path: root/lynx.hlp

1 LYNX
 NAME
 lynx - a general purpose distributed information browser for the World
 Wide Web

2 SYNOPSIS
     Lynx [options] [path or URL]

     use "lynx -help" to display a complete list of current options.

2 DESCRIPTION
 Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users running
 cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices (e.g., vt100 terminals,
 vt100 emulators running on PCs or Macs, or any other "curses-oriented"
 display). It will display hypertext markup language (HTML) documents con-
 taining links to files residing on the local system, as well as files
 residing on remote systems running Gopher, HTTP, FTP, WAIS, and NNTP
 servers.  Current versions of Lynx run on Unix, VMS, Windows95/NT,
 386DOS and OS/2 EMX.

 Lynx can be used to access information on the World Wide Web, or to build
 information systems intended primarily for local access.  For example, Lynx
 has been used to build several Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS).  In
 addition, Lynx can be used to build systems isolated within a single LAN.

2 OPTIONS
 At start up, Lynx will load any local file or remote URL specified at
 the command line.  For help with URLs, press "?" or "h" while running
 Lynx.  Then follow the link titled, "Help on URLs."

  -
       If the argument is only '-', then Lynx expects to receive
       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).  Encase it
       in double-quotes ("-").

  -accept_all_cookies
       accept all cookies.

  -anonymous
       used to specify the anonymous account.

  -assume_charset=MIMEname
       charset for documents that don't specify it.

  -assume_local_charset=MIMEname
       charset assumed for local files.

  -assume_unrec_charset=MIMEname
       use this instead of unrecognized charsets.

  -auth=ID:PASSWD
       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.

  -blink
       forces high intensity bg colors for color mode, if available
       and supported by the terminal.
       Lynx needs to be compiled with the slang library for this flag.

  -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.

  -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.

  -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.
       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.

  -cookies
       toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers.

  -crawl
       with -traversal, output each page to a file.
       with -dump, format output as with -traversal, but to stdout.

  -display=DISPLAY
       set the display variable for X rexec-ed programs.

  -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.crl.com/~subir/lynx.html

  -editor=EDITOR
       enable edit mode using the specified EDITOR. (vi, ed, emacs, etc.)

  -emacskeys
       enable emacs-like key movement.

  -enable_scrollback
       toggles compatibility with comm programs' scrollback keys
       (may be incompatible with some curses packages).

  -error_file=FILE
       define a file where Lynx will report HTTP access codes.

  -fileversions
       include all versions of files in local VMS directory listings.

  -force_html
       forces the first document to be interpreted as HTML.

  -force_secure
       toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies.

  -from
       toggles transmissions of From headers.

  -ftp
       disable ftp access.

  -get_data
       send form data from stdin using GET method and dump results.

  -head
       send a HEAD request for the mime headers.

  -help
       print this Lynx command syntax usage message.

  -historical
       toggles use of '>' or '-->' as a terminator for comments.

  -homepage=URL
       set homepage separate from start page.

  -image_links
       toggles inclusion of links for all images.

  -index=URL
       set the default index file to the specified URL.

  -ismap
       toggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side
       MAPs are present.

  -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).

  -mime_header
       prints the MIME header of a fetched document along with its
       source.

  -minimal
       toggles minimal versus valid comment parsing.

  -newschunksize=NUMBER
       number of articles in chunked news listings.

  -newsmaxchunk=NUMBER
       maximum news articles in listings before chunking.

  -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.

  -nopause
       disable forced pauses for statusline messages.

  -noprint
       disable print functions.

  -noredir
       prevents automatic redirection and prints a message with a
       link to the new URL.

  -noreferer
       disable transmissions of Referer headers.

  -nosocks
       disable SOCKS proxy usage by a SOCKSified Lynx.

  -nostatus
       disable the retrieval status messages.

  -number_links
       force numbering of links.

  -partial
       display partial pages while downloading.

  -pauth=ID:PASSWD
       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.

  -post_data
       send form data from stdin using POST method and dump results.

  -preparsed
       show HTML source preparsed and reformatted when used with -source
       or in source view.

  -print
       enable print functions. (default)

  -pseudo_inlines
       toggles pseudo-ALTs for inlines 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=[option][,,option]...
       allows a list of services to be disabled selectively.  The following
       list is printed if no options are specified.

       all - restricts all options.

