Full Sail: Power User Tips

Sending Email With Lynx.

Who Is This For?

This column is intended for those who are using the version of Lynx that is installed on the Chebucto Community Net (CCN). That includes CCN users and users on other sites which use the "Chebucto Suite" software package. In particular, "s" is used for "settings" and "o" is used for "other commands". Other, unmodified versions of Lynx use "o" for "options" instead of "s" for "settings" and have no key to change the menu at the bottom of the screen for novice users.

Getting Prepared

To include your email address in the "Cc:" field when you send mail to somebody (so you can have a copy of everything you send), you may find it convenient to have Lynx fill in the "Cc:" field for you automatically. (You can always press Control-U to erase the field if you do NOT want a copy of a particular message.)

To configure Lynx to do this, press "s" for "settings" to get this screen:

Screen snapshot 1:

               Options Menu (Lynx Version 2.7.1ac-0.102+intl+csuite) (p 1 of 2)

                                 User Options
     _________________________________________________________________

   [1] Help     User mode: [ADVANCED____]     Accept cookies: [PROMPT]
   Multiple Bookmarks: [ADVANCED]    [Review bookmarks]
   Search type: CASE SENSITIVE ( ) ON (*) OFF
   Keypad Mode: ( ) Numbers act as arrows (*) Links are numbered ( )
   Links and form fields are numbered
   List directory style: [Directories first]
   FTP sort criteria: [By Filename]
   Preferred document language: en_____________________________
   Preferred document charset: ISO-8859-1____________________

   Character set:
   [ISO Latin 1_________]

   Assume charset if unknown :
   [iso-8859-1____________________]
   Raw 8-bit or CJK mode: (*) ON ( ) OFF
   Vi keys: ( ) ON (*) OFF   -   Emacs keys: (*) ON ( ) OFF
   Popups for selected field: (*) ON ( ) OFF
-more- http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Help/Browser/UserConfig.html

Press the space bar to get to the second page and edit the entry in the line labelled "Personal mail address:". Here, you see that I have filled in my address here: (The screen snapshot was taken after the fact and the status line at the bottom of the screen indicates that the cursor was on one of the "Show cursor:" 'radio buttons' when the screen snapshot was taken.)

Screen snapshot 2:

               Options Menu (Lynx Version 2.7.1ac-0.102+intl+csuite) (p 2 of 2)
   Show cursor: (*) ON ( ) OFF
   Line edit style: [Default Binding]
   User agent: Lynx/2.7.1ac-0.102+intl+csuite libwww-FM/2.14_
   Personal mail address: af380@chebucto.ns.ca_______________

   Show color:
   [OFF_______]
     _________________________________________________________________

                        [Reset to last saved values]
                   [Return to lynx with displayed values]
                              [Save Settings]










(Radio Button)   Use right-arrow or <return> to toggle.

Once you have edited in the "Personal mail address:" field, to include your email address, press the ENTER key and then use your Down-Arrow key to move the highlight to the "[Save Settings]" button. Press the ENTER key to save your changes and return to the Lynx browser function.

Sending an email message with Lynx:

There are three ways to send a message with Lynx:

                    1. follow a "mailto:" link,
                    2. press "g" for "go" and type in a "mailto:" URL yourself, or
                    3. press "c" for "comment" while viewing a web page with a "mailto:" URL in the "owner" attribute of the page. (Not all pages have an owner specified. In fact, very few do.)

Let us visit a page with the "owner" attribute set and send a message while viewing that page. For my example I will pretend that I am a visiting alien named "Namron Tserof Ed" from another planet looking for information on computer security. I have the (fictitious) account, "083fa@chebucto.ns.ca" on CCN, and I have run across a web page of interest on Norman De Forest's web site, "http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/AlienDOS.html" that I wish to ask for more information on. (The URL is genuine.)

At the bottom of the page, I find the following:

Screen snapshot 3:

                                 Security Warning for Alien Invaders (p 7 of 7)
CERT advisories and bulletins are also posted on the USENET newsgroup
        comp.security.announce

To be added to our mailing list for CERT advisories and bulletins, send your
email address to
        cert-advisory-request@cert.org


Copyright 1996 Carnegie Mellon University
This material may be reproduced and distributed without permission provided
it is used for noncommercial purposes and the copyright statement is
included.

CERT is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University.
     _________________________________________________________________

                         [1] Back to my antivirus page

                           [2] Back to my home page

   Webmaster: Norman De Forest, <[3] af380@chebucto.ns.ca>

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/antivirus.html

I see here that I could use method 1 (follow a "mailto:" link) or method 2 (press "g" for "go" and type "mailto:af380@chebucto.ns.ca" -- without the quotes -- and press ENTER) to send a message to Norman.

