DigestI
Usage of Network Browsers under DOS
DOS is a very powerful operating system, so its functions are relatively comprehensive. In recent years, with the development of the network, network software has become very important. Therefore, many corresponding software have also appeared under DOS in recent years, and the most important one is the network browser. These network browsers under DOS can be divided into two categories: graphical browsers and text browsers. Among them, Arachne is the most powerful and famous one in the former category. And the latter category includes Lynx, Minuet, etc. The following will introduce their usage.
The latest version of Arachne is 1.70, which can be downloaded in "DOS Software". It comes with many network functions. In addition to the usual FTP and HTTP functions, it also supports POP3/SMTP email sending and receiving, installing various plug-ins and other functions. It can also be used as an offline browser, just like a graphical file manager, to run programs (including viewing pictures, listening to music, etc.) and perform file operations. It supports multiple Internet access methods, such as dial-up Internet access, network card Internet access (including CABLE, ADSL, etc.), and it all supports. However, to achieve Internet access, it is not just having these hardware. In addition to the hardware modem, to use other devices to access the Internet, you must install its driver program, otherwise it cannot be used. For the specific method, please refer to "DOS Usage" in "Methods of Networking under DOS".
The following will start to introduce the setup and usage methods of Arachne. After downloading its installation program ARCHN170.EXE with a size of less than 1M, you can directly run it under DOS. After entering the path you want to install, it will automatically decompress, and no manual operation is required. After decompression, it will prompt you to select the graphics card you use, generally select VGA or VESA. Once it starts running, it will appear a setup wizard. For example, the computer type, it will automatically select, just press NEXT (Next) to proceed. Soon, you will reach the Internet access setup menu (file://setup.htm), where there are three options. The left option (PPP Wizard) is for dial-up Internet access using a modem, the middle option (Packet Wizard) is for Internet access using a network card to achieve CABLE, ADSL, etc., and the right option (Manual Setup) is for manual setup. Generally, you can select the left or middle option according to your Internet access situation. The setup of Arachne is very simple, you can follow its setup wizard, and you can also go back at any time. For example, after detecting the modem, it will prompt you to enter the dial-up phone number, username and password, and then you will reach the dial-up screen. Select "Dial" to automatically dial. After detecting the network card, you can select "BOOTP/DHCP" or set the TCP/IP protocol. If you think it has been set up, you can directly select the former, and it will automatically initialize BOOTP/DHCP. Generally, as long as the hardware is connected well, there will be no problem. Of course, you can also manually set the TCP/IP protocol, which can sometimes achieve better results.
Arachne has many functions, and of course, it is not only the function of network setup. You can also set its screen display effect, install plug-ins to complete more functions, etc. Are there many icons at the top of the screen? For example, "Desktop" means the desktop, where there are many functions, such as browsing your computer, using applications, and setting personal options, etc. You can set the display color, various effects, homepage, etc. of Arachne in the options, and there are many others. There are also many other icons at the top of the screen, such as viewing the history record and email, etc. Arachne also has a full-screen help function, you can press the F1 key at any time to get very detailed help. In addition to the F1 key, there are many other function keys. For example, the F3 key is to enter the URL in the address bar, the F4 key is to edit the document, the F5 key can be used to select between multiple display interfaces, the F6 key is to view the source code of the web page, the F7 key is the search function, the F9 key is to redraw the screen, the F10 key is to return to the desktop, the ESC key is to interrupt the loading of the web page or exit Arachne, Ctrl + left arrow is to go back to the previous page, Ctrl + right arrow is to go forward to the next page, the * key switches full screen (just like the F11 key in IE), and others can be seen in the "Function Key List" in the F1 help. In addition to the function keys, there are many shortcut keys. For example, Alt + D immediately dials, Alt + E then Shells to DOS, press EXIT to return, Alt + Q enters the quick notepad, Alt + X then exits Arachne, Alt + F1 goes to the homepage, Ctrl + L searches for the next one, Ctrl + P prints the screen, etc. If you use it frequently, with the proficiency of operation, you will find that everything is very simple.
