1LYNX(1) General Commands Manual LYNX(1)
2
6 lynx - a general purpose distributed information browser for the World
7 Wide Web
8
10 lynx [options] [optional paths or URLs]
11 lynx [options] [path or URL] -get_data
13 data
14 --
15 lynx [options] [path or URL] -post_data
17 data
18 --
19 Use “lynx -help” to display a complete list of current options.
21
23 Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users running
24 cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices (e.g., vt100
25 terminals, vt100 emulators running on Windows 95/NT/XP/7/8 or any POSIX
26 platform, or any other “curses-oriented” display). It will display
27 hypertext markup language (HTML) documents containing links to files
28 residing on the local system, as well as files residing on remote
29 systems running Gopher, HTTP, FTP, WAIS, and NNTP servers. Current
30 versions of Lynx run on Unix, VMS, Windows 95/NT/XP/7/8, DOS DJGPP and
31 OS/2.
32 Lynx can be used to access information on the World Wide Web, or to
34 build information systems intended primarily for local access. For
35 example, Lynx has been used to build several Campus Wide Information
36 Systems (CWIS). In addition, Lynx can be used to build systems
37 isolated within a single LAN.
38
40 At start up, Lynx will load any local file or remote URL specified at
41 the command line. For help with URLs, press “?” or “H” while running
42 Lynx. Then follow the link titled, “Help on URLs.”
43 If more than one local file or remote URL is listed on the command
45 line, Lynx will open only the last interactively. All of the names
46 (local files and remote URLs) are added to the G)oto history.
47 Lynx uses only long option names. Option names can begin with double
49 dash “--” as well, underscores and dashes can be intermixed in option
50 names (in the reference below, options are shown with one dash “-”
51 before them, and with underscores “_”).
52 Lynx provides many command-line options. Some options require a value
54 (string, number or keyword). These are noted in the reference below.
55 The other options set boolean values in the program. There are three
56 types of boolean options: set, unset and toggle. If no option value is
57 given, these have the obvious meaning: set (to true), unset (to false),
58 or toggle (between true/false). For any of these, an explicit value
59 can be given in different forms to allow for operating system
60 constraints, e.g.,
61 -center:off
63 -center=off
64 -center-
65 Lynx recognizes “1”, “+”, “on” and “true” for true values, and “0”,
67 “-”, “off” and “false” for false values. Other option-values are
68 ignored.
69 The default boolean, number and string option values that are compiled
71 into Lynx are displayed in the help-message provided by lynx -help.
72 Some of those may differ according to how Lynx was built; see the help
73 message itself for these values. The -help option is processed in the
74 third pass of options-processing, so any option which sets a value, as
75 well as runtime configuration values are reflected in the help-message.
76 - If the argument is only “-”, then Lynx expects to receive the
78 arguments from the standard input. This is to allow for the
79 potentially very long command line that can be associated with
80 the -get_data or -post_data arguments (see below). It can also
81 be used to avoid having sensitive information in the invoking
82 command line (which would be visible to other processes on most
83 systems), especially when the -auth or -pauth options are used.
84 -accept_all_cookies
86 accept all cookies.
87 -anonymous
89 apply restrictions for anonymous account, see also
90 -restrictions.
91 -assume_charset=MIMEname
93 charset for documents that do not specify it.
94 -assume_local_charset=MIMEname
96 charset assumed for local files, i.e., files which Lynx creates
97 such as internal pages for the options menu.
98 -assume_unrec_charset=MIMEname
100 use this instead of unrecognized charsets.
101 -auth=ID:PASSWD
103 set authorization ID and password for protected documents at
104 startup. Be sure to protect any script files which use this
105 switch.
106 -base prepend a request URL comment and BASE tag to text/html outputs
108 for -source dumps.
109 -bibhost=URL
111 specify a local bibp server (default http://bibhost/).
112 -blink forces high intensity background colors for color mode, if
114 available and supported by the terminal. This applies to the
115 slang library (for a few terminal emulators), or to OS/2 EMX
116 with ncurses.
117 -book use the bookmark page as the startfile. The default or command
119 line startfile is still set for the Main screen command, and
120 will be used if the bookmark page is unavailable or blank.
121 -buried_news
123 toggles scanning of news articles for buried references, and
124 converts them to news links. Not recommended because email
125 addresses enclosed in angle brackets will be converted to false
126 news links, and uuencoded messages can be trashed.
127 -cache=NUMBER
129 set the NUMBER of documents cached in memory. The default is
130 10.
131 -case enable case-sensitive string searching.
133 -center
135 Toggle center alignment in HTML TABLE.
136 -cfg=FILENAME
138 specifies a Lynx configuration file other than the default
139 lynx.cfg.
