DosLynx v0.26 Beta Release Information
Contents:
This is a beta release of DosLynx for DOS compatible computers written by
Garrett Arch Blythe for The University of Kansas. Wayne S. Buttles made
some modifications to it in 1996. The present maintainer of DosLynx is
Fred C. Macall.
DosLynx is a hypertext browser with World Wide Web capabilities.
This file provides information about installing, configuring, and using
DosLynx v0.26b.
DosLynx is copyrighted by the University of Kansas and is free for
instructional and research educational use. Non-educational use will be
licensed at a later date.
DosLynx v0.26b is available in EXEcutable form.
One of DosLynx's goals is to provide support for as many DOS users as
possible. We have scaled DosLynx towards this end.
The known system requirements are:
- CPU
- 8086/8088 compatible.
- Memory
- 512 kilobytes free or more recommended.
- Hard Drive
- Required. 2 megabytes free or more recommended.
- Monitor
- Monochrome, Black and White, and Color supported.
- Graphics capability
- Optional.
- Mouse
- Optional.
- Network
- None, or Class 1 (Ethernet) Packet Driver connected to
a TCP/IP network. You may, of course, emulate a Class 1 Packet Driver
if you have the required software for your particular system (i.e.
PPP, ODI, SLIP, etc).
DosLynx is known not to work on the following systems:
- DOS
- Versions below 3.0 will not work properly.
-
DosLynx v0.26b is available via the World Wide Web at
http://members.nccw.net/fmacall/dlx26bin.zip
DosLynx will be updated periodically as new changes are made to the
application.
DosLynx version 0.26 beta has the following files shipped with it.
If you do not have all of the files listed below we suggest obtaining a
complete release from the Internet address listed
above.
- BETAHYPE.TXT
- An early note (pre)announcing a DosLynx beta,
from Garrett Arch Blythe.
- DEHEAD.EXE
- A simple utility program for making headerless copies
of local files written by the DosLynx File|Open URL...
(with its Download button), File|Save Source, and
Navigate|Download Selection menu entries.
- DLXVIEW.BAT
- A sample Batch File "wrapper" for a graphics viewer.
- DOSLYNX.BA_
- A sample Batch File "wrapper" for DosLynx.
- DOSLYNX.CFG
- A sample DosLynx v0.2xb configuration file.
- DOSLYNX.EXE
- The DosLynx v0.26b executable.
- ERROR.HTM
- The default DosLynx HTML error page.
- HISTORY.TXT
- A report on the major changes made to bring DosLynx
from version 0.25b to version 0.26b.
- HOTLIST.HTM
- The default DosLynx HTML Hotlist.
- INFO.HTM
- The DosLynx v0.26b Quick Start Home Page.
- KEYS.TXT
- A table of Shortcut Keys for the DosLynx menus.
- NEWSURLS.HTM
- A description of the News URLs accepted by DosLynx
since version 0.22 beta.
- README.HTM
- The HTML equivalent of this file.
- README.TXT
- The text equivalent of this file.
-
This section assumes that you have not already installed DosLynx
version 0.26 beta on your hard drive. If you already have,
you may skip this section.
Obtain a copy of DosLynx and place it in an
appropriately named directory on your hard drive.
C:\DOSINET>PKUNZIP DLX26BIN.ZIP
from your DOS prompt in the directory in which you placed it.
The supplied files should be written
into the directory. You may now remove the
DLX26BIN.ZIP file from the directory if you wish by entering the command
C:\DOSINET>DEL DLX26BIN.ZIP
DEHEAD requires no particular installation attention. However, if you
choose not to include your DosLynx directory in your PATH environment, you
may want to copy DEHEAD.EXE to a directory that is listed in your PATH.
So you'll have it handy at all times.
If you want to use DosLynx for surfing the Web, you'll need an Ethernet
Card and Packet Driver software for it. Or, a dial-up modem and Ethernet
Packet Driver emulating PPP software for it. If these things are new to
you, consult
tvdog's classic
papers at the oldskool Web site.
Most of tvdog's papers are actually provided by
the oldskool ftp site.
Beginning with version 0.25 beta, all of the problems the DosLynx
ftp client previously experienced in accessing that site have been resolved.
As long as the mss=1500 specification given in DOSLYNX.CFG is not changed.
Fred's DOS
Hardware How To expands on tvdog's discussion of the problem of finding
a modern PC dial-up modem compatible with DOS software. And,
Fred's DOS Internet
Software How To provides links to two popular Ethernet Packet Driver
emulating PPP software packages. Fred also has tips and links for PC dial-up
modem and serial port configuration and checking.
Once you have decided on your communications arrangement and determined
the needed TCP/IP parameter(s), edit the DosLynx configuration file, named
DOSLYNX.CFG, with any text editor. Go through each keyword and provide the
appropriate value. Ample configuration instructions are included in the
sample configuration file supplied. Once finished, save the modifed file as
ASCII text. If you wish to save your Hotlist which was used in an old
version of DosLynx, simply change the hotlist= keyword in the configuration
file to point to your old Hotlist file.
