2 @setfilename ../info/url
3 @settitle URL Programmer's Manual
8 @c @setchapternewpage odd
13 %\global\baselineskip 30pt % for printing in double space
15 @dircategory World Wide Web
16 @dircategory GNU Emacs Lisp
18 * URL: (url). URL loading package.
22 This file documents the URL loading package.
24 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004,
25 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
26 Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 William M. Perry
28 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
29 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
30 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
31 Invariant Sections being
32 ``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE''. A copy of the
33 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
40 @center @titlefont{URL}
41 @center @titlefont{Programmer's Manual}
43 @center First Edition, URL Version 2.0
45 @c @center December 1999
47 @center William M. Perry
48 @center @email{wmperry@@gnu.org}
50 @center @email{fx@@gnu.org}
52 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
53 Copyright @copyright{} 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 William M. Perry@*
54 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004,
55 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
57 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
58 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
59 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
60 Invariant Sections being
61 ``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE''. A copy of the
62 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
72 * Getting Started:: Preparing your program to use URLs.
73 * Retrieving URLs:: How to use this package to retrieve a URL.
74 * Supported URL Types:: Descriptions of URL types currently supported.
75 * Defining New URLs:: How to define a URL loader for a new protocol.
76 * General Facilities:: URLs can be cached, accessed via a gateway
77 and tracked in a history list.
78 * Customization:: Variables you can alter.
85 @chapter Getting Started
86 @cindex URLs, definition
89 @dfn{Uniform Resource Locators} (URLs) are a specific form of
90 @dfn{Uniform Resource Identifiers} (URI) described in RFC 2396 which
91 updates RFC 1738 and RFC 1808. RFC 2016 defines uniform resource
94 URIs have the form @var{scheme}:@var{scheme-specific-part}, where the
95 @var{scheme}s supported by this library are described below.
96 @xref{Supported URL Types}.
98 FTP, NFS, HTTP, HTTPS, @code{rlogin}, @code{telnet}, tn3270,
99 IRC and gopher URLs all have the form
102 @var{scheme}://@r{[}@var{userinfo}@@@r{]}@var{hostname}@r{[}:@var{port}@r{]}@r{[}/@var{path}@r{]}
105 where @samp{@r{[}} and @samp{@r{]}} delimit optional parts.
106 @var{userinfo} sometimes takes the form @var{username}:@var{password}
107 but you should beware of the security risks of sending cleartext
108 passwords. @var{hostname} may be a domain name or a dotted decimal
109 address. If the @samp{:@var{port}} is omitted then the library will
110 use the `well known' port for that service when accessing URLs. With
111 the possible exception of @code{telnet}, it is rare for ports to be
112 specified, and it is possible using a non-standard port may have
113 undesired consequences if a different service is listening on that
114 port (e.g., an HTTP URL specifying the SMTP port can cause mail to be
115 sent). @c , but @xref{Other Variables, url-bad-port-list}.
116 The meaning of the @var{path} component depends on the service.
120 * Parsed URLs:: URLs are parsed into vector structures.
124 @section Configuration
126 @defvar url-configuration-directory
127 @cindex @file{~/.url}
128 @cindex configuration files
129 The directory in which URL configuration files, the cache etc.,
130 reside. Default @file{~/.url}.
136 The library functions typically operate on @dfn{parsed} versions of
137 URLs. These are actually vectors of the form:
140 [@var{type} @var{user} @var{password} @var{host} @var{port} @var{file} @var{target} @var{attributes} @var{full}]
146 is the type of the URL scheme, e.g., @code{http}
148 is the username associated with it, or @code{nil};
150 is the user password associated with it, or @code{nil};
152 is the host name associated with it, or @code{nil};
154 is the port number associated with it, or @code{nil};
156 is the `file' part of it, or @code{nil}. This doesn't necessarily
157 actually refer to a file;
159 is the target part, or @code{nil};
161 is the attributes associated with it, or @code{nil};
163 is @code{t} for a fully-specified URL, with a host part indicated by
164 @samp{//} after the scheme part.
174 @findex url-attributes
178 @findex url-set-password
182 @findex url-set-target
183 @findex url-set-attributes
185 These attributes have accessors named @code{url-@var{part}}, where
186 @var{part} is the name of one of the elements above, e.g.,
187 @code{url-host}. Similarly, there are setters of the form
188 @code{url-set-@var{part}}.