140 -child exit on left-arrow in startfile, and disable save to disk and
142 associated print/mail options.
143 -child_relaxed
145 exit on left-arrow in startfile, but allow save to disk and
146 associated print/mail options.
147 -cmd_log=FILENAME
149 write keystroke commands and related information to the
150 specified file.
151 -cmd_script=FILENAME
153 read keystroke commands from the specified file. You can use
154 the data written using the -cmd_log option. Lynx will ignore
155 other information which the command-logging may have written to
156 the logfile. Each line of the command script contains either a
157 comment beginning with “#”, or a keyword:
158 exit
160 causes the script to stop, and forces Lynx to exit
161 immediately.
162 key
164 the character value, in printable form. Cursor and other
165 special keys are given as names, e.g., “Down Arrow”.
166 Printable 7-bit ASCII codes are given as-is, and hexadecimal
167 values represent other 8-bit codes.
168 set
170 followed by a “name=value” allows one to override values set
171 in the lynx.cfg or .lynxrc files. Lynx tries the cfg-file
172 setting first.
173 -collapse_br_tags
175 toggles collapsing of BR tags.
176 -color forces color mode on, if available. Default color control
178 sequences which work for many terminal types are assumed if the
179 terminal capability description does not specify how to handle
180 color. Lynx needs to be compiled with the slang library for
181 this flag, it is equivalent to setting the COLORTERM environment
182 variable. (If color support is instead provided by a color-
183 capable curses library like ncurses, Lynx relies completely on
184 the terminal description to determine whether color mode is
185 possible, and this flag is not needed and thus unavailable.) A
186 saved show_color=always setting found in a .lynxrc file at
187 startup has the same effect. A saved show_color=never found in
188 .lynxrc on startup is overridden by this flag.
189 -connect_timeout=N
191 Sets the connection timeout, where N is given in seconds.
192 -cookie_file=FILENAME
194 specifies a file to use to read cookies. If none is specified,
195 the default value is ~/.lynx_cookies for most systems, but
196 ~/cookies for MS-DOS.
197 -cookie_save_file=FILENAME
199 specifies a file to use to store cookies. If none is specified,
200 the value given by -cookie_file is used.
201 -cookies
203 toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers.
204 -core toggles forced core dumps on fatal errors. Turn this option off
206 to ask Lynx to force a core dump if a fatal error occurs.
207 -crawl with -traversal, output each page to a file. with -dump, format
209 output as with -traversal, but to the standard output.
210 -curses_pads
212 toggles the use of curses “pad” feature which supports
213 left/right scrolling of the display. The feature is normally
214 available for curses configurations, but inactive. To activate
215 it, use the “|” character or the LINEWRAP_TOGGLE command.
216 Toggling this option makes the feature altogether unavailable.
217 -debug_partial
219 separate incremental display stages with MessageSecs delay
220 -default_colors
222 toggles the default-colors feature which is normally set in the
223 lynx.cfg file.
224 -delay add DebugSecs delay after each progress-message
226 -display=DISPLAY
228 set the display variable for X rexec-ed programs.
229 -display_charset=MIMEname
231 set the charset for the terminal output.
232 -dont_wrap_pre
234 inhibit wrapping of text when -dump'ing and -crawl'ing, mark
235 wrapped lines of <pre> in interactive session.
236 -dump dumps the formatted output of the default document or those
238 specified on the command line to standard output. Unlike
239 interactive mode, all documents are processed. This can be used
240 in the following way:
241 lynx -dump http://www.subir.com/lynx.html
243 Files specified on the command line are formatted as HTML if
245 their names end with one of the standard web suffixes such as
246 “.htm” or “.html”. Use the -force_html option to format files
247 whose names do not follow this convention.
248 -editor=EDITOR
250 enable external editing, using the specified EDITOR. (vi, ed,
251 emacs, etc.)
252 -emacskeys
254 enable emacs-like key movement.
255 -enable_scrollback
257 toggles compatibility with communication programs' scrollback
258 keys (may be incompatible with some curses packages).
259 -error_file=FILE
261 define a file where Lynx will report HTTP access codes.
262 -exec enable local program execution (normally not configured).
264 -fileversions
266 include all versions of files in local VMS directory listings.
267 -find_leaks
269 toggle memory leak-checking. Normally this is not compiled-into
270 your executable, but when it is, it can be disabled for a
271 session.
272 -force_empty_hrefless_a
274 force HREF-less “A” elements to be empty (close them as soon as
275 they are seen).
276 -force_html
278 forces the first document to be interpreted as HTML.
279 This is most useful when processing files specified on the
281 command line which have an unrecognized suffix (or the suffix is
282 associated with a non-HTML type, such as “.txt” for plain text
283 files).