If you expect to be receiving at least an occasional graphic file, you'll
want to tailor DLXVIEW.BAT to your situation. DosLynx will call it whenever
you receive or reference a .BMP, .GIF, .JPG, .PCX, or .TIF file, with the
full name of that file. You specify the name of your graphics viewer and
any additional parameters it needs in DLXVIEW.BAT.
If you have an 8088 based PC with a Hercules monochrome graphics adaptor,
you may have to dig deep to find a viewer that can display .JPGs. Two that
work fairly well (though, slowly on older machines) are
DMGIF v1.2
and
2SHOW v2.04. These are both shareware viewers.
If you have a '286 based, '386 based, or more recent PC and/or a CGA, EGA,
VGA, or more recent video adaptor, you'll find progressively more viewers
to try out. One that works well for limited machines with at least a CGA
adaptor is
LXPIC v7.3.
LXPIC is a freeware viewer. The sample DLXVIEW.BAT file provided invokes
LXPIC on a machine with an SVGA card. Once you have your DLXVIEW.BAT working
well, you'll probably want to put a copy of it in a directory listed in your
PATH environment variable.
DosLynx has the following command line switches and options.
Most of the command line options override an equivalent configuration file
option named, in each case, below. All command line options are case
insensitive except for URLs.
-
/B
- This switch will hide the clock, socket activity, free temporary
disk space, and free heap memory space numbers and the messages
window for the duration of the current DosLynx session.
This option was added to provide a way to keep the screen uncluttered
for blind users, as those changing numbers and messages cause some
problems with screen readers. Other users may appreciate the
uncluttered screen, too.
-
-
/P
- This is the most important command line option. If you will
be executing DosLynx from a directory other than the one you
installed DosLynx in, you must use the /P option. /P specifies
the directory in which DosLynx will find its configuration file
DOSLYNX.CFG and the errorhtml file ERROR.HTM. If you installed
DosLynx in the directory C:\DLX, then you should use the /P option
as follows:
-
-
C:\DOSINET>doslynx /PC:\DLX
- To avoid having to retype the /P option every time you use DosLynx,
create a DOS batch file specifying the /P option and place the batch
file in a directory specified in your DOS PATH environment variable.
The supplied DOSLYNX.BA_ file provides an example of this technique.
You may: COPY it into a directory on your PATH.
RENAME it DOSLYNX.BAT. And, edit it for your situation.
-
-
/T
- This option specifies the temporary directory where DosLynx
will create its temporary files, overriding the tempdir=
configuration file option. Note that this path should end with a
back slash. If you wanted to use the directory C:\TEMP as the place
to store temporary files, then you would use /T in the following
manner:
-
-
C:\DOSINET>doslynx /TC:\TEMP\
-
-
/V
- This option tells DosLynx what text mode to begin in,
overriding the textmode= configuration file option. /VLOW tells
DosLynx to use the 25 row text mode. /VHIGH tells DosLynx to
attempt to use the 43 or 50 row text modes available to EGA and
VGA compatible video adapters.
-
-
/H
- This option tells DosLynx if it should load the home page
you specified in the configuration file. It overrides the
loadhome= configuration file option. /HON tells DosLynx to load
the home page on startup. /HOFF tells DosLynx to not load the
home page on startup. /HOFF is forced if you also specify a URL
on the command line.
-
-
/L
- This option tells DosLynx how many loaded documents to keep
in memory before it starts releasing the oldest unviewed file.
This overrides the loaded= configuration file option.
If you wanted DosLynx to keep the last 5 ready in memory, then you
would use the /L option in the follwing way:
-
-
C:\DOSINET>doslynx /L5
-
-
/N
- This option tells DosLynx if it should attempt network access.
It overrides the networked= configuration file option. To turn off
network access, use /NNO. To allow network access, use /NYES.
When viewing local files "offline" without a network connection
established, specify /NNO to forestall most networking error messages
and timeout delays.
-
-
URL
- This command line option is actually any URL that you would
like DosLynx to load from the command line. It can be any valid
URL or it can be a DOS path to a file. Once a path or URL is
specified on the command line, your home page will not be loaded
unless you specify its path or URL, too. To have DosLynx load this
document on startup, execute one of the following commands from the
directory in which you installed DosLynx:
-
-
C:\DOSINET>doslynx readme.htm
-
-
C:\DOSINET>doslynx file:///readme.htm
-
DosLynx is a straightforward menu driven application.
A user has several ways to activate the DosLynx menu; pressing F10, pressing
ALT plus one of the highlighted menu letters, and by a single left button
mouse click.
Following are a listing of all menu items and their functionality.
Menu titles and the appropriate menu choice are presented side by side with
the '|' character as a separator.