190 There are functions for parsing and unparsing between the string and
193 @defun url-generic-parse-url url
194 Return a parsed version of the string @var{url}.
197 @defun url-recreate-url url
198 @cindex unparsing URLs
199 Recreates a URL string from the parsed @var{url}.
202 @node Retrieving URLs
203 @chapter Retrieving URLs
205 @defun url-retrieve-synchronously url
206 Retrieve @var{url} synchronously and return a buffer containing the
207 data. @var{url} is either a string or a parsed URL structure. Return
208 @code{nil} if there are no data associated with it (the case for dired,
209 info, or mailto URLs that need no further processing).
212 @defun url-retrieve url callback &optional cbargs
213 Retrieve @var{url} asynchronously and call @var{callback} with args
214 @var{cbargs} when finished. The callback is called when the object
215 has been completely retrieved, with the current buffer containing the
216 object and any MIME headers associated with it. @var{url} is either a
217 string or a parsed URL structure. Returns the buffer @var{url} will
218 load into, or @code{nil} if the process has already completed.
221 @node Supported URL Types
222 @chapter Supported URL Types
225 * http/https:: Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
226 * file/ftp:: Local files and FTP archives.
227 * info:: Emacs `Info' pages.
228 * mailto:: Sending email.
229 * news/nntp/snews:: Usenet news.
230 * rlogin/telnet/tn3270:: Remote host connectivity.
231 * irc:: Internet Relay Chat.
232 * data:: Embedded data URLs.
233 * nfs:: Networked File System
240 * ldap:: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
241 * imap:: IMAP mailboxes.
242 * man:: Unix man pages.
246 @section @code{http} and @code{https}
248 The scheme @code{http} is Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The library
249 supports version 1.1, specified in RFC 2616. (This supersedes 1.0,
250 defined in RFC 1945) HTTP URLs have the following form, where most of
251 the parts are optional:
253 http://@var{user}:@var{password}@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{path}?@var{searchpart}#@var{fragment}
255 @c The @code{:@var{port}} part is optional, and @var{port} defaults to
256 @c 80. The @code{/@var{path}} part, if present, is a slash-separated
257 @c series elements. The @code{?@var{searchpart}}, if present, is the
258 @c query for a search or the content of a form submission. The
259 @c @code{#fragment} part, if present, is a location in the document.
261 The scheme @code{https} is a secure version of @code{http}, with
262 transmission via SSL. It is defined in RFC 2069. Its default port is
263 443. This scheme depends on SSL support in Emacs via the
264 @file{ssl.el} library and is actually implemented by forcing the
265 @code{ssl} gateway method to be used. @xref{Gateways in general}.
267 @defopt url-honor-refresh-requests
268 This controls honouring of HTTP @samp{Refresh} headers by which
269 servers can direct clients to reload documents from the same URL or a
270 or different one. @code{nil} means they will not be honoured,
271 @code{t} (the default) means they will always be honoured, and
272 otherwise the user will be asked on each request.
278 * HTTP language/coding::
280 * Dealing with HTTP documents::
286 @defopt url-cookie-file
287 The file in which cookies are stored, defaulting to @file{cookies} in
288 the directory specified by @code{url-configuration-directory}.
291 @defopt url-cookie-confirmation
292 Specifies whether confirmation is require to accept cookies.
295 @defopt url-cookie-multiple-line
296 Specifies whether to put all cookies for the server on one line in the
297 HTTP request to satisfy broken servers like
298 @url{http://www.hotmail.com}.
301 @defopt url-cookie-trusted-urls
302 A list of regular expressions matching URLs from which to accept
306 @defopt url-cookie-untrusted-urls
307 A list of regular expressions matching URLs from which to reject
311 @defopt url-cookie-save-interval
312 The number of seconds between automatic saves of cookies to disk.
317 @node HTTP language/coding
318 @subsection Language and Encoding Preferences
320 HTTP allows clients to express preferences for the language and
321 encoding of documents which servers may honour. For each of these
322 variables, the value is a string; it can specify a single choice, or
323 it can be a comma-separated list.
