From dc748b1c47baadafae2c90f0e188927b11b7e029 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Thomas E. Dickey" Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:00:22 -0400 Subject: snapshot of project "lynx", label v2_8_8dev_6c --- lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html | 3354 --------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 3354 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html (limited to 'lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html') diff --git a/lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html b/lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html deleted file mode 100644 index 2e4136ee..00000000 --- a/lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3354 +0,0 @@ - - - - -Lynx Users Guide v2.8.7 - - - - - -

Lynx Users Guide v2.8.7

- -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 -character-cell display). It will display Hypertext Markup Language -(HTML) documents containing links to files on the local system, as -well as files on remote systems running http, gopher, -ftp, wais, nntp, finger, or -cso/ph/qi servers, and services accessible via -logins to telnet, tn3270 or rlogin accounts (see -URL Schemes Supported by Lynx). -Current versions of Lynx run on Unix, VMS, -Windows3.x/9x/NT, 386DOS and OS/2 EMX. - -

Lynx can be used to access information on the WWW, 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. - -

Table of Contents

- - - -

Lynx online help

- -Online help is available while viewing any document. Press the -'?' or 'H' key (or the 'h' key if -vi-like key movement is not on) to see a list of help topics. -See the section titled Navigating -hypertext documents with Lynx for information on navigating -through the help files. - -

In addition, a summary description of all the Lynx keystroke commands -and their key bindings is available by pressing the 'K' key (or -the 'k' key if vi-like key movement is not on). -[ToC] -

-If you want to recall recent status-line messages, you can do so -by entering the `g' command, followed by `LYNXMESSAGES:'. - -

Viewing local files with Lynx

- -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 or HTML file: - -
-
UNIX -
lynx filename -
lynx /home/my-dir/filename -
lynx ~/filename -
VMS -
lynx filename -
lynx dua5:[my-directory]filename -
lynx /dua5/my-directory/filename -
lynx ~/filename -
lynx sys$login:filename -
lynx /sys$login/filename -
Win32/DOS -
lynx file:///filename -
lynx filename -
lynx c:/dir/filename -
lynx //n/dir/filename -
- -

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, depending on settings e.g., in lynx.cfg. - -

Lynx will display local files written in the HyperText Markup -Language (HTML), if the file's name ends with the characters -.html, .htm, .shtml, .htmlx, -.html3, or .ht3. 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 -hypertext document. If the filename does not have one of the -suffixes mapped by Lynx to HTML, the -force_html command line -option can be included to force treatment of the file as hypertext. - -

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. - -

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.). - -

Lynx renders HTML files and saves the rendition (and the source, if -so configured in the lynx.cfg file) -for initial display and should you select the link again. If you do -select a link again and have reason to desire a new fetch and rendering -of the file, use the NOCACHE command, normally mapped to 'x' and -'X', instead of the right-arrow or Return key -when positioned on the link. You also can force a new fetch and rendering -of the currently displayed document via the RELOAD command, normally mapped -to Control-R. - -

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 to disk, which is disabled if Lynx is running in anonymous -mode. Additional download methods may be defined in the -lynx.cfg file. Programs like kermit, zmodem -and FTP are some possible options. [ToC] - -

Leaving Lynx

- -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 -Control-D to quit without verification. [ToC] - -

Starting Lynx with a Remote File

- -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). URLs take the -general form: - -

PROTOCOL :// HOST / PATH - -

where - -

-
PROTOCOL -
identifies the communications protocol (scheme) 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. - -
HOST -
is the Internet address of the computer system on which the - server is running, and - -
PATH -
is a scheme-specific field which for some schemes may - correspond to a directory path and/or filename. -
- -Here are some sample URLs. - -
-
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) -
http://www.subir.com/lynx.html - -
Gopher -
gopher://gopher.micro.umn.edu/11/ - -
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) -
ftp://ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/lynx/README - -
WAIS (Wide Area Information Service protocol) -
wais://cnidr.org/directory-of-servers - -
A URL may be specified to Lynx on the command line, as in: -
lynx http://kufacts.cc.ukans.edu/cwis/kufacts_start.html -
- -Lynx also will attempt to create a complete URL if you include adequate -portions of it in the startfile argument. For example:
-
-1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789.1234.6789
-                 wfbr          will be expanded to:
-      http://www.wfbr.edu/     and:
-             ftp.more.net/pub  will be expanded to:
-       ftp://ftp.more.net/pub
-
-See URL Schemes Supported by Lynx for -more detailed information. [ToC] - -

Starting Lynx with the WWW_HOME environment variable.

- -You may also specify a starting file for Lynx using the WWW_HOME -environment variable, -
-
UNIX -
-
-
ksh -
export WWW_HOME=http://www.w3.org/ -
csh -
setenv WWW_HOME http://www.w3.org/ -
-
VMS -
define "WWW_HOME" "http://www.w3.org/" -
win32 -
WWW_HOME=http://www.w3.org/ [or in registry] -
- -Note that on VMS the double-quoting must be included to preserve -casing. [ToC] - -

Navigating hypertext documents with Lynx

- -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. -
-                                       +-------+-------+-------+
-                                       | TOP   |  /|\  | Page  |
-              arrow keys               | of    |   |   | UP    |
-                                       | text 7|   |  8|      9|
-              +---------+              +-------+-------+-------+
-              | SELECT  |              |       |       |       |
-              | prev /|\|              | <---  |       |  ---> |
-              | link  | |              |      4|      5|      6|
-    +---------+---------+---------+    +-------+-------+-------+
-    |    BACK | SELECT  | DISPLAY |    | END   |   |   | Page  |
-    |<-- prev | next  | | sel. -->|    | of    |   |   | DOWN  |
-    |    doc. | link \|/| link    |    | text 1|  \|/ 2|      3|
-    +---------+---------+---------+    +-------+-------+-------+
-
- -There are also a few other keyboard commands to aid in navigation. The -Control and Function keys used for navigation within the current document -are described in Scrolling and Other useful commands. Some -additional commands depend on the fact that Lynx keeps a list of each -link you visited to reach the current document, called the History Page, and a -list of all links visited during the current Lynx session, called the Visited Links Page. The -HISTORY keystroke command, normally mapped to Backspace or -Delete, will show you the History Page of links leading to -your access of the current document. Any of the previous documents shown in -the list may be revisited by selecting them from the history screen. The -VLINKS keystroke command, normally mapped to uppercase 'V', will -show the Visited Links Page, and you similarly can select links in -that list. The MAIN_MENU keystroke command, normally mapped to 'm' -and 'M', will take you back to the starting document unless you -specified the -homepage=URL option at the command line. Also, the -LIST and ADDRLIST keystroke commands, normally mapped to 'l' and -A' respectively, will create a compact lists of all the links in -the current document, and they can be selected via those lists. - -

The 'i' key presents an index of documents. The default index -offered contains many useful links, but can be changed in lynx.cfg -or on the command line using the -index=URL switch. - -

If you choose a link to a server with active access authorization, Lynx -will automatically prompt for a username and a password. If you give the -correct information, you will then be served the requested information. -Lynx will automatically send your username and password to the same server -if it is needed again. [ToC] - -

Printing, Mailing, and Saving rendered files to disk.

- -Rendered HTML documents, and plain text files, may be printed using the -'p' command while viewing the document. After pressing the -'p' key a menu of Print Options will be displayed. The -menu will vary according to several factors. First, some sites set up -special accounts to let users run Lynx to access local information systems. -Typically these accounts require no passwords and do not require users to -identify themselves. As a result such accounts are called "anonymous" -accounts, and their users are considered "anonymous" users. In most -configurations, all Lynx users (including anonymous users) are able to -mail files to themselves and print the entire file to the screen. - -

Additional print options are available for users who are using -Lynx from their own accounts (that is, so-called "non-anonymous -users"). In particular, the Save to a local file -option allows you to save the document into a file on your disk -space. Additional print options may also be -available as configured in the lynx.cfg file. - -

Some options, such as Save to a local file, involve prompting -for an output filename. All output filename entries are saved in a -circular buffer, and any previous entries can be retrieved for re-use by -pressing the up-arrow or down-arrow keys at the prompt. - -

Note that if you want exact copies of text files without any expansions -of TAB characters to spaces you should use the -Download options. -[ToC] - -

Viewing the HTML document source and editing documents

- -When viewing HTML documents it is possible to retrieve and display the -unrendered (i.e., the original HTML) source of the document by pressing -the '\' (backslash) key. Lynx usually caches only the rendering -of the document and doesn't keep the source (unless it is configured to do -so in the lynx.cfg file), so to display the source -unrendered, Lynx must reload it from the server or disk. -When viewing unrendered documents you may print them as any normal document. - -

Selecting the Print to a local file option from the Print Menu, -makes it possible to save the source of the document to disk so that you -may have a local copy of the document source, but it is better to Download the source. - -

NOTE: When saving an HTML document it is important to name the -document with a .html or .htm extension, if you -want to read it with Lynx again later. - -

Lynx can allow users to edit documents that reside on the -local system. To enable editing, documents must be referenced using a -"file:" URL or by specifying a plain filename on the command line as -in the following two examples: - -

-
Command -
lynx file://localhost/FULL/PATH/FILENAME -
lynx path/filename.html -
- -In addition, the user must also specify an editor in the -Options Menu so that Lynx knows which editor to use. If the -file is specified correctly and an editor is defined, then you may edit -documents by using the 'e' command. When the 'e' -command is entered your specified editor is spawned to edit the file. -After changes are completed, exit your editor and you will return to Lynx. -Lynx will reload and render the file so that changes can be immediately -examined. [ToC] - -

Downloading and Saving source files.

- -If the DOWNLOAD keystroke command ('d' or D) is -used when positioned on a link for an HTML, plain text, or binary -file, Lynx will transfer the file, without rendering, into a -temporary location and present the user with a list of options, -just as it does when a link for a binary file of a type for which -no viewer has been mapped is activated. - -

There is a default Download option of Save to -disk. This is disabled if Lynx is running in anonymous -mode. Any number of download methods such as kermit and zmodem -may be defined in addition to this default in the -lynx.cfg file. Using the Save to disk option -under the PRINT command after viewing the source of an HTML with -the VIEW SOURCE (\) command will result in a file which -differs from the original source in various ways such as tab -characters expanded to spaces. Lynx formats the source presentation -in this mode. On the other hand, if the DOWNLOAD command is used, -the only change will be that Lynx optionally puts -

-<!--X-URL: http://www.site.foo/path/to/file.html -->
-<BASE href="http://www.site.foo/path/to/file.html"> -
-at the start of the file so that relative URLs in the document -will still work. - -Even this modification can be prevented by setting -PREPEND_BASE_TO_SOURCE:FALSE in lynx.cfg. - -

Some options, such as Save to disk, involve prompting for an -output filename. All output filename entries are saved in a circular buffer, -and any previous entries can be retrieved for re-use by pressing the -up-arrow or down-arrow keys at the prompt. -[ToC] - -

Reloading files and refreshing the display

- -The RELOAD (Control-R) command will reload and re-render the file -that you are currently viewing. The REFRESH (Control-L or -Control-W) command will refresh or wipe the screen to remove or -correct any errors that may be caused by operating system or other messages. - -

The NOCACHE ('x' or 'X') command can be used in lieu -of ACTIVATE (Return or right-arrow) to request an uncached -copy and new rendition for the current link, or resubmission of a FORM, if a -cache from a previous request or submission exits. The request or submission -will include Pragma: no-cache and Cache-Control: no-cache -in its headers. Note that FORMs with POST content will be resubmitted -regardless of whether the NOCACHE or ACTIVATE command is used (see Lynx and HTML Forms). -[ToC] - -

- -Two commands activate searching in Lynx: '/' and 's'. - -

While viewing a normal document use the '/' command -to find a word or phrase within the current document. The search -type will depend on the search option setting in the Options Menu. The search options -are case sensitive and case insensitive. These searches are -entirely local to Lynx. - -

Some documents are designated index documents by virtue of an -ISINDEX element in their HEAD section. These documents can be used to -retrieve additional information based on searches using words or phrases -submitted to an index server. The Lynx statusline will indicate that you -are viewing such a document, and if so, the 's' key will invoke a -statusline prompt to enter a query string. The prompt can be specified via -a PROMPT attribute in the ISINDEX element. Otherwise, Lynx will use an -internally configured prompt. The address for submitting the search can be -specified via an HREF or ACTION attribute. Otherwise, Lynx will use the -current document's URL and append your query string as a ?searchpart -(see Supported URLs). - -

All search words or strings which you have entered during a Lynx session -are saved in a circular buffer, and can be retrieved for re-use by pressing -the up-arrow or down-arrow keys at the prompt for a search -word or string. Also, you can use the 'n'ext command to repeat a -search with the last-entered search word or phrase, starting from the current -position in the document. The word or phrase matches will be highlighted -throughout the document, but such highlighting will not persist for new -documents, or if the current document is reloaded. The search cycles to the -top of the document if the word or phrase is not located below your current -position. - -

Although HTML Forms have largely replaced index -documents for searches via http servers, they are still useful for performing -searches directly via WAIS or Gopher servers in conjunction with the internal -gateways for such servers. For example, an HTML index document can act as a -cover page describing a WAIS database and how to formulate query -strings for searching it, and include an element such as:
-

-      <ISINDEX PROMPT="Enter WAIS query:"
-               HREF="wais://net.bio.net/biologists-addresses">
-
-for submitting a search of the Biologist's Addresses database directly -to the net.bio.net WAIS server. [ToC] - -

Lynx Options Menu

- -The Lynx Options Menu may be accessed by pressing the 'o' -key. It allows you to change options at runtime, if you need to. -Most changes are read from & saved to your .lynxrc file; those which are not -are marked (!) in the form-based menu (as below). Many other options -are stored in the lynx.cfg file. - -

Lynx supports two styles of Options Menu, key-based & form-based. -The form-based menu shown below is an HTML file generated at runtime, -in which the user fills in choices as in any ordinary HTML form. -