-
File|Open URL...
- Allows you to directly enter a URL. Once you've entered it, "press"
the Open or Download button. (These buttons were introduced in
DosLynx version 0.25 beta. Completing your entry with
the Enter key is equivalent to pressing the Open button since it is
the default button for this dialog. The Open button replaces the OK
button previously provided.) DosLynx will attempt to load the
specified URL.
-
- If the Open button or equivalent was used and the specified document
is presentable (such as an HTML or text file), the resulting view will
be displayed in a new window. If the specified document is
un-presentable (such as an .EXE file) or an image (such as a .BMP, .GIF,
.JPG, .PCX, or .TIF file), DosLynx will prompt you for a local file name
in which to save it. After an image has been saved, DosLynx will swap
most of itself out of memory and invoke DLXVIEW to display it.
After viewing, use the means provided by your viewer to exit from its
display and return to DosLynx.
-
- If the Download button was used, DosLynx will attempt to fetch the
specified document or file and un-conditionally prompt you for a local
file name in which to save it. This operation adds a prefix to the
local file copy made and is equivalent to the operation provided by the
File|Save Source and Navigate|Download Selection menu entries
described below. As described in the paragraph above, un-presentable
files get saved in transparent local file copies when the Open button
is used. So, the Download button's main purpose is to avoid the
refetch that otherwise would be needed to obtain a local file copy of a
presentable document.
-
-
File|Open Local...
- Allows you to select a local file from an available DOS path.
DosLynx will convert the file name into a URL and attempt to load
the file. The specified file will be displayed in a new window
or displayed by DLXVIEW as described above for the
File|Open URL... menu entry's Open button.
-
-
File|Close
- When this menu item is selected, DosLynx will close the currently
active window so that it is no longer viewable on your display.
(The messages window remains viewable after being closed, however.)
This command duplicates the Window|Close command.
Closing a window designates the memory allocated to it a candidate
for reuse. The Esc key provides a shortcut for closing the messages
window.
-
-
File|Save Rendering...
- When selected, DosLynx will prompt you for a local file name in
which to save the document in the currently active window as ASCII
text, exactly as seen on your display. This menu entry may be used
for saving documents containing MIME or UU encoded data. However,
it isn't likely to be useful for saving documents containing
yEncoded data.
-
-
File|Print Rendering...
- When selected, DosLynx will prompt you for a DOS device to which
to print the rendering. The appropriate DOS device to enter is
the one to which your line printer is connected, such as LPT1.
-
-
File|Save Source
- DosLynx will attempt to re-fetch the document on display in the
currently active window and prompt you for a local file name in
which to save it. The local file copy will be prefixed with a
<BASE HREF=" . . . "> HTML tag
indicating where it came from. This enables all of the document's
links to be reproduced, in full, when the local file copy of the
document is displayed later. If the document is re-fetched via
http:, the http server provided "headers" sent ahead of the
document will also be placed in the local file copy, to further
document the file's remaining contents. The document, itself,
starts following the local file's first blank line. An exception
is made for the news:? URL. If that is the
source of the document on display, nothing is added to the
beginning of the local file copy made.
-
- This menu entry may be used for saving documents containing binary,
MIME, UU, or yEncoded data in a transparent fashion. If a "clean"
copy of any document (other than your news:?
document, which is clean by definition) copied via this menu entry
is desired, the local file copy written by DosLynx may be recopied
with the DEHEAD utility now provided. It will copy everything in a
file after its first blank line.
-
-
File|Dos Shell
- DosLynx swaps most of itself out of memory unless shoswap=NO is
specified in your DOSLYNX.CFG file. DosLynx then spawns your
command interpreter so that you may take action, from a DOS prompt
inside of DosLynx, while it is still running.
Most DOS commands and programs will be accessible from this prompt.
However, you must refrain from loading a TSR or using the Packet
Driver. (Though, you may be able to use another Packet Driver
instance if you have already installed a Packet Mux..)
If DosLynx is configured to use EMS for overlays, you must also
avoid disrupting its EMS setup. After selecting this item, you
should always EXIT the command interpreter, to return to DosLynx,
after you are finished.
(If shoswap=NO is specified in your DOSLYNX.CFG file, a lack of
sufficient free memory may prevent you from successfully running
the command(s) you issue, or even prevent DosLynx from successfully
spawning your command interpreter.)
-
- Beginning with version 0.24 beta, DosLynx itself, may be
safely invoked from a DOS prompt inside of an already running
instance of DosLynx. In this case, DosLynx won't remove any DosLynx
temporary file(s) it finds at the beginning of its run. And, it will
issue a reminder message to this effect. This usage may be of some
value for performing local operations which might be prevented by a
lack of memory in the original DosLynx instance. However, you won't
have any access to the Packet Driver without a Packet Mux.
arrangement, as explained above. In the absence of a good reason
for starting another instance of DosLynx, it will always be better
to return to your original DosLynx session by EXIT(ing) the command
interpreter.
