both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator installed on my system, but I prefer to use Netscape.  Whenever I open a page from WebSleuth, it brings up Internet Explorer.  How do I make it use Netscape instead?

A:  As noted above, WebSleuth automatically works with whatever is the default browser on your system.  If Internet Explorer is currently your default browser, and you want it to be Netscape Navigator, you can switch it by reinstalling Navigator.

Q:  I have both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator installed on my system, and I do have Netscape set up as my default browser, but WebSleuth still is not working with Netscape.  What is the problem?

A  Be sure that you are using the 32-bit version of Netscape Navigator, not the 16-bit version.  You can check this in Windows 95 by opening the Control Panel, then open “Add/Remove Programs”, and look  in the list of currently-installed programs.  If Netscape Navigator is not in the list, then you are using the 16-bit version.  You need to completely remove this copy of Navigator from your system before you can install the 32-bit version.

Q:  I access the Internet through a proxy server.  Can I use WebSleuth?

A:  Yes, you can.  If your version of WebSleuth does not support a proxy server, upgrade to the latest version through our website.


Glossary

A-J

K-Q

R-Z


A-J

Abstract

Active

AOL

ARPA

Browse Button

Browser

Contents Page

Context Menu

DNS

Findings Tree

Findings Tree Symbols

Firewall

FTP

Hierarchical

Home Page

Home Page

HTML

HTTP

Intranet

ISDN

ISP

Go to:

Glossary


Abstract

An abstract is a presentation of the most essential content of a document.

WebSleuth uses a proprietary syntax analysis engine to prioritize the most important phrases within a document and uses them to generate an abstract.


Active

A window is active when it is in the foreground, or its title bar shows it is the active element.


AOL

AOL stands for America Online, a commercial Online service provider.


ARPA

ARPA is the acronym for U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency.


Browse Button

Use the browse buttons to move backwards and forward through the help system.


Browser

A browser is a software program used to access or view material prepared for the WORD WIDE WEB (WWW).

Examples of popular browsers include Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Netscape’s Navigator, Lynx, and Mosaic.


Contents Page

The Contents Page is a powerful and flexible tool that allows you to quickly access the latest information on your topic.

WebSleuth saves your list of relevant Web sources in HTML  format.


Context Menu

Context menus include specific sets of commands.   Right-click any window to display the Context Menu applicable for that window.


DNS

Domain Name Server – Each domain has a primary and secondary domain name server.

The primary DNS for a domain is usually located on one of the computers in the physical network.


Findings Tree

The findings tree displays the interrelationships between the listed items.

The "trunk" of the "tree" is represented by a vertical line at the left side of the list.  All major items are shown as branches of this trunk.  Other related items are shown as sub-branches.

Note:	The branches in the Contents View are slightly different.  They represent key phrases containing your query term for that document.


Findings Tree Symbols

The findings trees in the Contents, Links and Discards views display the status of your research using symbols which change as WebSleuth progresses through the different stages of researching your query.

 Document waiting to be read

 Reading document

 Document waiting to be analyzed

 Analyzing document

 Work complete on this document

 An unexplored link WebSleuth has found in a document. Also called a "sublink" of that  document.

 Finding all the links in the document

 Canceled document

Error Messages:

 Connection error with this URL: site server down or incorrect URL.

 Read, but sent to Discards (did not meet Exact Match criteria).

 File could not be found.


Firewall

A "firewall" is a way of protecting a computer environment.  Sample uses include limiting outside access to classified or sensitive documents on a corporate network or Intranet, or preventing internal users from accessing game or other distracting Web sites from work.


FTP

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.  It allows for the transfer of files from remote to local computers.  FTP is part of the TCP/IP / TELNET software suite.


Gopher

is a software program used to access or view material available over the Internet.  Gopher software is arranged  in a series of overlying directories,  through which a user descends, in order to eventually reach a file of interest.  Gopher preceded WWW software in development, and its widespread use was largely curtailed by the introduction of  graphical WWW browser software during fall 1993.


Hierarchical

View information according to its intra-relationship.  Items are listed with various degrees of  indentation, which indicates their relation to other items.

For example in the Links View, the URLs of links from a Web Site display indented under that Web Site’s title.


Home Page

A home page is like a “main menu".  It provides information both directly and via links to other files on the same computer or to files on other computers located on remote networks.


HTML

HyperText Markup Language, is the language of the World Wide Web.  Your Web Browser reads HTML documents as web pages.


HTTP

Hypertext Transport /Transmission Protocol  is the protocol for accessing web servers.


ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network.  Using digital communications technology, it permits much faster transfer of data than conventional (analog) phone lines.

For information regarding ISDN technology in your area, contact your phone service provider.


ISP

Internet Service Provider is the service company through which you purchase Internet access.


Intranet

An inter-inking of computers in order to share information and other resources.