-
-                    Options Menu (Lynx Version 2.8.7rel.1)
-
-      Accept Changes - Reset Changes Left Arrow cancels changes HELP!
-
-                         Save options to disk: [_]
-                (options marked with (!) will not be saved)
-
-  General Preferences
-  User mode                        : [Advanced....]
-  Editor                           : __________________________________________
-  Type of Search                   : [Case insensitive]
-
-  Security and Privacy
-  Cookies (!)                      : [ask user..]
-  Invalid-Cookie Prompting (!)     : [prompt normally___]
-  SSL Prompting (!)                : [prompt normally___]
-
-  Keyboard Input
-  Keypad mode                      : [Links are numbered................]
-  Emacs keys                       : [OFF]
-  VI keys                          : [OFF]
-  Line edit style                  : [Bash-like Bindings]
-  Keyboard layout                  : [YAWERTY Cyrillic, for DEC LK201 kbd]
-
-  Display and Character Sets
-  Use locale-based character set(!): [OFF]
-  Display character set            : [Cyrillic (ISO-8859-5)..........]
-  Assumed document character set(!): [iso-8859-1......]
-  Raw 8-bit (!)                    : [OFF]
-  X Display (!)                    : __________________________________________
-
-  Document Appearance
-  Show color                       : [ON....]
-  Show cursor                      : [OFF]
-  Underline links (!)              : [OFF]
-  Show scrollbar                   : [OFF]
-  Popups for select fields         : [ON.]
-  HTML error recovery (!)          : [strict (SortaSGML mode)]
-  Bad HTML messages (!)            : [Warn, point to trace-file]
-  Show images (!)                  : [as labels]
-  Verbose images                   : [OFF..........]
-
-  Headers Transferred to Remote Servers
-  Personal mail address            : __________________________________________
-  Password for anonymous ftp       : __________________________________________
-  Preferred media type (!)         : [Accept lynx's internal types]
-  Preferred encoding (!)           : [All_____]
-  Preferred document character set : _________________________________
-  Preferred document language      : _________________________________
-  Send User-Agent header (!)       : [ ]
-  User-Agent header (!)            : __________________________________________
-
-  Listing and Accessing Files
-  Use Passive FTP (!)              : [ON_]
-  FTP sort criteria                : [By Name]
-  Local directory sort criteria    : [Mixed style......]
-  Local directory sort order       : [By name..........]
-  Show dot files                   : [ON.]
-  Execution links                  : [FOR LOCAL FILES ONLY]
-  Pause when showing message (!)   : [ON_]
-  Show transfer rate               : [Show progressbar___]
-
-  Special Files and Screens
-  Multi-bookmarks                  : [ADVANCED]
-  Review/edit Bookmarks files      : Goto multi-bookmark menu
-  Auto Session (!)                 : [OFF]
-  Session file (!)                 : ___________________________________________
-  Visited Pages                    : [As Visit Tree..........]
-
-  View the file lynx.cfg
-
-         Accept Changes - Reset Changes Left Arrow cancels changes
-
-
-

The key-based menu depends on key-strokes to identify options -which the user wants to change. It is compiled into Lynx -and is accessed by setting FORMS_OPTIONS to TRUE in -lynx.cfg. -

-
-             Options Menu (Lynx Version 2.8.7rel.1)
-
-     (E)ditor                     : emacs
-     (D)ISPLAY variable           : aixtest.cc.ukans.edu:0.0
-     mu(L)ti-bookmarks: OFF       B)ookmark file: lynx_bookmarks.html
-     (F)TP sort criteria          : By Filename
-     (P)ersonal mail address      : montulli@netscape.com
-     (S)earching type             : CASE INSENSITIVE
-     preferred document lan(G)uage: en
-     preferred document c(H)arset : NONE
-     display (C)haracter set      : Western (ISO-8859-1)
-     raw 8-bit or CJK m(O)de      : ON      show color (&)  : OFF
-     (V)I keys: OFF   e(M)acs keys: OFF     sho(W) dot files: OFF
-     popups for selec(T) fields   : ON      show cursor (@) : OFF
-     (K)eypad mode                : Numbers act as arrows
-     li(N)e edit style            : Default Binding
-     l(I)st directory style       : Mixed style
-     (U)ser mode                  : Advanced      verbose images (!) : ON
-     user (A)gent                 : [User-Agent header]
-     local e(X)ecution links      : FOR LOCAL FILES ONLY
-
- -An option can be changed by entering the capital letter or character in -parentheses for the option you wish to change (e.g., 'E' for Editor -or '@' for show cursor). For fields where text must be entered, -simply enter the text by typing on the keyboard. The Line Editor can be used to -correct mistakes, and Control-U can be used to erase the -line. When you are done entering a change press the Return key -to get back to the Command? prompt. - -

For fields where you must choose one of two choices, press any key -to toggle the choices and press the Return key to finish the -change. - -

For fields where you potentially have more than two choices, -popup windows may be evoked which function homologously to those -for select fields in HTML Forms. The popup -windows will be invoked only if you have popups for select fields -set to ON (see below). Otherwise, your cursor will be positioned -at the current choice, and you can press any key to cycle through -the choices, then press the Return key to finish the -change. - -

When you are done changing options use the 'r' command to -return to Lynx or the '>' command to save the options to a -.lynxrc file and return to Lynx. - -

The following table describes the options available on the -Options Menu: - -

-
Assumed document character set -
This option changes the handling of documents which do not - explicitly specify a charset. Normally Lynx assumes that 8-bit - characters in those documents are encoded according to iso-8859-1 - (the official default for the HTTP protocol). Unfortunately, - many non-English web pages "forget" to include proper charset info; - this option helps you to browse those broken pages if you know - by some means what the charset is. When the value - given here or by an -assume_charset command line flag is in effect, - Lynx will treat documents as if they were encoded accordingly. - This option active when 'Raw 8-bit or CJK Mode' is OFF. - -
Auto Session -
Lynx can save and restore useful information about - your browsing history. - Use this setting to enable or disable the feature. - -
Bad HTML messages -
Suppress or redirect Lynx's messages about "Bad HTML": -
-
Ignore -
do not warn; no details are written to the trace-file. -
Add to trace-file -
add the detailed warning message to the trace-file. -
Add to LYNXMESSAGES -
add the detailed warning message to the message page at - "LYNXMESSAGES:". -
Warn, point to trace-file -
show a warning message on the status line; the complete - message is written to the trace-file. -
- -
Bookmark file -
When multi-bookmarks is OFF, this is the filename and location - of your default personal bookmark file. Enter 'B' to - modify the filename and/or location via the Line Editor. - Bookmark files allow frequently traveled links to be stored in - personal easy to access files. -

Using the 'a'dd bookmark - link command (see Lynx bookmarks) you may save - any link that does not have associated POST content into a - bookmark file. All bookmark files must be in or under your - account's home directory. If the location specified does not - begin with a dot-slash (./), its presence will still be assumed, - and referenced to the home directory. -

When multi-bookmarks is - STANDARD or ADVANCED, entering 'B' will invoke a menu - of up to 26 bookmark files (associated with the letters of the - English alphabet), for editing their filenames and locations - (filepath), and descriptions. -

Lynx will create bookmark - files, if they don't already exist, when you first 'a'dd - a bookmark link to them. However, if you've specified a - subdirectory (e.g., ./BM/lynx_bookmarks.html), that subdirectory - must already exist. Note that on VMS you should use the URL - syntax for the filepath (e.g., not - [.BM]lynx_bookmarks.html). - -

Cookies -
This option allows you to tell how to handle cookies: - ignore, - prompt (ask user) or accept all. - -
Display Character set -
This option allows you to set up the default character set for - your specific terminal. The display character set provides a - mapping from the character encodings of viewed documents and - from HTML entities into viewable characters. It should be set - according to your terminal's character set so that characters - other than 7-bit ASCII can be displayed correctly, using - approximations if necessary. You must have the selected - character set installed on your terminal. (Since Lynx now - supports a wide range of platforms it may be useful to note - that cpXXX codepages used within IBM PC computers, and - windows-xxxx within native MS-Windows apps.) - -
Editor -
The editor to be invoked when editing browsable files, when - sending mail or comments, when preparing a news article for - posting, and for external TEXTAREA editing. The full pathname - of the editor command should be specified when possible. - -
Emacs keys -
If set to ON then the CTRL-P, CTRL-N, CTRL-F, and CTRL-B keys - will be mapped to up-arrow, down-arrow, right-arrow, and - left-arrow, respectively. Otherwise, they remain mapped to - their configured bindings (normally UP_TWO lines, DOWN_TWO - lines, NEXT_PAGE, and PREV_PAGE, respectively). - -