-
-
File|Exit
- This is the intended way for you to end your DosLynx session.
-
-
Navigate|Find...
- Allows you to enter a Search String that DosLynx will find in
your currently active window. Beginning with DosLynx
version 0.24 beta, this dialog provides both a
"Loose Find" and an "Exact Find" button, for initiating a
search that uses either case-insensitive or exact matching.
-
-
Navigate|Find Again
- DosLynx will search for the next occurrence of the last
Search String entered to the find command. The search will
continue using loose or exact matching, as specified when the last
Search String was entered.
-
-
Navigate|Next Anchor
- This will move an internal anchor cursor to the next selectable
anchor or Form control or object in the active window. If the anchor
is a reference or link, containing a destination URL, or a Form control
or object, it will be highlighted. The highlight will go out if you
move to an anchor that is only a name or label. The Tab key, the
J key, and the 2 keys all provide shortcuts for this menu function.
-
-
Navigate|Previous Anchor
- This will move an internal anchor cursor to the previous selectable
anchor or Form control or object in the active window. If the anchor
is a reference or link, containing a destination URL, or a Form control
or object, it will be highlighted. The highlight will go out if you
move to an anchor that is only a name or label. The Shifted Tab key,
the K key, and the 8 keys all provide shortcuts for this menu function.
-
-
Navigate|Reload Current
- This entry is provided for refreshing the present view.
It is used to bypass the cache's operation when the present view is
found to be defective or stale and needs to be reloaded.
Beginning with DosLynx version 0.26b, caching improvements have
closed loopholes that allowed anchor following to provide a refresh
in some cases. At the same time, this command's previous deficiencies
have been resolved. If the displayed document is from a local file
beginning with a <BASE HREF= . . . >
HTML tag, an attempt will be made to load the document from its
original source. The resulting view replaces the present view in the
cache and in the currently active window.
-
-
Navigate|Download Selection
- This is like File|Save Source except that the document to be
saved in a local file is named by the destination URL of the
currently selected anchor or Form submit button control, and a
refetch may be avoided. This menu entry is recommended for saving
documents, such as news: documents containing yEncoded data, known
in advance to require transparent handling that they won't get by
default. For URLs other than news:?, the
local file copy that DosLynx writes is prefixed with a header that
ends with a blank line. This is explained in more detail, for the
File|Save Source menu entry, above.
-
- This menu entry need not be used to obtain a clean local copy of a
file, such as an .EXE, that isn't presentable. Simply activating
the currently selected anchor will accomplish that. However, if a
clean copy of any document (other than
news:?, which won't need DEHEADing) already
copied via this menu entry is desired, the local file copy written by
DosLynx may be recopied with the DEHEAD utility now provided.
It will copy everything in a file after its first blank line.
-
-
Navigate|Activate Anchor
- This menu entry acts on the currently selected anchor or Form control
or object in one of several ways. The Enter key, the L key, and the
6 keys all provide shortcuts for this menu function.
-
- For anchors, causes DosLynx to attempt loading the anchor-specified
destination URL. URL loading is performed as described above for the
File|Open URL... menu entry's Open button. Except that when the
specified document is presentable, its presentation replaces the
present view in the currently active window. Any Form content or data
that has been entered into the replaced view gets lost at this point.
-
- For Form password and text line input objects, invokes a line
input/editing dialog. This line input/editing dialog will be
provided with a submit button when the containing Form lacks a
submit button control. For Form select input objects, invokes a
list box input selection dialog. For Form checkbox and radio button
objects, causes DosLynx to toggle the object's state, if possible.
(Radio buttons only respond when they're in the unpushed or unset
state. When a radio button does respond to activation, it replaces
the already pushed button, in the same group, that then gets popped
back out.) For Form submit and reset button controls, the labeled
action gets performed. That is, the Form's content or data gets
submitted or reset.
-
- Form content or data submission is like URL loading inasmuch as a
document is expected in response. However, it differs with
respect to where the response document is presented and what
happens to any Form content or data that has been entered into the
current document. The document obtained in response to Form content
or data submission is loaded exactly as described above for the
File|Open URL... menu entry's Open button. That is, when this
document is presentable, it is presented in a new window.
This allows the Form content or data that has been entered into the
submitted document to be preserved in what becomes the previously
active window.
-
-
Navigate|Prior Document
- This will cause DosLynx to attempt to return to the last visited
presentable URL, if any, in the currently active window.
The H key and the 4 keys all provide shortcuts for this menu function.
-
-
Navigate|Search Index...
- Some loaded documents are searchable indexes. To cause DosLynx
to search the index of the currently active window, select this
command. This command will not be active if the window contains
no searchable index.
