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 Free Software Foundation
25 Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 William M. Perry
27 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
28 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
29 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
30 Invariant Sections being
31 ``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE''. A copy of the
32 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
39 @center @titlefont{URL}
40 @center @titlefont{Programmer's Manual}
42 @center First Edition, URL Version 2.0
44 @c @center December 1999
46 @center William M. Perry
47 @center @email{wmperry@@gnu.org}
49 @center @email{fx@@gnu.org}
51 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
52 Copyright @copyright{} 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 William M. Perry@*
53 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002 Free Software Foundation
55 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
56 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
57 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
58 Invariant Sections being
59 ``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE''. A copy of the
60 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
70 * Getting Started:: Preparing your program to use URLs.
71 * Retrieving URLs:: How to use this package to retrieve a URL.
72 * Supported URL Types:: Descriptions of URL types currently supported.
73 * Defining New URLs:: How to define a URL loader for a new protocol.
74 * General Facilities:: URLs can be cached, accessed via a gateway
75 and tracked in a history list.
76 * Customization:: Variables you can alter.
83 @chapter Getting Started
84 @cindex URLs, definition
87 @dfn{Uniform Resource Locators} (URLs) are a specific form of
88 @dfn{Uniform Resource Identifiers} (URI) described in RFC 2396 which
89 updates RFC 1738 and RFC 1808. RFC 2016 defines uniform resource
92 URIs have the form @var{scheme}:@var{scheme-specific-part}, where the
93 @var{scheme}s supported by this library are described below.
94 @xref{Supported URL Types}.
96 FTP, NFS, HTTP, HTTPS, @code{rlogin}, @code{telnet}, tn3270,
97 IRC and gopher URLs all have the form
100 @var{scheme}://@r{[}@var{userinfo}@@@r{]}@var{hostname}@r{[}:@var{port}@r{]}@r{[}/@var{path}@r{]}
103 where @samp{@r{[}} and @samp{@r{]}} delimit optional parts.
104 @var{userinfo} sometimes takes the form @var{username}:@var{password}
105 but you should beware of the security risks of sending cleartext
106 passwords. @var{hostname} may be a domain name or a dotted decimal
107 address. If the @samp{:@var{port}} is omitted then the library will
108 use the `well known' port for that service when accessing URLs. With
109 the possible exception of @code{telnet}, it is rare for ports to be
110 specified, and it is possible using a non-standard port may have
111 undesired consequences if a different service is listening on that
112 port (e.g., an HTTP URL specifying the SMTP port can cause mail to be
113 sent). @c , but @xref{Other Variables, url-bad-port-list}.
114 The meaning of the @var{path} component depends on the service.
118 * Parsed URLs:: URLs are parsed into vector structures.
122 @section Configuration
124 @defvar url-configuration-directory
125 @cindex @file{~/.url}
126 @cindex configuration files
127 The directory in which URL configuration files, the cache etc.,
128 reside. Default @file{~/.url}.
134 The library functions typically operate on @dfn{parsed} versions of
135 URLs. These are actually vectors of the form:
138 [@var{type} @var{user} @var{password} @var{host} @var{port} @var{file} @var{target} @var{attributes} @var{full}]
144 is the type of the URL scheme, e.g., @code{http}
146 is the username associated with it, or @code{nil};
148 is the user password associated with it, or @code{nil};
150 is the host name associated with it, or @code{nil};
152 is the port number associated with it, or @code{nil};
154 is the `file' part of it, or @code{nil}. This doesn't necessarily
155 actually refer to a file;
157 is the target part, or @code{nil};
159 is the attributes associated with it, or @code{nil};
161 is @code{t} for a fully-specified URL, with a host part indicated by
162 @samp{//} after the scheme part.
172 @findex url-attributes
176 @findex url-set-password
180 @findex url-set-target
181 @findex url-set-attributes
183 These attributes have accessors named @code{url-@var{part}}, where
184 @var{part} is the name of one of the elements above, e.g.,
185 @code{url-host}. Similarly, there are setters of the form
186 @code{url-set-@var{part}}.
