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<html><head><title>Lynx Users Guide v2.3-FM</title>
<!--OWNER_NAME="ACS"-->
<!--OWNER_INFO="Academic Computing Services, University of Kansas"-->
<link rev="made" href="mailto:lynx-help@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu">
</head><body>
<h1>Lynx Users Guide Version 2.3-FM</h1>
Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users
running cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices (e.g.,
vt100 terminals, vt100 emulators running on PCs or Macs, or any
other "curses-oriented" display). It will display hypertext
markup language (HTML) documents containing links to
files residing on the local system, as well as files residing on
remote systems running Gopher, HTTP, FTP, WAIS, and NNTP servers.
Current versions of Lynx run on UNIX and VMS. A Beta version for DOS
is also available.<p>
Lynx can be used to access information on the World Wide Web, or
to build information systems intended primarily for local access.
For example, Lynx has been used to build several Campus Wide
Information Systems (CWIS). In addition, Lynx can be used to
build systems isolated within a single LAN. <P>
<A NAME="TOC"><h2>Select a topic</h2></A>
<ul>
<li><A HREF="#1">Viewing local files with Lynx</A>
<li><A HREF="#2">Lynx online help</A>
<li><A HREF="#3">Leaving Lynx</A>
<li><A HREF="#4">Starting Lynx with a Remote File</A>
<li><A HREF="#5">Starting Lynx with the the WWW_HOME environment variable.</A>
<li><A HREF="#6">Navigating hypertext documents with Lynx</A>
<li><A HREF="#7">Printing, Mailing, and Saving files to disk.</A>
<li><A HREF="#8">Lynx searching commands</A>
<li><A HREF="#9">Lynx options menu</A>
<li><A HREF="#10">Comments and mailto: links</A>
<li><A HREF="#18">USENET News posting</A>
<li><a href="#19">Lynx and HTML Forms</a>
<li><A HREF="#11">Viewing the HTML document source and editing documents</A>
<li><A HREF="#12">Reloading files and refreshing the display</A>
<li><A HREF="#13">Lynx bookmarks</A>
<li><A HREF="#13A">Jump command</A>
<li><A HREF="#13B">Directory Editing</A>
<li><A HREF="#14">Other useful commands</A>
<li><A HREF="#15">The Lynx command</A>
<li><A HREF="#16">Lynx development history</A>
<li><A HREF="#17">Additional Information</A>
</ul>
<h2><A NAME="1">Viewing local files with Lynx</A></h2>
Lynx can be started by entering the Lynx command along with
the name of a file to display. For example these commands could
all be used to display an arbitrary ASCII text file.
<dl>
<dt>UNIX
<dd><code>lynx myfile</code>
<dd><code>lynx /home/my-dir/myfile</code>
<dt>VMS
<dd><code>lynx dua5:[my-directory]myfile</code>
</dl>
When executed, Lynx will clear the screen and display as much of
the specified file as will fit on the screen. Pressing a
down-arrow will bring up the next screen, and pressing an up-arrow
will bring up the previous screen. If no file is specified at startup,
a default file will be displayed. (The default is configured by the
system administrator when the command is installed.)<p>
Lynx will also display files written in the HyperText
Markup Language (HTML), if the file's name ends with the
characters ".html". HTML is a file format that allows users to
create a file that contains (among other things) hypertext links
to other files. Several files linked together may be described as
a <i>hypertext document</i>.<p>
For example, these commands could be used to display files
containing HTML hypertext:
<dl>
<dt>UNIX
<dd><code>lynx myfile.html</code>
<dd><code>lynx /home/my-dir/myfile.html</code>
<dt>VMS
<dd><code>lynx dua5:[me]myfile.html</code>
</dl>
When Lynx displays an HTML file, it shows links as "bold face"
text, except for one link, which is shown as "highlighted" text.