Although Arachne is very powerful, it has a big weakness for Chinese people, that is, it does not support Chinese (that is, Chinese can only be displayed as garbled code). Although it supports many languages, it is mainly other European languages, and there is no Chinese, Japanese, Korean (CJK) language. To view Chinese, the graphical browser is obviously not suitable (unless it has a Chinese version), and only the text browser can be used, which is used under the Chinese DOS system, such as Lynx. From the interface, Lynx is of course far less than Arachne, but because it is a text mode, it is fast, and can view Chinese web pages, and can also input Chinese characters. The method to view or input Chinese web pages is very simple. First start the Chinese character system (for example, CCDOS97, UCDOS, etc., it is recommended to use CCDOS97 to get the best effect) and then run Lynx. However, if you just run it like this, some Chinese characters are still garbled when viewing Chinese web pages, because the default character set of Lynx is set to the Western character set, and it is necessary to change its default setting to completely eliminate these garbled codes. The method is to set "CHARACTER_SET:euc-cn" in the LYNX.CFG file. Then, when you start Lynx again, Chinese characters can be displayed normally completely. To facilitate everyone's use, I provide the modified LYNX.CFG file here. You can download it here (just replace the original LYNX.CFG file with it): http://www.cn-dos.net/dosware/lynx.cfg
Lynx does not have the powerful setup wizard of Arachne, but it is also relatively simple. For example, after loading the Packet driver program of the network device (for example, network card, modem, etc.) (specifically, you can see the "Methods of Networking under DOS" in the "DOS Usage" column of this website), run Lynx, it will automatically initialize BOOTP/DHCP (you can also manually specify the IP address, etc.). After success, you can access the Internet. There are many keys for it. For example, press the left and right arrows to go forward/backward, the up and down arrows to switch links, the G key to enter the URL, the Q key to exit, the O key to set options, the H key to view help, etc. At any time when running Lynx, you can also press the Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Break key to exit it and return to DOS. In fact, its functions are still quite a lot. For example, it supports the HTTPS protocol, supports the Frame structure (however, it will not display all Frames at the same time, but display the names of all Frames, and you can select the corresponding name to enter the content in each Frame), etc. In addition, Lynx can also be used as an offline browser to view various Chinese and English HTML web page files in the computer, and the effect is very good. If you only want to use it as an offline browser, you can edit the LYNX.CFG file to set the start page of Lynx to the local address, and then load any Packet driver program (including its own NULLPKT, that is, the empty Packet driver program, such as executing the NULLPKT 0x60 command) and then start Lynx.
The above talks about the usage methods of two more famous network browsers under DOS. You can try it yourself and experience the Internet access ability and functions under DOS. In fact, there are some more powerful DOS browsers. For example, a domestic company mentioned that they developed a "Chinese DOS browser that can be compared with the Internet Explorer browser under Windows". Moreover, everyone can also participate in "DOS Development" to develop more powerful Chinese browsers under DOS to make DOS more powerful!
DOS is a very powerful operating system, so its functions are relatively comprehensive. In recent years, with the development of the network, network software has become very important. Therefore, many corresponding software have also appeared under DOS in recent years, and the most important one is the network browser. These network browsers under DOS can be divided into two categories: graphical browsers and text browsers. Among them, Arachne is the most powerful and famous one in the former category. And the latter category includes Lynx, Minuet, etc. The following will introduce their usage.
The latest version of Arachne is 1.70, which can be downloaded in "DOS Software". It comes with many network functions. In addition to the usual FTP and HTTP functions, it also supports POP3/SMTP email sending and receiving, installing various plug-ins and other functions. It can also be used as an offline browser, just like a graphical file manager, to run programs (including viewing pictures, listening to music, etc.) and perform file operations. It supports multiple Internet access methods, such as dial-up Internet access, network card Internet access (including CABLE, ADSL, etc.), and it all supports. However, to achieve Internet access, it is not just having these hardware. In addition to the hardware modem, to use other devices to access the Internet, you must install its driver program, otherwise it cannot be used. For the specific method, please refer to "DOS Usage" in "Methods of Networking under DOS".
The following will start to introduce the setup and usage methods of Arachne. After downloading its installation program ARCHN170.EXE with a size of less than 1M, you can directly run it under DOS. After entering the path you want to install, it will automatically decompress, and no manual operation is required. After decompression, it will prompt you to select the graphics card you use, generally select VGA or VESA. Once it starts running, it will appear a setup wizard. For example, the computer type, it will automatically select, just press NEXT (Next) to proceed. Soon, you will reach the Internet access setup menu (file://setup.htm), where there are three options. The left option (PPP Wizard) is for dial-up Internet access using a modem, the middle option (Packet Wizard) is for Internet access using a network card to achieve CABLE, ADSL, etc., and the right option (Manual Setup) is for manual setup. Generally, you can select the left or middle option according to your Internet access situation. The setup of Arachne is very simple, you can follow its setup wizard, and you can also go back at any time. For example, after detecting the modem, it will prompt you to enter the dial-up phone number, username and password, and then you will reach the dial-up screen. Select "Dial" to automatically dial. After detecting the network card, you can select "BOOTP/DHCP" or set the TCP/IP protocol. If you think it has been set up, you can directly select the former, and it will automatically initialize BOOTP/DHCP. Generally, as long as the hardware is connected well, there will be no problem. Of course, you can also manually set the TCP/IP protocol, which can sometimes achieve better results.