-
-
Navigate|Show Destination URL
- This selection reports the destination URL specified by the
currently selected anchor. For Form submit button controls, it
reports up to 816 octets of a URL equivalent composed of the
Form's present data content appended to the <FORM tag's
ACTION= . . . URL. This is the URL that would
be transmitted if the submit button was now activated.
A screen print of this report may be used to make a record of
Form content or data being submitted. The same kind of report
is also provided for Form password and text line input objects
that provide a line input/editing dialog that contains a submit
button.
-
-
Options|Toggle Low/High Text Mode
- Allows you to switch back and forth between the default 25 line
text mode and the 43 or 50 line text mode of EGA or VGA video
adapters.
-
-
Options|Send Mail
- Presents a dialog window for composing and sending a short e-mail
note. Presently, this dialog provides for only a single To:
addressee or recipient and no Cc: addressee or recipient.
-
-
Window|Messages
- This will cause the window containing all of the DosLynx messages
to become the currently active window.
-
-
Window|Clone Window
- Use this if you wish to create a duplicate of the currently active
window and all of its views. The new window is expected to be the
same in every respect except for window number and size.
Any entered Form content or data present in the currently active
window's present view will be maintained and should be faithfully
copied into the new window's present view.
-
-
Window|Zoom In/Out
- Use this command to switch a window to its maximum possible size.
Or, to return it to its previous size before Zoom.
-
-
Window|Resize
- This command provides for adjusting the currently active window's
size.
-
-
Window|Next
- This command gives another window, from the list of open windows,
a turn at being the currently active window.
-
-
Window|Cascade
- Use this command to organize all open windows in a cascading
arrangement on your display.
-
-
Window|Tile
- Use this command to organize all open windows in a tiled
arrangement on your display.
-
-
Window|Close
- This command duplicates the File|Close command. It closes the
currently active window, making the memory allocated to that
window a candidate for reuse. Once closed, windows other than
the messages window become un-viewable. The Esc key provides
a shortcut for closing the messages window.
-
-
Hotlist|View...
- This command causes DosLynx to load the configuration file
specified Hotlist file for easy access to anchors which you
specify.
-
-
Hotlist|Add Current To Hotlist
- This command will add the URL of the currently active window
to your Hotlist file and then prompt you for a name or title
by which to remember the URL. After you've entered that name
or title, the Hotlist file will be updated and then displayed
in a new window.
-
-
Hotlist|Add Link To Hotlist
- This command will add the destination URL specified by the
currently selected anchor to your Hotlist file.
This provides a way to make a long term copy of content or data
that has been entered into a Form being submitted.
After you've completed the name or title dialog for the new entry,
the Hotlist file will be updated and then displayed in a new window.
(You'll need to edit your Hotlist file with another program
to remove any of its entries.)
-
-
Hotlist|Home Page
- Use this command to open a new window with the configuration file
specified home page loaded within.
-
-
Help|About DosLynx
- Provides DosLynx version and authors information.
-
-
Help|Mail Developer
- Use this command to send a suggestion or bug report to the
developer of DosLynx, if you are connected to a network.
-
DosLynx also has many other ways of obtaining user input.
Most available hotkey or shortcut key equivalents are listed beside the
menu choices in the DosLynx menus.
In addition to the listed keys, you can use Tab and Shifted Tab, the UNIX
vi keys (hjkl), your numeric keypad with Num Lock ON, or the top row
numeric 2, 4, 6, and 8 keys for anchor navigation. Even though you have
Num Lock ON, you interpret the numeric keypad keys in terms of the arrows
they also carry. This differs from the version 0.7a release of DosLynx
that allowed the user to use the Lynx arrow keys for anchor navigation.
That is no longer supported. The off-keypad arrow keys are now reserved
for scrolling, only.
The numeric keypad's End, Page Down, Home, and Page Up keys (with Num Lock
ON), the top row numeric 1, 3, 7, and 9 keys, the off-keypad Page Down,
Page Up, and arrow keys, and the space bar all allow you to look through a
document that is longer than your display. The off-keypad Page Down,
Page Up, End, Home, and arrow keys provide for scrolling within Form select
input control dialogs. Esc allows you to close the messages window and
cancel other dialog windows. It isn't accepted in the document presentation
window(s), however. Enter pushes the default button in all dialog windows.
Finally, Alt-n, where n is an open window number digit, from the keyboard's
top row, quickly makes window n the currently active window, if it has
already been opened.
If you use a mouse with DosLynx, you can select an anchor by using a single
left button click, and activate an anchor by using a double left button
click. A special case arises when attempting to select an inline image
which also is has a destination; see the
Special Notes section.
Items contained in the status bar (the bottom line of your screen while
running DosLynx) are selectable by the mouse only but correlate directly
with items in the Navigate menu. In addition, the right mouse button is
the same as issuing the Window|Clone Window command.