188 There are functions for parsing and unparsing between the string and
191 @defun url-generic-parse-url url
192 Return a parsed version of the string @var{url}.
195 @defun url-recreate-url url
196 @cindex unparsing URLs
197 Recreates a URL string from the parsed @var{url}.
200 @node Retrieving URLs
201 @chapter Retrieving URLs
203 @defun url-retrieve-synchronously url
204 Retrieve @var{url} synchronously and return a buffer containing the
205 data. @var{url} is either a string or a parsed URL structure. Return
206 @code{nil} if there are no data associated with it (the case for dired,
207 info, or mailto URLs that need no further processing).
210 @defun url-retrieve url callback &optional cbargs
211 Retrieve @var{url} asynchronously and call @var{callback} with args
212 @var{cbargs} when finished. The callback is called when the object
213 has been completely retrieved, with the current buffer containing the
214 object and any MIME headers associated with it. @var{url} is either a
215 string or a parsed URL structure. Returns the buffer @var{url} will
216 load into, or @code{nil} if the process has already completed.
219 @node Supported URL Types
220 @chapter Supported URL Types
223 * http/https:: Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
224 * file/ftp:: Local files and FTP archives.
225 * info:: Emacs `Info' pages.
226 * mailto:: Sending email.
227 * news/nntp/snews:: Usenet news.
228 * rlogin/telnet/tn3270:: Remote host connectivity.
229 * irc:: Internet Relay Chat.
230 * data:: Embedded data URLs.
231 * nfs:: Networked File System
238 * ldap:: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
239 * imap:: IMAP mailboxes.
240 * man:: Unix man pages.
244 @section @code{http} and @code{https}
246 The scheme @code{http} is Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The library
247 supports version 1.1, specified in RFC 2616. (This supersedes 1.0,
248 defined in RFC 1945) HTTP URLs have the following form, where most of
249 the parts are optional:
251 http://@var{user}:@var{password}@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{path}?@var{searchpart}#@var{fragment}
253 @c The @code{:@var{port}} part is optional, and @var{port} defaults to
254 @c 80. The @code{/@var{path}} part, if present, is a slash-separated
255 @c series elements. The @code{?@var{searchpart}}, if present, is the
256 @c query for a search or the content of a form submission. The
257 @c @code{#fragment} part, if present, is a location in the document.
259 The scheme @code{https} is a secure version of @code{http}, with
260 transmission via SSL. It is defined in RFC 2069. Its default port is
261 443. This scheme depends on SSL support in Emacs via the
262 @file{ssl.el} library and is actually implemented by forcing the
263 @code{ssl} gateway method to be used. @xref{Gateways in general}.
265 @defopt url-honor-refresh-requests
266 This controls honouring of HTTP @samp{Refresh} headers by which
267 servers can direct clients to reload documents from the same URL or a
268 or different one. @code{nil} means they will not be honoured,
269 @code{t} (the default) means they will always be honoured, and
270 otherwise the user will be asked on each request.
276 * HTTP language/coding::
278 * Dealing with HTTP documents::
284 @defopt url-cookie-file
285 The file in which cookies are stored, defaulting to @file{cookies} in
286 the directory specified by @code{url-configuration-directory}.
289 @defopt url-cookie-confirmation
290 Specifies whether confirmation is require to accept cookies.
293 @defopt url-cookie-multiple-line
294 Specifies whether to put all cookies for the server on one line in the
295 HTTP request to satisfy broken servers like
296 @url{http://www.hotmail.com}.
299 @defopt url-cookie-trusted-urls
300 A list of regular expressions matching URLs from which to accept
304 @defopt url-cookie-untrusted-urls
305 A list of regular expressions matching URLs from which to reject
309 @defopt url-cookie-save-interval
310 The number of seconds between automatic saves of cookies to disk.
315 @node HTTP language/coding
316 @subsection Language and Encoding Preferences
318 HTTP allows clients to express preferences for the language and
319 encoding of documents which servers may honour. For each of these
320 variables, the value is a string; it can specify a single choice, or
321 it can be a comma-separated list.
323 Normally this list ordered by descending preference. However, each
324 element can be followed by @samp{;q=@var{priority}} to specify its
325 preference level, a decimal number from 0 to 1; e.g., for
326 @code{url-mime-language-string}, @w{@code{"de, en-gb;q=0.8,
327 en;q=0.7"}}. An element that has no @samp{;q} specification has
330 @defopt url-mime-charset-string
331 @cindex character sets
332 @cindex coding systems
333 This variable specifies a preference for character sets when documents
334 can be served in more than one encoding.
