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lynx-dev Re: ISINDEX, Non-obvious mappings


From: Klaus Weide
Subject: lynx-dev Re: ISINDEX, Non-obvious mappings
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 12:15:40 -0600 (CST)

On Sat, 27 Mar 1999, Larry W. Virden wrote:
> 
> If you all don't mind this minor diversion, one of the most confusing things
> about lynx, to me, is the way it handles <isindex> pages.
> 
> If I use Netscape on a page with isindex, the page displays with a text
> entry like box to type in terms and a search button.
> 
> If I use lynx on such a page, I get what appears to be an empty screen
> with a search button - and I have to type a keystroke to get a bottom of
> the page prompt.

The screen doesn't have to be empty - if it is, that's an accidental property
of the page you're looking at.

> Would an an alternative to this behavior for lynx be possible?  Or is there
> some technical consideration which requires this behavior?

Considering that an isindex page can be an arbitrary html document, so
that the screen space is already being used and all the usual
navigation keys should work as usual, I find lynx has the best
implementation I can think of.   It doesn't have to mess up the display
of the normal text.  Lynx reats it as a document-wide property, not
something that's bound to one location in the text, which seems to
bwe the right thing since according to HTML 4.0 Traditional it can
be in <HEAD> (and I thing that agrees mostly with actual use).

It is also deprecated in HTML 4.0, so expect no further enhancements
and declining use.

I don't find the Lynx implementation non-obvious - the statusline says
explicitly what to do, thats about as obvious as it can get in Lynx.
(I would argue that nearly all Key bindings appear only obvious if
you are either already familiar with them or happen to be familiar
with programs that use similar bindings.  There are relatively few
bindings that you could guess without previous knowledge, so 'S'
or the proposed 'N' is nothing new.)

   Klaus


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