Re: LYNX-DEV I have a dream... (no, not THAT dream...)

[Al Gilman]

  From: address@hidden (Larry W. Virden, x2487)
  Subject: LYNX-DEV I have a dream... (no, not THAT dream...)
  
  This morning I was just thinking how nice it would be when visiting
  a WWW page if with a single keystroke I could:
  
  o submit the current URL to a WWW validation and style 'judging' service
  o have the results mailed to the current URLs contact or webmaster, with
        me getting a courtesy cc
  
  I would be much more likely to go thru the effort if it could somehow
        be 'macroized' into a keystroke.
  
This is a common dream.  I have spent a lot of time with this
dream (as a dream).  My dream is a little different; I see this
as a "complaint letter writer's associate" service.  Some of the
characteristics of how it works are:

        No validation service report goes forward until the user signing
        the letter has read and tried to understand the results.  Suppose
        the problem is really a Lynx bug?

        The user should have assistance in getting heard.  This means that
        the service will learn what email addressees have a history of 
        responding well to well-done criticism, and functions to help
        the user use snail mail when sending email has not
        been demonstrated to be effective.  This argues for the service
        to be a single site at first, because accumulated experience
        is important to its functioning.

        Probably you don't want to presume that a complaint is going to
        come out.  To me it is better to implement a
        "diagnostic associate" site which aids in the analysis of 
        Web transactions that didn't work.  HTML validation analysis
        of pages is part of it, but we have cases like the "mode
        switch on the fly in redirect" where the bug is in the
        HTTP process, not in the HTML page.  The Lynx button is a
        "Play it again, Sam" function -- repeat the last HTTP 
        transaction, but through the diagnostic-monitor broker.
        The "Write a letter of complaint" function is entered only
        after the triage indicates that the problem appears to be
        at the server site.  The site also helps prepare Lynx 
        bug reports (although that probably wants more support from
        within Lynx, too).

        This test aid would draw usage from many more than the Lynx
        userbase.

        Yes, Lynx should have a keystroke command to access this service.
        Maybe it takes two commands.  But the point is that the
        Lynx installation has a short cache of start-forms for
        services [base qualified, so Lynx knows where to submit them]
        and the functionality to fill in things like
        "URL to page I'm at" from the history data of the current
        Lynx session.  This branching wants to be done through a
        small and generic interface so that the same kind of a
        plug-in capability is achieved for

                - complaint letter

                - speech-friendly rewrite of HTML

                - other functions TBD

        Documenting what information Lynx can provide across this
        interface is a key part of creating the plug-in environment
        Lynx needs.  The adaptation of the external server's form
        for one-button submission should be able to call on known
        items in the Lynx inteface to populate form data.

        I guess it is an interface like this that I would like to
        see O)ptions control move to:

                Current values are loaded into HTML-form control screens
                via the new InstaForm interface.

                The server for adjusting control variables
                is internal to Lynx, but accessed via
                a standard form with a lynx-execute URL as
                its action.

You will note that I alluded to your dream in my flame at

http://www.access.digex.net/~asgilman/lynx/plans/situation_2.html

--
Al Gilman
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