325 Normally this list ordered by descending preference. However, each
326 element can be followed by @samp{;q=@var{priority}} to specify its
327 preference level, a decimal number from 0 to 1; e.g., for
328 @code{url-mime-language-string}, @w{@code{"de, en-gb;q=0.8,
329 en;q=0.7"}}. An element that has no @samp{;q} specification has
332 @defopt url-mime-charset-string
333 @cindex character sets
334 @cindex coding systems
335 This variable specifies a preference for character sets when documents
336 can be served in more than one encoding.
338 HTTP allows specifying a series of MIME charsets which indicate your
339 preferred character set encodings, e.g., Latin-9 or Big5, and these
340 can be weighted. The default series is generated automatically from
341 the associated MIME types of all defined coding systems, sorted by the
342 coding system priority specified in Emacs. @xref{Recognize Coding, ,
343 Recognizing Coding Systems, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}.
346 @defopt url-mime-language-string
347 @cindex language preferences
348 A string specifying the preferred language when servers can serve
349 files in several languages. Use RFC 1766 abbreviations, e.g.,
350 @samp{en} for English, @samp{de} for German.
352 The string can be @code{"*"} to get the first available language (as
353 opposed to the default).
356 @node HTTP URL Options
357 @subsection HTTP URL Options
359 HTTP supports an @samp{OPTIONS} method describing things supported by
362 @defun url-http-options url
363 Returns a property list describing options available for URL. The
364 property list members are:
368 A list of symbols specifying what HTTP methods the resource
373 A list of numbers specifying what DAV protocol/schema versions are
378 A list of supported DASL search types supported (string form).
381 A list of the units available for use in partial document fetches.
385 The @dfn{Platform For Privacy Protection} description for the resource.
386 Currently this is just the raw header contents.
391 @node Dealing with HTTP documents
392 @subsection Dealing with HTTP documents
394 HTTP URLs are retrieved into a buffer containing the HTTP headers
395 followed by the body. Since the headers are quasi-MIME, they may be
396 processed using the MIME library. @xref{Top,, Emacs MIME,
397 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. The URL package provides a
398 function to do this in general:
400 @defun url-decode-text-part handle &optional coding
401 This function decodes charset-encoded text in the current buffer. In
402 Emacs, the buffer is expected to be unibyte initially and is set to
403 multibyte after decoding.
404 HANDLE is the MIME handle of the original part. CODING is an explicit
405 coding to use, overriding what the MIME headers specify.
406 The coding system used for the decoding is returned.
408 Note that this function doesn't deal with @samp{http-equiv} charset
409 specifications in HTML @samp{<meta>} elements.
413 @section file and ftp
416 @cindex File Transfer Protocol
417 @cindex compressed files
421 ftp://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
422 file://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
425 These schemes are defined in RFC 1808.
426 @samp{ftp:} and @samp{file:} are synonymous in this library. They
427 allow reading arbitrary files from hosts. Either @samp{ange-ftp}
428 (Emacs) or @samp{efs} (XEmacs) is used to retrieve them from remote
429 hosts. Local files are accessed directly.
431 Compressed files are handled, but support is hard-coded so that
432 @code{jka-compr-compression-info-list} and so on have no affect.
433 Suffixes recognized are @samp{.z}, @samp{.gz}, @samp{.Z} and
436 @defopt url-directory-index-file
437 The filename to look for when indexing a directory, default
438 @samp{"index.html"}. If this file exists, and is readable, then it
439 will be viewed instead of using @code{dired} to view the directory.
446 @findex Info-goto-node
449 info:@var{file}#@var{node}
452 Info URLs are not officially defined. They invoke
453 @code{Info-goto-node} with argument @samp{(@var{file})@var{node}}.
454 @samp{#@var{node}} is optional, defaulting to @samp{Top}.
461 A mailto URL will send an email message to the address in the
462 URL, for example @samp{mailto:foo@@bar.com} would compose a
463 message to @samp{foo@@bar.com}.
465 @defopt url-mail-command
466 @vindex mail-user-agent
467 The function called whenever url needs to send mail. This should
468 normally be left to default from @var{mail-user-agent}. @xref{Mail
469 Methods, , Mail-Composition Methods, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}.
472 An @samp{X-Url-From} header field containing the URL of the document
473 that contained the mailto URL is added if that URL is known.