284 Lynx recognizes these file suffixes as HTML:
286 “.ht3”,
288 “.htm”,
289 “.html3”,
290 “.html”,
291 “.htmlx”,
292 “.php3”,
293 “.php”,
294 “.phtml”,
295 “.sht”, and
296 “.shtml”.
297 -force_secure
299 toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies.
300 -forms_options
302 toggles whether the Options Menu is key-based or form-based.
303 -from toggles transmissions of From headers.
305 -ftp disable ftp access.
307 -get_data
309 properly formatted data for a get form are read in from the
310 standard input and passed to the form. Input is terminated by a
311 line that starts with “---”.
312 Lynx issues an HTTP GET, sending the form to the path or URL
314 given on the command-line and prints the response of the server.
315 If no path or URL is given, Lynx sends the form to the start-
316 page.
317 -head send a HEAD request for the mime headers.
319 -help print the Lynx command syntax usage message, and exit.
321 -hiddenlinks=[option]
323 control the display of hidden links.
324 merge
326 hidden links show up as bracketed numbers and are numbered
327 together with other links in the sequence of their occurrence
328 in the document.
329 listonly
331 hidden links are shown only on L)ist screens and listings
332 generated by -dump or from the P)rint menu, but appear
333 separately at the end of those lists. This is the default
334 behavior.
335 ignore
337 hidden links do not appear even in listings.
338 -historical
340 toggles use of “>” or “-->” as a terminator for comments.
341 -homepage=URL
343 set homepage separate from start page.
344 -image_links
346 toggles inclusion of links for all images.
347 -index=URL
349 set the default index file to the specified URL.
350 -ismap toggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side MAPs are
352 present.
353 -justify
355 do justification of text.
356 -link=NUMBER
358 starting count for lnk#.dat files produced by -crawl.
359 -list_inline
361 for -dump, show the links inline with the text.
362 -listonly
364 for -dump, show only the list of links.
365 -localhost
367 disable URLs that point to remote hosts.
368 -locexec
370 enable local program execution from local files only (if Lynx
371 was compiled with local execution enabled).
372 -lss=FILENAME
374 specify filename containing color-style information. The
375 default is lynx.lss. If you give an empty filename, Lynx uses a
376 built-in monochrome scheme which imitates the non-color-style
377 configuration.
378 -mime_header
380 prints the MIME header of a fetched document along with its
381 source.
382 -minimal
384 toggles minimal versus valid comment parsing.
385 -nested_tables
387 toggles nested-tables logic (for debugging).
388 -newschunksize=NUMBER
390 number of articles in chunked news listings.
391 -newsmaxchunk=NUMBER
393 maximum news articles in listings before chunking.
394 -nobold
396 disable bold video-attribute.
397 -nobrowse
399 disable directory browsing.
400 -nocc disable Cc: prompts for self copies of mailings. Note that this
402 does not disable any CCs which are incorporated within a mailto
403 URL or form ACTION.
404 -nocolor
406 force color mode off, overriding terminal capabilities and any
407 -color flags, COLORTERM variable, and saved .lynxrc settings.
408 -noexec
410 disable local program execution. (DEFAULT)
411 -nofilereferer
413 disable transmissions of Referer headers for file URLs.
414 -nolist
416 disable the link list feature in dumps.
417 -nolog disable mailing of error messages to document owners.
419 -nomargins
421 disable left/right margins in the default style sheet.
422 -nomore
424 disable -more- string in statusline messages.
425 -nonrestarting_sigwinch
427 This flag is not available on all systems, Lynx needs to be
428 compiled with HAVE_SIGACTION defined. If available, this flag
429 may cause Lynx to react more immediately to window changes when
430 run within an xterm.
431 -nonumbers
433 disable link- and field-numbering. This overrides
434 -number_fields and -number_links.
435 -nopause
437 disable forced pauses for statusline messages.
438 -noprint
440 disable most print functions.
441 -noredir
443 prevents automatic redirection and prints a message with a link
444 to the new URL.
445 -noreferer
447 disable transmissions of Referer headers.
448 -noreverse
450 disable reverse video-attribute.
451 -nosocks
453 disable SOCKS proxy usage by a SOCKSified Lynx.
454 -nostatus
456 disable the retrieval status messages.
457 -notitle
459 disable title and blank line from top of page.
460 -nounderline
462 disable underline video-attribute.
463 -number_fields
465 force numbering of links as well as form input fields
466 -number_links
468 force numbering of links.
469 -partial
471 toggles display partial pages while loading.
472 -partial_thres=NUMBER
474 number of lines to render before repainting display with
475 partial-display logic
476 -passive_ftp
478 toggles passive ftp connections.