Note: this has no direct effect on the line-editor's key bindings. - -

Execution links
- This deals with execution of local scripts or links: -
Local execution is activated when Lynx is first set up. - If it has not been activated you will not see this option - in the Options Menu. -
When a local execution script is encountered Lynx checks the - users options to see whether the script can be executed. Users - have the following options: -
-
Always off -
Local execution scripts will never be executed -
For Local files only -
Local execution scripts will only be executed if the - script to be executed resides on the local machine, - and is referenced by a URL that begins with - file://localhost -
Always on -
All local execution scripts will be executed -
- -
If the users options permit the script to be executed Lynx will - spawn a shell and run the script. If the script cannot be - executed Lynx will show the script within the Lynx window and - inform the user that the script is not allowed to be executed - and will ask the user to check his/her options. - [ToC] - -
FTP sort criteria -
This option allows you to specify how files will be sorted - within FTP listings. The current options include - "By Filename", "By Size", - "By Type", and "By Date". - -
HTML error recovery -
Select the - recovery mode - used by Lynx. - -
Invalid-Cookie Prompting -
This allows you to tell how to handle invalid cookies: - prompt normally to prompt for each cookie, - force yes-response to reply "yes" to each prompt, - force no-response to reply "no" to each prompt. - -
Keypad mode -
This option gives the choice among navigating with the arrow - keys, or having every link numbered so that the links may be - selected or made current by numbers as well as using the arrow - keys, or having every link as well as every form field numbered - so that they can be selected or sought by numbers. See the
-   Follow link (or page) number: and
-   Select option (or page) number:
- help for more information. - -
Line edit style -
This option allows you to set alternative key bindings for the - built-in line editor, if alternative line-edit bindings have - been compiled in. Otherwise, Lynx uses the Default Binding. - -
Local directory sort criteria -
This applies to directory editing. Files and directories can be - presented in the following ways: -
-
Mixed style -
Files and directories are listed together in alphabetical - order. -
Directories first -
Files and directories are separated into two alphabetical - lists. Directories are listed first. -
Files first -
Files and directories are separated into two alphabetical - lists. Files are listed first. -
- -
Local directory sort order -
The Options Form also allows you to sort by the file attributes. -
-
By name -
by filename (the default) -
By size -
by file size, in descending order -
By date -
by file modification time, in descending order -
By mode -
by file protection -
By type -
by filename suffix, e.g., the text beginning with '.' -
By user -
by file owner's user-id -
By group -
by file owner's group-id -
- -
Multi-bookmarks -
Lynx supports a default bookmark file, and up to 26 total - bookmark files (see below). When multi-bookmarks is OFF, - the default bookmark file is used for the 'v'iew - bookmarks and 'a'dd bookmark link commands. If - multi-bookmark support is available in your account, the - setting can be changed to STANDARD or ADVANCED. In STANDARD - mode, a menu of available bookmarks always is invoked when - you seek to view a bookmark file or add a link, and you select - the bookmark file by its letter token (see - Bookmark file, below) in that menu. In ADVANCED mode, - you instead are prompted for the letter of the desired bookmark - file, but can enter '=' to invoke the STANDARD selection - menu, or RETURN for the default bookmark file. - -
Password for anonymous ftp -
If this is blank, Lynx will use your personal mail address - as the anonymous ftp password. Though that is the convention, - some users prefer to use some other string which provides - less information. If the given value lacks a "@", Lynx also - will use your computer's hostname as part of the password. - If both this field and the personal mail address are blank, - Lynx will use your $USER environment variable, or "WWWuser" - if even the environment variable is unset. - -
Pause when showing message -
If set to "off", this overrides the INFOSECS setting in lynx.cfg, - to eliminate pauses when displaying informational messages, - like the "-nopause" command line option. - -
Personal mail address -
This mail address will be used to help you send files to - yourself and will be included as the From: address in any mail - or comments that you send. It will also be sent as the From: - field in HTTP or HTTPS requests if inclusion of that header - has been enabled via the NO_FROM_HEADER definition in - lynx.cfg - (the compilation default is not to send the header), or via the - -from command line toggle. - -
Popups for select fields -
Lynx normally uses a popup window for the OPTIONs in form - SELECT fields when the field does not have the MULTIPLE - attribute specified, and thus only one OPTION can be selected. - The use of popup windows can be disabled by changing this setting - to OFF, in which case the OPTIONs will be rendered as a list of - radio buttons. Note that if the SELECT field does have the - MULTIPLE attribute specified, the OPTIONs always are rendered - as a list of checkboxes. - -
Preferred document language -
The language you prefer if multi-language files are available - from servers. Use RFC 1766 abbreviations, e.g., en for English, - fr for French, etc. Can be a comma-separated list, which may - be interpreted by servers as descending order of preferences. - You can also make your order of preference explicit by using - q factors as defined by the HTTP protocol, for servers which - understand it, for example: - da, en-gb;q=0.8, en;q=0.7 - -
Preferred document charset -
The character set you prefer if sets in addition to ISO-8859-1 - and US-ASCII are available from servers. Use MIME notation - (e.g., ISO-8859-2) and do not include ISO-8859-1 or US-ASCII, - since those values are always assumed by default. Can be a - comma-separated list, which may be interpreted by servers as - descending order of preferences. You can also make your order - of preference explicit by using q factors as defined by the - HTTP protocol, for servers which understand it, for example: - iso-8859-5, utf-8;q=0.8 - -
Preferred encoding -
When doing a GET, lynx tells what types of compressed data it can - decompress (the "Accept-Encoding:" string). This is determined by - compiled-in support for decompression or external decompression - programs. Use this option to select none, one or all of the - supported decompression types. - -
Preferred media type -
When doing a GET, lynx lists the MIME types which it knows how - to present (the "Accept:" string). Depending on your system - configuration, the mime.types or other data given by the - GLOBAL_EXTENSION_MAP may include many entries that lynx really does - not handle. Use this option to select one of the built-in subsets - of the MIME types that lynx could list in the Accept. -
-
Accept lynx's internal types -
list only the types that are compiled into lynx. -
Also accept lynx.cfg's types -
lists types defined in lynx.cfg, e.g., the VIEWER and - Cern RULE or RULESFILE settings. -
Also accept user's types -
lists types from the PERSONAL_EXTENSION_MAP setting in - lynx.cfg -
Also accept system's types -
lists types from the GLOBAL_EXTENSION_MAP setting in - lynx.cfg -
Accept all types -
adds the types that are in lynx's built-in tables for - external programs that may be used to present a - document. -
- -
Raw 8-bit or CJK Mode -
Whether 8-bit characters are assumed to correspond with the - display character set and therefore are processed without - translation via the chartrans conversion tables. Should be ON - by default when the display character set is one of the - Asian (CJK) sets and the 8-bit characters are Kanji multibytes. - Should be OFF for the other display character sets, - but can be turned ON - when the document's charset is unknown (e.g., is not ISO-8859-1 - and no charset parameter was specified in a reply header from - an HTTP server to indicate what it is) but you know by some - means that you have the matching display character set selected. - Should be OFF when an Asian (CJK) set is selected but the document - is ISO-8859-1 or another 'assumed document character set'. - The setting also can be toggled via the RAW_TOGGLE - command, normally mapped to '@', and at startup via the - -raw switch. - -
Send User-Agent header - Controls whether the user-agent string will be sent. - -
Session file -
Define the file name where lynx will store user sessions. - This setting is used only when Auto Session is enabled. - -
Show color -
This option will be present if color support is available. - If set to ON or ALWAYS, color mode will be forced on if possible. - If (n)curses color support is available but cannot be used for - the current terminal type, selecting ON is rejected with a message. - If set to OFF or NEVER, color mode will be turned off.
- ALWAYS and - NEVER are not offered in anonymous accounts. If saved to a - .lynxrc file in non-anonymous accounts, ALWAYS will - cause Lynx to set color mode on at startup if supported. - If Lynx is built with the slang library, this is equivalent to - having included the -color command line switch or having the - COLORTERM environment variable set. If color support is - provided by curses or ncurses, this is equivalent to the default - behavior of using color when the terminal type supports it. - If (n)curses color support is available but cannot be used for - the current terminal type, the preference can still be saved - but will have no effect.
- A saved value of NEVER will - cause Lynx to assume a monochrome terminal at startup. - It is similar to the -nocolor switch, but (when the - slang library is used) can be overridden with the -color - switch.
- If the setting is OFF or ON - when the current options are saved to a .lynxrc file, - the default startup behavior is retained, such that color mode - will be turned on at startup only if the terminal info indicates - that you have a color-capable terminal, or (when the - slang library is used) if forced on via the - -color switch or COLORTERM variable. This - default behavior always is used in anonymous accounts, or if - the option_save restriction is set explicitly. If - for any reason the startup color mode is incorrect for your - terminal, set it appropriately on or off via this option. - -
Show cursor -
Lynx normally hides the cursor by positioning it to the right - and if possible the very bottom of the screen, so that the - current link or OPTION is indicated solely by its highlighting - or color. If show cursor is set to ON, the cursor will be - positioned at the left of the current link or OPTION. This - is helpful when Lynx is being used with a speech or braille - interface. It also is useful for sighted users when the - terminal cannot distinguish the character attributes used - to distinguish the current link or OPTION from the others in - the screen display. - -
Show dot files -
If display/creation of hidden (dot) files/directories is - enabled, you can turn the feature on or off via this setting. - -
Show images -
This allows you to select the way in which Lynx shows image links. - These are the available selections: -
    -
  • ignore to suppress the links altogether, -
  • as labels to show the descriptive text for the link -
  • as links, which allows you to use an external viewer -
- -
Show scrollbar -
This allows you to enable (show) or disable (hide) the scrollbar - on the right-margin of the display. - This feature is available with ncurses or slang libraries. - -
Show transfer rate -
This allows you to select the way in which Lynx shows - its progress in downloading large pages. - It displays its progress in the status line. - These are the available selections: -
    -
  • Do not show rate -
  • Local directory sort order -
  • Show dot files -
  • Execution links -
  • Pause when showing message -
  • Show transfer rate -
- -
SSL Prompting -
This allows you to tell how to handle errors detected in SSL - connections - prompt normally to prompt for each cookie, - force yes-response to reply "yes" to each prompt, - force no-response to reply "no" to each prompt. - -
Type of Search -
Searching type has two possible values: CASE INSENSITIVE - (default) and CASE SENSITIVE. The searching type effects - inter-document searches only, and determines whether searches - for words within documents will be done in a case-sensitive or - case-insensitive manner. - -
Use locale-based character set -
This option allows you to request lynx to obtain a MIME name - from the operating system which corresponds to your locale - setting. If successful, it overrides the normal setting of - the display character set. - -
Underline links -
Use underline-attribute rather than bold for links. - -
Use Passive FTP -
This allows you to change whether Lynx uses passive ftp - connections. - -
User Agent header -
The header string which Lynx sends to HTTP servers to indicate the - User-Agent is displayed here. Changes may be disallowed via - the -restrictions switch. Otherwise, the header can be - changed temporarily to a string such as L_y_n_x/2.8.7 - for access to sites which discriminate against Lynx based on - checks for the presence of "Lynx" in the header. If - the User-Agent header has been changed, it can - be restored to the built-in default value - by deleting the modified string in the - Options Menu. Whenever the User-Agent header is - changed, the current document is reloaded, with the no-cache - flags set, on exit from the Options Menu. Changes of - the header are not saved in the RC file. -
NOTE: Some sites may regard misrepresenting - the browser - as fraudulent deception, or as gaining unauthorized access, if - it is used to circumvent blocking that was intentionally put in - place. Some browser manufacturers may find the transmission of - their product's name objectionable. If you change the User-Agent - string, it is your responsibility. The Options Menu issues - a reminder whenever the - header is changed to one which does not include "Lynx" - or "L_y_n_x". - -
User Mode -
There are three possible choices: Novice, Intermediate, and - Advanced. -
-
Novice -
In Novice mode two lines of help are displayed at the - bottom of the screen. -
Intermediate -
Intermediate mode turns off the help lines. -
Advanced -
Advanced mode displays the URL of the currently selected - link at the bottom of the screen. -
- -
Verbose Images -
Controls whether or not Lynx replaces the [LINK], [INLINE] and - [IMAGE] comments (for images without ALT) with filenames of these - images. This is extremely useful because now we can determine - immediately what images are just decorations (button.gif, line.gif) - and what images are important. This setting can also be toggled - on startup via the -verbose switch. - -
VI keys -
If set to ON then the lowercase h, j, k, and l keys will be - mapped to left, down, up, and right arrow, respectively. The - uppercase H, J, K, and L keys remain mapped to their configured - bindings (normally HELP, JUMP, KEYMAP, and LIST, respectively). - -

Note: this has no effect on the line-editor's key bindings. - -

Visited Pages -
Enable several different views of the visited links: -
-
By First Visit -
By First Visit Reversed -
As Visit Tree -
By Last Visit -
By Last Visit Reversed -
- -
X Display -
This option is only relevant to X Window users. The DISPLAY - (Unix) or DECW$DISPLAY (VMS) variable is picked up automatically - from the environment if it has been previously set. -
- -

Comments and mailto: links

- -At any time while viewing documents within Lynx, you may use the -'c' command to send a mail message to the owner of the current -document if the author of the document has specified ownership. (Note to -authors: if you want to assign the ownership to your document, you need to add -into HEAD section a LINK element with appropriate value for REV attribute. Two -values are recognized: owner and made (these are case -insensitive). For example, 
-<HEAD>
-    …
-    <LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:user@somedomain.com">
-    …
-</HEAD>
-
-You may also add a TITLE attribute with, for example, the name of your page) If -no ownership is specified then comments are disabled. Certain links called -mailto: links will also allow -you to send mail to other people. Using the mail features within Lynx is -straightforward. - -

Once you have decided to send a comment or have selected a -mailto: link a new screen will appear showing you to whom you -are sending the message. Lynx will ask for your name, your e-mail -address, and the subject of the message. If you have filled in the -"personal mail address" field in the Options Menu, your e-mail -address will be filled in automatically. After entering the above -information, if you have an editor defined in the Options Menu -and you are not an anonymous user then your specified editor will be -spawned for you so that you can enter your message. If you do not have -an editor defined or you are an anonymous user, a simple line mode input -scheme will allow you to enter your message. - -

To finish sending the message, exit your spawned editor or, if you are -using the simple line mode input scheme, type a '.' (period) on -a line by itself. You will be asked a final time whether to send the -message. If you press 'y', you will be prompted whether to -append your signature file if one was defined in -lynx.cfg and is accessible, -and then the message will be sent, whereas if you press 'n' the -message will be deleted. Entering Control-G in response to any prompts -also will cancel the mailing.[ToC] - -

USENET News posting

- -While reading news articles with Lynx you should see a link that says -Reply to: user@host and, if the nntp server from which you -received the article supports posting from your site, a link that says -Followup to: newsgroup(s) - -
-
Reply to user@host -
user@host will correspond to the mail address of the - person who posted the news article. Selecting the link will - allow you to send a message to the person who wrote the message - you are currently viewing. You will be given the option of - including the original message in your reply. - -
Followup to newsgroup(s) -
Selecting this link will allow you to post back to the - newsgroup that you are currently reading and any newsgroups - to which the message was cross-posted. You will be given - the option of including the original message in your reply. - Once you have typed in your message, you will be asked for - confirmation of whether to proceed with the posting, and - whether to append your signature file if one was defined in - lynx.cfg and is accessible. See Supported URLs for more - information about the URL schemes for posting or sending - followups (replies) to nntp servers with Lynx. - [ToC] -
-See also RFC 977. - -

Lynx bookmarks

- -Bookmarks are entries in your bookmark file, which record -the URL of a document you may want to return to easily, with a name -of your choice to identify the document. To use bookmarks -you must first have specified a name for your bookmark file -in lynx.cfg or via the Options Menu. -

-To save a bookmark to the document you wish to place in the -bookmark file press the 'a' key and you will be asked: - -

- Save D)ocument or L)ink to bookmark file or C)ancel? (d,l,c): -
- -Answer 'd' to save a link to the document you are currently -viewing or 'l' to save the link that is currently selected on -the page. Selecting 'c' will cancel without saving anything to -your bookmark file. - -

A bookmark file will be created in conjunction with acting on the -'a'dd command if it does not already exist. Otherwise, the link -will be added to the bottom of the pre-existing bookmark file. You must -have created a bookmark file via the 'a'dd command before you -can view it. - -

Use the 'v' command to view the list of bookmarks you have -saved. While viewing the bookmark list you may select a bookmark as you -would any other link. - -

You can remove a link from the bookmark list by pressing the -'r' key when positioned on that link. You also can use a -standard text editor (e.g., via the 'e'dit command while viewing -a bookmark file, if an external editor has been defined via the Options -menu) to delete or re-order links in the bookmark file, or to modify -a link name by editing the content of the Anchor element for the -link, but you should not change the format within the line for the link, -consisting of an LI element followed by the Anchor -element, nor cause the line to become wrapped to a second line. You -similarly can change the link destination by editing the double-quoted -value for the HREF attribute in the Anchor start tag, -but you should not otherwise change the spacing within the start tag, nor -add other attributes. You can add a new link while editing by copying -an existing line for a link, to ensure the proper format, and then -modifying its HREF value and Anchor content, but you -should not add any other HTML markup to the bookmark file. If the format -and spacing (other than the Anchor content or HREF value) -within lines is changed or other HTML markup is added, the 'a'dd -and 'r'emove commands may not work properly. - -

When multi-bookmarks (see Options Menu) is OFF, you will -always view or add links to the default bookmark file. When it -is STANDARD, a menu of up to 26 bookmark files will be invoked, -and you select the bookmark file by entering its letter -token. When it is ADVANCED, you will be prompted for the letter -token, but can enter '=' to invoke the STANDARD -selection menu, or RETURN for the default bookmark file. -[ToC] - -

Jump Command

- -Similar to the bookmarks file is the jumps file: for an example, -look in the samples subdirectory in the distribution package. -To use the jumps command, create a jumps file with the same format -as the sample file, but containing your own URLs & short-cut names. -Once you have done that, typing 'j' prompts you to enter -a short-cut name, which will take you straight to the URL -associated with the short-cut in the jumps file, -much like using 'g'. -If you want to check which short-cuts are available, -type '?' at the jump prompt for the full list.

- -All jump short-cuts you have entered are saved in a circular buffer -in the same way as with 'g' and '/' (search):
-previous entries can be retrieved with up-arrow -or down-arrow.

- -The jumps feature is especially useful for system administrators -who have unsophisticated users to care for, but ordinary Lynx users -who have a number of URLs they regularly visit while browsing -may find using the jumps command speeds their movements.