K-Q

Keyboard Accelerator

Keyboard Commands

Links

MIME

Minimize Button

Mosaic

Most Important Phrases

Netscape

Network

NSF

Query

Go to:

Glossary


Keyboard Accelerator

All of the menu items can be accessed by a keyboard accelerator.  Check which letter is underlined in the menu item, then press “Alt + the beginning letter of the menu”, then the underlined letter of the menu item.  When you use this procedure, you can more quickly access the command you need.


Keyboard Commands

The keyboard command is a keyboard shortcut.  It is available for the more frequently-used activities.  Check the key sequence shown next to the menu item to find out its keyboard command.


Links

These are the “hyperlinks” in web pages that you click in your browser to jump to another web document or file.


MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions are the standard for attached non-text files to standard Internet mail messages.  Non-text files include graphics, spread-sheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound files, etc.


Minimize Button

Click the minimize button to shrink a window.


Mosaic

A software program used to access or view material prepared for the Word Wide Web (WWW) by  pointing at information located on a web server.


Most Important Phrases

WebSleuth identifies the most important phrases in a document by utilizing its proprietary syntax analysis engine.  Phrases (conceptual and topical) are analyzed and prioritized.  Then the content displays in the Phrases and Abstract views.


Netscape

A software program used to access or view material prepared for the Word Wide Web (WWW) by  pointing at information located on a web server.


Network

An inter-linking of computers.  For example, in an office setting, where the machines are connected together so that information and other resources can be shared.


NSF

The National Science Foundation, a U.S. Federal Agency.


Query

The combination of terms (words and phrases) describing what you want to research.


R-Z

RAM

Scroll Bars

Search Engines

Splash Screen

Status Bar

TCP/IP

TELNET

Tile

Title Bar

Toggle

Tool Bar

URL

WWW

Go to:

Glossary


RAM

Random Access Memory.  This is what is usually referred to as your computer’s memory.  Any information that a program is currently acting on is stored in memory, along with parts of the program itself.  This includes WebSleuth and all of your search results.  To keep any of this information after you exit the program, or turn off your computer, you must save it to disk or to a network.


Scroll Bars

The scroll bars are located at the right and bottom edges of the Information Window.

Use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the displayed document by clicking the arrows, or dragging the scroll boxes.  The positions of the scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.


Search Engines

Search engines are tools available on the World Wide Web that provide a “searchable” database of sources on a topic you specify.

WebSleuth works with the search engines, analyzes the information they find, and provides you with a “browsable” index based on the content of the Web sources.


Splash Screen

This is the information screen that appears when you start-up WebSleuth.  It displays the name and version of the application, and the contact and registration references.


Status Bar

The Status Bar displays the current status of research activity for your query (located at the bottom of the WebSleuth Control Window.)  The Tool Bar buttons, Menu items, and other interface actions are described on the left side of the Status Bar when you move your mouse over them.  Messages describing the actions of Tool Bar buttons appear as you click on them.

The status bar can be moved or resized from the right corner of the window.


TCP/IP

This is a combined set of protocols for the transfer of data between two computers.  TCP monitors and ensures the correct transfer of data.  IP receives the data from TCP, breaks it up into packets, and ships it off to a network that is part of the Internet.


TELNET

This is portion of the TCP/IP suite of software protocols that handle terminals.  TELNET allows a user to log in to a remote computer from the user’s local computer.


Tile

To view more than one window at a time, you have the option to “tile” the windows.  This means you can place them next to each other so all are visible.


Title Bar

The Title Bar is located along the top of the Control Window.

The Title Bar reads "WebSleuth" until you start building a research query.


Toggle

A toggle command is an ON/OFF command.

To determine the current status of a toggle switch, look at the menu or the check box it appears in.  If a check mark appears next to the item, it is active.  To turn it off, simply choose that item again.


Tool Bar

The Toolbar is located at the top of the application window.  The Tool Bar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in WebSleuth.


URL

The Uniform Resource Locator is the Internet address for a site on the Internet.


WWW

This stands for the World Wide Web.


Technical Support

You can obtain technical support from a live human being at:

Prompt Software, Inc. Technical Support	(888)4SLEUTH or (888)475-3884
Email	support@promptsoftware.com
Website	http://www.promptsoftware.com

Or contact Prompt Software, Inc. Technical Support Staff by postal mail:

Prompt Software, Inc.

4 Commercial Boulevard

Novato, CA  94949

Fax:  415/382-8868


Upgrading

You have the option to download and install the latest version of WebSleuth at any time.

Just go to our Web Site: http://www.promptsoftware.com.

The Setup program locates your previous installation of WebSleuth, and offers you the option of overwriting it with the new version.  Click OK to do so.

Your serial number and Options settings are preserved -- so you do not have to re-enter or re-set them.

If, however, you are asked for your serial number, simply type in your existing number.

For problems with registration or serial numbers, call (303) 739-4166, or (888) 475-3884.

For Technical Support, call (303) 739-4166.

For Sales Support, call (888) 4 SLEUTH, or (888) 475-3884.