336 HTTP allows specifying a series of MIME charsets which indicate your
337 preferred character set encodings, e.g., Latin-9 or Big5, and these
338 can be weighted. The default series is generated automatically from
339 the associated MIME types of all defined coding systems, sorted by the
340 coding system priority specified in Emacs. @xref{Recognize Coding, ,
341 Recognizing Coding Systems, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}.
344 @defopt url-mime-language-string
345 @cindex language preferences
346 A string specifying the preferred language when servers can serve
347 files in several languages. Use RFC 1766 abbreviations, e.g.,
348 @samp{en} for English, @samp{de} for German.
350 The string can be @code{"*"} to get the first available language (as
351 opposed to the default).
354 @node HTTP URL Options
355 @subsection HTTP URL Options
357 HTTP supports an @samp{OPTIONS} method describing things supported by
360 @defun url-http-options url
361 Returns a property list describing options available for URL. The
362 property list members are:
366 A list of symbols specifying what HTTP methods the resource
371 A list of numbers specifying what DAV protocol/schema versions are
376 A list of supported DASL search types supported (string form).
379 A list of the units available for use in partial document fetches.
383 The @dfn{Platform For Privacy Protection} description for the resource.
384 Currently this is just the raw header contents.
389 @node Dealing with HTTP documents
390 @subsection Dealing with HTTP documents
392 HTTP URLs are retrieved into a buffer containing the HTTP headers
393 followed by the body. Since the headers are quasi-MIME, they may be
394 processed using the MIME library. @xref{Top,, Emacs MIME,
395 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. The URL package provides a
396 function to do this in general:
398 @defun url-decode-text-part handle &optional coding
399 This function decodes charset-encoded text in the current buffer. In
400 Emacs, the buffer is expected to be unibyte initially and is set to
401 multibyte after decoding.
402 HANDLE is the MIME handle of the original part. CODING is an explicit
403 coding to use, overriding what the MIME headers specify.
404 The coding system used for the decoding is returned.
406 Note that this function doesn't deal with @samp{http-equiv} charset
407 specifications in HTML @samp{<meta>} elements.
411 @section file and ftp
414 @cindex File Transfer Protocol
415 @cindex compressed files
419 ftp://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
420 file://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
423 These schemes are defined in RFC 1808.
424 @samp{ftp:} and @samp{file:} are synonymous in this library. They
425 allow reading arbitrary files from hosts. Either @samp{ange-ftp}
426 (Emacs) or @samp{efs} (XEmacs) is used to retrieve them from remote
427 hosts. Local files are accessed directly.
429 Compressed files are handled, but support is hard-coded so that
430 @code{jka-compr-compression-info-list} and so on have no affect.
431 Suffixes recognized are @samp{.z}, @samp{.gz}, @samp{.Z} and
434 @defopt url-directory-index-file
435 The filename to look for when indexing a directory, default
436 @samp{"index.html"}. If this file exists, and is readable, then it
437 will be viewed instead of using @code{dired} to view the directory.
444 @findex Info-goto-node
447 info:@var{file}#@var{node}
450 Info URLs are not officially defined. They invoke
451 @code{Info-goto-node} with argument @samp{(@var{file})@var{node}}.
452 @samp{#@var{node}} is optional, defaulting to @samp{Top}.
459 A mailto URL will send an email message to the address in the
460 URL, for example @samp{mailto:foo@@bar.com} would compose a
461 message to @samp{foo@@bar.com}.
463 @defopt url-mail-command
464 @vindex mail-user-agent
465 The function called whenever url needs to send mail. This should
466 normally be left to default from @var{mail-user-agent}. @xref{Mail
467 Methods, , Mail-Composition Methods, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}.
470 An @samp{X-Url-From} header field containing the URL of the document
471 that contained the mailto URL is added if that URL is known.