Whether "boldface" or "highlighted" text shows up as reverse
video, boldface type, or a color change, etc. depends on the
display device being used (and the way in which that device has
been configured). Lynx has no control over the exact presentation
of links.<p>
The one link displayed as "highlighted" text is the currently
"selected" link. Lynx will display the file associated with the
selected link when a right-arrow or a Return key is pressed. To
select a particular link, press the up-arrow or down-arrow keys
until the desired link becomes "highlighted," and then press the
right-arrow or Return key to view the linked information.
Information included in the HTML file tells Lynx where to find the
linked file and what kind of server will provide it (i.e. HTTP,
Gopher, etc.). <p>
When a binary file is encountered Lynx will ask the user if
he/she wishes to download the file or cancel. If the user
selects 'D' for download, Lynx will transfer the file into a
temporary location and present the user with a list of options. The
only default option is "save file to disk", which is disabled
if Lynx is running in anonymous mode. Any number of additional
download methods may be defined in the lynx.cfg file by the system
administrator. Programs like kermit, zmodem and FTP are some possible
options. <A HREF="#TOC">ToC</A>
<h2><A NAME="2">Lynx online help</A></h2>
Online help is available while viewing any document. Press the
'?' or 'H' key to see a list of help topics. See the section
titled <A HREF="#6">'Navigating hypertext documents with Lynx'</A> for
information on navigating through the help files. <A HREF="#TOC">ToC</A>
<h2><A NAME="3">Leaving Lynx</A></h2>
To exit Lynx use the 'q' command. You will be asked whether you
really want to quit. Answering 'y' will exit and 'n' will return
you to the current document. Use 'Q' or CTRL-D to quit without verification.
<A HREF="#TOC">ToC</A>
<h2><A NAME="4">Starting Lynx with a Remote File</A></h2>
If you wish to view a remote file (that is, a file residing on
some computer system other than the one upon which you are running
Lynx) without first viewing a local file, you must identify that
file by using a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). URL's take the
general form:
<br><br>
<code>PROTOCOL :// HOST / PATH / FILENAME</code>
<br><br>
where
<dl>
<dt><code>PROTOCOL</code>
<dd>identifies the communications
protocol used by the server that will provide the file. As
mentioned earlier, Lynx (and any WWW client) can interact with a
variety of servers, each with its own protocol.
<dt><code>HOST</code>
<dd>is the Internet address of the computer
system on which the server is running, and
<dt><code>PATH</code> and <code>FILENAME</code>
<dd>identify the directory path and file of interest.
</dl>
Here are some sample URL's.
<dl>
<dt>HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
<dd><code>http://www.cc.ukans.edu/lynx_help/lynx_help_main.html</code>
<dt>Gopher
<dd><code>gopher://gopher.micro.umn.edu/11/</code>
<dt>FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
<dd><code>ftp://ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/lynx/README</code>
<dt>WAIS (Wide Area Information Service protocol)
<dd><code>wais://cnidr.org/directory-of-servers</code>
</dl>
A URL may be specified to Lynx on the command line, as in:
<dl>
<dd><code>lynx http://kufacts.cc.ukans.edu/cwis/kufacts_start.html</code>
</dl>
<A HREF="#TOC">ToC</A>
<h2><A NAME="5">Starting Lynx with the the WWW_HOME environment variable.</A></h2>
You may also specify a starting file for Lynx using the WWW_HOME
environment variable,
<dl>
<dt>UNIX
<dl>
<dt>ksh
<dd><code>export WWW_HOME=http://info.cern.ch/default.html</code>
<dt>csh
<dd><code>setenv WWW_HOME http://info.cern.ch/default.html</code>
</dl>
<dt>VMS
<dd><code>define "WWW_HOME" "http://info.cern.ch/default.html"</code>
</dl>
<h2><A NAME="6">Navigating hypertext documents with Lynx</A></h2>
The process of moving within a hypertext web, selecting and displaying
links is known as "navigation." With Lynx almost all navigation can be
accomplished with the arrow keys and the numeric keypad.
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