Bobcat file:///myfile.txt
Bobcat will also display files written in the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), if the file's name ends with the characters ".html". HTML is a file format that allows users to create a file that contains (among other things) hypertext links to other files. Several files linked together may be described as a hypertext document.
For example, these commands could be used to display files containing HTML hypertext:
Bobcat file:///myfile.html
Bobcat file:///home/my-dir/myfile.html
The one link displayed as "highlighted" text is the currently "selected" link. Bobcat 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 Bobcat where to find the linked file and what kind of server will provide it (i.e. HTTP, Gopher, etc.).
When a binary file is encountered Bobcat will ask the user if he/she wishes to download the file or cancel. If the user selects 'D' for download, Bobcat will transfer the file into a temporary location and present the user with a list of options. The only default option is "save file to disk". Any number of additional download methods may be defined in the lynx.cfg file. Programs like Minuet, zmodem and FTP are some possible options. ToC
PROTOCOL :// HOST / PATH / FILENAME
PROTOCOL
HOST
PATH and FILENAME
http://www.sample.com/Bobcat_help/Bobcat_help_main.html
gopher://gopher.micro.umn.edu/11/
ftp://ftp2.sample.com/pub/Bobcat/README
wais://cnidr.org/directory-of-servers
Bobcat http://kufacts.sample.com/cwis/start_kufacts.html
SET TMP=c:\temp
or
SET TEMP=c:\temp
SET MYIP=203.123.45.32
or
SET GATEWAY=203.123.45.2
or
SET NETMASK=255.255.255.0
+-------+-------+-------+
| 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.
Some of these commands depend on the fact that Bobcat keeps a list of
each file you visit called the "history list". The "backspace" or
"delete" key will show you the whole history list. Any of the
documents shown in the list may be revisited by selecting them from
the history screen. The 'm' key command will take you back to the
starting document.
The 'i' key presents an index of documents. The default index is
a document pointing to The startup help menu, but the index can be
changed in lynx.cfg or on the command line using the
-index switch, and therefore depends on how the Bobcat
program you are using was configured.
If you choose a link to a server with active access authorization Bobcat will automatically prompt for a username and a password. If you give the correct information, you will then be served the requested information. Bobcat will automatically send your username and password to the same server if it is needed again. ToC
Additional print options are available for users who are using
Bobcat 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. Any number of additional print options may also be
available as configured in the lynx.cfg. ToC
Options Menu
E)ditor : emacs
D)ISPLAY variable : Disabled in PC version
B)ookmark file : home page
F)TP sort criteria : By Filename
P)ersonal mail address : myname@site.sample.com
S)earching type : CASE INSENSITIVE
C)haracter set : ISO Latin 1
V)I keys : OFF
e(M)acs keys : OFF
K)eypad as arrows
or Numbered links : Numbers act as arrows
U)ser mode : Advanced
An option can be changed by entering the capital letter of the option
you want to change (i.e. 'E' for Editor). For fields where text must
be entered, simply enter the text by typing on the keyboard. The
Backspace and Delete keys can be used to correct mistakes, and CTRL-U
can be used to erase the whole 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 from a list of choices, press any key to toggle the choices and press the Return key to finish the change.
When you are done changing options use the 'r' command to return
to Bobcat or the '>' command to save the options to the
LYNXRC file and return to Bobcat.
The following table describes the options available on the Options Menu:
By Filename", "By Size",
"By Type", and "By Date".
Once you have decided to send a comment or have selected a "mail to:" link a new screen will appear showing you who you are sending the message to. Bobcat 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' then the message will be sent, if you press 'n' the message will be deleted. ToC
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.
NOTE: When saving an HTML document it is important to name the document with a ".html" extension, if you want to read it with Bobcat again later.
Bobcat 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:
Bobcat file://localhost/FULL/PATH/FILENAME
Bobcat path/filename.html
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):
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. ToC
Bobcat [options]
Bobcat [options] pathname
Bobcat [options] URL
pathname
options
-anonymous
-case
-cache=NUMBER
NUMBER of documents cached in memory.
The default is 3.
-cfg=FILENAME
-display=DISPLAY
-dump
-editor=EDITOR
EDITOR (vi, ed, emacs, etc.)
