.: www4mail english

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( HELP file for www4mail )~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~www4mail
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Web Navigation & Database Search by E-Mail (The Next Generation)
www4mail - QUICK HELP GUIDE - version 3.0/2001

What is www4mail?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www4mail is an open source application, that allows you to navigate
off-line and search the whole Internet via electronic mail (e-mail)
by using any standard Web browser and a MIME (Multipurpose Internet
Mail Exchange) aware e-mail program. E-mail messages sent to
www4mail servers get automatically passed to your e-mail agent when
you select (one or more) buttons that link to other Web documents
within a requested Web page. There are many options available for
user quota statistics, e-mail uuencoding reply, etc.

How to use www4mail?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.. It is simple!

Within the body of an e-mail message to: www4mail just specify the
Internet "address", called Uniform Resource Locator (URL), of the Web
site(s)/page(s) you want to retrieve. By default these will be sent as
e-mail Attachments. To get Web documents in the body of an e-mail message
you may also add one of the options SEND, GET, GET SOURCE, or XSOURCE as
indicated next. Or use XUUENCODE to request uuencoding contents.

Asking for Further On-line Help
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Help in Specific topics can also be retrived by sending another e-mail
to a www4mail server and writing in the body of the e-mail, e.g.:

help COOKIES

Other topics include:

Receiving Web documents as e-mail attachment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Receiving Web documents as e-mail attachment allows you to save and re-use
the Web document; specially for a later search of the Internet.

For example to retrieve some Web pages of The Abdus Salam International
Centre for Theoretical Physics Web server in Trieste, Italy, send an
e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

and write (one or up to 5 requests) in the body of the e-mail:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/
http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~www4mail
...

www4mail will reply with the requested Web document as an e-mail
attachment which you can visualize with any standard Web browser like
Netscape, MS Internet explorer, Lynx, etc. Therein, the original page
layout (tables, colours, etc) will be preserved.

You can obtain interest messages by selecting the respective buttons and
clicking the `Get Selected Document(s)' button at the footer of the Web
page to make a new, single e-mail request to www4mail.

If you want to retrieve the original, UNMODIFIED HTML sources as an e-mail
attachment which you can visualize it with any standard Web browser like
Netscape, Internet explorer, Lynx, etc, then type:

TSOURCE http://www.ictp.trieste.it/

The original page layout (tables, frames, colours, etc) will be preserved.
You can list up to 5 `TSOURCE URLs' as you need within the body of your
message to www4mail, but write one `TSOURCE URL' per line.

Receiving Web documents in the body of a message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compatibility with alternative "Agora" and "GetWeb" server is also
possible. Similarly to the "Agora" and "GetWeb" services, you can also
retrieve Web pages (converted into text) in the body of a message if you
prefer so.

For the previous example, send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

and write in the body of the e-mail any of the following options:

GET http://www.ictp.trieste.it/
or
SEND http://www.ictp.trieste.it/

Then to continue navigating the Web using www4mail send another e-mail
message to: www4mail and specify the URL(s) you need as in the above
example.

If you want to retrieve the UNMODIFIED HTML sources in the body of an
e-mail message, write any of the following options:

GET SOURCE http://www.ictp.trieste.it/
or, simply,
SOURCE http://www.ictp.trieste.it/

In case your e-mail reader does not support MIME, you can get the www4mail
filtered HTML sources in the body of an e-mail message, by using the
following option:

XSOURCE http://www.ictp.trieste.it/

You can list up to 5 `XSOURCE URLs' as you need within the body of your
message to www4mail, but write one `XSOURCE URL' per line.

Dealing with Frames
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the URL requested is made of FRAMES (i.e., a main page containing
several other pages) then www4mail by default will use its own new
built in "frames2table" convertor and you will receive them as one
attached document. If you use the SOURCE option of a URL containing
FRAMES then www4mail will send you only the page with the FRAMESET.

Typing Long URLs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the URL requested is too long to fit into a single line, you can split
up by ending the line with a backslash (`\'). For example, use

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/cgi-bin/ICTPsmr/mkhtml/smr2htm\
l.pl?smr1099/Announcement

Automatic Splitting of Messages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All binary files larger than 300kB and smaller than 6 MB will
automatically get split into smaller chunks of 300kB each and are sent as
a MIME BASE64 attachment.

All TEXT and HTML files larger than 300kB and smaller than 6 MB will
automatically get pk-zipped and are subsequently treated as binary files,
subject to splitting and MIME encoding on delivery.

There also exists the possibility of uuencoding binary files using
UUENCODE option upon request.

Message Splitting Upon Request
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your mailer software or gateway has a file size limit of less than
300kB, then you can request that www4mail split messages into files of
smaller sizes. To lower this value, use the GETSIZE command.

For example, the following command splits the file into 10k chunks
instead:

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

GETSIZE 10000 one option line only!
URL_here

GETSIZE sets the size of the www4mail reply message in bytes (no other
symbols are allowed). You can list as many URLs as you need within the
body of your message to www4mail, but write one URL per line.