473 RFC 2368 extends the definition of mailto URLs in RFC 1738.
474 The form of a mailto URL is
476 @samp{mailto:@var{mailbox}[?@var{header}=@var{contents}[&@var{header}=@var{contents}]]}
478 @noindent where an arbitrary number of @var{header}s can be added. If the
479 @var{header} is @samp{body}, then @var{contents} is put in the body
480 otherwise a @var{header} header field is created with @var{contents}
481 as its contents. Note that the URL library does not consider any
482 headers `dangerous' so you should check them before sending the
486 Email messages are defined in @sc{rfc}822.
488 @node news/nntp/snews
489 @section @code{news}, @code{nntp} and @code{snews}
496 @c draft-gilman-news-url-01
497 The network news URL scheme take the following forms following RFC
498 1738 except that for compatibility with other clients, host and port
499 fields may be included in news URLs though they are properly only
500 allowed for nntp an snews.
503 @item news:@var{newsgroup}
504 Retrieves a list of messages in @var{newsgroup};
505 @item news:@var{message-id}
506 Retrieves the message with the given @var{message-id};
508 Retrieves a list of all available newsgroups;
509 @item nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{newsgroup}
510 @itemx nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{message-id}
511 @itemx nntp://@var{host}:@var{port}/*
512 Similar to the @samp{news} versions.
515 @samp{:@var{port}} is optional and defaults to :119.
517 @samp{snews} is the same as @samp{nntp} except that the default port
520 (It is tunneled through SSL.)
522 An @samp{nntp} URL is the same as a news URL, except that the URL may
523 specify an article by its number.
525 @defopt url-news-server
526 This variable can be used to override the default news server.
527 Usually this will be set by the Gnus package, which is used to fetch
529 @cindex environment variable
531 It may be set from the conventional environment variable
535 @node rlogin/telnet/tn3270
536 @section rlogin, telnet and tn3270
540 @cindex terminal emulation
541 @findex terminal-emulator
543 These URL schemes from RFC 1738 for logon via a terminal emulator have
546 telnet://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}
548 but the @code{:@var{password}} component is ignored.
550 To handle rlogin, telnet and tn3270 URLs, a @code{rlogin},
551 @code{telnet} or @code{tn3270} (the program names and arguments are
552 hardcoded) session is run in a @code{terminal-emulator} buffer.
553 Well-known ports are used if the URL does not specify a port.
558 @cindex Internet Relay Chat
560 @c Fixme: reference (was http://www.w3.org/Addressing/draft-mirashi-url-irc-01.txt)
561 @dfn{Internet Relay Chat} (IRC) is handled by handing off the @sc{irc}
562 session to a function named in @code{url-irc-function}.
564 @defopt url-irc-function
565 A function to actually open an IRC connection.
567 must take five arguments, @var{host}, @var{port}, @var{channel},
568 @var{user} and @var{password}. The @var{channel} argument specifies the
569 channel to join immediately, this can be @code{nil}. By default this is
570 @code{url-irc-zenirc}.
572 @defun url-irc-zenirc host port channel user password
573 Processes the arguments and lets @code{zenirc} handle the session.
581 data:@r{[}@var{media-type}@r{]}@r{[};@var{base64}@r{]},@var{data}
584 Data URLs contain MIME data in the URL itself. They are defined in
587 @var{media-type} is a MIME @samp{Content-Type} string, possibly
588 including parameters. It defaults to
589 @samp{text/plain;charset=US-ASCII}. The @samp{text/plain} can be
590 omitted but the charset parameter supplied. If @samp{;base64} is
591 present, the @var{data} are base64-encoded.
596 @cindex Network File System
600 nfs://@var{user}:@var{password}@@@var{host}:@var{port}/@var{file}
603 The @samp{nfs:} scheme is defined in RFC 2224. It is similar to
604 @samp{ftp:} except that it points to a file on a remote host that is
605 handled by the automounter on the local host.
607 @defvar url-nfs-automounter-directory-spec
609 A string saying how to invoke the NFS automounter. Certain @samp{%}
610 sequences are recognized:
614 The hostname of the NFS server;
616 The port number of the NFS server;
618 The username to use to authenticate;
620 The password to use to authenticate;
622 The filename on the remote server;
627 Each can be used any number of times.
641 @cindex Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
643 The LDAP scheme is defined in RFC 2255.
653 @cindex @command{man}
654 @cindex Unix man pages
658 @samp{man:@var{page-spec}}
661 This is a non-standard scheme. @var{page-spec} is passed directly to
662 the Lisp @code{man} function.
