Browse98 Tutorial

Welcome to Browse98! This Tutorial will demonstrate many of this program's features. A complete description of all the features may be found in the Help file.

Before continuing, please print this document (by clicking the Print button directly above this Tutorial), as a different site will soon be displayed on this browser.

Browse98 will allow you to Pre-select up to 200 different websites, and navigate to any group of them with a single keypress. To demonstrate this, press:

[F10]

The Status Screen will indicate that "Active Connections" have been made to the following Search Engines:

Yahoo

Infoseek

The lower portion of the screen is called the "Grid", into which you may Add (or Import) Records for your favorite websites. Just above the Grid (on the left side of the screen), you will see a DropDown Listbox (or "ComboBox") which currently contains the two Search Engines. By clicking on this ComboBox and then pressing the Up or Down arrow keys (or pressing Alt+DownArrow to display the entire list), you may select the Search Engine that will be displayed in Browser #1 (which is on the Left).

You may resize any of the three frames (the two Browsers and the Grid), by dragging their borders with your mouse. If you want to allow more or less screen space for the Grid, then drag it's uppermost border up or down (which is the horizontal line that goes across the entire screen, just above the two ComboBoxes).

To adjust the size of either Browser, drag the border which separates them (which is the vertical line in the middle of the upper screen).

YOU ARE NOW READY TO START BROWSING!

Select Yahoo in the ComboBox for Browser #1, and get ready to say goodbye to this Tutorial on the screen (you did print it, right?). When you click any of the Hyperlinks on Browser #1, the Navigation will occur on Browser #2 (which is where this Tutorial is currently displayed).

You may redisplay this Tutorial at any time, by selecting "Browse98 Tutorial" in the ComboBox which is located directly under the "Browser 2" caption (just above the Grid, on the right side).

In Yahoo's Search Criteria Box, type: HotRods, followed by [Enter]. In a few moments, Browser #2 will display a list of Yahoo Categories that pertain to "HotRods".

Notice that the name displayed in the ComboBox (for Browser 2) is preceded by an asterisk. This indicates that Browser #2 is displaying a "Temporary Site", which has not yet been stored in the Grid. To Add the "HotRods" site to the Favorites Database:

Click the [Add] button (located above Browser #2)

You will then be prompted to select an existing Group, or to Add a New Group. Next to the "New Group Name" caption (at the bottom of the dialog), type: Cars, followed by [Enter].

A New Group named "Cars" will be added to the Grid, with a Record for the "HotRods" site. You should now change the Title of that site, by clicking on the Grid directly beneath the "Title" caption (on the Cell which currently displays "Yahoo! Search Results"). When the cursor is in that Cell, type HotRods as the Title (do NOT press [Enter]). You will notice that the asterisk is removed from the name displayed in the ComboBox (for Browser 2).

Towards the middle of the Status Bar (which is at the very bottom of the screen), you will see this display: 3/3. This indicator will always display the number of "Active Connections" that are currently in use for both Browsers. This means that there are currently three Active Connections being used by each browser (making a total of six Active Connections, which include the "Temporary Sites").

WHAT IS A "GROUP", and WHY THE GREEN CELLS?

The leftmost portion of the Grid displays the Groups contained in the Favorites Database. Each Group will either be displayed with a Green background (Expanded), or a Red background (Collapsed). To demonstrate this:

On the Grid, click on the Cell labeled "Search Engines" (under the Group caption)

That Group will then become "Collapsed". The Group name will be displayed with a Red background, and only the 1st Record will be displayed. To "Expand" the Search Engines Group:

Again click on the Cell labeled "Search Engines" (under the Group caption)

The Group name will now be displayed with a Green background, and all of it's Records will be displayed.

Instead of clicking to Expand or Collapse a Group, you may also press the [SpaceBar] while the focus is on a Cell in the Groups column (on the Grid).

VIEWING ALL OF THE FEATURES

All of Browse98's features may be activated from the three Pulldown Menus which are displayed on the Upper-left corner of the screen (File, Edit, and Navigate). It is highly recommended that you use the Shortcut keys which are shown next to each Menu Option (for example, press Ctrl+O to Open a Favorites File). If you always use the Shortcut keys (instead of continually using the Pulldown Menus), you will find that the key presses are easier to use than the Menus.

Right-clicking any cell on the Grid will display a Popup Menu. A different Popup Menu will be displayed if you Rightclick on a Green or Red Cell (in the Group column), instead of a cell which has a White or Blue background (in the Title, URL, or Remarks columns).

EXITING

When you Exit Browse98 (by pressing Ctrl+X), you will be asked if you want to Save Changes to 'Default'? While learning this program, it is easiest to select No, so the changes will not be Saved. This will enable you to run this Tutorial again, without restoring the Default.bro file to it's original state.

The original, unaltered Default.bro file has been provided as another Browse98 data file, called Tutorial.bro. You may restore the Default.bro file to it's original state at any time, by copying Tutorial.bro "over" Default.bro.

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LESSON2:

The following examples will assume that the unaltered Default database is loaded into Browse98. If you have modified the Default.bro file, then please Open the file named Tutorial.bro, and do not save any modifications (unless you have already backed-up the Tutorial.bro file).

MOVING AND COPYING RECORDS

The previous Lesson explained how the leftmost section of the Grid contains Group information, and how a Group may be Collapsed or Expanded.

After you have Added or Imported many Records into your Favorites Database, you will occasionally need to Move or Copy a Record from one Group to another.