As of the DosLynx v0.22b release, only the following URL types are
supported:
file
ftp
http
mailto
news
When attempting to select an inline image with a mouse, you may not get
what you expect. Some inline images also have destinations, in which case
you will be taken to that destination. Use the keyboard to specifically
select an inline image which also has a destination.
For best DosLynx performance, specify the temporary file directory in
your configuration file or on the command line to be a directory on a
RAMDRIVE. But, only consider this if you have at least two MB of EMS or
XMS memory available. If you have only a relatively small quantity of EMS
or XMS memory available, remember that DosLynx v0.26b can make good
use of up to about 290 KB (18 EMS pages) of this memory, for holding its
overlays, without a RAMDRIVE. Specify the ems= and/or xms= configuration
options to enable this usage. Also, if you have EMS or XMS memory
available, DosLynx will be able to use over 500 KB more of that, without a
RAMDRIVE, when it swaps itself out of standard memory for running DLXVIEW
or DOS commands. DosLynx is able to run successfully, though somewhat
slowly, without any EMS or XMS memory available. See your DOS
documentation for setting up a RAMDRIVE specific to your system.
DosLynx is a multiple document interface (MDI) application.
This may confuse new users that are used to other World Wide Web clients.
As a rule of thumb, when you open any presentable URL or document through
DosLynx's File|Open URL... (using its Open button) or
File|Open Local... menu items or equivalent hotkeys, or by Form
submission, then it will be presented in a new window. The first nine
windows are numbered in their upper right corners. You can switch among
these windows by pressing the ALT key and the window number simultaneously.
Additional windows can be reached via the Window|Next menu entry or its
F6 key shortcut.
Each open window usually represents at least one open file. If you open
more windows than you have FILES specified in your CONFIG.SYS file, then
DosLynx will shut down. If you have at least FILES=20 specified, however,
this probably won't be a problem. Because you'll tend to run out of memory
at about the same time as you hit the open FILES limit. So, make sure you
have at least FILES=20 specified in your CONFIG.SYS file. There may be
little to be gained from specifying more than FILES=20, without taking
additional measures.
When DosLynx has used most of your computer's memory, attempting to use the
File|Dos Shell command will not work if DOSLYNX.CFG contains shoswap=NO.
Your computer simply does not have enough memory to execute your command
interpretor. By default, shoswap=YES, enabling DosLynx to swap most of
itself out of memory to avoid this problem.
When you ftp a file or activate an anchor that DosLynx cannot display as
text, you are asked to give a file name to save the information in; a
filename is now suggested by DosLynx. These files are not removed by
DosLynx when you exit the application. This allows you as the user to do
what you will with such files after exiting DosLynx.
However, presently, DosLynx does not consider existing files in making
its suggestion. If you are prompted to save a file that is already on
your hard drive (such as a local image), consider using another name
before letting the file you already have be over-written.
When DosLynx terminates unexpectedly, the temporary files it has opened
may remain in the temporary file directory you specified in the
configuration file or on the command line. The temporary file names
follow the pattern of DLX*.$$$. You no longer have to remove these files
yourself unless you are very low on disk space, however. Beginning with
version 0.20 beta, DosLynx removes any of these files it finds,
at the beginning of each run, to keep them from accumulating.
Beginning with version 0.24 beta, there is an exception to the
preceding rule. DosLynx now checks to see if another instance of DosLynx
is already running. (That will be the case if you run DosLynx while
shelled out of DosLynx to a DOS command prompt.) If so, it refrains from
removing any temporary file. That restraint is necessary to keep from
destroying the already running instance of DosLynx! DosLynx issues a
reminder message when it decides not to remove any temporary file.
If you are wondering, the menu bar contains the current time in the upper
right hand corner. In the status bar are three numbers in the lower right
corner. These numbers are, from left to right, the current network
activity in bytes, the free space in bytes on the temporary drive you
specified, and the amount of available heap memory in bytes.
These were originally run-time debugging tools for the developer of DosLynx.
They were left in as they are now harmless and give the user useful
information on what is happening when DosLynx is at work.
They can be turned off with the /B command line option, if desired.
To force DosLynx into a supported black and white video mode, type
C:\DOSINET>mode BW80
at your DOS prompt. Consider doing this if you monitor is black and white
but DosLynx considers it a color monitor (monochrome EGA monitors).
If you have an older (read: slower) PC, you'll probably wish for better
performance from DosLynx from time-to-time. Here are a few more things
you can do to speed it up:
-
Forgo a Home File
- Use loadhome=OFF in DOSLYNX.CFG, /HOFF on the command line, or give
the home= configuration option the name of a short or empty file.
This will save the time needed to display INFO.HTM each time you
start DosLynx.
-
-
Remove All the Comments From DOSLYNX.CFG
- Once you are satisfied with your configuration and are sure that you
have backup copies of it, go through DOSLYNX.CFG and remove all of
the comment lines. Again, this will save time each time you start
DosLynx.