664 @node Defining New URLs
665 @chapter Defining New URLs
668 * Naming conventions::
669 * Required functions::
670 * Optional functions::
671 * Asynchronous fetching::
672 * Supporting file-name-handlers::
675 @node Naming conventions
676 @section Naming conventions
678 @node Required functions
679 @section Required functions
681 @node Optional functions
682 @section Optional functions
684 @node Asynchronous fetching
685 @section Asynchronous fetching
687 @node Supporting file-name-handlers
688 @section Supporting file-name-handlers
690 @node General Facilities
691 @chapter General Facilities
696 * Gateways in general::
701 @section Disk Caching
703 @cindex Persistent Cache
706 The disk cache stores retrieved documents locally, whence they can be
707 retrieved more quickly. When requesting a URL that is in the cache,
708 the library checks to see if the page has changed since it was last
709 retrieved from the remote machine. If not, the local copy is used,
710 saving the transmission over the network.
711 @cindex Cleaning the cache
712 @cindex Clearing the cache
713 @cindex Cache cleaning
714 Currently the cache isn't cleared automatically.
715 @c Running the @code{clean-cache} shell script
716 @c fist is recommended, to allow for future cleaning of the cache. This
717 @c shell script will remove all files that have not been accessed since it
718 @c was last run. To keep the cache pared down, it is recommended that this
719 @c script be run from @i{at} or @i{cron} (see the manual pages for
720 @c crontab(5) or at(1) for more information)
722 @defopt url-automatic-caching
723 Setting this variable non-@code{nil} causes documents to be cached
727 @defopt url-cache-directory
728 This variable specifies the
729 directory to store the cache files. It defaults to sub-directory
730 @file{cache} of @code{url-configuration-directory}.
733 @c Fixme: function v. option, but neither used.
734 @c @findex url-cache-expired
735 @c @defopt url-cache-expired
736 @c This is a function to decide whether or not a cache entry has expired.
737 @c It takes two times as it parameters and returns non-@code{nil} if the
738 @c second time is ``too old'' when compared with the first time.
741 @defopt url-cache-creation-function
742 The cache relies on a scheme for mapping URLs to files in the cache.
743 This variable names a function which sets the type of cache to use.
744 It takes a URL as argument and returns the absolute file name of the
745 corresponding cache file. The two supplied possibilities are
746 @code{url-cache-create-filename-using-md5} and
747 @code{url-cache-create-filename-human-readable}.
750 @defun url-cache-create-filename-using-md5 url
751 Creates a cache file name from @var{url} using MD5 hashing.
753 This is creates entries with very few cache collisions and is fast if
754 you have the @code{md5} function as a primitive (Emacs 21 and XEmacs).
756 (url-cache-create-filename-using-md5 "http://www.example.com/foo/bar")
757 @result{} "/home/fx/.url/cache/fx/http/com/example/www/b8a35774ad20db71c7c3409a5410e74f"
761 @defun url-cache-create-filename-human-readable url
762 Creates a cache file name from @var{url} more obviously connected to
763 @var{url} than for @code{url-cache-create-filename-using-md5}, but
764 more likely to conflict with other files.
766 (url-cache-create-filename-human-readable "http://www.example.com/foo/bar")
767 @result{} "/home/fx/.url/cache/fx/http/com/example/www/foo/bar"
771 @c Fixme: never actually used currently?
772 @c @defopt url-standalone-mode
773 @c @cindex Relying on cache
774 @c @cindex Cache only mode
775 @c @cindex Standalone mode
776 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, the library relies solely on the
777 @c cache for fetching documents and avoids checking if they have changed
778 @c on remote servers.
781 @c With a large cache of documents on the local disk, it can be very handy
782 @c when traveling, or any other time the network connection is not active
783 @c (a laptop with a dial-on-demand PPP connection, etc). Emacs/W3 can rely
784 @c solely on its cache, and avoid checking to see if the page has changed
785 @c on the remote server. In the case of a dial-on-demand PPP connection,
786 @c this will keep the phone line free as long as possible, only bringing up
787 @c the PPP connection when asking for a page that is not located in the
788 @c cache. This is very useful for demonstrations as well.