479 -pauth=ID:PASSWD
481 set authorization ID and password for a protected proxy server
482 at startup. Be sure to protect any script files which use this
483 switch.
484 -popup toggles handling of single-choice SELECT options via popup
486 windows or as lists of radio buttons.
487 -post_data
489 properly formatted data for a post form are read in from the
490 standard input and passed to the form. Input is terminated by a
491 line that starts with “---”.
492 Lynx issues an HTTP POST, sending the form to the path or URL
494 given on the command-line and prints the response of the server.
495 If no path or URL is given, Lynx sends the form to the start-
496 page.
497 -preparsed
499 show HTML source preparsed and reformatted when used with
500 -source or in source view.
501 -prettysrc
503 show HTML source view with lexical elements and tags in color.
504 -print enable print functions. (default)
506 -pseudo_inlines
508 toggles pseudo-ALTs for inline images with no ALT string.
509 -raw toggles default setting of 8-bit character translations or CJK
511 mode for the startup character set.
512 -realm restricts access to URLs in the starting realm.
514 -read_timeout=N
516 Sets the read-timeout, where N is given in seconds.
517 -reload
519 flushes the cache on a proxy server (only the first document
520 given on the command-line is affected).
521 -restrictions=[option][,option][,option]...
523 allows a list of services to be disabled selectively. Dashes
524 and underscores in option names can be intermixed. The
525 following list is printed if no options are specified.
526 all
528 restricts all options listed below.
529 bookmark
531 disallow changing the location of the bookmark file.
532 bookmark_exec
534 disallow execution links via the bookmark file.
535 change_exec_perms
537 disallow changing the eXecute permission on files (but still
538 allow it for directories) when local file management is
539 enabled.
540 default
542 same as command line option -anonymous. Disables default
543 services for anonymous users. Set to all restricted, except
544 for: inside_telnet, outside_telnet, inside_ftp, outside_ftp,
545 inside_rlogin, outside_rlogin, inside_news, outside_news,
546 telnet_port, jump, mail, print, exec, and goto. The settings
547 for these, as well as additional goto restrictions for
548 specific URL schemes that are also applied, are derived from
549 definitions within userdefs.h.
550 dired_support
552 disallow local file management.
553 disk_save
555 disallow saving to disk in the download and print menus.
556 dotfiles
558 disallow access to, or creation of, hidden (dot) files.
559 download
561 disallow some downloaders in the download menu (does not
562 imply disk_save restriction).
563 editor
565 disallow external editing.
566 exec
568 disable execution scripts.
569 exec_frozen
571 disallow the user from changing the local execution option.
572 externals
574 disallow some “EXTERNAL” configuration lines if support for
575 passing URLs to external applications (with the EXTERN
576 command) is compiled in.
577 file_url
579 disallow using G)oto, served links or bookmarks for file:
580 URLs.
581 goto
583 disable the “g” (goto) command.
584 inside_ftp
586 disallow ftps for people coming from inside your domain (utmp
587 required for selectivity).
588 inside_news
590 disallow USENET news posting for people coming from inside
591 your domain (utmp required for selectivity).
592 inside_rlogin
594 disallow rlogins for people coming from inside your domain
595 (utmp required for selectivity).
596 inside_telnet
598 disallow telnets for people coming from inside your domain
599 (utmp required for selectivity).
600 jump
602 disable the “j” (jump) command.
603 multibook
605 disallow multiple bookmarks.
606 mail
608 disallow mail.
609 news_post
611 disallow USENET News posting.
612 options_save
614 disallow saving options in .lynxrc.
615 outside_ftp
617 disallow ftps for people coming from outside your domain
618 (utmp required for selectivity).
619 outside_news
621 disallow USENET news reading and posting for people coming
622 from outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).
623 This restriction applies to “news”, “nntp”, “newspost”, and
624 “newsreply” URLs, but not to “snews”, “snewspost”, or
625 “snewsreply” in case they are supported.
626 outside_rlogin
628 disallow rlogins for people coming from outside your domain
629 (utmp required for selectivity).
630 outside_telnet
632 disallow telnets for people coming from outside your domain
633 (utmp required for selectivity).
634 print
636 disallow most print options.
637 shell
639 disallow shell escapes and lynxexec or lynxprog G)oto's.
640 suspend
642 disallow Unix Control-Z suspends with escape to shell.
643 telnet_port
645 disallow specifying a port in telnet G)oto's.
646 useragent
648 disallow modifications of the User-Agent header.
649 -resubmit_posts
651 toggles forced resubmissions (no-cache) of forms with method
652 POST when the documents they returned are sought with the
653 PREV_DOC command or from the History List.
654 -rlogin
656 disable recognition of rlogin commands.