Can I use the "c" (for "comment") command on Norman's page? Let's see. I press "=" to get information on the page I am viewing:

Screen snapshot 4:

                                         Information about the current document

                     You have reached the Information Page

Lynx Version 2.7.1ac-0.102+intl+csuite

File that you are currently viewing

   Linkname: Security Warning for Alien Invaders
        URL: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/AlienDOS.html
    Charset: iso-8859-1 (assumed)
     Server: Apache/1.2b8
       Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 12:13:00 GMT
   Last Mod: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 08:44:49 GMT
   Owner(s): mailto:af380@chebucto.ns.ca
       size: 152 lines
       mode: normal

Link that you currently have selected

   Linkname: Back to my antivirus page
        URL: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/antivirus.html

Commands: Use arrow keys to move, '?' for help, 'q' to quit, '<-' to go back.

The line:

   Owner(s): mailto:af380@chebucto.ns.ca

tells me that there is an owner attribute specified for the page and that I can use "c" to send the page's owner a comment. How is this specified? I press "=" again to return to normal viewing and then I press "\" to view the HTML source code:

Screen snapshot 5:

                                 Security Warning for Alien Invaders (p 1 of 8)
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:af380@chebucto.ns.ca">
<TITLE>Security Warning for Alien Invaders</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<img src="flasher2.gif" HSPACE=20 VSPACE=20 alt="[=||=]">
<H1>CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability</H1>
<PRE>
Subject: CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
From: CERT Bulletin <cert-advisory@cert.org>
Newsgroups: comp.security.announce, rec.humor

=============================================================================
CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.13
July 4, 1996

Topic: ID4 virus, Alien/OS Vulnerability

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The CERT Coordination Center has received reports of weaknesses in
Currently viewing document source.  Press '\' to return to rendered version.

I see now. It's the

<LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:af380@chebucto.ns.ca">

line that specifies the owner. It's too bad that more web site designers don't use that.

I think I will use "c" to ask the web page owner a question. (The procedure is the same for all three methods of sending a message with Lynx. Only the method of telling Lynx you want to send the message differs.) I press "\" to return to normal viewing and then press "c" to send my question. At the bottom of the screen, Lynx asks:

Do you wish to send a comment? [N]

Since I do want to send a comment, I press "y" for "yes" and get the following on the screen:

Screen snapshot 6:



You are sending a comment to:
  af380@chebucto.ns.ca

Use Ctrl-G to cancel if you do not want to send a message

 Please enter a subject line.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
Subject: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/AlienDOS.html

If I had followed a "mailto:" link by mistake, I would be able to cancel sending a message by pressing Control-G at this time. In this case I do wish to send a message -- but I would like the "Subject:" to be more descriptive than just "Subject: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/AlienDOS.html". I press Control-U to delete the default subject and type in a new one. I could have also edited the original subject had I wished. I now have:

Screen snapshot 7:



You are sending a comment to:
  af380@chebucto.ns.ca

Use Ctrl-G to cancel if you do not want to send a message

 Please enter a subject line.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
Subject: Are other alien systems affected?

I am happy with the new subject so I press "ENTER" and now get a chance to decide whether a 'carbon copy' of the message should go to me or someone else. Since I have configured my copy of Lynx with my (fictitious, remember?) email address, it is filled in for me. Had I not filled in that field, the default would be "NONE".

Screen snapshot 8:



You are sending a comment to:
  af380@chebucto.ns.ca

Use Ctrl-G to cancel if you do not want to send a message

 Please enter a subject line.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
Subject: Are other alien systems affected?

 Enter a mail address for a CC of your message.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
 (Leave blank if you don't want a copy.)
Cc: 083fa@chebucto.ns.ca

I'm happy with the default to send a copy to me so I just press the "ENTER" key:

Screen snapshot 9:



You are sending a comment to:
  af380@chebucto.ns.ca

Use Ctrl-G to cancel if you do not want to send a message

 Please enter a subject line.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
Subject: Are other alien systems affected?

 Enter a mail address for a CC of your message.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
 (Leave blank if you don't want a copy.)
Cc: af380@chebucto.ns.ca








Do you wish to include the original message? (y/n)

I now get asked the question, "Do you wish to include the original message? (y/n)" at the bottom of the screen. Answering with "n" would then give me a blank screen in which to write my message. In this case, however, I do wish to quote part of the web page so I press "y" to include the original page I was viewing -- with ">" added in the left margin. *** Remember the following. It is important! *** Lynx now creates a temporary file in the "/tmp" directory (in this case the file is called "L4838-1TMP.txt" but it changes every time) and copies a rendered copy of the current web page (as seen with lynx and not the original HTML) to the file, adding the ">" to the beginning of each line. Lynx closes the file but makes an internal record of its name. It then executes a system command to invoke the PICO editor to edit the file. I now get the edit screen:

Screen snapshot 10:

