GOPHER(1) General Commands Manual GOPHER(1)
NAME
gopher - connect to gopher document server
SYNOPSIS
gopher [-sSbDr] [-t title] [-p path] [-T type] [-i search term] [hostnameorurl] [port]
DESCRIPTION
The gopher client is used to talk to gopher servers. Once you have started the gopher client, help on
using it is available by pressing the ? key.
The Internet Gopher is a distributed document delivery service. It allows a neophyte user to access
various types of data residing on multiple hosts in a seamless fashion. This is accomplished by pre‐
senting the user a hierarchical arrangement of documents and by using a client-server communications
model. The Internet Gopher Server accepts simple queries, and responds by sending the client a docu‐
ment.
The [hostname] of a gopher server may be specified at startup; if omitted, the default server for your
site is used. You may also specify a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for this argument.
The [Port_number] of the server host may be specified at startup; if omitted you will use the default
port specified at your site. The more or less standard and accepted Gopher port number on the Internet
is 70.
OPTIONS
-b starts the client on the bookmark page.
The next few options are for more advanced users who want to start at a location other than the de‐
fault, or to set up special aliases or shell-scripts to point the gopher client to seperate places.
-p path
specify a specific selector string to send to the gopher server on startup.
-T type
let the client know what type of object the -p option is pointing at.
-i search term
tell the client what to search for in the object defined by the -p and -T 7 options.
-t title
set the title of the initial screen for the gopher client.
The last few options aren't really of interest to regular users, but are provided for system adminis‐
trators who waht to provide a secure client, or who need to debug a client.
-s or -S
"secure mode" which means that you can't save or print the files that you browse. -s is for
users without an account, while -S assumes the user has an account on this machine. One secu‐
rity feature is forced on, regardless of the state of these options, if the name of the user's
shell ends in rsh; the 'O' (options) command is disabled so the user cannot select a shell as an
application.
-r tells the client that its user is remote.
-D turns on the copius debugging output
In-Session Options
Press return or the right arrow key on the mini keypad to view a document or enter a directory.
Press Control/W, Control/R, or Control/L to repaint your menu at any time.
At any time, you may press ? to see a help file of commands available.
BOOKMARKS
Bookmarks allow users to create their own personallized menus from those available on the variety of
Gopher servers available worldwide. The following list of keystrokes aids in developing and maintain‐
ing the bookmarks.
a : Add current item to the bookmark list.
A : Add current directory/search to bookmark list.
v : View bookmark list.
d : Delete a bookmark/directory entry.
MOVING AROUND
Use the arrow keys to move around.
Use the Arrow Keys to move around.
Up, k ...............: Move to previous line.
Down, j .............: Move to next line.
Right, Return .......: "Enter"/Display current item.
Left, u ............: "Exit" current item/Go up a level.
>, +, Pgdwn, space ..: View next page.
<, -, Pgup, b .......: View previous page.
0-9 .................: Go to a specific line.
m .................: Go back to the main menu.
OTHER COMMANDS
s : Save current item to a file.
S : Save current list of items to a file.
D : Download a file.
q : Quit with prompt.
Q : Quit unconditionally (also Control/Z).
r : goto root menu of current item.
R : goto root menu of current menu.
= : Display Technical information about current item.
^ : Display technical information about current directory.
o : Open a new gopher server
w : Open a new gopher server or item by URL
O : Change options.
f : Connect to an anonymous FTP host
/ : Search for an item in the menu.
g : "Gripe" via email to administrator of current item.
n : Find next search item.
$, ! : Spawn to subprocess (use "logout" to return to session)
Ctrl-T : Show host's local date and time.
GOPHER OBJECTS
Menu entries ending with "/" are directories; additional characteristics for files (such as binary,
sound, image, and others) are identified within angle brackets.
Item tag Type Description
--------------------------------------------
(none) 0 file
/ 1 directory
<) s sound file
<Picture> I,g image file
<Movie> ; movie file
<HQX> 4 BinHexed Macintosh file
<Bin> 9 binary file
<PC Bin> 5 DOS binary file
<CSO> 2 CSO (ph/qi) phone-book server
<TEL> 8 telnet connection
<3270> T telnet connection (IBM 3270 emulation)
<MIME> M Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions file
<HTML> h HyperText Markup Language file
<?> 7 index-search item
<??> (none) ASK form
EXAMPLES
gopher gopher.tc.umn.edu
Connect to the gopher server running on the computer gopher.tc.umn.edu
gopher -p "1/Information About Gopher" gopher.tc.umn.edu 70
Connect to the gopher server running on port 70 of the computer gopher.tc.umn.edu and start at
the menu retrieved with the selector string 1/Information About Gopher
gopher -p 7/indexes/Gopher-index/index -T 7 -i FAQ mudhoney.micro.umn.edu
Connect to the gopher server running on the computer mudhoney.micro.umn.edu and start at the
menu of items matching the string FAQ in the index specified by the selector string 7/in‐
dexes/Gopher-index/index
CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
The client gets configuration data from the system gopher.rc file and the user's .gopherrc files. The
options in these files may be set by using the O key in the client.
See the manual page for gopherrc for more information about these options.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The client also checks for environment variables for its configuration information. The following
variables can be used:
GOPHER_TELNET:
The program used to connect to telnet services
GOPHER_TN3270:
The program used to connect to TN3270 services
GOPHER_HTML:
The program used to read HyperText Markup Language documents.
GOPHER_PRINTER:
The program used to print from a pipe.
FILES
$HOME/.gopherrc
user bookmarks and configuration information
/usr/local/lib/gopher.rc
system default configuration information (default location - may be somewhere else on your sys‐
tem)
/usr/local/lib/gopher.hlp
client help file displayed by the '?' command (default location - may be somewhere else on your
system)
COPYRIGHT
The Internet Gopher(tm) software and documentation is copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 by the Uni‐
versity of Minnesota. Gopher has limitations on its use and comes without a warranty. Please refer to
the file 'Copyright' included in the distribution.
GOPHER(1)