657 -scrollbar
659 toggles showing scrollbar.
660 -scrollbar_arrow
662 toggles showing arrows at ends of the scrollbar.
663 -selective
665 require .www_browsable files to browse directories.
666 -session=FILENAME
668 resumes from specified file on startup and saves session to that
669 file on exit.
670 -sessionin=FILENAME
672 resumes session from specified file.
673 -sessionout=FILENAME
675 saves session to specified file.
676 -short_url
678 show very long URLs in the status line with “...” to represent
679 the portion which cannot be displayed. The beginning and end of
680 the URL are displayed, rather than suppressing the end.
681 -show_cfg
683 Print the configuration settings, e.g., as read from “lynx.cfg”,
684 and exit.
685 -show_cursor
687 If enabled the cursor will not be hidden in the right hand
688 corner but will instead be positioned at the start of the
689 currently selected link. Show cursor is the default for systems
690 without FANCY_CURSES capabilities. The default configuration
691 can be changed in userdefs.h or lynx.cfg. The command line
692 switch toggles the default.
693 -show_rate
695 If enabled the transfer rate is shown in bytes/second. If
696 disabled, no transfer rate is shown. Use lynx.cfg or the
697 options menu to select KB/second and/or ETA.
698 -soft_dquotes
700 toggles emulation of the old Netscape and Mosaic bug which
701 treated “>” as a co-terminator for double-quotes and tags.
702 -source
704 works the same as dump but outputs HTML source instead of
705 formatted text. For example
706 lynx -source . >foo.html
708 generates HTML source listing the files in the current
710 directory. Each file is marked by an HREF relative to the
711 parent directory. Add a trailing slash to make the HREF's
712 relative to the current directory:
713 lynx -source ./ >foo.html
715 -stack_dump
717 disable SIGINT cleanup handler
718 -startfile_ok
720 allow non-http startfile and homepage with -validate.
721 -stderr
723 When dumping a document using -dump or -source, Lynx normally
724 does not display alert (error) messages that you see on the
725 screen in the status line. Use the -stderr option to tell Lynx
726 to write these messages to the standard error.
727 -stdin read the startfile from standard input (UNIX only).
729 -syslog=text
731 information for syslog call.
732 -syslog_urls
734 log requested URLs with syslog.
735 -tagsoup
737 initialize parser, using Tag Soup DTD rather than SortaSGML.
738 -telnet
740 disable recognition of telnet commands.
741 -term=TERM
743 tell Lynx what terminal type to assume it is talking to. (This
744 may be useful for remote execution, when, for example, Lynx
745 connects to a remote TCP/IP port that starts a script that, in
746 turn, starts another Lynx process.)
747 -timeout=N
749 For win32, sets the network read-timeout, where N is given in
750 seconds.
751 -tlog toggles between using a Lynx Trace Log and stderr for trace
753 output from the session.
754 -tna turns on “Textfields Need Activation” mode.
756 -trace turns on Lynx trace mode. Destination of trace output depends
758 on -tlog.
759 -trace_mask=value
761 turn on optional traces, which may result in very large trace
762 files. Logically OR the values to combine options:
763 1 SGML character parsing states
765 2 color-style
767 4 TRST (table layout)
769 8 configuration (lynx.cfg, .lynxrc, .lynx-keymaps, mime.types
771 and mailcap contents)
772 16 binary string copy/append, used in form data construction.
774 32 cookies
776 64 character sets
778 128
780 GridText parsing
781 256
783 timing
784 -traversal
786 traverse all http links derived from startfile. When used with
787 -crawl, each link that begins with the same string as startfile
788 is output to a file, intended for indexing.
789 See CRAWL.announce for more information.
791 -trim_blank_lines
793 toggles trimming of trailing blank lines as well as the related
794 trimming of blank lines while collapsing BR tags.
795 -trim_input_fields
797 trim input text/textarea fields in forms.
798 -underline_links
800 toggles use of underline/bold attribute for links.
801 -underscore
803 toggles use of _underline_ format in dumps.
804 -unique_urls
806 check for duplicate link numbers in each page and corresponding
807 lists, and reuse the original link number.
808 -use_mouse
810 turn on mouse support, if available. Clicking the left mouse
811 button on a link traverses it. Clicking the right mouse button
812 pops back. Click on the top line to scroll up. Click on the
813 bottom line to scroll down. The first few positions in the top
814 and bottom line may invoke additional functions. Lynx must be
815 compiled with ncurses or slang to support this feature. If
816 ncurses is used, clicking the middle mouse button pops up a
817 simple menu. Mouse clicks may only work reliably while Lynx is
818 idle waiting for input.