When www4mail replies to a GETSIZE command, then the requested Web
document is always sent as an attachment. You may need to force your Mail
User Agent to save it using the save file option. Finally, a suitable
application or command can be used to combine all chunks (on UNIX use:
"cat file.1 file.2 file.3 > file" and on DOS use: "copy /b
file.1+file.2+file.3 file").

If you are displaying on your browser a Web document sent by www4mail, and
want to retrieve the selected documents split in smaller chunks, then you
can enter a maximum size of reply(s) from www4mail in the box near the
`Get Selected Document(s) button at the footer of the Web page you are
viewing.

Retrieving Any Part of a Split Message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following command allows you to retrieve any part of a split message.
Send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

GETPART 1, 2 3 , 5-8 one option line only!
GETSIZE 10000 one option line only!
URL_here

GETPART sets the number of parts to return in each e-mail by www4mail. If
GETSIZE is not given, www4mail uses its default values -see section
Automatic Splitting of Messages (above).

When www4mail replies to a GETPART command, then the requested Web
document is ALWAYS sent as an attachment. You may need to force your Mail
User Agent to save it using the save file option. Finally, a suitable
application or command can be used to combine all chunks (on UNIX use:
"cat file.1 file.2 file.3 > file" and on DOS use: "copy /b
file.1+file.2+file.3 file").

UUENCODING Messages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following command allows you to retrieve any Web document uuencoded.
Send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

XUUENCODE (use one option line only!)
URL_here

When www4mail replies to a XUUENCODE command, then the requested Web
document is always sent in the body of the e-mail. www4mail will always
reply with an extra e-mail messages with your usage statistics. If the
file requested is large, then you can use the GETPART command to set the
number of parts to return in each e-mail by www4mail and GETSIZE command
to set the size of the www4mail reply message in bytes. For example,

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

GETPART 1, 2 3 , 5-8 (use one option line only!)
GETSIZE 10000 (use one option line only!)
XUUENCODE
URL_here

A suitable application or command (like UNIX cat file1 file2 file3 >
output) can be used to combine all chunks after uudecoding each single
part.

Retrieving Web pages as PostScript or PDF files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following command allows you to retrieve any Web document converted
into PostScript file (including the images, if any, in the document).
Send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

GETPS one option line only!
URL_here

Use instead GETPDF to retrieve Portable Document Format files. If other
commands are not used in conjunction with GETPS or GETPDF (such as GETSIZE
to set the size of the www4mail reply message) , www4mail uses its default
values -see section Automatic Splitting of Messages (above).

When www4mail replies to a GETPS/GETPDF commands, then the requested Web
document is ALWAYS sent as an attachment. This should force your Mail User
Agent the save file option or to open automatically your Web Browser.

If the file requested is bigger than 300kB, then it will automatically get
split and sent in separate e-mails. A suitable application or command
(like UNIX: "cat file1 file2 file3 > output.ps") can be used to combine
all chunks.

To receive the Web pages as PostScript or PDF files in the body of an e-mail
and uuendoded, then you can use the following option

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

GETPS (use one option line only!)
XUUENCODE
URL_here

Use instead GETPDF to retrieve Portable Document Format files. www4mail will
always reply with an extra e-mail messages with your usage statistics.

Requesting Password-protected Web/FTP sites
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
User authentication support for password-protected sites is also available
by www4mail. To access such Web site/pages conforming to the pattern
`protocol://username:password@site/directory' you need to know (and then
pass on) the correct USERNAME and PASSWORD.

In these cases send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

and write in the body of the e-mail:

http://username:password@site/path
or
ftp://username:password@site/path

where site/path is the machine,domain,directory,file you want to retrieve
and the @-sign is used to separate the string `username:password' from the
site/path.

Once you have received the www4mail reply, you will be able to navigate to
such protected pages without further authentication. www4mail will do it
automatically for you.

Of course, you can get the same information in the body of a e-mail
message and as a plain text file, by adding the GET or SEND options, or as
an HTML source adding GET SOURCE, SOURCE or XSOURCE options.

BUT PLEASE NOTE passwords passed this way, like everything else under
e-mail, are not necessarily private, because:
- www4mail logs in all transactions locally.
- HTTP/FTP transactions with any server via e-mail are unencrypted
and may be intercepted on the Internet.

Secured Web servers (https://) are also handled by www4mail.

www4mail Quota Limits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The quota period of a www4mail free service depends on the system
administrator. Usually the quota is limited to 100 to 300 requests
(in the categories - html or text or document source) per week.

If you have exeeded your weekly quota, www4mail will inform you with a
"503 Error Message - Service Unvailble (quota finished)" and will stop
anwsering your requests after that!

WARNING: Your quota will considerably vary when requesting binary files
such as ".exe", ".zip". These types of files will account for 3 to 5 times
as much. Images such as ".jpg", ".gif" will account for 20 times as much!
www4mail aims to facilitate access and searching of (HTML) Web documents.

