lynx-dev Re: lynx_w32.zip feedback

[Foteos Macrides]

Doug Kaufman <address@hidden> wrote:
>On Thu, 16 Apr 1998 address@hidden wrote:
>
>> >Foteos Macrides <address@hidden> wrote:
>> >Wayne and Doug,
>> >on invoking the W32 Lynx.  However, when I 'd'ownloaded a text file
>> >(LYMail.c from the dev5 source breakout) and subsequently tried to view
>> >it with Notepad, it was garbled due to non-recognition of newlines.  I
>> >went to the MS DOS prompt and opened it with that editor, and it displayed
>> >OK.  I then Save'd that, and it displayed OK in Notepad too.  This seems
>> >to mean that Notepad needs CRLF, but the DOS editor doesn't, to recognized
>> >newlines, and the DOS editor converts LFs to CRLFs on Save's.  Do you have
>> >any recommendations on how to deal with all this more conveniently when
>> >trying to view files 'd'ownloaded by Lynx when accessing them via Desktop
>> >utilities?
>> >
>> First of all, depending on the exact version you downloaded, there was
>> an _fmode = O_BINARY statement which evolved into a series of _fmode
>> statements in the latest version, but the overall effect was to make
>> text transfers look like Unix text.  Removing the _fmode statement has
>
>My understanding is that mode O_BINARY will make files PRINTed from lynx
>have 0A EOL's, but will not convert text files already in MSDOS format,
>with 0D 0A EOL's. The lynx source files are unix-style text files and
>are downloaded exactly as they are stored on the web site or in the
>archive file. There are several options. One is to convert them to DOS
>form with a simple utility like "flip". The other main option is to use
>utilities that deal with both unix and dos text files. Buerg's "list"
>program and the "less" program work fine for viewing files. For an
>editor, I prefer "vim", which has been ported to DOS and Win95. I
>presume that "vile" also works fine with both types of files. I don't
>use Win95 much, so I can't comment on its native editors, but the above
>utilities can be used either directly from Win95 or in a DOS window.

        In src/HTFWriter.c there is code for modifying the characteristics
of files downloaded to VMS.  Using that as a model, it would appear what
is needed for the DOS/WIN/NT ports is code to check if the the downloaded
file is text/*, and if so, something to "flip" it from streamLF to native
DOS format.

        I would appreciate some substantive discussion of the pros and cons
for choosing among the various compilers for Windows 95 systems.

        I tried the MINGW32 Lynx, and it works fine, but I'm not clear on
what comparisons are intended with the dev5 binary.  Also, what is mc.exe?
The GTE server allows up to 10 MB for personal web pages, and address@hidden
(What's your name?) has plenty of room for an HTML or text file that explains
what those _exe.gz files are all about.

                                        Fote
--
Foteos Macrides (address@hidden during April, '98)