lynx(1)


lynx -- distributed information browser for the World Wide Web

Synopsis

lynx [options] [path | URL]

Description

Lynx is a fully-featured World Wide Web (WWW) client for users running cursor-addressable, character-cell display devices (such as vt100 terminals, vt100 emulators running on PC or Macintosh computers, or any other ``curses-oriented'' display). Lynx displays hypertext markup language (HTML) documents containing links to files residing on the local system, as well as files residing on remote systems running Gopher, HTTP, FTP, WAIS, and NNTP servers. Current versions of Lynx run on UNIX® and VMS.

Lynx can be used to access information on the WWW, or to build information systems intended primarily for local access. For example, Lynx has been used to build several Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS). In addition, Lynx can be used to build systems isolated within a single LAN.

Options

At startup, Lynx loads any local file or remote URL specified on the command line. For help with URLs, press <?> or <h> while running Lynx. Then, follow the link titled ``Help on URLs''.


-
If the only argument is '-', Lynx expects to receive the arguments from standard in (stdin). This allow for the potentially very long command line that can be associated with the -get_data or -post_data arguments.

-anonymous
Specifies the anonymous account.

-assume_charset=ID:MIMEname
Specifies the charset for documents that do not specify one.

-assume_local_charset=ID:MIMEname
Specifies the charset used for local files.

-assume_unrec_charset=ID:MIMEname
Uses this charset instead of unrecognized charsets.

-auth=ID:PASSWD
Sets the authorization ID and password for protected documents at startup. Be sure to protect any script files that use this switch.

-base
Prepends a request URL comment and BASE tag to text and HTML outputs for -source or -mime_header dumps.

-book
Uses the bookmark page as the start page. The default or command-line start page is still set for the main screen command, and is used if the bookmark page is unavailable or blank. See also -homepage.

-buried_news
Toggles scanning news articles for buried references, and converts them to news links. Not recommended because email addresses enclosed in angle brackets will be converted to false news links, and uuencoded messages might be trashed.

-cache=NUMBER
Sets the NUMBER of documents cached in memory (default 10).

-case
Enables case-sensitive string searching.

-cfg=FILENAME
Specifies a Lynx configuration file other than the default lynx.cfg.

-child
Exits on left arrow in start page, and disable save-to-disk feature.

-cookies
Toggles handling of Set-Cookie headers.

-crawl
Used with -traversal, outputs each page to a file; used with -dump, formats output as with -traversal, but to standard out (stdout).

-display=DISPLAY
Sets the DISPLAY variable for X rexec-ed programs.

-dump
Dumps the formatted output of the default document or one specified on the command line to stdout. For example:

lynx -dump http://www.crl.com/~subir/lynx.html

See also -crawl.


-editor=EDITOR
Enables edit mode using the specified EDITOR (such as vi, ed, or emacs)

-emacskeys
Enables emacs-like key movement.

-enable_scrollback
Toggles compatibility with comm programs' scrollback keys (might be incompatible with some curses packages).

-error_file=FILE
Defines a file to which Lynx reports HTTP access codes.

-fileversions
Includes all versions of files in local VMS directory listings.

-force_html
Forces the first document to be interpreted as HTML.

-force_secure
Toggles forcing of the secure flag for SSL cookies.

-from
Toggles transmission of From headers.

-ftp
Disables ftp access.

-get_data
Sends form data from stdin using GET method and dumps results.

-head
Sends a HEAD request for the MIME headers.

-help
Prints the Lynx command-syntax usage message.

-historical
Toggles use of ``>'' or ``-->'' as a terminator for comments.

-homepage
Sets homepage separate from start page. See also -book.

-image_links
Toggles the inclusion of links for all images.

-index=URL
Sets the default index file to the specified URL.

-ismap
Toggles inclusion of ISMAP links when client-side MAPs are present.

-link=NUMBER
Specifies the starting count for lnk#.dat files produced by -crawl.

-localhost
Disables URLs that point to remote hosts.

-locexec
Enables local program execution from local files only (if Lynx was compiled with local execution enabled).

-mime_header
Prints the MIME header of a fetched document along with its source.

-minimal
Toggles minimal versus valid comment parsing.

-newschunksize=NUMBER
Specifies the number of articles in chunked news listings.

-newsmaxchunk=NUMBER
Specifies the maximum news articles in listings before chunking.

-nobrowse
Disables directory browsing.

-noexec
Disables local program execution (default).

-nofilereferer
Disables transmissions of Referer headers for file URLs.

-nolist
Disables the link list feature in dumps.

-nolog
Disables mailing error messages to document owners.

-nopause
Disables forced pauses for status-line messages.

-noprint
Disables print functions.

-noredir
Prevents automatic redirection and prints a message with a link to the new URL.

-noreferer
Disables transmissions of Referer headers.

-nosocks
Disables SOCKS proxy usage by a Lynx with SOCKS support.

-nostatus
Disables retrieval status messages.

-number_links
Forces numbering of links.

-pauth=ID:PASSWD
Sets authorization ID and password for a protected proxy server at startup. Be sure to protect any script files that use this switch.

-popup
Toggles handling of single-choice SELECT options using popup windows or as lists of radio buttons.

-post_data
Sends form data from stdin using POST method and dumps results.

-print
Enables print functions (default).

-pseudo_inlines
Toggles pseudo-<ALT> tags for inline images with no <ALT> string.

-raw
Toggles default setting of 8-bit character translations or CJK mode for the startup character set.

