HotList Organizer version 0.4 Copyright (C) 1994, 1997, 1998 Karl J. Runge. DOWNLOADING: ftp the file HLO-0.4.tar.Z (or most recent version number, be sure to use binary mode in ftp) to your machine. Then unpack via the command zcat HLO-0.4.tar.Z | tar -xvf - The contents will unpack into subdirectory HotListOrg. cd to that directory (where you will find this README file again), and follow the instructions to install. REQUIREMENTS: A Unix system running X and Mosaic or Netscape. You must have Perl and tcl/tk (wish) installed on your system to use this program. Perl is at anonymous ftp site ftp.uu.net and tcl/tk is at sunscript.sun.com. These are great packages, I strongly suggest getting them. (BTW, perl is not really necessary, but some actions use it) DESCRIPTION: HotList orgranizer provides a GUI interface to create a hierarchical system of HotList URL's you frequently visit. The hierarchy is Folders and sub-Folders, etc. This tree can be processed to 1) make a set of nested HTML files you can move around in within a WWW client, then select the URL to visit 2) make a single HTLM file with the hierarchy represented by indentation. 3) You can even make Mosaic jump to a URL from within the GUI interface (thanks to the SIGUSR1 signal call). Now Netscape works too, thanks to "netscape -remote 'openURL()' command. (Historical note: this program was written before Mosaic or Netscape had any hierarchical bookmarking system. Now they do, and they change their look and feel regularly. I stick with my HLO.) INSTALLATION: Unpack the tarfile, and then cd to HotListOrg. In this directory (where this README file is found again) enter the command ./Install It checks for basic Unix commands and the location of 'perl' and 'wish', make sure they are in your PATH now before running Install. If you have perl and wish it should all be ok. Install makes a little script called 'hlo' to start everything up. Enter hlo to run it. Later you can move the file 'hlo' from this directory to any directory, then entering "hlo" in any directory will start HotListOrg. Start it up now and see if it works. DETAILS: For more information use the online help. (also included below) Let me know if you have any problems, and more importantly if you found this program to be of *any* use at all! Suggestions very welcome. Karl J. Runge (runge at-sign karlrunge.com) HotList Organizer is GNU Copylefted. See file COPYING for more info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Help file included: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The hotlist organizer stores each hotlist Item as a separate file. The Folders are simply directories containing the files. An Item is a "name" and "URL" pair. On most Unix systems it is OK to have file or directory names containing spaces. So feel free to use spaces in names. Moving around: In the listbox display, Folders have a trailing "/" If you double click on a Folder name you open that Folder. If you double click on an Item, the Item's name and URL are displayed in the Item and URL entry boxes. To move up a level double click on "../" The path to the Folder you are in is displayed in the "Folder:" entry box. Deleting Folders and Items: If you single click on a Folder or Item you select it. If you then click on "Folder" then "Delete Folder" or "Items" then "Delete Item", it is removed. Creating Folders and Items: Move to where you want to create it. To create a Folder type the name in the "Item:" entry box (sorry...). Next click on "Folder" then "Add Folder". To create an Item enter the Item name in the "Item:" box and it's URL in the "URL:" box. You can copy+paste them in. Use standard mouse button #2 to paste. To create an Item that is the most recent entry in your standard hotlist file (i.e. ~/.www-hotlist-default), click on "Items" then on "Add from Hotlist". This is a painless way to add Items, and provides a backup in the standard Netscape hotlist file. Turning the Folder+Item Tree into linked HTML: Click on "Process" then on "Reprocess HTML". This will create a hidden file ".a.html" in each Folder directory. By default, the root file is ~/.www-hotlist-org/.a.html. Make a link to this in your Home page or a link using the "documentsMenuSpecfile" resource. When you select this "root link" inside Netscape, Mosaic or lynx you can then maneuver around your nested HotList Tree just by clicking on the links. Folders are displayed with trailing "(HotList)" and folder icon, if you click on that you move into that Folder. Items are displayed with trailing "(Link) ->" and are true URL HyperLinks. Clicking on them takes you there. Each (sub) Folder has a link "Parent Folder" to easily take you up one level. Using standard "Back" function in the browser will work too. Turning the Folder+Item Tree into a single HTML file: Click on "Process" then on "Tree -> .html file". This will create a a single HTML file with all hotlist items present, but indented to reflect the hierarchy. By default the file is ~/.www-hotlist-org.html. Make a link to this to if you like. (see next section) Document menu items: To have either of these HTML methods readily available in Mosaic I have the line: Mosaic*documentsMenuSpecfile: /home/runge/.mosaic-document-menu in my ~/.Xresources file, and in /home/runge/.mosaic-document-menu there are the lines: HTML Hot List file:/home/runge/.www-hotlist-org.html Linked Hot List file:/home/runge/.www-hotlist-org/.a.html and so these are accessible thru the "Documents" pull down menu on Mosaic's menubar. Controlling Netscape or Mosaic from within the HotList Organizer: The tcl/tk application used to create and delete Folders/Items, etc can even control Mosaic. Click on "Items" and then set the checkbox "Send Mosaic goto". Now if you double click on an Item, and Mosaic is running, Mosaic will receive a SIGUSR1 signal from the tcl/tk application and will automatically jump to the URL link you double clicked on. Disabling the checkbox shuts off the feature. netscape -remote openURL(...) is used for Netscape. If you just want to view the contents of an Item but not jump there click mouse button #1 on it then mouse button #3, instead of double clicking. Misc: Clicking on "Folder" then on "Freshen" will freshen the Folder and Items display. This is rarely needed. Perhaps if you reorganized the tree structure or files by hand. Clicking on "Folder" then on "Backup all Folders" will make a tar file "~/.www-hotlist-org.tar" as a backup of the tree structure. Clicking on "Items" then on "View Item" will display the selected Item's name and URL in the entry boxes. Same as double clicking on an Item (or mouse button #1 then #3 when "Send Mosaic goto" is on. Clicking on "Items" then on "Clear" will clear both the "Item:" and "URL:" entry boxes. Clicking on "Folder" then "Quit" exits the program. Accelerators: Ctrl-c while mouse is in "Item:" or "URL:" entry box will clear BOTH. Ctrl-u clears an entry box. Crlt-h while in "URL:" inserts "http://" to front of entry box. Crlt-f while in "URL:" inserts "file://" to front of entry box. Crlt-g while in "URL:" inserts "gopher://" to front of entry box. If text is wider than an entry box the text can be moved back and forth by holding down mouse button #3 and dragging left or right. That's it. I hope this program is of some use. I'll add additional features if people are interested.