What Does The MurkWorks Gopher+ Client Allow Me To Do?

        The MurkWorks Gopher+ Client allows the user to contact the
        thousands of gopher servers on the global Internet, and retrieve
        the information stored on those servers.  Once retrieved, this
        information can be viewed or downloaded.

What Is Gopher?

        Gopher is an easy to use, "point and click" information retrieval
        tool that allows its user to navigate the global Internet from the
        comfort of a menu.  Without the aid of a tool such as gopher,
        successfully locating and retrieving information from the Internet
        can be a formidable task - for both the first time user and veteran
        alike.

        Many sites on the Internet make programs, information, searchable
        indices, and more available to the rest of the world by running a
        gopher server.  There are literally thousands of these sites.  A
        gopher client is used to contact these distributed gopher servers
        and then bring the selected information back to user, all via a
        uniform interface.  The MurkWorks Gopher+ Client is one such
        client.

What User Interface To The Internet Does The Gopher+ Client Provide?

        The MurkWorks Gopher+ Client supports an ASCII, color/graphic ANSI,
        and RIPscrip interface.  In all modes selections are made using hot
        keys or cursor keys.  Additionally, in RIP mode the interface is
        truly point and click when used with a mouse and a compatible
        terminal program, such as RIPTerm or QmodemPro.
 
How Do I Use The MurkWorks Gopher+ Client?

        All selections are "point and click" in nature, and are made via
        hot keys, cursor keys, or mouse (using RIP).  All functions
        available at a given time are displayed on a button bar at the
        bottom of the screen.  Available gopher selections are displayed on
        the body of the screen.

        To select a function or gopher item, either press the letter that
        precedes a given item, or hi-lite the item using the cursor keys
        and press enter.  If using RIP, simply click on your selection.

        Depending on the function selected, or the data being displayed,
        the button bar changes to indicate the choices available.  What
        follows is a listing of the functions that can be selected in each
        mode, and what those functions do.  A list of functions and
        abbreviated descriptions can be found in the context sensitive help
        at all times simply by selecting the 'help' function.

        o  General Functions Available In Most Modes:

                A..M       SELECT ITEM - selects the item preceded by the 
                           letter.  Alternatively, the cursor keys can be used
                           to select and item.  Under RIP, the user can also
                           click on an item to select it.

                ?          HELP - displays context sensitive help throughout
                           the Gopher+ Client.

                Q          QUIT - prompts for confirmation before exiting the 
                           Gopher+ Client.  If the user selects 'No', then
                           they are returned to where they were prior to
                           selecting quit.

                P          PREVIOUS - returns the user to the previous gopher
                           selection directory that was displayed.  If pressed
                           repeatedly, the user will be returned to the root
                           gopher selection directory.

                1,2,3...   GO TO PAGE NUMBER - when a multi-page gopher 
                           selection directory listing is displayed, a given
                           page number can be chosen to go to that page.

                >          PAGE DOWN - when a multi-page gopher selection 
                           directory listing is displayed, page down can be
                           used to go to the next page.  If page down is
                           selected on the last available page, the first page
                           will be displayed.

                <          PAGE UP - when a multi-page gopher selection 
                           directory listing is displayed, page up can be used
                           to go to the previous page.  If page up is selected
                           on the first available page, the last page will be
                           displayed.  This should not be confused with the
                           'previous' function which displays the previous
                           selection directory listing.

        o  Main Selection Screen Functions:

                /          SEARCH - prompts for a regular expression string to
                           search the current gopher selection directory for. 
                           If the string matches one or more of the items
                           available in the directory, they are displayed for
                           selection.  If no matches are found a message is
                           displayed.
  
                [          BOOKMARK FUNCTIONS - each user can have a
                           customizable list of items for which they might
                           wish to return to.  This list bookmarks can be
                           used, added to, or removed from under this
                           selection.  The list of bookmarks is retained
                           between gopher sessions.