-emacskeys
-exec
-locexec
-noexec
-help
-index=URL
URL
-noprint
-print
-restrictions
-show cursor
-source
-telnet
-term=TERM
-trace
-vikeys
-version
Bobcat started life in October 1996 as Lynx2-4-2. The reason 2-4-2 was chosen is because starting at 2-5, many files in the Lynx distribution became too big to compile out of the package targeted towards a plain DOS version. There have been many changes since 2-4-2, however, it does support many things that DOSLYNX didn't. I have also made many modifications to Bobcat's original behavior to make it more functional.
Taking the 2-4-2 base, I then added PDCurses2.2, WATTCP, SPAWNO and bits of DOSLYNX and Lynx2-6 code. I then mixed vigorously in Borland C++ 3.1 until it actually compiled. The first step, getting it to compile into an EXE, was deceptively simple. However, as many hackers know, you can get a LOT of code to compile and still not have it do anything.
After that I made personal decisions on what to support. Although it may disappoint some people, news support is not in Bobcat. It never worked correctly in DOSLYNX and I didn't feel it was a priority. Gopher and Ftp should hopefully work to some degree, but they are not the top priority either. The important thing, as far as I am concerned, is good web support. This is the reason for cutting corners on the other features. There is a new feature added to Bobcat that will allow people to define external programs for certain URLs. This product uses the SPAWNO routines by Ralf Brown to minimize memory use while shelling to DOS and running other programs. Hopefully this will help compensate for Bobcat's shortcomings.
This new Lynx for DOS is a big switch from DOSLYNX. It is Curses based, so it looks like the real Lynx. It does not have pull down menus or a multiple document interface. I prefer the real Lynx interface which is partially why I made the switch in development. Other good reasons for starting with a new code base are support for forms, numeric links, view source, history list and other features which were not available in DOSLYNX.
The first version of Bobcat has severe memory constraints because of the way the original Lynx was designed. In Un*x, programs assume they have unlimited memory and the programs are coded as such. Bobcat has yet to have memory checking added to it, so when you run out of the tiny amount of conventional memory available it will very unceremoniously drop you to the DOS prompt.
Bobcat is NOT a Lynx port. It is a work based on Lynx. This means that it can not keep up with the current Lynx development nor can Lynx patches be added to Bobcat. Hopefully, some of the forthcoming 386 and Windows ports will have this ability.
The program can be modified and repackaged, but it must continue to be free except for nominal copying charges. Part of this "restriction" is placed on Bobcat by the original Lynx licence on which much of the code is based.
Bobcat comes with no warranty of fitness for any purpose. By using this software you are agreeing to take responsibility for any adverse consequences.
Portions copyrighted by:
(c)1996,1997 Wayne Buttles (The Bobcat entity)
(c)GNU General Public License (Lynx base code)
(c)1990,1991,1992 Ralf Brown (SPAWNO v4.10)
(c)1990,1991,1992,1993 Erick Engelke and others (WATTCP)
Other copyrights held for the PDcurses, WATTCP and WWWLIB
libraries can be found in the source distribution.
We are pretty excited about having a new variant of Lynx to play with. I hope other people will be receptive. If you have comments or suggestions you can send them to bobcat@fdisk.com or ve3lgs@bigfoot.com. Please remember that this is a hobby and we do all work solely for fun. Flames will be publicly ridiculed. No payment has been given for the work done so far and none is expected for continued use of the program. Obscene, no-strings-attached, gratuitous donations of cash will, however, be gleefully accepted *grin* but if you really have nothing better to do with your money then donate some to a thoughtfully chosen charity.
Big thanks to John Lewis for the pre release definition of requirements, hours of debugging, the help files, the program extract.exe and all the batch files which integrate the package. He truly helped make Bobcat a package rather than just a program!
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 is being 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.
At The University of Kansas, Lynx is used in several different ways to give users access to the campus wide information system. First, it is run on several local clients from a script named "kufacts" that points to the starting file located on a local server. Second, it runs whenever a user logs into an account called "kufacts" on a system named kufacts.sample.com. Users without a local account may use this system to explore the KU CWIS and experiment with Lynx.
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 is now maintained by Garrett Arch Blythe.
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 UN*X environment. Those versions also incorporated libraries from the UN*X 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.
Lynx is presently available via anonymous FTP from ftp2.sample.com. ToC
For reference information on HTML see:
http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/MarkUp.html
ToC