791 @section Proxies and Gatewaying
793 @c fixme: check/document url-ns stuff
794 @cindex proxy servers
796 @cindex environment variables
798 Proxy servers are commonly used to provide gateways through firewalls
799 or as caches serving some more-or-less local network. Each protocol
800 (HTTP, FTP, etc.)@: can have a different gateway server. Proxying is
801 conventionally configured commonly amongst different programs through
802 environment variables of the form @code{@var{protocol}_proxy}, where
803 @var{protocol} is one of the supported network protocols (@code{http},
804 @code{ftp} etc.). The library recognizes such variables in either
805 upper or lower case. Their values are of one of the forms:
807 @item @code{@var{host}:@var{port}}
809 @item Simply a host name.
813 The @code{NO_PROXY} environment variable specifies URLs that should be
814 excluded from proxying (on servers that should be contacted directly).
815 This should be a comma-separated list of hostnames, domain names, or a
816 mixture of both. Asterisks can be used as wildcards, but other
817 clients may not support that. Domain names may be indicated by a
818 leading dot. For example:
820 NO_PROXY="*.aventail.com,home.com,.seanet.com"
822 @noindent says to contact all machines in the @samp{aventail.com} and
823 @samp{seanet.com} domains directly, as well as the machine named
824 @samp{home.com}. If @code{NO_PROXY} isn't defined, @code{no_PROXY}
825 and @code{no_proxy} are also tried, in that order.
827 Proxies may also be specified directly in Lisp.
829 @defopt url-proxy-services
830 This variable is an alist of URL schemes and proxy servers that
831 gateway them. The items are of the form @w{@code{(@var{scheme}
832 . @var{host}:@var{portnumber})}}, says that the URL @var{scheme} is
833 gatewayed through @var{portnumber} on the specified @var{host}. An
834 exception is the pseudo scheme @code{"no_proxy"}, which is paired with
835 a regexp matching host names not to be proxied. This variable is
836 initialized from the environment as above.
839 (setq url-proxy-services
840 '(("http" . "proxy.aventail.com:80")
841 ("no_proxy" . "^.*\\(aventail\\|seanet\\)\\.com")))
845 @node Gateways in general
846 @section Gateways in General
850 The library provides a general gateway layer through which all
851 networking passes. It can both control access to the network and
852 provide access through gateways in firewalls. This may make direct
853 connections in some cases and pass through some sort of gateway in
854 others.@footnote{Proxies (which only operate over HTTP) are
855 implemented using this.} The library's basic function responsible for
856 making connections is @code{url-open-stream}.
858 @defun url-open-stream name buffer host service
859 @cindex opening a stream
860 @cindex stream, opening
861 Open a stream to @var{host}, possibly via a gateway. The other
862 arguments are as for @code{open-network-stream}. This will not make a
863 connection if @code{url-gateway-unplugged} is non-@code{nil}.
866 @defvar url-gateway-local-host-regexp
867 This is a regular expression that matches local hosts that do not
868 require the use of a gateway. If @code{nil}, all connections are made
872 @defvar url-gateway-method
873 This variable controls which gateway method is used. It may be useful
874 to bind it temporarily in some applications. It has values taken from
875 a list of symbols. Possible values are:
879 @cindex @command{telnet}
880 Use this method if you must first telnet and log into a gateway host,
881 and then run telnet from that host to connect to outside machines.
884 @cindex @command{rlogin}
885 This method is identical to @code{telnet}, but uses @command{rlogin}
886 to log into the remote machine without having to send the username and
887 password over the wire every time.
891 Use if the firewall has a @sc{socks} gateway running on it. The
892 @sc{socks} v5 protocol is defined in RFC 1928.
895 @c This probably shouldn't be documented
896 @c Fixme: why not? -- fx
899 This method uses Emacs's builtin networking directly. This is the
900 default. It can be used only if there is no firewall blocking access.
904 The following variables control the gateway methods.
906 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-host
907 The gateway host to telnet to. Once logged in there, you then telnet
908 out to the hosts you want to connect to.