Each reply you get from the www4mail carries information about your
remaining quota and the day of the last access (usage within the quota
week). For instance, on the body of every ww4mail reply you will get
something like this:

Dear User,
Statistics of your (per week) usage of this service
===================================================
Remaining Quota : 196
Used Quota : 4
Last access : html on Tue Jan 8 14:08:04 2001

It is also possible to CHECK at any time YOUR WEEKLY QUOTA by sending
an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

and write in the body of the e-mail:

XMYQUOTA

www4mail Access Control List (ACL)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note that although www4mail is a free service that allows to
navigate the whole Internet via e-mail, but it will not permit access to
Web sites/documents that are Copyright or licensed, like most
Journals/Newspapers on-line, Library CD-ROMs, etc.

www4mail keeps its own private Access Control List (ACL), which is
constantly updated. See section Disclaimer (below).

FTP and Binary Files via www4mail
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you use www4mail to retrieve, for example, image files (extensions
`.jpg', `.gif'), software (extensions `.tar', `hqx'), files in Word
(extension `.doc') or WordPerfect (extension `.wp'), or files which have
been compressed (extensions `.gz', `Z'), then www4mail will send you such
files as an attachment.

For example, if you send an e-mail

To: www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it
Subject: (... whatever you like)

ftp://ftp.andrew.cmu.edu/pub/mpack/mpack15d.zip
or
http://www.ictp.trieste.it/images/ProfSalam.gif

You will receive a binary message as BASE64 MIME file-attachment. There
also exists the possibility of uuencoding binary files using UUENCODE
option upon request. Please note that there are limits on the number of
bytes that www4mail will send you! -see section Automatic Splitting of
Messages (above).

If a message is larger than 300 kilobytes (300kb), www4mail will
automatically split it into two or more 300kb files, and send each file as
a separate message. If this is the case, you will need to rebuild the
original file by attaching the single parts in one file only. A suitable
application or command can be used to combine all chunks (on UNIX use:
"cat file.1 file.2 file.3 > file" and on DOS use: "copy /b
file.1+file.2+file.3 file").

Your quota will considerably vary when requesting binary files!

Special www4mail Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www4mail has been enhanced to include more specialized options for
setting the language and character set, allowing links for images, etc.
These new options were introduced as a result of the responsive feedback
from testers during the first months of trial.

For example, you can also use any of the following options:

XIMAGE (use one option line only!)
This option will include links for images in a Web document sent as
an attachment.
XLANGUAGE xx , xx (all in one option line only!)
This option allows to set a list of (comma-separated) preferred
language(s) for retrieving a Web document (please note that
language support will only work if it is make available on the Web
server requested). Examples of language codes available include: de
(for German), en for English, fr for French, etc.

XCHARSET xxxxx , xxxxx (all in one option line only!)
This option allows to define the list of (comma-separated)
preferred character set(s) for retrieving a Web document (please
note that charset support will only work if it is available on the
Web server requested). Examples of character sets available include:
euc-cn (for Chinese), euc-jp (for Japanese), iso-8859-6 (for
Arabic), etc.

XMIME (use one option line only!)
Some Mail User Agents render/display HTML or text attachments
directly by themselves. For such MUAs www4mail can generate a
different Content-Type: header for HTML documents. If this is the
case, then using XMIME you can force the sending of html
attachments using a MIME header of application/html. This is useful
for preventing your e-mail client from attempting to open the html
attachment itself.

XURLCODE (use one option line only!)
When filling HTML forms via e-mail, it could happen that your data
input might get damaged somewhere along the line, in which case
you might get a request to resend the data from the Web server. By
using the XURLCODE option www4mail will attempt to instruct your
Web browser to code the data before transmission by e-mail. This
should protect the integrity of your input data and permit the
submission of the filled form.

XBYJS (use one option line only!)
Some Web browsers are not capable of transmitting data by e-mail,
e.g., MS-IE v3.0. This problem usually shows up after you check
the links that you would like to retrieve and select the "Get
Selected Document(s)" button. What you get is that your mail
program opens a new message with the address of the www4mail server
appearing and the body of the message blank. You can use the XBYJS
option to work-around this problem provided you are using a
JavaScript compatible browser. Note: This work-around tries to fill
in the Subject: line automatically instead of the message body
needed by www4mail. But if you notice that the Subject: line is
blank, you will need to cut out all characters starting from the ?
sign in the To: field and paste them in the Subject: line manually.

Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~

All requests, usage or abuse of any of the available www4mail servers
are stored in log files.

The authors providers of the Perl source code for www4mail cannot
be held responsible for the contents, presentation or mis-presentation
of Web documents retrieved from the Internet using any public or private
www4mail server.

Updated information on www4mail can be found at:
http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~www4mail

... Have a nice Internet navigation with www4mail!

---EOF