HTML Utilities for DOS [page 1 of 2]

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HTML VIEWERS, BROWSERS

Also see: Connect IDE (includes a good integrated text mode HTML viewer)


L_H- Customizable HTML and XML viewer.

unrated [added 06-21-00 updated 12-26-00]

Quick remarks: A text mode HTML viewer for the power user. Uses INI file for setting many options. Language is user-customizable (Dutch, English files currently included). Basic support for HTML tables, frame sets, and maps; Can save bookmarks, Win9x LFN support, more...

Author: Jaap van Lelieveld, Netherlands (2000). Home Page.

12-26-00: v2000-11-19 (11-00) available.

download l_h.zip (126K)


ViewHtml- View HTML documents offline (text-mode).

* * * * 1/2

ViewHtml is a well-designed text-mode offline html viewer and converter. Special text (e.g., hyperlinks) is displayed in different colors. Under Win9x only, image viewing is supported (through an external application of your choice) and you can launch a web browser to view the same file.

Other features:

v. 2.5: Better support for international characters.

download viewht25.zip
Also see: K. Solway's Shareware Page


HLIST- Offline HTML viewer and converter (text-mode).

unrated [added 5-7-98 updated 8-16-98]

HLIST is a relatively small (45K) program which functions as an offline text mode HTML viewer and an HTML-to-plain text filter. The viewer interface consists of two horizontal panes: the upper pane displays text and hyperlinks. Local hyperlink navigation is supported. The lower pane displays the page title, highlighted link information, current file name, and available memory. HLIST supports document loading from an integrated directory browser. Other features: Shell To DOS, Edit Current Document (using defined editor), History List, and Print Document. HLIST should run on just about any PC: 8088+, any video adapter, and DOS 3.3+. Run with no parameters to see a list of switches (color, sound, etc.)

Limitations: HLIST supports only a subset of HTML 2.0 tags. Tables, frames, and proprietary Netscape/MSIE tags are not interpreted; no image handling. Doesn't support a mouse, but hyperlink navigation with keys is quick and easy.

Author: Martin Goebbel, Germany (1998).

download hlist081.zip (32K) link fixed 8-16-98


BOBCAT- Text mode WWW browser can also function as offline HTML viewer .
BOBCAT386- Bobcat-like DOSLynx web browser for 386+ PC's.

* * * *

BOBCAT [updated 11-20-98] is a "lite" clone of Lynx that can be used online or offline. I use it to check the general layout of my HTML pages in a text mode Lynx-like environment. Flexible configuration, displays forms, helper apps, bookmark file and history list.

Limitations: Max size of viewable files limited by conventional memory (unless you use EMS). Memory handling needs improvement. Bobcat is quite easy to set up - allow the self-extracting EXE to create the necessary directories for Bobcat's files. Run NEWUSER.BAT before attempting to run BOBCAT.BAT. Author: Wayne Buttles. (1998); Bobcat Home Page. See change.log for version history.

download BCAT-E07.EXE (670K; 11-98)

BOBCAT386 [added 08-18-99] is a BOBCAT implementation of DOSLYNX for 386 and higher PC's. "It has the features of Bobcat, without the memory problems. It also displays much faster and will show partial pages while downloading." (1998)

download b386-e01.exe (1MB)


Arachne- Graphical web browser for DOS supports EGA, VGA, SVGA.

* * * * * [added 6-19-98 updated 01-20-01]

A remarkable programming effort. I haven't been able to try Arachne online but it functions very well as a complete graphical DOS offline browser. The polished look and feel is reminiscent of Netscape/ MSIE with notable distinguishing features. Keyboard navigation fully supported, including a Lynx navigation emulation mode. Arachne handles tables and frames, images, and can use external helper apps. Includes a very basic built in editor and has HTML- to- text saving capabilities.

"Official minimal configuration is PC with 8086 or higher CPU and 512 kB SVGA card, but Arachne will partly work even on any 80x86 with EGA or VGA." Experimental support for CGA. See docs for tips on how to speed up Arachne on slower PC's. Unpacked distribution files require around 3MB disk space. "Anyone may use the copyrighted parts of Arachne WWW Browser for private, NON-COMMERCIAL purposes." A very few (and functionally irrelevant) customization features are disabled in unregistered version.