475 RFC 2368 extends the definition of mailto URLs in RFC 1738.
476 The form of a mailto URL is
478 @samp{mailto:@var{mailbox}[?@var{header}=@var{contents}[&@var{header}=@var{contents}]]}
480 @noindent where an arbitrary number of @var{header}s can be added. If the
481 @var{header} is @samp{body}, then @var{contents} is put in the body
482 otherwise a @var{header} header field is created with @var{contents}
483 as its contents. Note that the URL library does not consider any
484 headers `dangerous' so you should check them before sending the
488 Email messages are defined in @sc{rfc}822.
490 @node news/nntp/snews
491 @section @code{news}, @code{nntp} and @code{snews}
498 @c draft-gilman-news-url-01
499 The network news URL scheme take the following forms following RFC
500 1738 except that for compatibility with other clients, host and port
501 fields may be included in news URLs though they are properly only
502 allowed for nntp an snews.
505 @item news:@var{newsgroup}
506 Retrieves a list of messages in @var{newsgroup};
507 @item news:@var{message-id}
508 Retrieves the message with the given @var{message-id};
510 Retrieves a list of all available newsgroups;
511 @item nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{newsgroup}
512 @itemx nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{message-id}
513 @itemx nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/*
514 Similar to the @samp{news} versions.
517 @samp{:@var{port}} is optional and defaults to :119.
519 @samp{snews} is the same as @samp{nntp} except that the default port
522 (It is tunneled through SSL.)
524 An @samp{nntp} URL is the same as a news URL, except that the URL may
525 specify an article by its number.
527 @defopt url-news-server
528 This variable can be used to override the default news server.
529 Usually this will be set by the Gnus package, which is used to fetch
531 @cindex environment variable
533 It may be set from the conventional environment variable
537 @node rlogin/telnet/tn3270
538 @section rlogin, telnet and tn3270
542 @cindex terminal emulation
543 @findex terminal-emulator
545 These URL schemes from RFC 1738 for logon via a terminal emulator have
548 telnet://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}
550 but the @code{:@var{password}} component is ignored.
552 To handle rlogin, telnet and tn3270 URLs, a @code{rlogin},
553 @code{telnet} or @code{tn3270} (the program names and arguments are
554 hardcoded) session is run in a @code{terminal-emulator} buffer.
555 Well-known ports are used if the URL does not specify a port.
560 @cindex Internet Relay Chat
562 @c Fixme: reference (was http://www.w3.org/Addressing/draft-mirashi-url-irc-01.txt)
563 @dfn{Internet Relay Chat} (IRC) is handled by handing off the @sc{irc}
564 session to a function named in @code{url-irc-function}.
566 @defopt url-irc-function
567 A function to actually open an IRC connection.
569 must take five arguments, @var{host}, @var{port}, @var{channel},
570 @var{user} and @var{password}. The @var{channel} argument specifies the
571 channel to join immediately, this can be @code{nil}. By default this is
572 @code{url-irc-zenirc}.
574 @defun url-irc-zenirc host port channel user password
575 Processes the arguments and lets @code{zenirc} handle the session.
583 data:@r{[}@var{media-type}@r{]}@r{[};@var{base64}@r{]},@var{data}
586 Data URLs contain MIME data in the URL itself. They are defined in
589 @var{media-type} is a MIME @samp{Content-Type} string, possibly
590 including parameters. It defaults to
591 @samp{text/plain;charset=US-ASCII}. The @samp{text/plain} can be
592 omitted but the charset parameter supplied. If @samp{;base64} is
593 present, the @var{data} are base64-encoded.
598 @cindex Network File System
602 nfs://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
605 The @samp{nfs:} scheme is defined in RFC 2224. It is similar to
606 @samp{ftp:} except that it points to a file on a remote host that is
607 handled by the automounter on the local host.
