2 Document View Window The NCSA Mosaic Document View screen is your window on the online world. This screen gives you access to the vast amount of information available through the Internet. Window Elements Figure 2.1 The Document View Window As Figure 2.1 shows, the Document View window has five pull-down menus: File, Options, Navigate, Annotate, and Help. These menus are explained throughout this manual and are summarized in ÒNCSA Mosaic MenusÓ on pageÊAÐ1. Remember, to navigate the web of information, single click your left mouse button on the words or images shown in color or underlined, which are the hyperlinks between docu- ments. Document Title Below the top menubar you see the Document Title field that displays the title assigned to the document you are viewing. Not all authors include document titles when they prepare files. Therefore, sometimes, there is a default entry in the Document Title field showing basic information about the docu- ment and its source. Document URL Below the title is the Document URL field, which lists the server type and location and the path of the document being viewed. See ÒThe URL FormatÓ on pageÊ3Ð4 for more informa- tion but, briefly, a documentÕs URL lists its server address and file path. The Globe In the upper right-hand corner of the NCSA Mosaic screen is a globe superimposed on a stylized S. Figure 2.2 NCSA Mosaic S This attractive icon serves two purposes: 1. When a hyperlink is activated by clicking on the word or image, the globe spins and beams of light travel along the segments of the S toward the globe. This movement sig- nifies that your document is being retrieved. 2. You can abort the document retrieval process by clicking on the globe. The status line (see ÒStatus LineÓ on pageÊ2Ð2) then dis- plays the message ÒTransfer Aborted.Ó If part of the file was already retrieved without the inline images, the Doc- ument View window contains the new document; click the Back button (see ÒBottom Control PanelÓ on pageÊ2Ð3) at the bottom of the window to return to the document containing the hyperlink. Viewing Area Below the Document URL field is the Viewing Area, which displays the contents of the current document file. Remember that highlighted or underlined words or images within the view- ing area are hyperlinks to other files. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the viewing area to move through the file con- tents. Some hyperlinks open in separate windows because they depend on external viewers to display the file contents. This is generally true for movies and for some graphics. To alert you that this is the case, NCSA Mosaic displays the message ÒSpawning external viewerÓ in the information line at the bot- tom of the window. If NCSA Mosaic attempts to spawn an external viewer that is not installed, an error message may be displayed on the con- sole (xterm) from which NCSA Mosaic was executed. NCSA Mosaic may ask you to enter a filename to save the current ÒunidentifiableÓ document. Status Line Sandwiched between the document viewing area and the bot- tom row of control buttons is an area NCSA Mosaic uses to let you know specific information such as the status of your retrieval of a file, the use of an external viewer, and the URL of a linked file. Figure 2.3 displays a URL in the information line. Notice the hand-shaped icon in the viewing area. This icon indicates that the cursor is resting on a hyperlink. Figure 2.3 Information line displaying a URL The Document View window also displays the status of the current retrieval process in the information line, as shown in Figure 2.4. Figure 2.4 Sample information line messages Bottom Control Panel Nine buttons form the bottom control panel: Back, Forward, Home, Reload, Open..., Save As..., Clone, New Window, and Close Win- dow. The buttons provide shortcut access to items contained within the five pull-down menus. Figure 2.5 The Bottom Control Panel If your Document View window is not wide enough, all nine buttons are not displayed. Because the function of each but- ton is also offered in a pull-down menu, no functionality is lost if you open a narrow Document View window. The list below discusses each button and notes the corresponding pull-down menu option. Back Returns to the previous document in the Document View window history (e.g., if you have followed a hyperlink or selected a menu item). No action if you have only viewed one document so far. Also available on the Navigate menu. Forward Returns to the document that preceded the current document. Dimmed if you have not moved backward yet. For example, if you moved from Document A to Document B and returned to Document A with Back, For- ward brings up Document B again. Also available on the Navigate menu. Home Moves to your home document or home page. Default home document is the NCSA Mosaic Home Page. Also available on the Navigate menu. Reload Reloads the current document from the server, thus displaying any file changes made and saved since the last loading. (This is particularly useful if you are refining a document file.) Also available on the File menu as Reload Cur- rent. Open... Opens the Open Document window to enter the URL for a file to be viewed. See ÒThe URL FormatÓ on pageÊ3Ð4 and the NCSA Mosaic Help menu (On URLs). Also available on the File menu as Open URL.... Save As... Opens the Save Document window that lets you save the current document to your local system in one of four different formats. Also available on the File menu. Clone Opens a duplicate of the window being viewed. This is a useful choice if you want to keep a window open for reference but also want to select another hyperlink or open another file. Also available on the File menu as Clone Win- dow. New Window Opens a new Document View window. The content of the new window is your default home page. There is no limit on the number of windows you can open. Also available on the File menu. Close Window Closes the current Document View window. If you only have one window open, the entire application exits. Also available on the File menu. The Cursor and Displaying Hyperlink URLs The cursor in NCSA Mosaic is generally the standard short arrow pointing slightly to the left of twelve oÕclock. The cur- sor changes its configuration depending on where you are in the Document View window. It is the arrow configuration unless it is pointing to a hyperlink. Figure 2.6 The Pointer Cursor When the cursor rests on a hyperlink, it changes to a small hand icon pointing to the left, as shown in Figure 2.7. At the same time that the cursor changes its configuration, the hyperlinkÕs URL is displayed in the information line (figure 2.3). Remember that a documentÕs URL is essentially its server location and path. When you see the hyperlinkÕs URL in the information line, you know the source of the document that will be retrieved if you select the hyperlink. The URL may also may tell you the format of the document. Figure 2.7 The Cursor on a Hyperlink For example, suppose the URL http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ Pubs/access/accessDir.html is displayed in the information line. This tells you that the document will be retrieved from the NCSA WWW server (www.ncsa.uiuc.edu). If you see the CERN WWW server (info.cern.ch) and an image file extension (.gif), you can surmise that the hyperlink is an image being retrieved from Switzerland and might take longer to download than a local text file. (Of course, your access to the Internet plays a part in the retrieval speed but, in general, you should expect links from overseas as well as image files to take slightly longer to display.) Shortcuts and Keyboard Options Underlined Keys on a Selected Menu Each underlined letter is a shortcut to the same action as the corresponding menu item after the menu is open on your screen. You must have first selected a menu for the under- lined shortcuts to work. Hotkeys While your mouse pointer is in the hypertext viewing area, the following hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts for common actions) are active. As the table below shows, in most instances, NCSA Mosaic accepts either case for the hotkey. Equivalent Action a or A Annotate b or B Back c or C Clone d or D Document source f or F Forward H Hotlist m or M Mail to n or N New window l or L Open local o or O Open URL p or P Print R Refresh r Reload s or S Search/find in document h Window history EXC Close current window Moving Around the Window Use the following arrow keys to move around in the NCSA Mosaic window: Key Action Down arrow Scroll down one line Up arrow Scroll up one line Left arrow Scroll left Right arrow Scroll right PAGE UP Scroll up one page PRIOR Scroll up one page BACKSPACE Scroll up one page DELETE Scroll up one page PAGE DOWN Scroll down one page NEXT Scroll down one page RETURN Scroll down one page TAB Scroll down one page SPACE Scroll down one page Text Selection You can select text from the viewing area as though you were in a normal workstation or editor window. Cut and paste into other X Window System windows as usual by pressing the left mouse button to begin selecting text and then holding the button down and dragging. Alternately, release the left mouse button and use the right mouse button to complete the selection. The Fancy Selections setting under the Options menu causes the paste function to imitate the formatted display in the NCSA Mosaic viewing area.