-realm
Restricts access to URLs in the starting realm.

-reload
Flushes the cache on a proxy server (only the first document affected).

-restrictions=option,option,option...
Allows a list of services to be disabled selectively. The following list is printed if no options are specified:

all
Restricts all options.

bookmark
Disallows changing the location of the bookmark file.

bookmark_exec
Disallows execution links using the bookmark file.

change_exec_perms
Disallows changing the eXecute permission on files (but still allow it for directories) when local file management is enabled.

default
Same as command-line option -anonymous. Disables default services for anonymous users. Currently set to all restricted except: inside_telnet, outside_telnet, inside_news, inside_ftp, outside_ftp, inside_rlogin, outside_rlogin, jump, mail, and goto. Set defaults in userdefs.h.

dired_support
Disallows local file management.

disk_save
Disallows saving binary files to disk in the Download and Print menus.

download
Disallow saving files to disk in the Download menu.

editor
Disallows editing.

exec
Disables execution scripts.

exec_frozen
Disallows the user from changing the local execution option.

file_url
Disallows using g (GOTO), served links, or bookmarks for file: URLs.

goto
Disables the g (GOTO) command.

inside_ftp
Disallows ftp functionality for users within your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

inside_news
Disallows USENET news posting for users within your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

inside_rlogin
Disallows rlogin functionality for users within your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

inside_telnet
Disallows telnet functionality for users within your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

jump
Disables the j (JUMP) command.

multibook
Disallows multiple bookmarks.

mail
Disallows mail.

news_post
Disallows USENET news posting.

options_save
Disallow saving options in .lynxrc.

outside_ftp
Disallows ftp functionality for users outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

outside_news
Disallows USENET news posting for users outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

outside_rlogin
Disallows rlogin functionality for users outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

outside_telnet
Disallows telnet functionality for users outside your domain (utmp required for selectivity).

print
Disallows most print options.

shell
Disallows shell escapes and lynxexec or lynxprog GOTO commands.

suspend
Disallows UNIX <Ctrl>Z suspends with escape to shell.

telnet_port
Disallows specifying a port in telnet: GOTO commands.

useragent
Disallows modifications of the User-Agent header.

-resubmit_posts
Toggles forced resubmissions (no-cache) of forms with method POST when the documents returned are sought with the PREV_DOC command or from the History List.

-rlogin
Disables recognition of rlogin commands.

-selective
Requires .www_browsable files to browse directories.

-show_cursor
If enabled, the cursor is not hidden in the right-hand corner, but instead is positioned at the start of the currently selected link. Show cursor is the default for systems without FANCY_CURSES capabilities. The default configuration can be changed in userdefs.h or lynx.cfg. The command-line switch toggles the default.

-source
Works the same as -dump, but outputs HTML source instead of formatted text.

-startfile_ok
Allows non-HTTP start page and homepage with -validate.

-telnet
Disables recognition of telnet commands.

-term=TERM
Specifies the terminal type. (This might be useful for remote execution when, for example, Lynx connects to a remote TCP/IP port that starts a script that in turn starts another Lynx process.)

-tlog
Toggles use of a Lynx Trace Log for the current session.

-trace
Turns on WWW trace mode.

-traversal
Traverses all HTTP links derived from the start page. When used with -crawl, each link that begins with the same string as the start page is output to a file, intended for indexing. See CRAWL.announce for more information.

-underscore
Toggles the use of _underline_ format in dumps.

-validate
Accepts only HTTP URLs (for validation). Complete security restrictions also are implemented.

-version
Prints version information.

-vikeys
Enables vi-like key movement.

Commands


<Up arrow>

<Down arrow>
scrolls through hypertext links

<Right arrow>

<Esc>
follows a highlighted hypertext link

<Left Arrow>
retreats from a link

<h>

<?>
displays online help and descriptions of keystroke commands

<k>
displays a complete list of the current keystroke command mappings

Notes

This is the Lynx v2.7.1f Release for UNIX/VMS.

To contribute to the further development of Lynx, subscribe to our mailing list. Send email to majordomo@sig.net with ``subscribe lynx-dev'' as the only line in the body of your message.

Send bug reports, comments, suggestions to lynx-dev@sig.net after subscribing.

Unsubscribe by sending email to majordomo@sig.net with ``unsubscribe lynx-dev'' as the only line in the body of your message. Do not send the unsubscribe message to the lynx-dev list, itself.

Acknowledgments

Lynx has incorporated code from a variety of sources along the way. The earliest versions of Lynx included code from Earl Fogel of Computing Services at the University of Saskatchewan, who implemented HYPERREZ in the UNIX environment. HYPERREZ was developed by Niel Larson of Think.com and served as the model for the early versions of Lynx. Those versions also incorporated libraries from the UNIX Gopher clients developed at the University of Minnesota, and the later versions of Lynx rely on the WWW client library code, developed by Tim Berners-Lee and the WWW community. Also a special thanks to Foteos Macrides who ported much of Lynx to VMS and did or organized most of its development since the departures of Lou Montulli and Garrett Blythe from the University of Kansas in the summer of 1994 through the current release of v2.7.1f, and to everyone on the net who has contributed to Lynx's development either directly (through patches, comments or bug reports) or indirectly (through inspiration and development of other systems).

Authors

Lou Montulli, Garrett Blythe, Craig Lavender, Michael Grobe, Charles Rezac
Academic Computing Services
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas 66047

Foteos Macrides
Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545


© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 25 April 2004