       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.

       default - same as command line option -anonymous. Disables default
           services for anonymous users. Currently set to all restricted
           except for:  inside_telnet, outside_telnet, inside_news,
           inside_ftp, outside_ftp, inside_rlogin, outside_rlogin, jump,
           mail and goto.  Defaults are setable within userdefs.h.

       dired_support - disallow local file management.

       disk_save - disallow saving to disk in the download and print
           menus.

       download - disallow downloaders in the download menu.

       editor - disallow editing.

       exec - disable execution scripts.

       exec_frozen - disallow the user from changing the local execution
           option.

       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
           (utmp required for selectivity).

       inside_news - disallow USENET news posting for people coming from
           inside our domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       inside_rlogin - disallow rlogins for people coming from inside your
           domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       inside_telnet - disallow telnets for people coming from inside your
           domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       jump - disable the 'j' (jump) command.

       multibook - disallow multiple bookmark files.

       mail - disallow mail.

       news_post - disallow USENET News posting.

       options_save - disallow saving options in .lynxrc.

       outside_ftp - disallow ftps for people coming from outside your
           domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       outside_news - disallow USENET news posting for people coming from
           outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       outside_rlogin - disallow rlogins for people coming from outside your
           domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       outside_telnet - disallow telnets for people coming from outside your
           domain (utmp required for selectivity).

       print - disallow most print options.

       shell - disallow shell escapes and lynxexec or lynxprog G)oto's.

       suspend - disallow Unix Control-Z suspends with escape to shell.

       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 command or from the History List.

  -rlogin
       disable recognition of rlogin commands.

  -selective
       require .www_browsable files to browse directories.

  -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.  The command line switch
       toggles the default.

  -source
       works the same as dump but outputs HTML source instead of formatted
       text.

  -startfile_ok
       allow non-http startfile and homepage with -validate.

  -tagsoup
       initialize parser, using Tag Soup DTD rather than SortaSGML.

  -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.)

  -tlog
       toggles use of a Lynx Trace Log for the current session.

  -trace
       turns on WWW trace mode.

  -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.

  -underscore
       toggles use of _underline_ format in dumps.

  -useragent=Name
       set alternate Lynx User-Agent header.

  -validate
       accept only http URLs (for validation).  Complete security
       restrictions also are implemented.

  -verbose
       taggles [LINK], [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments
       with filenames of these images.

  -version
       print version information.

  -vikeys
       enable vi-like key movement.

  -width=NUMBER
       number of columns for formatting of dumps, default is 80.

2 COMMANDS
 o Use Up arrow and Down arrow to scroll through hypertext links.
 o Right arrow or Return will follow a highlighted hypertext link.
 o Left Arrow will retreat from a link.
 o Type "h" or "?" for online help and descriptions of key-stroke commands.
 o Type "k" for a complete list of the current key-stroke command mappings.

2 NOTES
 This is the Lynx v2.8 Release

 If you wish to contribute to the further development of Lynx, subscribe
 to our mailing list.  Send email to <majordomo@sig.net> with
 "subscribe lynx-dev" as the only line in the body of your
 message.

 Send bug reports, comments, suggestions to <lynx-dev@sig.net>
 after subscribing.

 Unsubscribe by sending email to <majordomo@sig.net> with
 "unsubscribe lynx-dev" as the only line in the body of your message.
 Do not send the unsubscribe message to the lynx-dev list, itself.

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 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.  HYPERREZ was developed by Niel Larson of
 Think.com and served as the model for the early versions of Lynx.
 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 the WWW community.  Also a special thanks to Foteos Macrides who
 ported much of Lynx to VMS and did or organized most of its development
 since the departures of Lou Montulli and Garrett Blythe from the
 University of Kansas in the summer of 1994 through the release
 of v2.7.2, and to everyone on the net who has contributed to Lynx's
 development either directly (through patches, comments or bug reports)
 or indirectly (through inspiration and development of other systems).

2 AUTHORS
 Lou Montulli, Garrett Blythe, Craig Lavender, Michael Grobe, Charles Rezac
 Academic Computing Services
 University of Kansas
 Lawrence, Kansas 66047

 Foteos Macrides
 Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545