- -For more advice how to set up the jumps command on your system -and how to define short-cut names, read lynx.cfg . -[ToC] - -

Directory Editing

- -Lynx offers extended DIRED support on Unix (on VMS the more powerful -CSwing program is recommended for character cell terminals, and can be -offered via Lynx as a jump shortcut or execution link). When a local -directory is accessed using a URL of the form -file://localhost/path/, a new set of commands is available. -With DIRED support you can create, edit, delete, copy, and move files -on your local system. The commands available in DIRED mode are - -
-
C)reate -
Type 'c' to create a new file. New file will be empty. - -
D)ownload -
Type 'd' to download using one of the pre-defined options. - -
E)dit -
Type 'e' to spawn the editor defined in Options Menu - and load a selected file for editing. - -
F)ull Menu -
Type 'f' to show full menu of options available for selection. - Menu may vary according to type of file selected and compression - facilities available. - - -
M)odify -
Type 'm' to modify the name or location of file. Then type - 'n' to rename the file or 'l' to move the file to - a different location. - -
R)emove -
Type 'r' to remove the selected file or directory. - -
T)ag -
Type 't' to tag highlighted file. Further operations will be - performed on tagged files instead of highlighted ones. - -
U)pload -
Type 'u' to upload a file to the present directory. - An uploading method must have been pre-defined in - lynx.cfg . -
-[ToC] - -

Using Color & the Mouse

- -A limited range of colors & mouse commands are available, if the user chooses: -see lynx.cfg for details. - -[ToC] - -

Scrolling and Other useful commands

- -A summary of all the keystroke commands and their key bindings can -be invoked via the KEYMAP command, normally mapped to 'k' and -'K'. The following describes some of the most commonly used -commands. - -
-
^A -
Control-A jumps you to the beginning of the current - document. It is a synonym for the Keypad Home key, and - can be used also when Links are numbered mode is on. The - Find Function key also is a synonym, and ideally the - latter has been mapped to the Function key labeled Home - if you are using an IBM Enhanced Keyboard. -
^E -
Control-E jumps you to the end of the current document. - It is a synonym for the Keypad End key, and can be used - also when Links are numbered mode is on. The Select - Function key also is a synonym, and ideally the latter has been - mapped to the Function key labeled End if you are using - an IBM Enhanced Keyboard. -
^B -
Control-B normally jumps you to the previous page of - the current document, and thus is a synonym for the Keypad and - Function Page-Up keys. However, Control-B - acts as right-arrow when emacs-like key movement is - enabled (see Lynx - Options Menu). -
^F -
Control-F normally jumps you to the next page of the - current document, and thus is a synonym for the Keypad and - Function Page-Down keys. However, Control-F - becomes right-arrow when emacs-like key movement is - enabled. -
^N -
Control-N normally jumps you forward two lines in the - current document. The Remove Function key (labeled - Delete on IBM Enhanced keyboards, and distinct - from their Backspace key) is a synonym. - Control-N becomes down-arrow when emacs-like - key movement is enabled. -
^P -
Control-P normally jumps you back two lines in the - current document. The Insert Function key is a synonym. - Control-P becomes up-arrow when emacs-like - key movement is enabled. -
) -
The ) command jumps you forward half a page in the - current document. -
( -
The ( command jumps you back half a page in the - current document. -
# -
The '#' command jumps you to the pseudo Toolbar or - Banner if present in the current document. Use - left-arrow to return from there to your previous - position in the document. -
! -
When '!' is pressed your default shell will be spawned. - When you quit or exit the shell you will return to Lynx (usually - exit under Unix and logout under VMS). This - command is usually disabled for anonymous users. On VMS, - '$' normally is a synonym. - On Win32, this has no effect [???]. -
g -
The 'g' command allows any URL to be viewed. Pressing - the 'g' command will bring up a prompt asking for a URL. - Type in the URL that you wish to view. All previously entered - goto URLs are saved in a circular buffer, and can be accessed at - the prompt by pressing the up-arrow or - down-arrow keys. -
G -
The 'G' command allows you to edit the URL of the - current document and then use that as a goto URL. Pressing - the 'G' command will bring up a prompt asking you - to edit the current document's URL. If you do not modify - it, or completely delete it, or enter Control-G, the command - will be cancelled. If the current document has POST content - associated with it, an Alert will be issued. If you do edit - that URL, and it does not simply involve a fragment change - (for seeking a position in the current document), the modified - URL will be submitted with method GET and no POST content. If - a modification of the current document's URL results in a - submission, that modified URL will be entered into the circular - buffer for goto URLs, and can be accessed for further - modification via the 'g' command. - -
E -
The 'E' command allows you to edit the URL (or ACTION) - of the current link and then use that as a goto URL. Pressing - the 'E' command will bring up a prompt asking you - to edit the current link's URL. If you do not modify it, or - completely delete it, or enter Control-G, the command will be - cancelled. Otherwise, the request for the 'E'dited URL will be - sent with method GET, and will be entered into the circular - buffer for goto URLs so that it can be accessed for further - modification via the 'g' command. Note that lower - case 'e' invokes the external editor for the current document. - -
= -
The '=' command shows information about the current - document and the currently selected link if there is one. The - number of lines in the file, URL, title, owner, and type are - shown. -
^T -
Control-T toggles Lynx trace mode on and off. This is - useful for diagnosing bad html. If you get a Bad HTML - statusline message when loading a document, enter - Control-T and then Control-R to reload the - document in trace mode. You may then examine the - Lynx Trace Log file with the ; command - if enabled (see below), watch out especially for lines marked - with a number of asterisks '*****'. - You also can submit the document for - validation via links in the online help menu. If you are able - to diagnose the problem, send a message about it to the - document's author. -
; -
The ; command shows the Lynx Trace Log - (Lynx.trace in the home directory) if one has been - started for the current session. If a log has not been started, - any trace messages will be sent to the screen - (and will disturb the normal display) unless the system supports - piping and that was used to redirect stderr messages to a file. - The log is started when Lynx trace mode is turned on via the - -trace command line switch, or via the - Control-T toggle, if Lynx has been compiled to log - the trace and other stderr messages by default. If not, - ability to create a log can be toggled on with - the -tlog switch. Note that this ability is - probably disabled in anonymous or validation accounts. -
* -
The '*' command toggles image_links mode on and off. - When on, links will be created for all images, including inline images. - If you have an image viewer mapped to the image's MIME type, you - can activate such links to view an inline image. You should - normally have this mode toggled off. -
@ -
The '@' command toggles raw 8-bit or CJK mode on and off. - When on, the charset is assumed to match the selected character - set and 8-bit characters are not reverse translated with respect - to the ISO-8859-1 conversion tables. -
[ -
The '[' command toggles pseudo_inlines mode on and off. - When on, inline images which have no ALT string specified will - have an [INLINE] pseudo-ALT string inserted in the Lynx - display. When off, they will be treated as having ALT="" (i.e., - they'll be ignored). If image_links mode is toggled on, the - pseudo-ALT strings will be restored, to serve as links to the - inline images' sources. -
] -
The ']' command is used to send HEAD requests for the - current document or link. It applies only to documents or links - (or form submit buttons) of http servers. A statusline message - will notify you if the context for this command was inappropriate. - The HEAD requests always are sent to the http server, i.e., Lynx - does not retrieve any previous server replies from its cache. - Note that for form submissions, http servers vary in whether - they'll treat HEAD requests as valid and return the CGI script's - headers, or treat it as invalid and return an error message. -
^K -
Control-K invokes the Cookie Jar Page - if it contains cookies. -
^X -
Control-X invokes the Cache Jar Page - if it contains cached documents. -
z -
Lynx supports completely interruptible I/O processes. Press the - 'z' key at any time during a connect or transfer process - and the process will be halted. If any data was transferred - before the interrupt, it will be displayed. -
numbers -
Lynx offers other, advanced navigation features when numbers - are used to invoke the - Follow Link - (or goto link or page) number: - or Select - Pop-up Option Number: prompts. - [ToC] -
- -

Lynx and HTML Forms

- -This section describes the Lynx Forms Interface. HTML gives document -providers the ability to create on-line forms which may be filled out -when the document is viewed. When a form is submitted the information -on the form can be used to search a database or complete a survey. - -

An HTML Form provides for the use of buttons to perform an action -(such as submit), checkboxes, radio buttons or popups to select -options from a list, and fields for entering text. -

-
Buttons: -
Buttons are displayed in the same way that Lynx displays links in - a document. To "push" the button press the right-arrow or - Return key. If it is a form submission button, you also can - use the NOCACHE ('x') or DOWNLOAD ('d') keystroke - commands to "push" the button (see below). - -
Checkboxes and Radio buttons -
Checkboxes are displayed as square brackets: [ ] and radio - buttons are displayed as parenthesis: ( ). When a box is - checked or a button selected, an x appears in the brackets: - [x] or an asterisk appears within the parenthesis: - (*). To check a box or select a radio button press the - right-arrow or Return key. - -
Selection Fields -
Selection fields are displayed as brackets with the default option - displayed between them: [default__]. To select an option - press the right-arrow or Return key. A box with - a border of asterisks (or line-drawing characters) will pop up with - the list of possible options listed within the box. Use the - up-arrow, down-arrow, page-up, - page-down, and other navigation keys to move the cursor - among options, and the right-arrow or Return key to - select an option. You also can use the '/' and 'n'ext - searching commands for navigating to options which - contain particular strings. NOTE that the popup menu - feature can be disabled via compilation and/or configuration options, - or via the Options Menu, - in which case the selection - field options will be converted to a list of radio buttons. The default - setting for use of popups or radio button lists can be toggled via the - -popup command line switch. - -
Text Entry Fields -
Text entry (INPUT) fields are displayed as a row of underscores the - length of the entry field: _______. You may enter text directly - by typing at the keyboard. Use the Line Editor keys to - correct errors. If you try to input more text than the field can hold, - the line editor will not accept the additional characters. If you fill - a text field the cursor will not move off the field but remain at the - last field position. Use the up-arrow, and down-arrow, - TAB or Return keys to move up, or down from the text - entry field. NOTE, however, that Return also will submit the form if the text entry field is the - only non-hidden field in the form. - - If "Textfields Need Activation" mode is turned on - (with the -tna command-line option or in lynx.cfg), - then text entry fields do not become active immediately upon being - selected, as normally. Keystrokes have their normal command meaning - unless the Line Editor gets activated with Return or Right - Arrow. This mode can be used to avoid "getting stuck" in input - fields, especially by users who rarely fill out forms. - -

NOTE: If you have a text input field selected you will not - have access to most of the Lynx keystroke commands, because they are - interpreted by the Line Editor as either text entries or editing commands. Select a - button or box when you want to use Lynx keystrokes; or prefix your - keystroke with ^V to temporarily escape from line editing. -

- Some flavors of UNIX, shells & terminal settings require - that you enter ^V^Ve in order to start the external editor, - as they also use ^V as default command-line quote key - (called `lnext' in stty man pages and `stty -a' output); - to avoid this, you can put `stty lnext undef' in your .cshrc - file (or .profile or .bashrc, depending on what shell you use), - or invoke Lynx with a wrapper script, e.g.

- - -   #!/bin/sh
-   stty lnext undef
-   $HOME/bin/lynx "$@"
-   stty lnext ^V
-   exit

- - NB when NOT in the Line Editor, ^V is by default bound - to the command - to switch between SortaSGML and TagSoup HTML parsing - (i.e., SWITCH_DTD). - To avoid confusion, either of these separate functions could be changed - (mapped away) with a KEYMAP directive in lynx.cfg. For - example, -

-   KEYMAP:^V:DO_NOTHING
-   KEYMAP:#:SWITCH_DTD -

- would map SWITCH_DTD away from ^V to #, while leaving - its default Line Editor function as a command escape in place. On the - other hand, -

-   KEYMAP:^V::NOP:1
-   KEYMAP:^_::LKCMD:1 -

- would move ^V's Line Editor binding as command escape to - ^_ for the first Line Edit style, letting ^V still - act as SWITCH_DTD - outside of text input fields. - -

TEXTAREA Fields -
TEXTAREA fields are for most purposes handled as if they were a series of - text entry (INPUT) fields - for which successive lines imply a newline at the end of - the preceding line. You enter text on each line to construct the overall - message. Any blank lines at the bottom of the TEXTAREA field will be - eliminated from the submission. The up-arrow, and - down-arrow or Return keys move you to the preceding, - or next line of the overall message, as for INPUT fields. The - TAB key will move you down beyond the bottom of the TEXTAREA - field, and Back Tab (if available, e.g., as Shift-Tab, and - correctly mapped in the terminal description) will move backward to - a link or field before the TEXTAREA. - -
Editing TEXTAREA Fields and Special TEXTAREA Functions -
TEXTAREA fields can be edited using an external editor. - The statusline should tell you when this is possible and what - key to use, it might for example say - -
          (Textarea) Enter text. [ ..... ] (^Xe for editor).
- - An external editor has to be defined, for example in the Options Menu, before you can start - using this function. - -

A key to invoke external TEXTAREA editing is normally provided - by the Line-Editor Key Bindings. - A KEYMAP directive in lynx.cfg can also be used to - make a different key invoke external editing; it will then normally - be necessary to prefix that key with ^V to "escape" from - line-editing. Two variants exist,
-   KEYMAP:e:EDITTEXTAREA
- or
-   KEYMAP:e:DWIMEDIT
- (the first is only functional for TEXTAREA editing, while the second - allows to use the same key for normal file - editing as long as both functions don't conflict). -

Please see the note above for details - about ^V behavior.

- - You can also use two other special TEXTAREA functions. Again, these - are already bound to key sequences in the Line-Editor - Bindings, by default ^Xg and ^Xi. - You can use different keys - by adding KEYMAP bindings to your lynx.cfg file, e.g.

- -   KEYMAP:$:GROWTEXTAREA
-   KEYMAP:#:INSERTFILE

- - With these bindings, - (in a TEXTAREA only) ^V$ would add 5 lines to the TEXTAREA - and ^V# would prompt for the name of an existing file - to be inserted into the TEXTAREA (above the cursorline). - An automatic variation of GROWTEXTAREA is normally compiled in, - so that hitting Enter with the cursor on the last line - adds a new line to the TEXTAREA, with the cursor on it.