-
-
Keep the Directories You Use Frequently Short
- DosLynx can take a few seconds to develop the local file dialog box
on a PC-XT when the present DOS directory contains hundreds of
entries. If you can keep the directories you use the most
relatively short, you'll save time each time you invoke a local file
dialog.
-
-
Don't Configure debugen=ON
- If DosLynx is slow in shutting-down, make sure you don't have
debugen=ON specified in DOSLYNX.CFG.
-
The following new features have been added in DosLynx releases beginning
with DosLynx version 0.20 beta:
- <BASE HREF= . . . > tags
-
DosLynx now honors these tags when they appear in HTML. They are
also provided to local files written by the File|Open URL...
(with its Download button), File|Save Source, and
Navigate|Download Selection menu entries. These provisions
enable relative URLs to be properly reproduced when the local
files are later viewed.
-
- <META . . . > tags
-
DosLynx is now also displaying many of these tags when they appear
in HTML.
<META HTTP-EQUIV=REFRESH CONTENT= . . . >
tags specifying URLs are now treated like anchors, too.
Beginning with DosLynx v0.26b, a showmetas= configuration option
controls the display of most <META . . . >
tags, along with two other forms of meta content. These things are
described in some detail by comments in the provided sample
DOSLYNX.CFG file.
-
- Temporary Files
- At startup, DosLynx will now remove any of its
own temporary files that it finds abandoned in the configured
temporary directory. Beginning with DosLynx v0.24b, this action
will be withheld when DosLynx detects another instance of itself
already running. In that case, a reminder message will be issued.
-
- Unexpected Shut Downs
- DosLynx will now pause to give its user
15 seconds to read its final messages before exiting.
-
- Swap Out for Graphics Viewing and Escape to DOS Shell
- DosLynx
will now swap most of itself out of main memory, to XMS or EMS memory
or a temporary file, before invoking DLXVIEW to display a graphic file.
If shoswap=NO is not configured, DosLynx will also swap most of itself
out of main memory, to XMS or EMS memory or a temporary file, before
shelling-out to DOS. The shoswap=NO configuration option is mainly a
debug tool.
-
- Intra-Session History Added
- The present view's current top line
and currently selected anchor will be noted when an anchor is activated.
i.e.: When a link is followed. Upon return, or a linked-from view's
reinstatement, the noted top line position and anchor selection will be
restored to the reinstated view.
-
- debugen= Configuration Option Added
- The debugen= configuration option
enables heapcheck(ing) while DosLynx shuts down. heapcheck( ) discovers
heap corruption resulting from certain kinds of software errors.
Configuring debugen=ON may help to avoid crashing during shut-down.
However, it is a luxury that probably isn't affordable on slower PCs.
(Shut-down can take as long as 45 minutes on a PC-XT with debugen=ON!)
Beginning with DosLynx v0.24b, the debugen= configuration option
also enables a detailed trace of the DosLynx/server dialog that occurs
during a DosLynx ftp access. This may help you discover what is going
wrong if and when an ftp access fails repeatedly. The default value
for debugen= is OFF. Possible values are OFF and ON.
-
- Messages Window Now Pops Up Over ERROR.HTM
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.22b, the messages window will pop up over ERROR.HTM
whenever it is presented as the result of a problem. This saves you
from having to fumble around to see your messages after a problem has
been encountered. The Esc key now provides a one key way to dismiss
the messages window.
-
- DEHEAD Utility Now Provided with DosLynx
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.22b, the DosLynx release package includes the DEHEAD
utility program. It provides for removing the headers that DosLynx
adds to the local copies of files written via the File|Open URL...
(with its Download button), File|Save Source, and
Navigate|Download Selection menu entries. It will copy everything
in a file after its first blank line.
-
- NEWSURLS.HTM Now Provided with DosLynx
-
Beginning with DosLynx v0.22b, the DosLynx release package
includes a description of the news URLs that DosLynx accepts, in
NEWSURLS.HTM.
-
- Forms Support Added to DosLynx
- DosLynx v0.24b brought an
initial installment of Forms support. Implemented, here, are the
HTML <FORM METHOD=get . . . and
<INPUT . . . tags -- for input TYPEs checkbox,
hidden, password, radio, reset, submit, and text.
-
- DosLynx v0.25b brought two more Form input controls.
These support the HTML <SELECT . . . and
<INPUT TYPE=image . . . tags. (The former
supports neither MULTIPLE nor SIZE= attributes. The latter is
implemented as a combination of an HTML <IMG . . .
tag and an <INPUT TYPE=submit . . . tag.
It doesn't provide any cursor coordinate data.) These still won't
be enough to use a Web Mail service. But, they should provide you
with everything you'll need for most search type dialogs.
Further Forms support enhancements are planned.
-
- News Client Support for yEncoded Data
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.24b, the File|Save Source and
Navigate|Download Selection menu entries will provide transparent
handling for news: documents containing yEncoded data.