910 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-parameters
911 This should be a list of parameters to pass to the @command{telnet} program.
913 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-password-prompt
914 This is a regular expression that matches the password prompt when
917 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-login-prompt
918 This is a regular expression that matches the username prompt when
921 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-user-name
922 The username to log in with.
924 @defopt url-gateway-telnet-password
925 The password to send when logging in.
927 @defopt url-gateway-prompt-pattern
928 This is a regular expression that matches the shell prompt.
931 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-host
932 Host to @samp{rlogin} to before telnetting out.
934 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-parameters
935 Parametres to pass to @samp{rsh}.
937 @defopt url-gateway-rlogin-user-name
938 User name to use when logging in to the gateway.
940 @defopt url-gateway-prompt-pattern
941 This is a regular expression that matches the shell prompt.
945 This specifies the default server, it takes the form
946 @w{@code{("Default server" @var{server} @var{port} @var{version})}}
947 where @var{version} can be either 4 or 5.
949 @defvar socks-password
950 If this is @code{nil} then you will be asked for the password,
951 otherwise it will be used as the password for authenticating you to
952 the @sc{socks} server.
954 @defvar socks-username
955 This is the username to use when authenticating yourself to the
956 @sc{socks} server. By default this is your login name.
958 @defvar socks-timeout
959 This controls how long, in seconds, to wait for responses from the
960 @sc{socks} server; it is 5 by default.
962 @c fixme: these have been effectively commented-out in the code
963 @c @defopt socks-server-aliases
964 @c This a list of server aliases. It is a list of aliases of the form
965 @c @var{(alias hostname port version)}.
967 @c @defopt socks-network-aliases
968 @c This a list of network aliases. Each entry in the list takes the form
969 @c @var{(alias (network))} where @var{alias} is a string that names the
970 @c @var{network}. The networks can contain a pair (not a dotted pair) of
971 @c @sc{ip} addresses which specify a range of @sc{ip} addresses, an @sc{ip}
972 @c address and a netmask, a domain name or a unique hostname or @sc{ip}
975 @c @defopt socks-redirection-rules
976 @c This a list of redirection rules. Each rule take the form
977 @c @var{(Destination network Connection type)} where @var{Destination
978 @c network} is a network alias from @code{socks-network-aliases} and
979 @c @var{Connection type} can be @code{nil} in which case a direct
980 @c connection is used, or it can be an alias from
981 @c @code{socks-server-aliases} in which case that server is used as a
984 @defopt socks-nslookup-program
985 @cindex @command{nslookup}
986 This the @samp{nslookup} program. It is @code{"nslookup"} by default.
990 * Suppressing network connections::
992 @c * Broken hostname resolution::
994 @node Suppressing network connections
995 @subsection Suppressing Network Connections
997 @cindex network connections, suppressing
998 @cindex suppressing network connections
1001 In some circumstances it is desirable to suppress making network
1002 connections. A typical case is when rendering HTML in a mail user
1003 agent, when external URLs should not be activated, particularly to
1004 avoid `bugs' which `call home' by fetch single-pixel images and the
1005 like. To arrange this, bind the following variable for the duration
1008 @defvar url-gateway-unplugged
1009 If this variable is non-@code{nil} new network connections are never
1010 opened by the URL library.
1013 @c @node Broken hostname resolution
1014 @c @subsection Broken Hostname Resolution
1016 @c @cindex hostname resolver
1017 @c @cindex resolver, hostname
1018 @c Some C libraries do not include the hostname resolver routines in
1019 @c their static libraries. If Emacs was linked statically, and was not
1020 @c linked with the resolver libraries, it will not be able to get to any
1021 @c machines off the local network. This is characterized by being able
1022 @c to reach someplace with a raw ip number, but not its hostname
1023 @c (@url{http://129.79.254.191/} works, but
1024 @c @url{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/} doesn't). This used to happen on
1025 @c SunOS4 and Ultrix, but is now probably now rare. If Emacs can't be
1026 @c rebuilt linked against the resolver library, it can use the external
1027 @c @command{nslookup} program instead.
