Edit File: FM.announce
LYNX FILE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT New facilities have been added since Lynx 2-3 to provide support for managing files on the local filesystem. These facilities allow the user to delete, rename, and re-locate files and/or directories and to create and/or upload new files and directories. This will mainly be of interest to systems administrators who are interested in running lynx as a restricted shell in order to provide controlled access to a range of services (as in a freenet). It may also be of use at sites where some of the users are experiencing difficulty with the raw Unix interface. Support for the new facilities is enabled at compile time by defining the variable `DIRED_SUPPORT' in the `MCFLAGS' list in the Lynx Makefile, and in the WWW makefile `CommonMakefile'. Runtime support for disabling the facilities is provided by way of the restriction `dired_support' which can be set on the command line for a particular session. The Makefile also provides additional compile time flags for controlling the extent and application of the file management facilities; specifically, `OK_TAR' which enables support for creating and expanding tar archives, `OK_GZIP' which enables use of gzip to compress and decompress files, and `OK_OVERRIDE' which allows access to the file management facilities directly from the keyboard in addition to access by way of a file management menu. There are two possible modes of operation; the first in which a single file management menu is invoked via the `f', or `F' key; the second, in which the more often used facilities are made available directly from the keyboard in addition to access via the menu. The second method provides a much better user interface but requires re-mapping some of the keys from their standard lynx interpretation, temporarily when file management mode is in effect. For example, if OK_OVERRIDE is defined at compile-time, then the line at the bottom of the screen, in novice mode, will be C)reate D)ownload E)dit F)ull menu M)odify R)emove T)ag U)pload rather than the standard second noviceline, H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list when the user is browsing part of the file system. If OK_OVERRIDE is not defined then all access to file management functionality must be by way of the menu. The only exception is that the facility to tag files for subsequent removal and/or re-location is always available directly from the keyboard using `t', and `T'. This is a first release of the file management enhancements and suggestions for improvements are welcome. Among the enhancements which are currently being considered are facilities for changing file access attributes, and a facility for listing and extracting part of an archive. In order to use the file management facilities you may either point the program at a directory on the command line or point the program at an html file which contains a link of the following form: <a href="file://localhost/~/"> Manage Personal Directory ? </a> where the anchor `file://localhost/~/' implies a reference to /home/username. Because the `~/' in a file URL is converted to `/home/username' regardless of origin, these facilities also work when the anchor shown above is served from an http server as well. In either case the reference is to files on the local system and not files in the domain of the server. By default the file listing is in standard Unix mixed format, but you may use the Options menu to select WWW `directories first' format, or `files first' format if you prefer. Rick Mallett, Carleton University, Ottawa Canada. (rmallett@ccs.carleton.ca)