The File|Open URL... menu entry's Download button, added in
DosLynx v0.25b, will provide this transparent handling, as well.
-
- Loose Find Added to DosLynx
- Beginning with DosLynx v0.24b,
the Navigate|Find... dialog will provide two push buttons for
starting a search. An "Exact Find" button will provide a search using
exact matching. This is the only mode previously offered.
In addition, a "Loose Find" button will now provide a search using case
insensitive (loose) matching.
-
- swapmem= Configuration Option Added
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.24b, the swapmem= configuration option will determine
whether or not any access is made to EMS and/or XMS memory for swapping
DosLynx out of standard DOS memory. This option is intended to provide
a bypass for problem(s) encountered with the EMS and/or XMS services in
some installations. swapmem= need not be configured unless one
suspects they are having trouble in this area. (The symptoms of such
a problem may be that DosLynx mis-behaves when resumed after a swap
out.) swapmem= is specified in terms of the memory services that SWAP
is allowed to access. Possible values are Both (same as default,
starting with DosLynx v0.22b -- SWAP accesses XMS memory, and then
EMS memory if necessary), EMS (SWAP accesses EMS, but not XMS, memory),
XMS (same as provided in DosLynx v0.20b -- SWAP accesses XMS, but
not EMS, memory), and Neither (SWAP only accesses the disk).
-
- HTML <IMAGE . . . tags
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.24b, <IMAGE will be recognized in HTML as a synonym
for the <IMG tag. This is necessary to support apparently
non-standard HTML that is recognized by Internet Explorer and used at
http://www.microsoft.com . For an example of this, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/wurecommended/s_wufeatured/win98se/
-
- DHCP Client Support Added
- Beginning with DosLynx v0.25b,
my_ip=DHCP will be recognized in DOSLYNX.CFG for obtaining TCP/IP
configuration information from a DHCP server. This has been implemented
so as to avoid any change in the operation of the existing my_ip=BOOTP
support, when that is configured. When my_ip=DHCP is configured, mss=
must specify 576 or more or be allowed to default (to 1400).
Comments in DOSLYNX.CFG provide more on these things.
-
- File|Open URL... Download Button Added
- Beginning with
DosLynx v0.25b, the File|Open URL... dialog will contain a
Download button, in addition to Open (formerly OK) and Cancel buttons.
The new Download button provides for File|Save Source or
Navigate|Download Selection type handling for directly entered
URLs. The Open button remains the File|Open URL... dialog's
default and operates just as the former OK button did.
-
The following features were removed from DosLynx, starting at
versions 0.20b, 0.22b, and 0.26b:
- Gopher Support
- Yep, sorry. It's been taken out.
-
- Built-in .GIF Viewer
- This has been replaced with the swap out and
call to DLXVIEW described in several places in this document.
(Use Navigate|Find... and specify DLXVIEW to find those places.)
-
- Bugs, Crashes, Hangs, and Loops
- Most of these have been taken out,
too. You may still see some breakout( ) calls. But, each time
you do, you'll be able to be thankful for not having to reboot DOS
and redial your ISP!
-
- wais Support
- Yep, sorry. This one's gone, too.
-
- Local Graphics File Copying
- Beginning with version 0.26b,
DosLynx no longer finds it necessary to copy local graphics files
for the purpose of submitting them to DLXVIEW for viewing.
This provides a noticable performance improvement on older
(read: slower) PCs. We trust this copying "feature" won't be
much missed.
-
You may distribute DosLynx version 0.26 beta at your convenience
so long that you distribute the orignal .ZIP file obtained by the means
listed in the Obtaining DosLynx
section of this document.
The University of Kansas would like to thank the following organizations
and people for their aid in the creation of DosLynx.
Generous financial assistance given by O'Reilly and Associates
and Intel Corporation.
World Wide Web Source Library by CERN
Waterloo TCP by Erick Engelke
FTP code from James W. Matthews, Dartmouth Software Development
Borland C/C++ and Turbo Vision by Borland International
Further, The University by Kansas recognizes the following:
- Borland C/C++ and Turbo Vision
- Trademarks of and Copyright by
Borland International.
- World Wide Web Source Library
- Copyright by CERN, Geneva, Switzeralnd.
- Waterloo TCP Library
- Copyright by Erick Engelke.
- FTP code
- Portions Copyright 1994 Trustees by Dartmouth College.
Fred C. Macall, presently maintaining DosLynx, gratefully acknowledges the
contributions of its original author, Garrett Arch Blythe. I am also
grateful to Wayne S. Buttles who worked on DosLynx in 1996 and passed the
baton in SRC_16A.ZIP. DosLynx now incorporates SWAP.ASM, which you'll see
performs admirably. It contains the following notice:
Copyright (C) 1990 by Marty Del Vecchio
Last Modified: by
Fred C. Macall
21 April 2004.
Report errors to the following address:
mailto:fmacall@nccw.net