- - If you have some single keys (or control keys) to spare that you - do not need for their normal purposes, you can dedicate those keys - to invoke the special functions (without requiring a prefix key). - For example, to use - the ^E key for the DWIMEDIT action, and - the Insert key for the INSERTFILE action, - use
-   KEYMAP:^E:DWIMEDIT:PASS
-   KEYMAP:0x10C:INSERTFILE:PASS
- (see lynx.cfg for other keystroke codes to use). - -

Note that the default bindings that use ^X as a prefix key - may also work by substituting the Escape key - for ^X. If your keyboard has a modifier (Meta) key that gets - transmitted as an ESC prefix, for example Alt, you can - then even use Alt-e instead of ^Xe, Alt-g - instead of ^Xg, and so on. But this does not work reliably - everywhere (it depends on the way Lynx is compiled, including which - libraries are used, and behavior of the connection and terminal type). -

- -In general, you can move around the form using the standard Lynx navigation -keys. The up-arrow and down-arrow keys, respectively, -select the previous or next field, box, or button. The TAB key -selects the next field, box, or button. - -

To submit the form press -right-arrow or Return when positioned on the form's -submit button. If you've submitted the form previously during the Lynx -session, have not changed any of the form content, and the METHOD was -GET, Lynx will retrieve from its cache what was returned from the -previous submission. If you wish to resubmit that form to the server with -the same content as previously, use the NOCACHE command ('x') when -positioned on the submit button. The right-arrow and Return -keys also will invoke a no-cache resubmission if the reply from a form -submission included a META element with a no-cache Pragma or Cache-Control -directive:
-

-      <META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache">
-      <META HTTP-EQUIV="Cache-Control" CONTENT="no-cache">
-
-or the server sent a "Pragma" or "Cache-Control" MIME header with a -no-cache directive. - -

You also can use the DOWNLOAD ('d') keystroke command when -positioned on a form submit button if you wish to download the server's -reply to the submission instead of having Lynx render and display it. - -

Forms which have POST as the METHOD, or a mailto: URL as the ACTION, are always -resubmitted, even if the content has not changed, when you activate the -submit button. Lynx normally will not resubmit a form which has -POST as the METHOD if the document returned by the form has links -which you activated, and then you go back via the PREV_DOC -(left-arrow) command or via the History Page. Lynx can be -compiled so that it resubmits the form in those cases as well, and the default -can be changed via lynx.cfg, and toggled via the --resubmit_posts command line switch. - -

If the form has one text entry field and no other fields except, -possibly, hidden INPUT fields not included in the display, then that field -also serves as a submit button, and pressing right-arrow -or Return on that field will invoke submission of the form. Be -sure to use up-arrow, down-arrow or TAB to move -off the text entry field, in such cases, if it is not your intention to -submit the form (or to retrieve what was returned from an earlier submission -if the content was not changed and the METHOD was GET). - -

Forms can have multiple submit buttons, if they have been -assigned NAMEs in the markup. In such cases, information about which -one of the buttons was used to submit the form is included in the form -content. - -

Inlined images can be used as submit buttons in forms. If such -buttons are assigned NAMEs in the markup, for graphic clients they can -also serve as image maps, and the x,y coordinates of -the graphic client's cursor position in the image when it was -clicked are included in the form content. Since Lynx cannot -inline the image, and the user could not have moved a cursor from the -origin for the image, if no alternatives are made available in the -markup Lynx sends a 0,0 coordinate pair in the form content. Document -authors who use images as submit buttons, but have at least some concern -for text clients and sight-challenged Webizens, should include VALUEs for -the buttons in such markup. Lynx will then display the string assigned -to the VALUE, as it would for a normal submit button. Some document -authors incorrectly use an ALT instead of VALUE attribute for this purpose. -Lynx "cooperates" by treating ALT as a synonym for VALUE when present in -an INPUT tag with TYPE="image". If neither a VALUE nor an ALT attribute -is present, Lynx displays "[IMAGE]-Submit" as the string for such buttons. -If clickable images is set, the "[IMAGE]" portion of the string is a link -for the image, and the "Submit" portion is the button for submitting the -form. Otherwise, the entire string is treated as a submit button. If -a VALUE or ALT attribute is present and clickable images is set, Lynx -prepends "[IMAGE]" as a link for the image, followed by '-' and then -the attribute's value as the displayed string for the submit button. -Note that earlier versions of Lynx would send a name=value pair instead of -a 0,0 coordinate pair if a TYPE="image" submit button was NAME-ed, had a -VALUE attribute in the INPUT tag, and was used to submit the form. The -script which analyzes the form content thus could be made aware whether -the submission was by a user with a graphic client and had image loading -turned on, or by a user who did not see the image nor make a conscious -choice within it. However, requests that this be included in HTML -specifications consistently have fallen on deaf ears, and thus Lynx now -"fakes" a 0,0 coordinate pair whether or not a VALUE or ALT attribute is -present in the INPUT tag. Ideally, the script which analyzes the submitted -content will treat the 0,0 coordinate pair as an indicator that the user -did not see the image and make a conscious choice within it. - -

Forms can have hidden INPUT fields, which are not displayed, -but have NAMEs and VALUEs included in the content. These often are used -to keep track of information across a series of related form submissions, -but have the potential for including information about the user that might -be considered to represent an invasion of privacy. NOTE, in this regard, -that Lynx has implemented the HTML 3.0 -DISABLED attribute for all of its form fields. These -can be used to keep track of information across submissions, and to cast -it unmodifiable in the current form, but keep the user aware that it will -be included in the submission. - -

Forms most commonly are submitted to http servers with the content encoded -as ENCTYPE="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" for analysis by a -script, and Lynx treats that as the default if no ENCTYPE is specified in the -FORM start tag. However, you can specify a mailto URL as the form's ACTION to -have the form content sent, instead, to an email address. In such cases, you -may wish to specify ENCTYPE="text/plain" in the form markup, so that -the content will not be encoded, but remain readable as plain text. - -

Lynx also supports ENCTYPE="application/sgml-form-urlencoded" -for which all reserved characters in the content will be hex escaped, as -with application/x-www-form-urlencoded, but semicolons -(';') instead of ampersands ('&') will be used as -the separator for name=value pairs in the form content. The use of -semicolons is preferred for forms with the GET METHOD, because -the GET METHOD causes the encoded form content to be appended -as a ?searchpart for the form's ACTION, and if such URLs are used -in text/html documents or bookmark files without conversion -of the ampersands to SGML character references (&amp; or -&#38;), their being followed by form field NAMEs which might -correspond to SGML entities could lead to corruption of the intended URL. - -

NOTE, in this regard, that Lynx converts ampersands to &amp; -when creating bookmarks, and thus the bookmark links will not be vulnerable -to such corruptions. Also NOTE that Lynx allows you to save links in your -bookmark file for documents returned by forms with the GET METHOD, -and which thus have the content appended as a ?searchpart, but not -if the METHOD was POST, because the content would be lost and the -link thus would be invalid. - -

Lynx supports ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data" for sending form -content with name=value pairs encoded as multipart sections with individual -MIME headers and boundaries. However, Lynx does not yet support INPUTs -with TYPE="file" or TYPE="range" and -will set the DISABLED attribute for all of the form's fields if -any INPUTs with either of those two TYPEs are present, so that the form -can't be submitted. Otherwise, Lynx will submit the form with the multipart -ENCTYPE. - -

A Content-Disposition: file; filename=name.suffix -header can be used by CGI scripts to set the suggested filename offered -by Lynx for 'd'ownload and 'p'rint menu options to save -or mail the body returned by the script following submission of a FORM. -Otherwise, Lynx uses the last symbolic element in the path for the FORM's -ACTION, which is normally the script, itself, or a PATH_INFO field, and -thus might be misleading. This also can be done via a META element in -any document: -

-      <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Disposition"
-            CONTENT="file; filename=name.suffix">
-
-[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Images

- -As a text browser, Lynx does not display images as such --- you need to define a viewer in lynx.cfg: see there -- , -but users can choose a number of ways of showing their presence. -

-There are 3 choices in lynx.cfg, with 2 corresponding keys: -

-     MAKE_LINKS_FOR_ALL_IMAGES        *  IMAGE_TOGGLE
-     MAKE_PSEUDO_ALTS_FOR_INLINES     [  INLINE_TOGGLE
-     VERBOSE_IMAGES                   no corresponding key
-

-You can also use the Options Menu, as outlined below: -

-     key  lynx.cfg       FM KM .lynxrc    variable in source
-
-       *  MAKE_LINKS_     Y  N       N    clickable_images
-       [  MAKE_PSEUDO_    Y  N       N    pseudo_inline_alts
-          VERBOSE_        Y  Y       Y    verbose_img
-
-FM = Form-based Menu ; KM = Key-based Menu ;
-in  .lynxrc ,  VERBOSE_IMAGES  is called `verbose_images':
-the other two cannot be saved between sessions.
-

-In the Form-based Menu, the 3-way `Show images' selection -combines the effects of the `*' & `[' keys, as follows: -

-     Ignore      clickable_images = FALSE, pseudo_inline_alts = FALSE
-     As labels   clickable_images = FALSE, pseudo_inline_alts = TRUE
-     As links    clickable_images = TRUE,  pseudo_inline_alts = unchanged
-
- -

Lynx and HTML Tables

- -HTML includes markup for creating tables structured as arrays of -cells aligned by columns and rows on the displayed page. - -

Lynx recognizes the TABLE element and all of its associated elements -as described in RFC 1942 -and will process any ID attributes in the start tags for handling as NAME-ed -anchors, but does not create actual tables. Instead, it treats -the TR start tag as a collapsible BR (line break), and inserts a collapsible -space before the content of each TH and TD start tag. This generally makes -all of the content of the table readable, preserves most of the -intra-cell organization, and makes all of the links in the table -accessible, but any information critically dependent on the column and row -alignments intended for the table will be missed. - -

If inherently tabular data must be presented with Lynx, one can use PRE -formatted content, or, if the table includes markup not allowed -for PRE content, construct the table using HTML Tabs. An example table using TAB -elements is included in the test subdirectory of the Lynx distribution. - -

-

Starting with version 2.8.3, Lynx renders some tables in tabular -form. This tabular representation for simple tables -(TRST) does not attempt to implement full support for any table -model. Limitations are: -

-Horizontal alignments (LEFT, CENTER, -RIGHT), COLSPAN, and ROWSPAN are -interpreted according to HTML 4.01. (ROWSPAN can only reserve -empty space in subsequent rows, because of the limitations above.) When -TRST fails because a table is not "simple" enough, the representation falls -back to the minimal handling described earlier. -Many (but, unfortunately, by no means all) tables that represent inherently -tabular material will thus be shown with correct tabular formatting. -Where table markup is used only for layout purposes (containing whole blocks -of text and list within table cells) and not essential for understanding -the textual contents, it remains basically ignored. Some more information -on details is available in the file README.TRST of the source -distribution. -
- -

For tabular display of more complex tables, Lynx users can make use of -external scripts or programs. The normal Lynx distribution currently does -not provide such scripts, but they can be written locally or downloaded -from several sources. It is suggested to use one of Lynx's facilities for -invoking external programs (see DOWNLOADER, PRINTER, -EXTERNAL, TRUSTED_LYNXCGI in lynx.cfg and lynxcgi: in Supported URLs for information on various -ways for setting this up). - -[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Tabs

- -Lynx implements the HTML 3.0 -TAB element only when LEFT alignment is in effect. If the alignment is -CENTER or RIGHT (JUSTIFY is not yet implemented in Lynx, and is treated -as a synonym for LEFT), or if the TAB element indicates a position to the -left of the current position on the screen, it is treated as a collapsible -space. For purposes of implementing TAB, Lynx treats en units as -half a character cell width when specified by the INDENT attribute, and -rounds up for odd values (e.g., a value of either 5 or 6 will be treated -as three spaces, each the width of a character cell). See the example -table using TAB elements in the test subdirectory of the Lynx -distribution as a model for using this functionality. - -

Note that this Users Guide and the Supported URLs page include TAB markup in -a manner which degrades gracefully for WWW browsers which do not -support it. Toggle to display of source and search for <tab to examine the use of TAB markup -in these documents. [ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Frames

- -Some implementations of HTML include markup, primarily designed for graphic -clients, that is intended to create an array of simultaneously displayed, -independently scrolling windows. Such windows have been termed -frames. - -

Lynx recognizes the Netscape and Microsoft Explorer FRAME, FRAMESET, -and NOFRAMES elements, but is not capable of windowing to create the -intended positioning of frames. Instead, Lynx creates labeled -links to the frame sources, typically positioned in the upper -left corner of the display, and renders the NOFRAMES section. If the -document provider has disregard for text clients and sight-challenged -Webizens, and thus does not include substantive content in the NOFRAMES -section or a link in it to a document suitable for text clients, you -can usually guess from the labeling of the frame links which -one has the substantive material (if there is any), or you can try each -of those links to see if anything worthwhile is returned. -[ToC] - -

Some sites -- in ignorance of Lynx capabilities -- may tell you -(for example) "to view this page you need Netscape Navigator". -You can simply ignore such warnings and access the frames -via the Lynx-generated links as above. - -

Lynx and HTML Banners

- -Some implementations of HTML markup include provisions for creating a -non-scrolling window to be positioned at the top of each page, containing -links with brief, descriptive link names, analogous to a Windows toolbar. -Such windows have been termed banners. - -

Lynx recognizes and processes all of the HTML 3.0 -REL attribute tokens in LINK elements for creating a banner, and -a number of others which have subsequently been proposed. These -banner tokens are Home, ToC, Contents, -Index, Glossary, Copyright, Up, -Next, Previous, Prev, Help, -Search, Top, Origin, Navigator, -Child, Disclaimer, Sibling, Parent, -Author, Editor, Publisher, Trademark, -Meta, URC, Hotlist, Begin, -First, End, Last, Pointer, -Translation, Definition, Chapter, -Section, Subsection, Alternate, -Documentation, Biblioentry, Bibliography, -Start, Appendix, -Bookmark and Banner. Any LINK elements with those -tokens as the REL attribute value, and an HREF attribute value in the LINK, -will invoke creation of a banner at the top of the first page, -with the element's HREF as the link, and the token as the default link -name. If a TITLE attribute is included in the LINK, it's value will be -used as the link name instead of the default. Bookmark and -Banner are intended to be accompanied by a TITLE attribute, -which in effect makes the namespace for REL banner tokens -infinite. - -

If the special token Help is used as the REL value and no HREF -is included in the LINK, Lynx will use it own HELPFILE URL for that -link. For the special token Home without an HREF, Lynx will use -the default STARTFILE (i.e., derived from the configuration files -or the WWW_HOME environment variable, not the command line -startfile if one was used). However, if a -homepage=URL -was specified on the command line, it's URL will be used as the HREF. -For the special token Index without an HREF, Lynx will use the -DEFAULT_INDEX_FILE derived from the configuration files, or if an --index=URL was specified on the command line, it's URL will be used -as the HREF. - -

Lynx does not waste screen real estate maintaining the banner at -the top of every page, but the Lynx TOOLBAR keystroke command ('#') -will, any time it is pressed, position you on the banner so that -any of its links can be activated, and pressing the left-arrow when -in the banner will return you to where you were in the current -document. The toolbar is indicated by a '#" preceding its first -link when present on the screen, that is, when the first page of the -document is being displayed. The availability of a toolbar is indicated by -a '#' at the top, left-hand corner of the screen when the second -or subsequent pages of the document are being displayed. - -