                \          HISTORY - allows direct selection of previously 
                           visited gopher directories.  The most recently
                           visited gopher selection directory is located at
                           the top of the list.  These selections are not
                           retained between gopher sessions.

        o  Search Selection Directory Items:

                When selected, first a dialog box appears in the middle of the
                screen asking for an input string to match against the current
                directory listing.  The user can abort the search by pressing
                enter without having entered a search string, or by pressing
                the escape key.  To complete the search once a string has been
                entered, press the enter key.

                The search engine is case insensitive, and supports matching
                against regular expression strings.

                Once a match has been made, the search selection screen
                functions in the same manner as the main selection screen.

        o  Bookmark Functions:

                If bookmark entries have been added previously, they appear
                under this screen.  Previously entered bookmark entries can
                then be selected.  Additionally, bookmark entries can be added
                to or deleted from the bookmark list.

                [          ADD ITEM - displays the current gopher selection 
                           directory and allows for an item to be selected
                           from the directory and added to the bookmark list. 
                           Alternatively, a pointer to the current directory
                           can be added to the bookmark list.

                ]          DELETE ITEM - allows for an entry in the current 
                           bookmark list to be deleted.

        o  Abstract/View Select Functions:

                There are two variants of gopher that exist.  These variants
                affect the information available about a given selection.  The
                original gopher protocol, known as Gopher, only provides for
                one view per selection.  The newer protocol, known as Gopher+,
                is capable of providing multiple views (say english and
                spanish, or text and graphic representation) of a given item. 
                Additionally, Gopher+ selections can include a short abstract
                on an item's contents.

                B..I       When a Gopher+ item is selected, the Abstract/View
                           screen is presented which displays the abstract, if
                           any, and the views available.  The user can select
                           the desired view by pressing the letter that
                           precedes the view, using the cursor keys, or by
                           clicking on it (RIP only).

                           If the selected view is viewable on-line (ie,
                           text), then it will be displayed on the screen.  If
                           the selected view is not viewable on-line (ie,
                           graphics), then the item will downloaded to the
                           users' computer via the Zmodem transfer protocol.

                =          MORE INFORMATION - displays technical information 
                           about the selected item such as what gopher server
                           it's located on, what the path to the item is, and
                           who administers that item.

        o  Text Viewer Functions:

                If an item is selected that can be displayed on-line (ie,
                text), it is displayed in the text viewer.  The text of the
                selected item is displayed as soon as it starts arriving, so
                there is no need to wait for the full text to be received
                before viewing begins.

                >          PAGE DOWN - displays the next page of text for the
                           selected item.

                <          PAGE UP - displays the previous page of text for the
                           selected item.

                D          LINE DOWN - displays the next line of text for the
                           selected item.

                U          LINE UP - displays the previous line of text for the
                           selected item.

                T          TOP - go to the top of the received text.

                B          BOTTOM - go to the bottom of the received text.

                Z          ZMODEM - send the currently displayed text file to
                           the users' computer using the Zmodem transfer
                           protocol.

                C          CANCEL - cancels retrieval of the remainder of the
                           selected item.  Text already received is
                           unaffected.

        o  Searchable Index/CSO:

                Certain gopher items are gateways to searchable information
                indices or CSO phone books.  This is the interface used to
                access these items.

                At least one search field must contain data in order for the
                search to proceed.

                A..M       SELECT FIELD - choose the search field preceded by
                           a given letter to enter a search key into.

                S          BEGIN SEARCH - begin searching the index/CSO 
                           database for the specified search keys.

        o  Zmodem Download:

                If you select 'Zmodem' from the text viewer, or a binary file
                from a gopher selection directory, the Zmodem Download
                interface will be displayed.

                A          ENTER FILE NAME - gopher automatically suggests a
                           filename for the data to be transferred.  If you
                           wish to call the file something different, select
                           this choice and enter a new name.  You name
                           specified must follow standard DOS naming
                           conventions (8.3, no spaces, etc...)

                D          DOWNLOAD - begin the Zmodem download of the
                           selected gopher item. 

How Do I Get Items Of Interest From Gopher To My Computer?

        The MurkWorks Gopher+ client has the Zmodem transfer protocol built
        in.  So, transferring a file from a gopher server to your local
        computer is as easy as selecting 'download'.

