Bobcat

Return to Start


If you are reading this, then you should be running a version of Bobcat--A highly modified, slightly enhanced, bug infected version of Lynx2-4-2 for DOS by Wayne Buttles, bobcat@fdisk.com.

Before attempting to venture forth onto the WWW you need to read/edit the wattcp.cfg and lynx.cfg files that came with this program. Just leave all the configuration files with the exe, Bobcat will look in the directory it started from to find them.

Bobcat should run on an 8086, but in my experience it is very slow. I have seen it run on a 286 and it was tolerable. In optimal conditions on my fast 486 it can download files at a speed that rivals Netscape. without waiting for the graphics.

Memory is tight at the moment. Web pages take up an average of 2.5 times their size in memory to view. Bobcat usually limits itself to about 300k, so take the rest and divide it by 2.5 and you know what you can view. If you see something bigger than that coming down the pipe, it might be a wise time to try the `z'ap key!

Please make sure to have a TMP or TEMP environment variable which points to a valid scratch directory. Bobcat does not delete these files. You are advised to wrap the lynx.exe in a bobcat.bat file that deletes the contents of the temporary directory if you want them removed.

Bobcat handles local files/directories a little strangely. Incorrect file:// URLs may hang the program until I get a chance to make it behave better. Here are the correct methods:

file:///c:/web/cool.htm
file:///c:/web (NO trailing slash)
file:///c:/ (NEEDS trailing slash)
file:///info.htm (magically gives you the file in the current directory)

Reading through the lynx.cfg should give an advanced user a good idea what Bobcat can do. There are a ton of features and options. One thing that isn't obvious is when a helper application is run or you shell out to DOS you will have 1k less memory than when you started Bobcat! You can also run well behaved TCP applications. Just don't get confused running multiple copies of Bobcat! UKA-PPP applications are not able to run from within Bobcat--it will crash. Helper applications or batch files to run them should be in your path to make setup easier.

Oh, almost forgot, pressing navigation keys during a download will give you a quick view of the page that is loading. You can't select links, but if you want to then you can just `z'ap it and then select the link. Also, pressing `*' will toggle the support for selectable inline images.

Good luck, and happy browsing.
Wayne. Return to Start