Lynx also recognizes the HTML 3.0 -BANNER container element, and will create a banner based on its -content if one has not already been created based on LINK elements. Lynx -treats the Microsoft MARQUEE element as a synonym for BANNER (i.e., -presenting it's markup as a static banner, without any horizontal -scrolling of its content). Lynx does not prefix the BANNER or MARQUEE -content with a '#' because the content need not be only a series -of links with brief, descriptive links names, but does add a '#' -at the top, left-hand corner of the screen when the content is not being -displayed, to indicate it's accessibility via the TOOLBAR keystroke command. -[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Footnotes

- -Lynx implements the HTML 3.0 -FN element similarly to a named Anchor within the current document, -and assumes that the footnotes will be positioned at the bottom of the -document. However, in contrast to named Anchors, the FN container -element is treated as a block (i.e., as if a new paragraph were indicated -whether or not that is indicated in its content) with greater than normal -left and right margins, and the block will begin with a FOOTNOTE: -label. For example, if the document contains: -
-        See the <A HREF="#fn1">footnote</A>.
-
-activating that link will take you to the labeled rendering of: -
-        <FN ID="fn1"><p>Lynx does not use popups for FN blocks.</p></FN>
-
- -

i.e., position it at the top of the page. Then, upon reading the footnote, -you can return to your previous position in the document by pressing the -left-arrow key. The content of an FN element can be any HTML -markup that is valid in the BODY of the document. -[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Notes

- -Lynx implements the HTML 3.0 -NOTE element (Admonishment) as a labeled block, i.e., as if a new -paragraph were indicated whether or not paragraphing markup is included -in its content, with greater than normal left and right margins, and with -the type of note indicated by an emphasized label based on the value of its -CLASS or ROLE attribute. If no CLASS or ROLE attribute is included, the -default label NOTE: will be used. Lynx recognizes the values -caution and warning, for which, respectively, the labels -CAUTION: or WARNING: will be used. The NOTE element can -have an ID attribute, which will be treated as a named Anchor, as -for HTML Footnotes, -but the NOTE block need not be placed -at the bottom of the document. The content of a NOTE block can be any HTML -markup that is valid in the BODY of the document. This is an example:
-
-      <NOTE CLASS="warning" ID="too-bad">
-        <p>The W3C vendors did not retain NOTE in the HTML 3.2 draft.</p>
-      </NOTE>
-
-It will degrade gracefully for WWW browsers which do not support -NOTE, except for recognition of the ID attribute as a named Anchor. -[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Lists

- -Lynx implements the HTML 3.0 -list elements UL (Unordered List), OL (Ordered List), -and DL (Definition List), and their associated attributes, and -elements (LH, LI, DT, and DD) for the most part as described in that -specification. The lists can be nested, yielding progressively greater -indentation, up to six levels. The HTML 2.0 MENU and DIR elements both are treated as synonyms -for UL with the PLAIN attribute (no bullets, see below). Note, -thus, that neither DIR nor MENU yields a series of columns with 24-character -spacing. A single nesting index is maintained, so that different types of -List elements can be used for different levels within the nest. Also, the -HTML 3.0 -FIG, CAPTION and CREDIT elements are treated as valid within list blocks. -They will be rendered with indentation appropriate for the current nesting -depth, and the CAPTION or CREDIT elements will have a CAPTION: or -CREDIT: label beginning the first line of their content. The -content of any APPLET or OBJECT elements in the lists also will be indented -appropriately for the current nesting depth, but those will not invoke line -breaks unless indicated by their content, and it should not include markup -which is inappropriate within the list. - -

Lynx also supports the TYPE attribute for OL elements, which can have -values of 1 for Arabic numbers, I or i for -uppercase or lowercase Roman numerals, or A or a for -uppercase or lowercase letters, that increment for successive LI elements -in the list block. The CONTINUE attribute can be used to continue the -ordering from the preceding list block when the nesting depth is changed. - -

Lynx treats the OL attributes START and SEQNUM as synonyms for specifying -the ordering value for the first LI element in the block. The values should -be specified as Arabic numbers, but will be displayed as Arabic, Roman, or -alphabetical depending on the TYPE for the block. The values can range from --29997 to the system's maximum positive integer for Arabic numbers. -For Roman numerals, they can range from 1 (I or i) -to 3000 (MMM or mmm.). For alphabetical orders, -the values can range from 1 (A or a) to -18278 (ZZZ or zzz). If the CONTINUE attribute is -used, you do not need to specify a START or SEQNUM attribute to extend the -ordering from a previous block, and you can include a TYPE attribute to -change among Arabic, Roman, or alphabetical ordering styles, or their casing, -without disrupting the sequence. If you do not include a START, SEQNUM or -CONTINUE attribute, the first LI element of each OL block will default to -1, and if you do not include a TYPE attribute, Lynx defaults to -Arabic numbers. - -

For UL blocks without the PLAIN attribute, Lynx uses *, -+, o, #, @ and - as -bullets to indicate, progressively, the depth within the six -nesting levels. - -

Lynx treats UL, OL, DIR, and MENU blocks as having the COMPACT attribute -by default, i.e., single spaces between LH and LI elements within those -blocks. For DL blocks, double spacing will be used to separate the DT and -DD elements unless the COMPACT attribute has been specified. -[ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Quotes

- -The HTML 3.0 and -later specifications provide for two classes of quotation in HTML documents. -Block quotes, designated by the BLOCKQUOTE element (or it's abbreviated -synonym BQ in HTML 3.0), have implied paragraph breaks preceding and following -the start and end tags for the block. Character level quotes, designated by -the Q element, in contrast are simply directives in the markup to insert an -appropriate quotation mark. - -

Lynx renders block quotes with a greater than normal left and right -indentation. Lynx does not support italics, and normally substitutes -underlining, but does not underline block quotes so as not to obscure any -explicit emphasis elements within the quotation. The BLOCKQUOTE or BQ -block can include a CREDIT container element, whose content will be rendered -as an implied new paragraph with a CREDIT: label at the beginning of -its first line. - -

Lynx respects nested Q start and end tags, and will use ASCII double-quotes -(") versus grave accent (`) and apostrophe -('), respectively, for even versus odd depths in the nest. - -

Any ID attributes in BLOCKQUOTE, BQ or Q elements can be the target -of a hyperlink in the form URL#id. It is treated just -like the NAME in Anchors. [ToC] - -

Lynx and HTML Internationalization: 8bit, UNICODE, etc.

- -Lynx has superior support for HTML 4.0/I18N internationalization issues. -However, to see the characters other than 7bit properly you should -set your display character set -from Option Menu and save its value, this is a Frequently Asked Question. -Fine-turning is also available from lynx.cfg -[ToC] - -

Lynx and Client-Side-Image-Maps

- -HTML includes markup, designed primarily for graphic clients, that treats -inlined images as maps, such that areas of the image within which a mouse -cursor was positioned when the mouse was clicked can correspond -to URLs which should be retrieved. The original implementations -were based on the client sending an http server the x,y coordinates -associated with the click, for handling by a script invoked by -the server, and have been termed server-side-image-maps. Lynx -has no rational way of coping with such a procedure, and thus simply -sends a 0,0 coordinate pair, which some server scripts treat as an -instruction to return a document suitable for a text client. - -

Newer HTML markup provides bases for the client to determine the -URLs associated with areas in the image map, and/or for a text client -to process alternative markup and allow the user to make choices based -on textual information. These have been termed -client-side-image-maps. - -

Lynx recognizes and processes the MAP container element and its AREA -elements, and will create a menu of links for the HREF of each AREA when -the link created for the IMG element with a USEMAP attribute is activated. -The menu uses the ALT attributes of the AREA elements as the link names, -or, if the document's author has disregard for text clients and -sight-challenged Webizens, and thus did not include ALT attributes, Lynx -uses the resolved URLs pointed to by the HREF attributes as the link names. -Lynx uses the TITLE attribute of the IMG element, or the TITLE attribute of -the MAP, if either was present in the markup, as the title and main header -of the menu. Otherwise, it uses the ALT attribute of the IMG element. If -neither TITLE nor ALT attributes were present in the markup, Lynx creates -and uses a [USEMAP] pseudo-ALT. The MAPs need not be in the same -document as the IMG elements. If not in the same document, Lynx will fetch -the document which contains the referenced MAP, and locate it based on -its NAME or ID attribute. All MAPs encountered in documents during a -Lynx session are cached, so that they need not be retrieved repeatedly -when referenced in different documents. - -

If the IMG element also indicates a server-side-image-map -via an ISMAP attribute, Lynx normally will create a link for that as well, -using an [ISMAP] pseudo-ALT (followed by a hyphen to indicate its -association with the client-side-image-map) rather than ignoring -it, and will submit a 0,0 coordinate pair if that link is activated. -Although, the client-side-image-map may be more useful for a -client such as Lynx, because all of the URLs associated with the image -map can be accessed, and their nature indicated via ALT attributes, -Lynx-friendly sites can map 0,0 such that the server returns a -for-text-client document homologous to the content of FIG elements (see -below). Inclusion of such a link for submissions to the server can be -disabled by default via the configuration file -(lynx.cfg), and the -default can be toggled via the -ismap command line switch. - -

Lynx also recognizes the HTML 3.0 -FIG and OVERLAY elements, and will handle them as intended for text clients. -These are the ideal way to handle client-side-image-maps, because -the FIG content provides complete alternative markup, rather than relying -on the client to construct a relatively meager list of links with link -names based on ALT strings. - -

The presently experimental OBJECT element encompasses much of the -functionality of the FIG element for client-side-image-maps. -Lynx will render and display the content of OBJECT elements which have -the SHAPES attribute equivalently to its handling of FIG. Lynx also -handles OBJECT elements with the USEMAP and/or ISMAP attributes -equivalently to its handling of IMG elements with -client-side-image-maps and/or server-side-image-maps. -[ToC] - -

Lynx and Client-Side-Pull

- -HTML includes provision for passing instructions to clients via directives -in META elements, and one such instruction, via the token Refresh, -should invoke reloading of the document, fetched from a server with the -same URL or a new URL, at a specified number of seconds following receipt -of the current document. This procedure has been termed -client-side-pull. An example of such an element is: -
-      <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="3; URL=http://host/path">
-
-which instructs a client to fetch the indicated URL in 3 seconds after -receiving the current document. If the URL= field is omitted, -the URL defaults to that of the current document. A no-cache -directive is implied when the Refresh if for the same URL. - -

Lynx recognizes and processes Refresh directives in META -elements, but puts up a labeled link, typically in the upper left corner -of the display, indicating the number of seconds intended before a -refresh, and the URL for the refresh, instead of making the request -automatically after the indicated number of seconds. This allows -people using a braille interface any amount of time to examine the -current document before activating the link for the next URL. In -general, if the number of seconds indicated is short, the timing -is not critical and you can activate the link whenever you like. -If it is long (e.g., 60 seconds), a server process may be generating -new documents or images at that interval, and you would be wasting -bandwidth by activating the link at a shorter interval. -[ToC] - -

Lynx State Management -(Me want cookie!)

- -HTTP provides a means to carry state information across successive -connections between a browser and an http server. Normally, http servers -respond to each browser request without relating that request to previous -or subsequent requests. Though the inclusion of INPUT fields with -TYPE="hidden" can be used as a sort of state management by HTML Forms, a more general approach involves exchanges of MIME -headers between the server and browser. When replying to a request, -the server can send a Set-Cookie MIME header which contains -information (cookies) relevant to the browser's request, and in -subsequent requests the browser can send a Cookie MIME header -with information derived from previously received cookies. - -

State Management via cookie exchanges originally was implemented by -Netscape, and such cookies are now designated as Version 0. A -more elaborate format for cookies, designated as Version 1, is -being standardized by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). Lynx -supports both Version 0 and Version 1 cookie exchanges. -This support can be disabled by default via the SET_COOKIES symbol in the -compilation (userdefs.h) and/or run time -(lynx.cfg) -configuration files, and that default setting can be toggled via the --cookies command line switch. -The SET_COOKIES symbol can be further modified by the ACCEPT_ALL_COOKIES mode. -If ACCEPT_ALL_COOKIES is set TRUE, and SET_COOKIES is TRUE, Lynx will accept -all cookies. Additionally, the cookies that are automatically accepted or -rejected by Lynx can be further modified with the COOKIE_ACCEPT_DOMAINS and -COOKIE_REJECT_DOMAINS options in your .lynxrc file, each of which is a -comma-separated list of domains to perform the desired action. The domain -listed in these options must be identical to the domain the cookie comes -from, there is no wildcard matching. If a domain is specific in both -COOKIE_ACCEPT_DOMAINS and COOKIE_REJECT_DOMAINS, rejection will take -precedence. - -

When cookie support is enabled, Set-Cookie MIME headers -received from an http server invoke confirmation prompts with possible -replies of 'Y'es or 'N'o for acceptance of the cookie, -'A'lways to accept the cookie and to allow all subsequent -cookies from that domain (server's Fully Qualified Domain Name, -or site-identifying portion of the FQDN) without further confirmation -prompts, or ne'V'er to never allow cookies from that -domain to be accepted (silently ignore its Set-Cookie -MIME headers). All unexpired cookies are held in a hypothetical -Cookie Jar which can be examined via the COOKIE_JAR keystroke -command, normally mapped to Ctrl-K, for invoking the Cookie Jar Page. If Lynx has been -compiled with the --enable-persistent-cookies flag, then unexpired cookies -will be stored between sessions in the filename set with the COOKIE_FILE -option in your .lynxrc. - -

A common use of cookies by http servers is simply to track the -documents visited by individual users. Though this can be useful to the -site's WebMaster for evaluating and improving the organization of links -in the various documents of the site, if the user has configured Lynx -to include a From MIME header with the user's email address in -http requests, or has passed personal information to the server via a -form submission, the tracking might be used to draw inferences, possibly -incorrect, about that user, and may be considered by some as an invasion -of privacy. - -

An example of worthwhile State Management via cookies is the setting -of personal preferences, typically via a form submission to the site, -which will then apply to all documents visited at that site. - -

If you accept cookies when accessing a site, but are given no indication -about how they will be used in subsequent requests to that site, nor can -infer how they will be used, you can Gobble (delete) the cookies -and/or change the 'allow' setting for its domain via the Cookie Jar Page. -[ToC] - -