609 @defvar url-nfs-automounter-directory-spec
611 A string saying how to invoke the NFS automounter. Certain @samp{%}
612 sequences are recognized:
616 The hostname of the NFS server;
618 The port number of the NFS server;
620 The username to use to authenticate;
622 The password to use to authenticate;
624 The filename on the remote server;
629 Each can be used any number of times.
643 @cindex Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
645 The LDAP scheme is defined in RFC 2255.
655 @cindex @command{man}
656 @cindex Unix man pages
660 @samp{man:@var{page-spec}}
663 This is a non-standard scheme. @var{page-spec} is passed directly to
664 the Lisp @code{man} function.
666 @node Defining New URLs
667 @chapter Defining New URLs
670 * Naming conventions::
671 * Required functions::
672 * Optional functions::
673 * Asynchronous fetching::
674 * Supporting file-name-handlers::
677 @node Naming conventions
678 @section Naming conventions
680 @node Required functions
681 @section Required functions
683 @node Optional functions
684 @section Optional functions
686 @node Asynchronous fetching
687 @section Asynchronous fetching
689 @node Supporting file-name-handlers
690 @section Supporting file-name-handlers
692 @node General Facilities
693 @chapter General Facilities
698 * Gateways in general::
703 @section Disk Caching
705 @cindex Persistent Cache
708 The disk cache stores retrieved documents locally, whence they can be
709 retrieved more quickly. When requesting a URL that is in the cache,
710 the library checks to see if the page has changed since it was last
711 retrieved from the remote machine. If not, the local copy is used,
712 saving the transmission over the network.
713 @cindex Cleaning the cache
714 @cindex Clearing the cache
715 @cindex Cache cleaning
716 Currently the cache isn't cleared automatically.
717 @c Running the @code{clean-cache} shell script
718 @c fist is recommended, to allow for future cleaning of the cache. This
719 @c shell script will remove all files that have not been accessed since it
720 @c was last run. To keep the cache pared down, it is recommended that this
721 @c script be run from @i{at} or @i{cron} (see the manual pages for
722 @c crontab(5) or at(1) for more information)
724 @defopt url-automatic-caching
725 Setting this variable non-@code{nil} causes documents to be cached
729 @defopt url-cache-directory
730 This variable specifies the
731 directory to store the cache files. It defaults to sub-directory
732 @file{cache} of @code{url-configuration-directory}.
735 @c Fixme: function v. option, but neither used.
736 @c @findex url-cache-expired
737 @c @defopt url-cache-expired
738 @c This is a function to decide whether or not a cache entry has expired.
739 @c It takes two times as it parameters and returns non-@code{nil} if the
740 @c second time is ``too old'' when compared with the first time.
743 @defopt url-cache-creation-function
744 The cache relies on a scheme for mapping URLs to files in the cache.
745 This variable names a function which sets the type of cache to use.
746 It takes a URL as argument and returns the absolute file name of the
747 corresponding cache file. The two supplied possibilities are
748 @code{url-cache-create-filename-using-md5} and
749 @code{url-cache-create-filename-human-readable}.
752 @defun url-cache-create-filename-using-md5 url
753 Creates a cache file name from @var{url} using MD5 hashing.
755 This is creates entries with very few cache collisions and is fast if
756 you have the @code{md5} function as a primitive (Emacs 21 and XEmacs).
758 (url-cache-create-filename-using-md5 "http://www.example.com/foo/bar")
759 @result{} "/home/fx/.url/cache/fx/http/com/example/www/b8a35774ad20db71c7c3409a5410e74f"
763 @defun url-cache-create-filename-human-readable url
764 Creates a cache file name from @var{url} more obviously connected to
765 @var{url} than for @code{url-cache-create-filename-using-md5}, but
766 more likely to conflict with other files.
768 (url-cache-create-filename-human-readable "http://www.example.com/foo/bar")
769 @result{} "/home/fx/.url/cache/fx/http/com/example/www/foo/bar"
773 @c Fixme: never actually used currently?
774 @c @defopt url-standalone-mode
775 @c @cindex Relying on cache
776 @c @cindex Cache only mode
777 @c @cindex Standalone mode
778 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, the library relies solely on the
779 @c cache for fetching documents and avoids checking if they have changed
780 @c on remote servers.