819 -useragent=Name
821 set alternate Lynx User-Agent header.
822 -validate
824 accept only http URLs (for validation). Complete security
825 restrictions also are implemented.
826 -verbose
828 toggle [LINK], [IMAGE] and [INLINE] comments with filenames of
829 these images.
830 -version
832 print version information, and exit.
833 -vikeys
835 enable vi-like key movement.
836 -wdebug
838 enable Waterloo tcp/ip packet debug (print to watt debugfile).
839 This applies only to DOS versions compiled with WATTCP or
840 WATT-32.
841 -width=NUMBER
843 number of columns for formatting of dumps, default is 80. This
844 is limited by the number of columns that Lynx could display,
845 typically 1024 (the MAX_LINE symbol).
846 -with_backspaces
848 emit backspaces in output if -dump'ing or -crawl'ing (like man
849 does)
850 -xhtml_parsing
852 tells Lynx that it can ignore certain tags which have no content
853 in an XHTML 1.0 document. For example “<p/>” will be discarded.
854
856 More than one key can be mapped to a given command. Here are some of
857 the most useful:
858 · Use Up arrow and Down arrow to scroll through hypertext links.
860 · Right arrow or Return will follow a highlighted hypertext link.
862 · Left Arrow or “u” will retreat from a link.
864 · Type “H”, “?”, or F1 for online help and descriptions of key-stroke
866 commands.
867 · Type “k” or “K” for a list of the current key-stroke command
869 mappings.
870 If the same command is mapped to the same letter differing only by
872 upper/lowercase only the lowercase mapping is shown.
873 · Type Delete to view history list.
875
877 In addition to various “standard” environment variables such as HOME,
878 PATH, USER, DISPLAY, TMPDIR, etc, Lynx utilizes several Lynx-specific
879 environment variables, if they exist.
880 Others may be created or modified by Lynx to pass data to an external
882 program, or for other reasons. These are listed separately below.
883 See also the sections on SIMULATED CGI SUPPORT and NATIVE LANGUAGE
885 SUPPORT, below.
886 Note: Not all environment variables apply to all types of platforms
888 supported by Lynx, though most do. Feedback on platform dependencies
889 is solicited.
890 Environment Variables Used By Lynx:
892 COLORTERM If set, color capability for the terminal is forced
894 on at startup time. The actual value assigned to
895 the variable is ignored. This variable is only
896 meaningful if Lynx was built using the slang
897 screen-handling library.
898 LYNX_CFG This variable, if set, will override the default
900 location and name of the global configuration file
901 (normally, lynx.cfg) that was defined by the
902 LYNX_CFG_FILE constant in the userdefs.h file,
903 during installation.
904 See the userdefs.h file for more information.
906 LYNX_CFG_PATH If set, this variable overrides the compiled-in
908 search-list of directories used to find the
909 configuration files, e.g., lynx.cfg and lynx.lss.
910 The list is delimited with ":" (or ";" for Windows)
911 like the PATH environment variable.
912 LYNX_HELPFILE If set, this variable overrides the compiled-in URL
914 and configuration file URL for the Lynx help file.
915 LYNX_LOCALEDIR If set, this variable overrides the compiled-in
917 location of the locale directory which contains
918 native language (NLS) message text.
919 LYNX_LSS This variable, if set, specifies the location of
921 the default Lynx character style sheet file.
922 [Currently only meaningful if Lynx was built using
923 curses color style support.]
924 LYNX_SAVE_SPACE This variable, if set, will override the default
926 path prefix for files saved to disk that is defined
927 in the lynx.cfg SAVE_SPACE: statement.
928 See the lynx.cfg file for more information.
930 LYNX_TEMP_SPACE This variable, if set, will override the default
932 path prefix for temporary files that was defined
933 during installation, as well as any value that may
934 be assigned to the TMPDIR variable.
935 MAIL This variable specifies the default inbox Lynx will
937 check for new mail, if such checking is enabled in
938 the lynx.cfg file.
939 NEWS_ORGANIZATION This variable, if set, provides the string used in
941 the Organization: header of USENET news postings.
942 It will override the setting of the ORGANIZATION
943 environment variable, if it is also set (and, on
944 UNIX, the contents of an /etc/organization file, if
945 present).
946 NNTPSERVER If set, this variable specifies the default NNTP
948 server that will be used for USENET news reading
949 and posting with Lynx, via news: URL's.
950 ORGANIZATION This variable, if set, provides the string used in
952 the Organization: header of USENET news postings.
953 On UNIX, it will override the contents of an
954 /etc/organization file, if present.