   UW PICO(tm) 2.9            File: /tmp/L4838-1TMP.txt

>
>   [=||=]
>
>                CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
>
>Subject: CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
>From: CERT Bulletin <cert-advisory@cert.org>
>Newsgroups: comp.security.announce, rec.humor
>
>=============================================================================
>CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.13
>July 4, 1996
>
>Topic: ID4 virus, Alien/OS Vulnerability
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>The CERT Coordination Center has received reports of weaknesses in
>Alien/OS that can allow species with primitive information sciences
>technology to initiate denial-of-service attacks against MotherShip(tm)
                               [ Read 153 lines ]
^G Get Help  ^O WriteOut  ^R Read File ^Y Prev Pg   ^K Cut Text  ^C Cur Pos
^X Exit      ^J Justify   ^W Where is  ^V Next Pg   ^U UnCut Text^T To Spell

I now delete the quoted lines I don't want, add my comments, and read in my signature block:

Screen snapshot 11:

   UW PICO(tm) 2.9            File: /tmp/L4838-1TMP.txt                     Mod$

>Subject: CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
[snip]
>CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.13
>July 4, 1996
>
>Topic: ID4 virus, Alien/OS Vulnerability
                   ^^^^^^^^

Would this also affect  Alien-OS/2? Or Alienux?

Namron Tserof Ed             -------            083fa@chebucto.ns.ca
                          To err is human.
         Really fouling things up requires an Arcturian!






^G Get Help  ^O WriteOut  ^R Read File ^Y Prev Pg   ^K Cut Text  ^C Cur Pos
^X Exit      ^J Justify   ^W Where is  ^V Next Pg   ^U UnCut Text^T To Spell

I'm done so I press Control-X to exit the editor:

Screen snapshot 12:

   UW PICO(tm) 2.9            File: /tmp/L4838-1TMP.txt                     Mod$

>Subject: CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
[snip]
>CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.13
>July 4, 1996
>
>Topic: ID4 virus, Alien/OS Vulnerability
                   ^^^^^^^^

Would this also affect  Alien-OS/2? Or Alienux?

Namron Tserof Ed             -------            083fa@chebucto.ns.ca
                          To err is human.
         Really fouling things up requires an Arcturian!






Save modified buffer (ANSWERING "No" WILL DESTROY CHANGES) ?
             Y Yes
^C Cancel    N No

If I had changed my mind about sending anything, I could answer either "y" or "n" here -- it wouldn't make any difference. If I want my edited text to be sent, however, I MUST press "y" here or else nothing that I typed will be saved. So I do press "y":

Screen snapshot 13:

   UW PICO(tm) 2.9            File: /tmp/L4838-1TMP.txt                     Mod$

>Subject: CERT Advisory CA-96.13 - Alien/OS Vulnerability
[snip]
>CERT(sm) Advisory CA-96.13
>July 4, 1996
>
>Topic: ID4 virus, Alien/OS Vulnerability
                   ^^^^^^^^

Would this also affect  Alien-OS/2? Or Alienux?

Namron Tserof Ed             -------            083fa@chebucto.ns.ca
                          To err is human.
         Really fouling things up requires an Arcturian!






File Name to write : /tmp/L4838-1TMP.txt
^G Get Help  ^T  To Files
^C Cancel    TAB Complete

I am now asked for the filename to use for the save. Remember that Lynx created a temporary file and expect to use the contents of that file as the message text when the editor quits. If you change the name of the file here, you will be saving with a different filename than Lynx expects and Lynx will use the original file it created (either empty or with nothing but the quoted web page) as the text of your message.

It is important here **** IF YOU WISH TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE FILENAME FOR THE SAVE. **** Just press the ENTER key to accept the filename provided as a default.

Here, I press ENTER:

Screen snapshot 14:



You are sending a comment to:
  af380@chebucto.ns.ca

Use Ctrl-G to cancel if you do not want to send a message

 Please enter a subject line.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
Subject: Are other alien systems affected?

 Enter a mail address for a CC of your message.
 Use Control-U to erase the default.
 (Leave blank if you don't want a copy.)
Cc: 083fa@chebucto.ns.ca








Send this comment? (y/n)

The PICO editor has now saved my changes to the temporary file and closed the file. It then returned to Lynx.

Lynx gives me a last chance to cancel my message by asking

Send this comment? (y/n)

I press "y" and lynx now opens the temporary file it created, uses the contents of that as the body of my message, and sends the message. Since I accepted the default filename provided for the save, my changes are in the file that Lynx sends.

Lynx now returns to the web page I was viewing.

Unfortunately, that stupid Norman De Forest fails to answer my message and I have to abandon my plans for taking over the Earth.

You may direct comments or suggestions about this column to:

Norman L. De Forest, af380@chebucto.ns.ca

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