Arachne has many functions, and of course, it is not only the function of network setup. You can also set its screen display effect, install plug-ins to complete more functions, etc. Are there many icons at the top of the screen? For example, "Desktop" means the desktop, where there are many functions, such as browsing your computer, using applications, and setting personal options, etc. You can set the display color, various effects, homepage, etc. of Arachne in the options, and there are many others. There are also many other icons at the top of the screen, such as viewing the history record and email, etc. Arachne also has a full-screen help function, you can press the F1 key at any time to get very detailed help. In addition to the F1 key, there are many other function keys. For example, the F3 key is to enter the URL in the address bar, the F4 key is to edit the document, the F5 key can be used to select between multiple display interfaces, the F6 key is to view the source code of the web page, the F7 key is the search function, the F9 key is to redraw the screen, the F10 key is to return to the desktop, the ESC key is to interrupt the loading of the web page or exit Arachne, Ctrl + left arrow is to go back to the previous page, Ctrl + right arrow is to go forward to the next page, the * key switches full screen (just like the F11 key in IE), and others can be seen in the "Function Key List" in the F1 help. In addition to the function keys, there are many shortcut keys. For example, Alt + D immediately dials, Alt + E then Shells to DOS, press EXIT to return, Alt + Q enters the quick notepad, Alt + X then exits Arachne, Alt + F1 goes to the homepage, Ctrl + L searches for the next one, Ctrl + P prints the screen, etc. If you use it frequently, with the proficiency of operation, you will find that everything is very simple.
Although Arachne is very powerful, it has a big weakness for Chinese people, that is, it does not support Chinese (that is, Chinese can only be displayed as garbled code). Although it supports many languages, it is mainly other European languages, and there is no Chinese, Japanese, Korean (CJK) language. To view Chinese, the graphical browser is obviously not suitable (unless it has a Chinese version), and only the text browser can be used, which is used under the Chinese DOS system, such as Lynx. From the interface, Lynx is of course far less than Arachne, but because it is a text mode, it is fast, and can view Chinese web pages, and can also input Chinese characters. The method to view or input Chinese web pages is very simple. First start the Chinese character system (for example, CCDOS97, UCDOS, etc., it is recommended to use CCDOS97 to get the best effect) and then run Lynx. However, if you just run it like this, some Chinese characters are still garbled when viewing Chinese web pages, because the default character set of Lynx is set to the Western character set, and it is necessary to change its default setting to completely eliminate these garbled codes. The method is to set "CHARACTER_SET:euc-cn" in the LYNX.CFG file. Then, when you start Lynx again, Chinese characters can be displayed normally completely. To facilitate everyone's use, I provide the modified LYNX.CFG file here. You can download it here (just replace the original LYNX.CFG file with it): http://www.cn-dos.net/dosware/lynx.cfg
Lynx does not have the powerful setup wizard of Arachne, but it is also relatively simple. For example, after loading the Packet driver program of the network device (for example, network card, modem, etc.) (specifically, you can see the "Methods of Networking under DOS" in the "DOS Usage" column of this website), run Lynx, it will automatically initialize BOOTP/DHCP (you can also manually specify the IP address, etc.). After success, you can access the Internet. There are many keys for it. For example, press the left and right arrows to go forward/backward, the up and down arrows to switch links, the G key to enter the URL, the Q key to exit, the O key to set options, the H key to view help, etc. At any time when running Lynx, you can also press the Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Break key to exit it and return to DOS. In fact, its functions are still quite a lot. For example, it supports the HTTPS protocol, supports the Frame structure (however, it will not display all Frames at the same time, but display the names of all Frames, and you can select the corresponding name to enter the content in each Frame), etc. In addition, Lynx can also be used as an offline browser to view various Chinese and English HTML web page files in the computer, and the effect is very good. If you only want to use it as an offline browser, you can edit the LYNX.CFG file to set the start page of Lynx to the local address, and then load any Packet driver program (including its own NULLPKT, that is, the empty Packet driver program, such as executing the NULLPKT 0x60 command) and then start Lynx.
The above talks about the usage methods of two more famous network browsers under DOS. You can try it yourself and experience the Internet access ability and functions under DOS. In fact, there are some more powerful DOS browsers. For example, a domestic company mentioned that they developed a "Chinese DOS browser that can be compared with the Internet Explorer browser under Windows". Moreover, everyone can also participate in "DOS Development" to develop more powerful Chinese browsers under DOS to make DOS more powerful!
Wengier - 新DOS时代
欢迎大家来到我的“新DOS时代”网站，里面有各类DOS软件和资料，地址：
http://wendos.mycool.net/
E-Mail & MSN: wengierwu AT hotmail.com （最近比较忙，有事请联系DOSroot和雨露，谢谢！）
欢迎大家来到我的“新DOS时代”网站，里面有各类DOS软件和资料，地址：
http://wendos.mycool.net/
E-Mail & MSN: wengierwu AT hotmail.com （最近比较忙，有事请联系DOSroot和雨露，谢谢！）