955 PROTOCOL_proxy Lynx supports the use of proxy servers that can act
957 as firewall gateways and caching servers. They are
958 preferable to the older gateway servers (see
959 WWW_access_GATEWAY, below).
960 Each protocol used by Lynx, (http, ftp, gopher,
962 etc), can be mapped separately by setting
963 environment variables of the form PROTOCOL_proxy.
964 Protocols are indicated in a URI by the name before
965 “:”, e.g., “http” in “http://some.server.dom:port/”
966 for HTML.
967 Depending on your system configuration and
969 supported protocols, the environment variables
970 recognized by lynx may include
971 cso_proxy
973 finger_proxy
974 ftp_proxy
975 gopher_proxy
976 https_proxy
977 http_proxy
978 newspost_proxy
979 newsreply_proxy
980 news_proxy
981 nntp_proxy
982 no_proxy
983 snewspost_proxy
984 snewsreply_proxy
985 snews_proxy
986 wais_proxy
987 See Lynx Users Guide for additional details and
989 examples.
990 SSL_CERT_DIR Set to the directory containing trusted
992 certificates.
993 SSL_CERT_FILE Set to the full path and filename for your file of
995 trusted certificates.
996 WWW_access_GATEWAY Lynx still supports use of gateway servers, with
998 the servers specified via “WWW_access_GATEWAY”
999 variables (where “access” is lower case and can be
1000 “http”, “ftp”, “gopher” or “wais”). However most
1001 gateway servers have been discontinued. Note that
1002 you do not include a terminal “/” for gateways, but
1003 do for proxies specified by PROTOCOL_proxy
1004 environment variables.
1005 See Lynx Users Guide for details.
1007 WWW_HOME This variable, if set, will override the default
1009 startup URL specified in any of the Lynx
1010 configuration files.
1011 Environment Variables Set or Modified By Lynx:
1013 LYNX_PRINT_DATE This variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
1015 to the Date: string seen in the document's
1016 “Information about” page (= cmd), if any. It is
1017 created for use by an external program, as defined
1018 in a lynx.cfg PRINTER: definition statement. If
1019 the field does not exist for the document, the
1020 variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or “No
1021 Date” under VMS.
1022 LYNX_PRINT_LASTMOD This variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
1024 to the Last Mod: string seen in the document's
1025 “Information about” page (= cmd), if any. It is
1026 created for use by an external program, as defined
1027 in a lynx.cfg PRINTER: definition statement. If
1028 the field does not exist for the document, the
1029 variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or “No
1030 LastMod” under VMS.
1031 LYNX_PRINT_TITLE This variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
1033 to the Linkname: string seen in the document's
1034 “Information about” page (= cmd), if any. It is
1035 created for use by an external program, as defined
1036 in a lynx.cfg PRINTER: definition statement. If
1037 the field does not exist for the document, the
1038 variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or “No
1039 Title” under VMS.
1040 LYNX_PRINT_URL This variable is set by the Lynx p(rint) function,
1042 to the URL: string seen in the document's
1043 “Information about” page (= cmd), if any. It is
1044 created for use by an external program, as defined
1045 in a lynx.cfg PRINTER: definition statement. If
1046 the field does not exist for the document, the
1047 variable is set to a null string under UNIX, or “No
1048 URL” under VMS.
1049 LYNX_TRACE If set, causes Lynx to write a trace file as if the
1051 -trace option were supplied.
1052 LYNX_TRACE_FILE If set, overrides the compiled-in name of the trace
1054 file, which is either Lynx.trace or LY-TRACE.LOG
1055 (the latter on the DOS/Windows platforms). The
1056 trace file is in either case relative to the home
1057 directory.
1058 LYNX_VERSION This variable is always set by Lynx, and may be
1060 used by an external program to determine if it was
1061 invoked by Lynx.
1062 See also the comments in the distribution's sample
1064 mailcap file, for notes on usage in such a file.
1065 TERM Normally, this variable is used by Lynx to
1067 determine the terminal type being used to invoke
1068 Lynx. If, however, it is unset at startup time (or
1069 has the value “unknown”), or if the -term command-
1070 line option is used (see OPTIONS section above),
1071 Lynx will set or modify its value to the user
1072 specified terminal type (for the Lynx execution
1073 environment). Note: If set/modified by Lynx, the
1074 values of the LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
1075 variables may also be changed.
1076
1078 If built with the cgi-links option enabled, Lynx allows access to a cgi
1079 script directly without the need for an http daemon.
