Using Lynx in a Graphical WWW

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[Using Helper Apps]
[Printing With Lynx]
[Lynx Documentation]

I will attempt describe how Lynx handles graphics and other non-text elements. I found it quite perplexing in the beginning so I hope this can serve as a primer on understanding how Lynx tries to deal with "modern" pages.

Please see Lynx documentation for more details.

Images

When Lynx encounters an image, it will display the alternative text (ALT="alternative text") specified. If no alternative text is avaliable, the filename of the image will be displayed instead.

Pressing * will toggle Image_links mode on and off. When it is on, all alt text/image filenames will become links to their source file. You can then "click" them to download or view the image.

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Imagemaps

Imagemaps are clickable images that are very popular as navigation bars on the Web. Clicking different parts of the image will bring you to different URLs. There are two kinds of image maps: Client-side imagemaps and Server-side imagemaps.

Client-side Imagemaps

In a GUI browser, when a user clicks on a client-side imagemap, the browser reads the x,y coordinates of mouse and then refers to the imagemap definition file to see which URL the position refers to. This file can be coded into the HTML document itself or be in a separate text file.

Lynx will display a client-side imagemap as a [USEMAP] link. When you activate this link, Lynx will auto-generate a list of the links in the imagemap definition file. This will be presented to you using the alternative text that the author has specified. If this text is absent, then the URL addresses are used.

Server-side Imagemaps

With a server-side imagemap, the browser will send the x,y coordinates of the mouse-click to the server. The server software will then determine the appropriate page to return to the browser. Server-side Imagemaps are very rare nowadays.

A server-side imagemap will be displayed as [ISMAP]. There is no way for Lynx to deal with such an imagemap. It will simply send a 0,0 pair of coodinates to the server if the imagemap activated. Hopefully, the program will recognise that 0,0 was sent by a text-only client and returns a page that is suited to one.

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Frames and Inline Frames

When you reach page with frames, you will see the name or URL of each frame source at the top of the page, hyperlinked to the page in the frame. The NOFRAMES portion of the file will also be shown. From these, you can guess which page contains what and go there.

When Lynx encounters an inline (or floating) frame, it will display IFRAME: [Name_of_Source / Name_of_File]. The name of the source or file will be hyperlinked to the source file, allowing you go there.

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Tables

Tables are displayed with each table row as a paragraph. Each <TR> is treated as a <BR>.

Thus: 

+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Column 1 Header | Column 2 Header | Column 3 Header |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Row 2 Col 1     | Row 2 Col 2     | Row 2 Col 3     |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Row 3 Col 1     | Row 3 Col 2     | Row 3 Col 3     |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+

Will read as: 

Column 1 Header Column 2 Header Column 3 Header
Row 2 Col 1 Row 2 Col 2 Row 2 Col 3
Row 3 Col 1 Row 3 Col 2 Row 3 Col 3

With complex tables that many websites use as a layout tool, it can sometimes give funny but readable results.

From version 2.8.3, Lynx is able to render some very simple tables (like the example above) in true tabular form, subjected to the strict and very real limitations of a text-only enviroment.

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Forms

Lynx supports almost all the forms tags except for the <BUTTON> and <INPUT TYPE="FILE"> tags.

Check boxes (eg ) are rendered as a hyperlinked square brackets [ ] that can be selected with the right arrow button or ENTER key.

Radio buttons (eg ) are rendered as a series of selectable round brackets ( ). Use the right arrow or enter key to select the required button.

Text fields (eg ) are rendered as a line of underscores ______ into which text can be typed. Multi-line text fields (the <TEXTAREA> tag) are also depicted this way.

Submit and reset buttons are simple hyperlinked text.

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Using the Mouse

Mice can be used in conjunction with Lynx although their functions are limited. This is done by clicking or double-clicking (depending on whose Lynx you use) the left mouse in certain regions of the Lynx screen.

You can click on hyperlinks to activate them. To scroll the page down, click on the bottom line of the Lynx window. Clicking the top line will scroll the page up.

Clicking the right corners of the Lynx window will bring you to the History Page. Another click in the same area will bring you back to the document. Clicking the left corners will bring you to the previous document.

From 2.8.1dev.16 onwards, you need to use the -use_mouse option on the command line to enable the mouse in Wayne Buttles's Lynx. The mouse is also broken in 2.8.2.

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