Cached Documents

- -A list of documents which are in lynx's internal cache is accessible through -hypothetical Cache Jar which can be examined via the CACHE_JAR -keystroke command, normally mapped to Ctrl-X. - -

Entries in the Cache Jar are ordered -from oldest (at the top) to newest. -The user can easily access any document which is in the cache, -especially those which may be soon removed due to -configurable limits on the maximum number of cached documents, -as well as the maxmimum amount of memory used by the cache. - -

The structure of Cache Jar is simple: -

- -

This feature can be enabled by default using the USE_CACHEJAR symbol in the -compilation (userdefs.h), -as well as enabled in lynx.cfg -[ToC] - -

Sessions

- -Lynx's current state (all information about the user's -current activity with lynx) is called a session. -Sessions are useful in particular if you are in the middle -of exploring something on the web and you were forced to stop abruptly, -losing any trace of your current work. - -

A session can be automatically restored as lynx starts after a clean exit. -The session data is saved if lynx is invoked with -the -session=FILENAME switch. -The FILENAME is the name of the file where the session will be stored. - -

There are also switches for only restoring: --sessionin=FILENAME -and for only saving: --sessionout=FILENAME sesions: - -

If you do not want to specify these options at each lynx startup, -there is an option in lynx.cfg to enable automatic -saving/restoring of session. -To keep lynx startup/exit reasonable fast there is -also an option in lynx.cfg specifying -how much information about the current lynx session will be stored in file. - -

The syntax of the session file is simple. -You can use a text editor to modify, add -new entries, or remove URLs you no longer want. -[ToC] - -

The Lynx command line

- -A summary of the Lynx command line options (switches) is returned to -stdout if Lynx is invoked with the -help switch. A description -of the options also should be available via the system man (Unix) pages -or help (VMS) libraries. On Win32, typing lynx -help in a DOS window -should display similarly. -The basic syntax of the Lynx command line can -be represented as one of the following: - -
-
Command -
lynx [options] -
lynx [options] startfile -
- -where - -
-
startfile -
is the file or URL that Lynx will load at start-up. -
    -
  • If startfile is not specified, Lynx will use a default - starting file and base directory determined during - installation. -
  • If a specified file is local (i.e., not a URL) Lynx - displays that file and uses the directory in which that - file resides as the base directory. -
  • If a URL is specified, the file will be retrieved, - and only the server base directory will be relevant - to further accesses. -
  • If more than one local file or remote URL is listed on the - command line, Lynx will open only the last interactively. All - of the names (local files and remote URLs) are added to the - G)oto history. -
-
options -
Lynx uses only long option names. Option names can begin with - double dash as well, underscores and dashes can be intermixed in - option names (in the reference below options are with one dash - before them and with underscores). -

- Lynx provides many command-line options. Some options require a - value (string, number or keyword). These are noted in the - reference below. The other options set boolean values in the - program. There are three types of boolean options: set, unset and - toggle. If no option value is given, these have the obvious - meaning: set (to true), unset (to false), or toggle (between - true/false). For any of these, an explicit value can be given in - different forms to allow for operating system constraints, e.g., - 


-              -center:off
-              -center=off
-              -center-
- Lynx recognizes "1", "+", "on" and "true" for true values, and "0", - "-", "off" and "false" for false values. Other option-values are - ignored. -

- The default boolean, number and string option values that are - compiled into lynx are displayed in the help-message provided by - lynx -help. Some of those may differ according to how lynx was - built; see the help message itself for these values. The -help - option is processed before any option, including those that control - reading from the lynx.cfg file. Therefore runtime configuration - values are not reflected in the help-message. -

- Capitalized items in the option summary - indicate that a substitution must be made. - These are the options: -

-
- -
If the argument is only '-' (dash), then Lynx - expects to receive the arguments from stdin. This is to - allow for the potentially very long command line that can - be associated with the -get_data or - -post_data arguments (see below). - It can also be used to avoid having sensitive information - in the invoking command line (which would be visible to - other processes on most systems), especially when - the -auth or -pauth options are used. - On VMS, the dash - must be encased in double-quotes ("-") and the - keyboard input terminated with Control-Z or the - command file input terminated by a line that begins - with '$'. On Unix, the keyboard input terminator - is Control-D. On Win32, [???]. -
-accept_all_cookies -
accept all cookies. -
-anonymous -
apply restrictions appropriate for an anonymous - account, see -restrictions below for some - details. -
-assume_charset=MIMENAME -
charset for documents that don't specify it. -
-assume_local_charset=MIMENAME -
charset assumed for local files, - i.e., files which lynx creates such as internal pages for - the options menu. -
-assume_unrec_charset=MIMENAME -
use this instead of unrecognized charsets. -
-auth=ID:PW -
set authorization ID and password for protected documents - at startup. Be sure to protect any script files which use - this switch. -
-base -
prepend a request URL comment and BASE tag to text/html - outputs for -source dumps. -
-bibp=URL -
specify a local bibp server (default http://bibhost/). -
-blink -
forces high intensity background colors for color mode, - if available and supported by the terminal. - This applies to the slang library (for a few terminal - emulators), or to OS/2 EMX with ncurses. -
-book -
use the bookmark page as the startfile. The default or - command line startfile is still set for the Main screen - command, and will be used if the bookmark page is - unavailable or blank. -
-buried_news -
toggles scanning of news articles for buried references, - and converts them to news links. Not recommended because - email addresses enclosed in angle brackets will be - converted to false news links, and uuencoded messages can - be trashed. -
-cache=NUMBER -
set the NUMBER of documents cached in memory. - The default is 10. -
-center -
Toggle center alignment in HTML TABLE. -
-case -
enable case-sensitive string searching. -
-cfg=FILENAME -
specifies a Lynx configuration file other than the default - lynx.cfg. -
-child -
exit on left-arrow in startfile, and disable save to disk. -
-child_relaxed -
exit on left-arrow in startfile, but allow save to disk and - associated print/mail options. -
-cmd_log=FILENAME -
write keystroke commands and related information to the - specified file. -
-cmd_script=FILENAME -
read keystroke commands from the specified file. - You can use the data written using the -cmd_log - option. Lynx will ignore other information which - the command-logging may have written to the log- - file. Each line of the command script contains - either a comment beginning with "#", or a keyword: - -
-
exit -
causes the script to stop, and forces lynx to - exit immediately. - -
key -
the character value, in printable form. Cursor - and other special keys are given as names, e.g., - Down Arrow. Printable 7-bit ASCII codes are - given as-is, and hexadecimal values represent - other 8-bit codes. - -
set -
followed by a "name=value" allows one to override - values set in the lynx.cfg file. -
- -
-color -
forces color mode on, if available. Default color control sequences - which work for many terminal types are assumed if the terminal - capability description does not specify how to handle color. - Lynx needs to be compiled with the slang library for this flag. - It is equivalent to setting the COLORTERM environment variable. - (If color support is instead provided by a color-capable curses - library like ncurses, Lynx relies completely on the terminal - description to determine whether color mode is possible, and - this flag is not needed and thus unavailable.) - A saved show_color=always setting found in a .lynxrc file at - startup has the same effect. A saved show_color=always found - in .lynxrc on startup is overridden by this flag. -
-connect_timeout=N -
Sets the connection timeout, where N is given in seconds. -
-cookie_file=FILENAME -
specifies a file to use to read cookies. - If none is specified, the default value is ~/.lynx_cookies - for most systems, but ~/cookies for MS-DOS. -
-cookie_save_file=FILENAME -
specifies a file to use to store cookies. - If none is specified, the value given by - -cookie_file is used. -
-cookies -
toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers. -
-core -
toggles forced core dumps on fatal errors. (Unix only) -
-crawl -
with -traversal, output each page to a file.
- with -dump, format output as with - -traversal, but to stdout. -
-curses_pads -
toggles the use of curses "pad" feature which supports - left/right scrolling of the display. -
-debug_partial -
separate incremental display stages with MessageSecs delay -
-display=DISPLAY -
set the display variable for X rexe-ced programs. -
-display_charset=MIMEname -
set the charset for the terminal output. -
-dont_wrap_pre -
inhibit wrapping of text in <pre> when -dump'ing and - -crawl'ing, mark wrapped lines in interactive session. -
-dump -
dumps the formatted output of the default document - or one specified on the command line to standard out. - This can be used in the following way:
- lynx -dump http://www.w3.org/ -
-editor=EDITOR -
enable external editing using the specified - EDITOR. (vi, ed, emacs, etc.) -
-emacskeys -
enable emacs-like key movement. -
-enable_scrollback -
toggles behavior compatible with the scrollback keys in - some communications software (may be incompatible with - some curses packages). -
-error_file=FILENAME -
the status code from the HTTP request is placed in this - file. -
-exec -
enable local program execution (normally not configured). -
-fileversions -
include all versions of files in local VMS directory - listings. -
-find_leaks -
toggles the memory leak checking off. - Normally this - is not compiled-into your executable, but when it is, - it can be disabled for a session. -
-force_empty_hrefless_a -
force HREF-less 'A' elements to be empty (close them as soon as they are seen). -
-force_html -
forces the first document to be interpreted as HTML. -
-force_secure -
toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies. -
-forms_options -
toggles whether the Options Menu is key-based or form-based. -
-from -
toggles transmissions of From headers to HTTP or HTTPS - servers. -
-ftp -
disable ftp access. -
-get_data -
properly formatted data for a get form are read in from - stdin and passed to the form. Input is terminated by a - line that starts with '---'. -
-head -
send a HEAD request for the mime headers. -
-help -
print this Lynx command syntax usage message. -
-hiddenlinks=option -
control the display of hidden links. Option values are: -
-
merge -
hidden links show up as bracketed numbers and are - numbered together with other links in the sequence of - their occurrence in the document. -
listonly -
hidden links are shown only on List screens and - listings generated by -dump or from the - Print menu, but appear separately at the end of - those lists. This is the default behavior. -
ignore -
hidden links do not appear even in listings. -
-
-historical -
toggles use of '>' or '-->' as a terminator for - comments. -
-homepage=URL -
set homepage separate from start page. Will be used - if a fetch of the start page fails or if it is a - script which does not return a document, and as the - URL for the 'm'ain menu command. -
-image_links -
toggles inclusion of links for all images. -
-ismap -
toggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side - MAPs are present. -
-index=URL -
set the default index file to the specified URL -
-justify -
do justification of text. -
-link=NUMBER -
starting count for lnk#.dat files produced by - -crawl. -
-localhost -
disable URLs that point to remote hosts. -
-locexec -
enable local program execution from local files only - (if lynx was compiled with local execution enabled). -
-lss=FILENAME -
specify filename containing color-style information. - The default is lynx.lss. -
-mime_header -
include mime headers and force source dump. -
-minimal -
toggles minimal versus valid comment parsing. When - minimal, any '-->' serves as a terminator for a - comment element. When valid, pairs of '--' are - treated as delimiters for series of comments within - the overall comment element. If historical is set, - that overrides minimal or valid comment parsing. -
-nested_tables -
toggles nested-tables logic (for debugging). -
-newschunksize=NUMBER -
number of articles in chunked news listings. -
-newsmaxchunk=NUMBER -
maximum news articles in listings before chunking. -
-nobold -
disable bold video-attribute. -
-nobrowse -
disable directory browsing. -
-nocc -
disable Cc: prompts for self copies of mailings. Note - that this does not disable any CCs which are incorporated - within a mailto URL or form ACTION. -
-nocolor -
force color mode off, overriding terminal capabilities and any - -color flags, COLORTERM variable, and saved .lynxrc settings. -
-noexec -
disable local program execution. (DEFAULT) -
-nofilereferer -
disable transmissions of Referer headers for file URLs. -
-nolist -
disable the link list feature in dumps. -
-nolog -
disable mailing of error messages to document owners. -
-nomargins -
disable left/right margins in the default style sheet. -
-nomore -
disable -more- string in statusline messages. -
-nonrestarting_sigwinch -
make window size change handler non-restarting. - This flag is not available on all systems, - Lynx needs to be compiled with HAVE_SIGACTION defined. - If available, this flag may cause Lynx to react - more immediately to window changes when run within an - xterm. -
-nopause -
disable forced pauses for statusline messages. -
-noprint -
disable most print functions. -
-noredir -
don't follow URL redirections -
-noreferer -
disable transmissions of Referer headers. -
-noreverse -
disable reverse video-attribute. -
-nosocks -
disable SOCKS proxy usage by a SOCKSified Lynx. -
-nostatus -
disable the retrieval status messages. -
-notitle -
disable title and blank line from top of page. -
-nounderline -
disable underline video-attribute. -
-number_fields -
force numbering of links as well as form input fields. -
-number_links -
force numbering of links. -
-partial -
toggles displaying of partial pages while loading. -
-partial_thres=NUMBER -
number of lines to render before repainting display - with partial-display logic. -
-pauth=ID:PW -
set authorization ID and password for a protected proxy - server at startup. Be sure to protect any script files - which use this switch. -
-popup -
toggles handling of single-choice SELECT options via - popup windows or as lists of radio buttons. The default - configuration can be changed in userdefs.h or - lynx.cfg. - It also can be set and saved via the 'o'ptions menu. - The command line switch toggles the default. -
-post_data -
properly formatted data for a post form are read in from - stdin and passed to the form. Input is terminated by a - line that starts with '---'. -
-preparsed -
show source preparsed and reformatted when used with - -source or in source view ('\'). - May be useful for debugging of broken HTML markup - to visualize the difference between SortaSGML and TagSoup - recovery modes, - switched by '^V'. -
-prettysrc -
do syntax highlighting and hyperlink handling in source - view. -
-print -
enable print functions. (default) -
-pseudo_inlines -
toggles pseudo-ALTs for inline images with no ALT string. -
-raw -
toggles default setting of 8-bit character translations - or CJK mode for the startup character set. -
-realm -
restricts access to URLs in the starting realm. -
-reload -
flushes the cache on a proxy server - (only the first document affected). -
-restrictions -
allows a list of services to be disabled - selectively and takes the following form: -
lynx -restrictions=[option][,option][,option]... -
The list of recognized options is printed if none - are specified. -
-
? -
if used alone, lists restrictions in effect. -
all -
restricts all options listed below. -
bookmark -
disallow changing the location of the bookmark - file. -
bookmark_exec -
disallow execution links via the bookmark file. -
change_exec_perms -
disallow changing the eXecute permission on - files (but still allow it for directories) when - local file management is enabled. -
chdir -
disallow command which changes Lynx's working - directory. -
default -
same as command line option -anonymous. - Set default restrictions for anonymous users. - All specific services listed are always - restricted, except for: - inside_telnet, outside_telnet, inside_ftp, - outside_ftp, inside_rlogin, outside_rlogin, - inside_news, outside_news, telnet_port, jump, - mail, print, exec, and goto. The settings for these, - as well as additional goto restrictions for - specific URL schemes that are also applied, - are derived from definitions within userdefs.h.
- Note that this is the only option value that - may have the effect of removing some - restrictions, if they have been set by other - options, namely for those services that - are allowed by default according to - userdefs.h. However, if the separate command - line option form (-anonymous) is used, - Lynx takes care to set the default restrictions - before handling additional -restrictions= - options (even if they precede the - anonymous option), so that this cannot - happen. -
dired_support -
disallow local file management. -
disk_save -
disallow saving to disk in the download and print - menus. -
dotfiles -
disallow access to, or creation of, hidden (dot) - files. -
download -
disallow some downloaders in the download menu. - This does not imply the disk_save - restriction. It also does not disable the - DOWNLOAD command, and does not prevent - "Download or Cancel" offers when a MIME type - cannot otherwise be handled. Those are only - disabled if additionally the disk_save - restriction is in effect and - no download methods are defined in a Lynx configuration - file that are marked as "always ENABLED" - (or, alternatively, if the -validate switch - is used). -
editor -
disallow external editing. -
exec -
disable execution scripts. -
exec_frozen -
disallow the user from changing the local - execution option. -
externals -
disallow some "EXTERNAL" configuration lines, - if support for passing URLs to external - applications (with the EXTERN_LINK or EXTERN_PAGE - command) is compiled in. -
file_url -
disallow using G)oto, served links or bookmarks - for file: URLs. -
goto -
disable the 'g' (goto) command. -
inside_ftp -
disallow ftps for people coming from inside your - domain. -
inside_news -
disallow USENET news reading and posting for - people coming from inside you domain. This - applies to "news", "nntp", "newspost", and - "newsreply" URLs, but not to "snews", "snewspost", - or "snewsreply" in case they are supported. - -
inside_rlogin -
disallow rlogins for people coming from inside - your domain. -
inside_telnet -
disallow telnets for people coming from inside - your domain. -
jump -
disable the 'j' (jump) command. -
lynxcgi -
disallow execution of Lynx CGI URLs. -
mail -
disallow mailing feature. -
multibook -
disallow multiple bookmarks. -
news_post -
disallow USENET News posting, -
options_save -
disallow saving options in .lynxrc. -
outside_ftp -
disallow ftps for people coming from outside your - domain. -
outside_news -
disallow USENET news reading and posting for - people coming from outside you domain. This - applies to "news", "nntp", "newspost", and - "newsreply" URLs, but not to "snews", "snewspost", - or "snewsreply" in case they are supported. -
outside_rlogin -
disallow rlogins for people coming from outside - your domain. -
outside_telnet -
disallow telnets for people coming from - outside your domain. -
print -
disallow most print options. -
shell -
disallow shell escapes. -
suspend -
disallow Control-Z suspends with escape - to shell on Unix. -
telnet_port -
disallow specifying a port in telnet G)oto's. -
useragent -
disallow modifications of the User-Agent header. -
- -
-resubmit_posts -
toggles forced resubmissions (no-cache) of forms with - method POST when the documents they returned are sought - with the PREV_DOC (left-arrow) command or from - the History Page. -
-rlogin -
disable recognition of rlogin commands. -
-scrollbar -
toggles showing scrollbar. -
-scrollbar_arrow -
toggles showing arrows at ends of the scrollbar. -
-selective -
require .www_browsable files to browse directories. -
-session=FILENAME -
resumes from specified file on startup and saves session - to that file on exit. -
-sessionin=FILENAME -
resumes session from specified file. -
-sessionout=FILENAME= -
saves session to specified file. -
-short_url -
show very long URLs in the status line with "..." to - represent the portion which cannot be displayed. The - beginning and end of the URL are displayed, rather than - suppressing the end. -
-show_cursor -
If enabled the cursor will not be hidden in the right hand - corner but will instead be positioned at the start of the - currently selected link. Show cursor is the default for - systems without FANCY_CURSES capabilities. The default - configuration can be changed in userdefs.h or - lynx.cfg. - It also can be set and saved via the 'o'ptions menu. - The command line switch toggles the default. -
-show_rate -
If enabled the transfer rate is shown in bytes/second. If - disabled, no transfer rate is shown. Use lynx.cfg or the - options menu to select KiB/second and/or ETA. -
-soft_dquotes -
toggles emulation of the old Netscape and Mosaic bug which - treated '>' as a co-terminator for - double-quotes and tags. -
-source -
works the same as dump but outputs HTML source instead of - formatted text. For example - 

