Conference 7.286::digital

    See TURRIS::EASYNET_CONFERENCES note 2.1.
    
    			Steve

see also	FUNYET""::SYS$PUBLIC:EASYNOTES.LIS

and		VTX NOTES_INDEX

	Joe

    Re the original question...as you noticed one of the two VTX listings
    of EASYNOTES is gone.  I understand that the original owner has left
    Digital.  The remaining one has a keyword of NOTES_INDEX.   The
    remaining infobase (as with the EASYNOTES listing) is maintained on a
    best effort basis in Newbury, England....so at times it may not be
    available.
    
    I am writing a proposal to provide official funding for support of this
    infobase...as I see it a huge time saver.
    
    BTW, for those of you who are not familiar with the VTX infobase
    version of the EASYNOTES.LIS, this can be a faster and more accurate
    way of finding the conference of your choice.
    
    Type VTX NOTES_INDEX at DCL, use the FIND feature (FIND key on grey pad
    on Digital character cell devices). and type a keyname of your choice,
    followed by an "*".  Most conferences can be located within ten seconds
    of your DCL command.
    
    Example:
    
    	VTX NOTES_INDEX
    	FIND PHOTO*
    
    locates the Photographers forum

    This is why I think the www with frontends  such as Mosaic  will be
    successful.
    
    I mean I'm suppose to REMEMBER the pointer in the previous note how to
    locate that particular info under VTX??!!

 It's possible to view information in a VTX infobase both with the VTX browser
 (aka "client") and, via a gateway that communicates those same live data into
 World-Wide Web format, via a Web browser such as Mosaic for X-Windows.  The
 same infobase can be viewed two ways.  The X-Mosaic browser shows a hierarchy
 of pointers to every available VTX page as a series of hypertext links shown
 in color, to distinguish those links from other text on the display, such as
 explanatory material.  Links that you've visited before (that is, you've
 "clicked on" them and read their contents, and then you've returned from them
 by clicking on the BACK button) are shown in a different color, so you can
 keep your place far more easily.
 
 Not all Web Browsers support this feature.  Lynx, for example, the character-
 cell Web Browser, doesn't keep this sort of "visited file" visible feedback,
 but it still can read all web-visible infobases.  It also has the nifty
 feature that you can run it from any terminal or terminal emulator that
 supports 24x80, boldface, reverse video, and cursor keys.  No function or PF
 keys necessary. 
 

    The Web is powerful, and lets you traverse links easily, but it has
    some of the same issues as VTX, in that if you don't know the link it
    may be difficult to get there again.
    
    This is being addressed. For example, check out the Catalog of
    Announcem?vnts at
    
    		http://lgp30.mso.dec.com/announce/pa-toc.html
    
    This is our initial attempt at collecting pointers to the interesting
    information that is being made available on the Web. The individual
    entries contain anchors to the actual URL (or information object),
    making it trivial to find and get to things. We'll be doing more work
    in this area, as this is one of the "hard problems" with the Web.
    Certainly not unsolveable, but a current challenge.
    
    /Tim

 
    Re .4
       
>    I mean I'm suppose to REMEMBER the pointer in the previous note how to
>    locate that particular info under VTX??!!
    
    In ANY case, you'll have to remember something....as the number of
    links that you've visited grows, so will the number of highlighted
    selections.  Yes, you'll continue to have to use your memory...sorry.
    
    The web is a great and simple tool.  Maybe it will replace some or all
    of our information sources...at a minimum it can be a "common user
    interface" for much of the existing information.
    
    Jim

    Just a quick note.  Using the new VTX Windows client, you can click
    on words that correspond to keywords and get to the place you want to
    go to - sort of like a hypertext.
    
    Of course, this means that the creator of the infobase has to make 
    sure the the keyword(s) appear on the screen, and are highlighted in 
    some fashion so the user knows to click on them.
    
    Gita

>    I am writing a proposal to provide official funding for support of this
>    infobase...as I see it a huge time saver.
 
  Good.
   
>    BTW, for those of you who are not familiar with the VTX infobase
>    version of the EASYNOTES.LIS, this can be a faster and more accurate
>    way of finding the conference of your choice.
    
>    Type VTX NOTES_INDEX at DCL, use the FIND feature (FIND key on grey pad
>    on Digital character cell devices). and type a keyname of your choice,

  You can do the same thing with the DCL SEARCH command on your own copy of
the notes directory, and it's faster because you don't have the network delay.
The only extra overhead is the need to update your copy of the directory peri-
odically.
  The pointer to FUNYET is the first I heard of being able to get my own, up-
to-date copy of the notes directory. I tried to copy it from VTX a few weeks
ago and could not make the save/all command work.

re: DCL SEARCH of a local copy being faster, than VTX - yes it is, and I
have yet to been able to access the VTX based copy - I keep getting a
full screen of text that translates to 'remote infobase not accessable'...
presumably a WWW would have the same kind of problem...

	Joe

    Re accessibility, yes, the reason I'm trying to get it funded.  It was
    great when we had two infobases, even though both were supported on a
    best effort only basis.   Web access to the infobase will have the same
    problem.
    
    Jim

.7> In ANY case, you'll have to remember something....as the number of
.7> links that you've visited grows, so will the number of highlighted
.7> selections.  Yes, you'll continue to have to use your memory...sorry.

In MOSAIC, you can do Options-->Clear Global History and it will reset
all of your 'highlighted' stuff.

Lee

    ...in which case you've just cleared the "bookmark" that would remind
    you where you last saw that information.  

    Quick clarification:
    
    In the Mosaic Web client, there is a hotlist as well as a global
    history of places you've been. The global history automatically keeps
    track of everyplace you visit, while the hotlist is managed by the
    user. If you're at an interesting page, you can click on 'add document
    to hotlist' and it will be remembered in a special list. This list is
    retained even if you clear the global history.
    
    In practise, no one really uses the global history to remember the
    places that they visit because its so vast. I visit several hundred
    pages every day, and my global history usually contains thousands of 
    entries, but my hotlist only has my favorite 30 or 40 places...
    
       

Mosaic hotlist entry == lynx bookmark    
       

    Watch it folx, this is the VTX EASYNOTES string.  Darn ratholing!!
    
    :-)