The following process will Copy the Yahoo Record from the Search Engines Group, to the Tutorials Group:

  1. On the Grid in the Title column, click onto the Cell labeled Yahoo.
  2. Press Ctrl+Y to display the Copy Record screen (you could also Rightclick and use the Popup Menu to select Copy Record).
  3. On the Copy Record screen, double-click on the Tutorials Group name.

    4. The new Yahoo Record that appears in the Tutorials Group will be identical to the Record that is in the Search Engines Group.

    Moving a Record is similar to Copying a Record, except the Record will be Deleted from the previous Group after the Record has been Copied.

    To Delete the Record that you had just Copied:

  4. On the Grid in the Title column, click onto the lowermost Cell labeled Yahoo.
  5. Press Ctrl+D, and verify by clicking [OK].

FINDING RECORDS

Before executing the Find feature (by pressing Ctrl+F), you should first click onto a cell in the Grid which is in the Column that you wish to Search. The program will perform a "non-case-sensitive substring search". This means that searching for the letter "A" will retrieve the Next Record which contains the letter "A" (or "a") anywhere in the Column which has the focus.

Pressing [F3] will use the previously entered Search Criteria, to retrieve the Next Matching Record. If no Search Criteria had been previously entered, then [F3] will cause the Find Dialog to be displayed (just as if you had pressed Ctrl+F).

The following process will retrieve Records which have the letter i anywhere in their Title.

  1. On the Grid in the Title column, click onto the Cell labeled InfoSeek.
  2. Press Ctrl+F to display the Find Dialog.
  3. On the Find Dialog, type i [Enter]. The focus will move to the Browse98 Tutorial Record, because it's Title contains the letter i.
  4. To retrieve the Next Matching Record, press [F3]. A message will ask if you would like to continue searching from the beginning. Select OK.

The focus will move to the Infoseek Record, because it's Title also contains the letter i.

PRE-SELECTING RECORDS FOR NAVIGATION

Imagine that there are 20 different sites that you want to view, and that they will each take about 30 seconds to "load". Browse98 allows you to perform other tasks on your computer, while you are waiting for a "batch" of navigations to be completed. The following process will demonstrate how this is done:

  1. To Clear All Connection Statuses, press Alt+Del, and verify by clicking [OK].
  2. On the Grid in the Title column, click onto the Cell labeled Yahoo.
  3. To Pre-select the Yahoo Record, press Ctrl+Enter. The Rightmost Column for that Record (labeled "On") will change to 1:P (which means Pre-selected for Browser 1).
  4. To make Browser 2 the Active Browser, press Ctrl+2. The "radio button" under the Active Browser caption will change.
  5. On the Grid in the Title column, click onto the Cell labeled Browse98 Tutorial.
  6. To Pre-select the Browse98 Tutorial Record, press Ctrl+Enter. The Rightmost Column for that Record (labeled "On") will change to 2:P (which means Pre-selected for Browser 2).

    7. You could continue in this fashion to Pre-select other Records. You may also Pre-Select an entire Group (by pressing Ctrl+Enter while the focus is in the Group column).

  7. To make Browser 1 the Active Browser, press Ctrl+1.
  8. To Navigate to All Pre-selected Connections, press [F10].

If all goes well, you should see the Yahoo site on Browser #1, and the Browse98 Tutorial on Browser #2.

DATA FILE FUNCTIONS

Browse98 saves your "Favorites" Databases in files which have an extension of .bro. The file named Default.bro is automatically Opened whenever Browse98 is launched from Windows. If a Browse98 data file contains a Record with the Title Browse98 Tutorial, then that Record is automatically navigated to (on Browser #2), when the file is Opened. When you get tired of seeing the Tutorial, simply Delete the Browse98 Tutorial Record from the Default database.

The File Menu contains the following "Favorites" File Functions: New, Open, Save, and Save As.

IMPORTANT: You should Backup your data files frequently.

 

IMPORTING BOOKMARKS FROM INTERNET EXPLORER

The following process will Import the "Bookmarks" that you had created using Internet Explorer:

  1. Press Ctrl+I to display a dialog which allows you to navigate to the folder that contains your IE "Favorites". If Browse98 immediately displays your "Favorites" folder, then you can just press [Enter] to go to the next step.
  2. Within about 10 seconds, the Import Internet Explorer Favorites dialog will be displayed. ALL of the "Favorites" files will be initially selected. If you wish to Import ALL of your IE Favorites, then you don't have to do anything else. Otherwise, Select just those files that you want to Import.
  3. Click the [Import Selected Records] button (or just press [Enter]).

Within several seconds, the Grid will display new Groups for all of the Folders that had been Imported.

While viewing the Imported Records, you might want to make the Grid frame larger, by dragging it's uppermost border higher on the screen (which is the horizontal line that goes across the entire screen, just above the two ComboBoxes).

The following process will cause ALL of the Groups to be Expanded:

While holding down [Ctrl], press the big "+" key on the numeric keypad.

To Collapse all of the Groups:

While holding down [Ctrl], press the "-" key on the numeric keypad.

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Congratulations! If you have followed all of the Tutorial examples, then you should now have a good understanding of Browse98.

If you had Imported your IE Favorites, then you should now Save your Default database file (by pressing Ctrl+S).

You may now Navigate to any Record (by moving the focus to a Row on the Grid, and pressing [Enter]), or you may Navigate to an entire Group (by pressing Shift+Enter). You may also Pre-select any collection of Records, and Navigate to the entire "batch" (by pressing [F10]).

We hope that you enjoy using Browse98.