-                    lynx -source . >foo.html
-
- generates HTML source listing the files in the current - directory. Each file is marked by an HREF relative to the - parent directory. Add a trailing slash to make the HREF's - relative to the current directory: - 

-                    lynx -source ./ >foo.html
-
-
-stack_dump -
disable SIGINT cleanup handler. -
-startfile_ok -
allow non-http startfile and homepage with - -validate. -
-stderr -
When dumping a document using -dump or - -source, Lynx normally does not display alert - (error) messages that you see on the screen in the status - line. Use the -stderr option to tell Lynx to - write these messages to the standard error. -
-stdin -
read the startfile from standard input - (UNIX only). -
-syslog=text -
information for syslog call. -
-syslog-urls -
log requested URLs with syslog. -
-tagsoup -
initialize DTD with "TagSoup" tables, - more details. -
-telnet -
disable recognition of telnet commands. -
-term=TERM -
tell Lynx what terminal type to assume its talking to. - (This may be useful for remote execution, when, for - example, Lynx connects to a remote TCP/IP port that starts - a script that, in turn, starts another Lynx process.) -
-timeout=N -
For win32, sets the network read-timeout, where N is given in seconds. -
-tlog -
toggles use of a Lynx Trace Log for the - session. The log is named Lynx.trace and is - created in the home directory when Lynx trace mode is - turned on via the -trace command line switch - (see below), or via the TRACE_TOGGLE (Control-T) - keystroke command. Once a log is started for the session, - all trace and other stderr messages are written to the - log. The contents of the log can be examined during - the session via the TRACE_LOG (normally, ';') - keystroke command. If use of a Lynx Trace Log - is turned off, any trace output will go to the standard - error stream. -
-tna -
turns on "Textfields Need Activation" - mode. -
-trace -
turns on Lynx trace mode. If a Lynx Trace Log - (Lynx.trace in the home directory) has - been started for the current session, all trace - messages are written to that log, and - can be examined during the session via the TRACE_LOG - (normally, ';') command. If no Trace Log - file is in use, trace messages go to stderr. -
-trace_mask=value -
turn on optional traces, which may result in very large trace files. - Logically OR the values to combine options: -
-
1 -
SGML character parsing states -
2 -
color-style -
4 -
TRST (table layout) -
8 -
config (lynx.cfg and .lynxrc contents) -
16 -
binary string copy/append, used in form data construction. -
-
-traversal -
traverse all http links derived from startfile. When - used with -crawl, each link that begins with the - same string as startfile is output to a file, intended for - indexing. See CRAWL.announce for more information. -
-trim_input_fields -
trim input text/textarea fields in forms. -
-underscore -
toggles use of _underline_ format in dumps. -
-use_mouse -
turn on mouse support, if available. -
-useragent=STRING -
set different Lynx User-Agent header. Lynx produces a - warning on startup if the STRING does not contain "Lynx" - or "L_y_n_x", see the note in the - Options Menu section for rationale. -
-validate -
accept only http URLs (meant for validation). -
This flag implies security restrictions - generally more severe than -anonymous: - restriction options as for - -restrictions=all, with the notable - exception that goto remains enabled for - http and https URLs; in addition, - the PRINT and DOWNLOAD commands are completely - disabled, and use of a Trace Log file is - forced off. -
Any relaxing of restriction that might be implied - by an also present (or implied) -anonymous - flag is overridden, the only way to possibly relax - some of the restrictions to the level - applicable for "anononymous" accounts is with an - explicit -restrictions=default. -
-verbose -
toggles [LINK], [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments - with filenames of these images. -
-version -
print version information. -
-vikeys -
enable vi-like key movement. -
-wdebug -
enable Waterloo tcp/ip packet debug (print to watt - debugfile). This applies only to DOS versions compiled - with WATTCP or WATT-32. -
-width=NUMBER -
number of columns for formatting of dumps, default is 80. -
-with_backspaces -
emit backspaces in output if -dumping or -crawling (like - man does). -
-
- -

No options are required, nor is a startfile argument required. -White space can be used in place of equal sign separators ('=') -appearing in the option list above. It can not be used in place of the equal -signs in forms like "-option=on" and "-option=off" for simple switches and -toggles, for which "-option" alone (without a value) is valid. -[ToC] - - -

Environment variables used by Lynx

- -Lynx uses certain environment variables and sets a few of them. -Please visit a separate page -for this rather technical information. -[ToC] - - -

Main configuration file lynx.cfg

- -Lynx has several levels of customization: -from the Options Menu (accessible on-line, -and possibly stored in your local .lynxrc file), -via command-line switches -on startup (mainly for batch processing). -The most important and numerous default settings are stored -in the Lynx configuration file lynx.cfg. - -

If you are on a UNIX system you should have -appropriate permissions to make changes there or ask your -system administrator to modify lynx.cfg for your needs. -This file provides default settings for all accounts on your system. -It may be copied to your shell account and included with -cfg command line -switch or via an environment variable LYNX_CFG (if you have shell access). -Starting with version 2.8.1 Lynx has an include facility so you can -load the system-wide configuration file and easily add one or more settings -from your local add-on configuration file. It is really cool to read -lynx.cfg with its comments for hundreds of options, -most of them commented out because they are built-in defaults. -You may visit an index of options: -by category or -by alphabet. - -

To view your current configuration derived from lynx.cfg and any -included configuration files, press 'g' and type in -'lynxcfg:'. If you are using the forms-based Options -Menu, you may press 'o' for the Options Menu and follow -the 'Check your lynx.cfg' link near the bottom. - -

However, for those who have a restricted account many Lynx features -may be disabled by the system administrator, you probably will not see -your lynx.cfg. - - -[ToC] - -

Lynx development history

- -Lynx grew out of efforts to build a campus-wide information system -at The University of Kansas. The earliest versions of Lynx provided a -user-friendly, distributed hypertext interface for users connected to -multiuser (Unix and VMS) systems via curses-oriented display devices. -A custom hypertext format was developed to support hypertext links to -local files and files on remote Gopher servers. Using Gopher servers -for distributed file service allowed information providers to publish -information from a wide variety of platforms (including Unix, VMS, -VM/CMS and Macintosh). In addition, Lynx became the most user-friendly -Gopher client, although that was only an ancillary capability. - -

This distributed approach let providers retain complete control -over their information, but it made communication between users -and providers somewhat more difficult. Following the lead of Neal -Erdwien, of Kansas State University, the Lynx hypertext format was -extended to include links for including ownership information with -each file. This information made it possible for users running -Lynx clients to send comments and suggestions via e-mail to the -providers. - -

This early version of Lynx was also augmented to support hypertext -links to programs running on remote systems. It included the ability -to open a Telnet connection, as well as the ability to start programs -via rexec, inetd, or by direct socket connects. These capabilities were -included to allow users to access databases or custom program interfaces. - -

A subsequent version of Lynx incorporated the World Wide Web libraries -to allow access to the full list of WWW servers, along with the option to -build hypertext documents in HTML, rather than the native Lynx format. -HTML has become far more widely used, and the native format has been phased -out. With the addition of the WWW libraries, Lynx became a fully-featured -WWW client, limited only by the display capabilities offered in the curses -environment. - -

Lynx was designed by Lou Montulli, Charles Rezac and Michael Grobe -of Academic Computing Services at The University of Kansas. Lynx was -implemented by Lou Montulli and maintained by Garrett Arch Blythe and -Craig Lavender. - -

Foteos Macrides and members of the -lynx-dev -list have developed and supported Lynx since release of v2.3 in May 1994.
-The Lynx2-3FM code set was released as v2.4 in June 1995.
-The Lynx2-4FM code set was released as v2.5 in May 1996.
-The Lynx2-5FM code set was released as v2.6 in September 1996.
-The Lynx2-6FM code set was released as v2.7 in February 1997.
-The v2-7FM code set was released as v2.7.1 in April 1997.
-The v2-7-1FM code set was released as v2.7.2 in January 1998.
-The 2.7.1 development set was released as v2.8 in March 1998.
-The 2.8 development set was released as v2.8.1 in October 1998.
-The 2.8.1 development set was released as v2.8.2 in June 1999.
-The 2.8.2 development set was released as v2.8.3 in April 2000.
-The 2.8.3 development set was released as v2.8.4 in July 2001.
-The 2.8.4 development set was released as v2.8.5 in February 2004.
-The 2.8.5 development set was released as v2.8.6 in October 2006.
-The 2.8.6 development set was released as v2.8.7 in July 2009.
- -

Since early 1997, the Lynx code has expanded into autoconfigure and -PC versions. The branching of the Lynx source base from a single -source into two sources (FM/Foteos Macrides and ac/autoconfigure) -should be considered a healthy synergism among groups of computer -professionals acting in their spare time out of a common goal. - -

Lynx has incorporated code from a variety of sources along the -way. The earliest versions of Lynx included code from Earl Fogel -of Computing Services at the University of Saskatchewan, who -implemented HYPERREZ in the Unix environment. Those versions also -incorporated libraries from the Unix Gopher clients developed at -the University of Minnesota, and the later versions of Lynx rely -on the WWW client library code developed by Tim Berners-Lee (and -others) and the WWW community. - -

Contributors have generally been acknowledged in the CHANGES -file. Earlier CHANGES file can be found in the docs/ subdirectory -of this distribution. - -

Information on obtaining the most current version of Lynx is available -at the current distribution page. - -

[ToC] - - -- cgit 1.4.1-2-gfad0