783 @c With a large cache of documents on the local disk, it can be very handy
784 @c when traveling, or any other time the network connection is not active
785 @c (a laptop with a dial-on-demand PPP connection, etc). Emacs/W3 can rely
786 @c solely on its cache, and avoid checking to see if the page has changed
787 @c on the remote server. In the case of a dial-on-demand PPP connection,
788 @c this will keep the phone line free as long as possible, only bringing up
789 @c the PPP connection when asking for a page that is not located in the
790 @c cache. This is very useful for demonstrations as well.
793 @section Proxies and Gatewaying
795 @c fixme: check/document url-ns stuff
796 @cindex proxy servers
798 @cindex environment variables
800 Proxy servers are commonly used to provide gateways through firewalls
801 or as caches serving some more-or-less local network. Each protocol
802 (HTTP, FTP, etc.)@: can have a different gateway server. Proxying is
803 conventionally configured commonly amongst different programs through
804 environment variables of the form @code{@var{protocol}_proxy}, where
805 @var{protocol} is one of the supported network protocols (@code{http},
806 @code{ftp} etc.). The library recognizes such variables in either
807 upper or lower case. Their values are of one of the forms:
809 @item @code{@var{host}:@var{port}}
811 @item Simply a host name.
815 The @code{NO_PROXY} environment variable specifies URLs that should be
816 excluded from proxying (on servers that should be contacted directly).
817 This should be a comma-separated list of hostnames, domain names, or a
818 mixture of both. Asterisks can be used as wildcards, but other
819 clients may not support that. Domain names may be indicated by a
820 leading dot. For example:
822 NO_PROXY="*.aventail.com,home.com,.seanet.com"
824 @noindent says to contact all machines in the @samp{aventail.com} and
825 @samp{seanet.com} domains directly, as well as the machine named
826 @samp{home.com}. If @code{NO_PROXY} isn't defined, @code{no_PROXY}
827 and @code{no_proxy} are also tried, in that order.
829 Proxies may also be specified directly in Lisp.
831 @defopt url-proxy-services
832 This variable is an alist of URL schemes and proxy servers that
833 gateway them. The items are of the form @w{@code{(@var{scheme}
834 . @var{host}:@var{portnumber})}}, says that the URL @var{scheme} is
835 gatewayed through @var{portnumber} on the specified @var{host}. An
836 exception is the pseudo scheme @code{"no_proxy"}, which is paired with
837 a regexp matching host names not to be proxied. This variable is
838 initialized from the environment as above.
841 (setq url-proxy-services
842 '(("http" . "proxy.aventail.com:80")
843 ("no_proxy" . "^.*\\(aventail\\|seanet\\)\\.com")))
847 @node Gateways in general
848 @section Gateways in General
852 The library provides a general gateway layer through which all
853 networking passes. It can both control access to the network and
854 provide access through gateways in firewalls. This may make direct
855 connections in some cases and pass through some sort of gateway in
856 others.@footnote{Proxies (which only operate over HTTP) are
857 implemented using this.} The library's basic function responsible for
858 making connections is @code{url-open-stream}.
860 @defun url-open-stream name buffer host service
861 @cindex opening a stream
862 @cindex stream, opening
863 Open a stream to @var{host}, possibly via a gateway. The other
864 arguments are as for @code{open-network-stream}. This will not make a
865 connection if @code{url-gateway-unplugged} is non-@code{nil}.
868 @defvar url-gateway-local-host-regexp
869 This is a regular expression that matches local hosts that do not
870 require the use of a gateway. If @code{nil}, all connections are made
874 @defvar url-gateway-method
875 This variable controls which gateway method is used. It may be useful
876 to bind it temporarily in some applications. It has values taken from
877 a list of symbols. Possible values are:
881 @cindex @command{telnet}
882 Use this method if you must first telnet and log into a gateway host,
883 and then run telnet from that host to connect to outside machines.
886 @cindex @command{rlogin}
887 This method is identical to @code{telnet}, but uses @command{rlogin}
888 to log into the remote machine without having to send the username and
889 password over the wire every time.
893 Use if the firewall has a @sc{socks} gateway running on it. The
894 @sc{socks} v5 protocol is defined in RFC 1928.
897 @c This probably shouldn't be documented
898 @c Fixme: why not? -- fx
901 This method uses Emacs's builtin networking directly. This is the
902 default. It can be used only if there is no firewall blocking access.