Author: Michael Polak et al., xChaos software. Czech Republic (2001). Suggested by Tomas Brunclik.

01-20-01: latest stable version is 1.70 (01-01).

See the Arachne Home Page for download information and version histories.


IMAGE CATALOGING (TO HTML)

Also see: A freeware WIN3.1 alternative to the apps listed below is ListPics. It can create multiple pages and provides links between multiple pages.


1. IMGTAB -Catalogs images into single HTML page.
2. AUTOGIF- Catalogs images to HTML with extra file information.
3. GIFTAB- Catalogs images into HTML page(s) with "thumbnails."

Here's a more detailed feature comparison (revised 3-21-98)

Program =============> [GIFTAB].[IMGTAB]...[AUTOGIF]
Win95 LFN support.........yes.......no........yes
Multiple page output..."gallery"....no........no
Makes thumbnail files.....no........no........no
Listed Formats*.........[1,2,4]..[1,2,3,4]..[1,2,4]

Information displayed
File name ................opt.......yes.......yes
Sort by name..............no........yes.......yes
File size.................opt.......no........yes
File date/time............opt.......no........yes
Image Dimensions..........opt.......no........yes
Overall rating............*****.....**........***

* --> image formats: 1= GIF, 2= JPG, 3= PCX, 4=BMP
opt-> optional


HTML CONVERSION: txt < > HTML


HTMLStrip- Intelligent conversion of HTML to plain text.

* * * * * [updated 09-04-99]

Perhaps the finest HTML to text converter around- and it's free. Awarded a "Best" rating by PC Computing in their July 1996 issue. Many converters simply strip out codes- the resulting text may bear little resemblance to the original HTML document. HTMLStrip is more intelligent- it centers text that is bracketed by <center> tags. Tables can be converted into ASCII or ANSI tables. This app can even reference links by number and place the actual links in an end-notes section. While both Netscape and MSIE have respectable "save as plain text" options- they lack the flexibility possessed by HTMLStrip. One reservation: HTMLStrip does not distinguish ordered and unordered list items. Author: Bruce Guthrie/ Wayne Software.

11-23-99: v911 released 11-99. See Wayne Software

Get htmst911.zip (129K) from Home Page.


Winent- Simple plain text to HTML converter.
TXT2HTM- Simple plain text to HTML converter.

unrated

WINENT and TXT2HTM are similar tools that add some initial html formatting to plain text files. Both add HTML/TITLE/BODY tags to the text file but differ slightly in how they tag line and paragraph boundaries (see below). These tools are best suited to simple, paragraph-rich text files (they don't recognize indentations, text tables, right justified text, etc. as special). There do exist more complex TXT to HTML converters than these- but their complexity often defeats the goal of easy conversion.

WINENT [updated 10-25-98]: Wraps text, adds a time-stamped footer, and translates supported special characters into their HTML equivalents. Works as a filter. WINENT adds <P></P> tags around paragraph boundaries but inserts nothing at simple line breaks. Source code included. Author: Joao Magalhaes. Portugal. (1998)

New in v2.2:

download winent22.zip (17K)

TXT2HTM [added 7-4-98] allows you to supply an HTML title on the command line- or it uses the base filename by default. Unlike WINENT, TXT2HTM doesn't translate special characters into HTML equivalents, nor does it wrap text. TXT2HTM uses only <BR> tags (at both line breaks and paragraph boundaries). Author: B. K. Ming. (1998)

Get txt2htm.zip (4K) from Home Page.


GPAGE- Generates formatted web page of your favorite sites from plain text file.

unrated [added 9-12-98 updated 04-30-00]

GPAGE is a tiny 5K command line program that produces a web page from a plain text file containing simple URLs, associated descriptions, and group labels. HTML tagging, page layout, and index generation are handled by the program.

04-30-00 v1.9 (04-00) available.

Author: Horst Schaeffer, Germany. (2000); Suggested by Robert Bull.

download gpage19.zip (18K)


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