1029 @c @defopt url-gateway-broken-resolution
1030 @c @cindex @code{nslookup} program
1031 @c @cindex program, @code{nslookup}
1032 @c If non-@code{nil}, this variable says to use the program specified by
1033 @c @code{url-gateway-nslookup-program} program to do hostname resolution.
1036 @c @defopt url-gateway-nslookup-program
1037 @c The name of the program to do hostname lookup if Emacs can't do it
1038 @c directly. This program should expect a single argument on the command
1039 @c line---the hostname to resolve---and should produce output similar to
1040 @c the standard Unix @command{nslookup} program:
1042 @c Name: www.cs.indiana.edu
1043 @c Address: 129.79.254.191
1050 The library can maintain a global history list tracking URLs accessed.
1051 URL completion can be done from it. The history mechanism is set up
1052 @findex url-do-setup
1053 automatically via @code{url-do-setup} when it is configured to be on.
1054 Note that the size of the history list is currently not limited.
1056 @vindex url-history-hash-table
1057 The history `list' is actually a hash table,
1058 @code{url-history-hash-table}. It contains access times keyed by URL
1059 strings. The times are in the format returned by @code{current-time}.
1061 @defun url-history-update-url url time
1062 This function updates the history table with an entry for @var{url}
1063 accessed at the given @var{time}.
1066 @defopt url-history-track
1067 If non-@code{nil}, the library will keep track of all the URLs
1068 accessed. If it is @code{t}, the list is saved to disk at the end of
1069 each Emacs session. The default is @code{nil}.
1072 @defopt url-history-file
1073 The file storing the history list between sessions. It defaults to
1074 @file{history} in @code{url-configuration-directory}.
1077 @defopt url-history-save-interval
1078 @findex url-history-setup-save-timer
1079 The number of seconds between automatic saves of the history list.
1080 Default is one hour. Note that if you change this variable directly,
1081 rather than using Custom, after @code{url-do-setup} has been run, you
1082 need to run the function @code{url-history-setup-save-timer}.
1085 @defun url-history-parse-history &optional fname
1086 Parses the history file @var{fname} (default @code{url-history-file})
1087 and sets up the history list.
1090 @defun url-history-save-history &optional fname
1091 Saves the current history to file @var{fname} (default
1092 @code{url-history-file}).
1095 @defun url-completion-function string predicate function
1096 You can use this function to do completion of URLs from the history.
1100 @chapter Customization
1102 @section Environment Variables
1104 @cindex environment variables
1105 The following environment variables affect the library's operation at
1111 @vindex url-temporary-directory
1112 If this is defined, @var{url-temporary-directory} is initialized from
1116 @section General User Options
1118 The following user options, settable with Customize, affect the
1119 general operation of the package.
1123 Specifies the types of debug messages the library which are logged to
1124 the @code{*URL-DEBUG*} buffer.
1125 @code{t} means log all messages.
1126 A number means log all messages and show them with @code{message}.
1127 If may also be a list of the types of messages to be logged.
1129 @defopt url-personal-mail-address
1131 @defopt url-privacy-level
1133 @defopt url-uncompressor-alist
1135 @defopt url-passwd-entry-func
1137 @defopt url-standalone-mode
1139 @defopt url-bad-port-list
1141 @defopt url-max-password-attempts
1143 @defopt url-temporary-directory
1145 @defopt url-show-status
1147 @defopt url-confirmation-func
1148 The function to use for asking yes or no functions. This is normally
1149 either @code{y-or-n-p} or @code{yes-or-no-p}, but could be another
1150 function taking a single argument (the prompt) and returning @code{t}
1151 only if an affirmative answer is given.
1153 @defopt url-gateway-method
1154 @c fixme: describe gatewaying
1155 A symbol specifying the type of gateway support to use for connections
1156 from the local machine. The supported methods are:
1160 Run telnet in a subprocess to connect;
1162 Rlogin to another machine to connect;
1164 Connect through a socks server;
1172 @node Function Index
1173 @unnumbered Command and Function Index
1176 @node Variable Index
1177 @unnumbered Variable Index
1181 @unnumbered Concept Index
1184 @setchapternewpage odd
1189 arch-tag: c96be356-7e2d-4196-bcda-b13246c5c3f0