906 The following variables control the gateway methods.
908 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-host
909 The gateway host to telnet to. Once logged in there, you then telnet
910 out to the hosts you want to connect to.
912 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-parameters
913 This should be a list of parameters to pass to the @command{telnet} program.
915 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-password-prompt
916 This is a regular expression that matches the password prompt when
919 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-login-prompt
920 This is a regular expression that matches the username prompt when
923 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-user-name
924 The username to log in with.
926 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-password
927 The password to send when logging in.
929 @defopt url-gateway-prompt-pattern
930 This is a regular expression that matches the shell prompt.
933 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-host
934 Host to @samp{rlogin} to before telnetting out.
936 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-parameters
937 Parametres to pass to @samp{rsh}.
939 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-user-name
940 User name to use when logging in to the gateway.
942 @defopt url-gateway-prompt-pattern
943 This is a regular expression that matches the shell prompt.
947 This specifies the default server, it takes the form
948 @w{@code{("Default server" @var{server} @var{port} @var{version})}}
949 where @var{version} can be either 4 or 5.
951 @defvar socks-password
952 If this is @code{nil} then you will be asked for the password,
953 otherwise it will be used as the password for authenticating you to
954 the @sc{socks} server.
956 @defvar socks-username
957 This is the username to use when authenticating yourself to the
958 @sc{socks} server. By default this is your login name.
960 @defvar socks-timeout
961 This controls how long, in seconds, to wait for responses from the
962 @sc{socks} server; it is 5 by default.
964 @c fixme: these have been effectively commented-out in the code
965 @c @defopt socks-server-aliases
966 @c This a list of server aliases. It is a list of aliases of the form
967 @c @var{(alias hostname port version)}.
969 @c @defopt socks-network-aliases
970 @c This a list of network aliases. Each entry in the list takes the form
971 @c @var{(alias (network))} where @var{alias} is a string that names the
972 @c @var{network}. The networks can contain a pair (not a dotted pair) of
973 @c @sc{ip} addresses which specify a range of @sc{ip} addresses, an @sc{ip}
974 @c address and a netmask, a domain name or a unique hostname or @sc{ip}
977 @c @defopt socks-redirection-rules
978 @c This a list of redirection rules. Each rule take the form
979 @c @var{(Destination network Connection type)} where @var{Destination
980 @c network} is a network alias from @code{socks-network-aliases} and
981 @c @var{Connection type} can be @code{nil} in which case a direct
982 @c connection is used, or it can be an alias from
983 @c @code{socks-server-aliases} in which case that server is used as a
986 @defopt socks-nslookup-program
987 @cindex @command{nslookup}
988 This the @samp{nslookup} program. It is @code{"nslookup"} by default.
992 * Suppressing network connections::
994 @c * Broken hostname resolution::
996 @node Suppressing network connections
997 @subsection Suppressing Network Connections
999 @cindex network connections, suppressing
1000 @cindex suppressing network connections
1003 In some circumstances it is desirable to suppress making network
1004 connections. A typical case is when rendering HTML in a mail user
1005 agent, when external URLs should not be activated, particularly to
1006 avoid `bugs' which `call home' by fetch single-pixel images and the
1007 like. To arrange this, bind the following variable for the duration
1010 @defvar url-gateway-unplugged
1011 If this variable is non-@code{nil} new network connections are never
1012 opened by the URL library.
1015 @c @node Broken hostname resolution
1016 @c @subsection Broken Hostname Resolution
1018 @c @cindex hostname resolver
1019 @c @cindex resolver, hostname
1020 @c Some C libraries do not include the hostname resolver routines in
1021 @c their static libraries. If Emacs was linked statically, and was not
1022 @c linked with the resolver libraries, it will not be able to get to any
1023 @c machines off the local network. This is characterized by being able
1024 @c to reach someplace with a raw ip number, but not its hostname
1025 @c (@url{http://129.79.254.191/} works, but
1026 @c @url{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/} doesn't). This used to happen on
1027 @c SunOS4 and Ultrix, but is now probably now rare. If Emacs can't be
1028 @c rebuilt linked against the resolver library, it can use the external
1029 @c @command{nslookup} program instead.