1080 When executing such “lynxcgi scripts” (if enabled), the following
1082 variables may be set for simulating a CGI environment:
1083 CONTENT_LENGTH
1085 CONTENT_TYPE
1087 DOCUMENT_ROOT
1089 HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET
1091 HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
1093 HTTP_USER_AGENT
1095 PATH_INFO
1097 PATH_TRANSLATED
1099 QUERY_STRING
1101 REMOTE_ADDR
1103 REMOTE_HOST
1105 REQUEST_METHOD
1107 SERVER_SOFTWARE
1109 Other environment variables are not inherited by the script, unless
1111 they are provided via a LYNXCGI_ENVIRONMENT statement in the
1112 configuration file. See the lynx.cfg file, and the (draft) CGI 1.1
1113 Specification <http://Web.Golux.Com/coar/cgi/draft-coar-cgi-v11-00.txt>
1114 for the definition and usage of these variables.
1115 The CGI Specification, and other associated documentation, should be
1117 consulted for general information on CGI script programming.
1118
1120 If configured and installed with Native Language Support, Lynx will
1121 display status and other messages in your local language. See the file
1122 ABOUT_NLS in the source distribution, or at your local GNU site, for
1123 more information about internationalization.
1124 The following environment variables may be used to alter default
1126 settings:
1127 LANG This variable, if set, will override the default
1129 message language. It is an ISO 639 two-letter code
1130 identifying the language. Language codes are NOT
1131 the same as the country codes given in ISO 3166.
1132 LANGUAGE This variable, if set, will override the default
1134 message language. This is a GNU extension that has
1135 higher priority for setting the message catalog
1136 than LANG or LC_ALL.
1137 LC_ALL and
1139 LC_MESSAGES These variables, if set, specify the notion of
1141 native language formatting style. They are POSIXly
1142 correct.
1143 LINGUAS This variable, if set prior to configuration,
1145 limits the installed languages to specific values.
1146 It is a space-separated list of two-letter codes.
1147 Currently, it is hard-coded to a wish list.
1148 NLSPATH This variable, if set, is used as the path prefix
1150 for message catalogs.
1151
1153 This is the Lynx v2.8.9 Release; development is in progress for 2.9.0.
1154 If you wish to contribute to the further development of Lynx, subscribe
1156 to our mailing list. Send email to <lynx-dev-request@nongnu.org> with
1157 “subscribe lynx-dev” as the only line in the body of your message.
1158 Send bug reports, comments, suggestions to <lynx-dev@nongnu.org> after
1160 subscribing.
1161 Unsubscribe by sending email to <lynx-dev-request@nongnu.org> with
1163 “unsubscribe lynx-dev” as the only line in the body of your message.
1164 Do not send the unsubscribe message to the lynx-dev list, itself.
1165
1167 catgets(3), curses(3), environ(7), execve(2), ftp(1), gettext(GNU),
1168 localeconv(3), ncurses(3), setlocale(3), slang(?), termcap(5),
1169 terminfo(5), wget(GNU)
1170 Note that man page availability and section numbering is somewhat plat‐
1172 form dependent, and may vary from the above references.
1173 A section shown as (GNU), is intended to denote that the topic may be
1175 available via an info page, instead of a man page (i.e., try “info sub‐
1176 ject”, rather than “man subject”).
1177 A section shown as (?) denotes that documentation on the topic exists,
1179 but is not part of an established documentation retrieval system (see
1180 the distribution files associated with the topic, or contact your Sys‐
1181 tem Administrator for further information).
1182
1184 Lynx has incorporated code from a variety of sources along the way.
1185 The earliest versions of Lynx included code from Earl Fogel of Comput‐
1186 ing Services at the University of Saskatchewan, who implemented HYPER‐
1187 REZ in the Unix environment. HYPERREZ was developed by Niel Larson of
1188 Think.com and served as the model for the early versions of Lynx.
1189 Those versions also incorporated libraries from the Unix Gopher clients
1190 developed at the University of Minnesota, and the later versions of
1191 Lynx rely on the WWW client library code developed by Tim Berners-Lee
1192 and the WWW community. Also a special thanks to Foteos Macrides who
1193 ported much of Lynx to VMS and did or organized most of its development
1194 since the departures of Lou Montulli and Garrett Blythe from the Uni‐
1195 versity of Kansas in the summer of 1994 through the release of v2.7.2,
1196 and to everyone on the net who has contributed to Lynx's development
1197 either directly (through patches, comments or bug reports) or indirect‐
1198 ly (through inspiration and development of other systems).
1199
1201 Lou Montulli, Garrett Blythe, Craig Lavender, Michael Grobe, Charles
1202 Rezac
1203 Academic Computing Services
1204 University of Kansas
1205 Lawrence, Kansas 66047
1206 Foteos Macrides
1208 Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
1209 Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545
1210 Thomas E. Dickey
1212 <dickey@invisible-island.net>
1213 LYNX(1)