1031 @c @defopt url-gateway-broken-resolution
1032 @c @cindex @code{nslookup} program
1033 @c @cindex program, @code{nslookup}
1034 @c If non-@code{nil}, this variable says to use the program specified by
1035 @c @code{url-gateway-nslookup-program} program to do hostname resolution.
1038 @c @defopt url-gateway-nslookup-program
1039 @c The name of the program to do hostname lookup if Emacs can't do it
1040 @c directly. This program should expect a single argument on the command
1041 @c line---the hostname to resolve---and should produce output similar to
1042 @c the standard Unix @command{nslookup} program:
1044 @c Name: www.cs.indiana.edu
1045 @c Address: 129.79.254.191
1052 The library can maintain a global history list tracking URLs accessed.
1053 URL completion can be done from it. The history mechanism is set up
1054 @findex url-do-setup
1055 automatically via @code{url-do-setup} when it is configured to be on.
1056 Note that the size of the history list is currently not limited.
1058 @vindex url-history-hash-table
1059 The history `list' is actually a hash table,
1060 @code{url-history-hash-table}. It contains access times keyed by URL
1061 strings. The times are in the format returned by @code{current-time}.
1063 @defun url-history-update-url url time
1064 This function updates the history table with an entry for @var{url}
1065 accessed at the given @var{time}.
1068 @defopt url-history-track
1069 If non-@code{nil}, the library will keep track of all the URLs
1070 accessed. If it is @code{t}, the list is saved to disk at the end of
1071 each Emacs session. The default is @code{nil}.
1074 @defopt url-history-file
1075 The file storing the history list between sessions. It defaults to
1076 @file{history} in @code{url-configuration-directory}.
1079 @defopt url-history-save-interval
1080 @findex url-history-setup-save-timer
1081 The number of seconds between automatic saves of the history list.
1082 Default is one hour. Note that if you change this variable directly,
1083 rather than using Custom, after @code{url-do-setup} has been run, you
1084 need to run the function @code{url-history-setup-save-timer}.
1087 @defun url-history-parse-history &optional fname
1088 Parses the history file @var{fname} (default @code{url-history-file})
1089 and sets up the history list.
1092 @defun url-history-save-history &optional fname
1093 Saves the current history to file @var{fname} (default
1094 @code{url-history-file}).
1097 @defun url-completion-function string predicate function
1098 You can use this function to do completion of URLs from the history.
1102 @chapter Customization
1104 @section Environment Variables
1106 @cindex environment variables
1107 The following environment variables affect the library's operation at
1113 @vindex url-temporary-directory
1114 If this is defined, @var{url-temporary-directory} is initialized from
1118 @section General User Options
1120 The following user options, settable with Customize, affect the
1121 general operation of the package.
1125 Specifies the types of debug messages the library which are logged to
1126 the @code{*URL-DEBUG*} buffer.
1127 @code{t} means log all messages.
1128 A number means log all messages and show them with @code{message}.
1129 If may also be a list of the types of messages to be logged.
1131 @defopt url-personal-mail-address
1133 @defopt url-privacy-level
1135 @defopt url-uncompressor-alist
1137 @defopt url-passwd-entry-func
1139 @defopt url-standalone-mode
1141 @defopt url-bad-port-list
1143 @defopt url-max-password-attempts
1145 @defopt url-temporary-directory
1147 @defopt url-show-status
1149 @defopt url-confirmation-func
1150 The function to use for asking yes or no functions. This is normally
1151 either @code{y-or-n-p} or @code{yes-or-no-p}, but could be another
1152 function taking a single argument (the prompt) and returning @code{t}
1153 only if an affirmative answer is given.
1155 @defopt url-gateway-method
1156 @c fixme: describe gatewaying
1157 A symbol specifying the type of gateway support to use for connections
1158 from the local machine. The supported methods are:
1162 Run telnet in a subprocess to connect;
1164 Rlogin to another machine to connect;
1166 Connect through a socks server;
1174 @node Function Index
1175 @unnumbered Command and Function Index
1178 @node Variable Index
1179 @unnumbered Variable Index
1183 @unnumbered Concept Index
1186 @setchapternewpage odd
1191 arch-tag: c96be356-7e2d-4196-bcda-b13246c5c3f0