Utilizing WWW and Email Editors

Lab # 15

LAB # 15
UTILIZING WWW AND EMAIL EDITORS

OBJECT
To utilize World Wide Web and search engines as a comprehensive source of
information and to understand and utilize e-mail editors in an efficient manner.

THEORY
Part I: Understanding Internet
Many networks exist in the world, often with different hardware and software. People
connected to one network often want to communicate with people attached to a different
one.
A collection of interconnected networks is called an internetwork or just internet,
whereas the commonly known Internet (note uppercase I) means a specific world wide
internet that is widely used to connect universities, governments offices, companies, and
of late, private individuals.
The five main applications of Internet are as follows:
Email: The ability to compose, send and receive electronic mail has been around
since the early days and many people consider it the primary way of interacting with
the outside world.
News: Newsgroups are specialized forums in which users with a common interest can
exchange message.
Remote Login: Using the Telnet, Rlogin or other programs, users anywhere on the
internet can log into any other machine on which they have account.
File Transfer: Using the FTP program, it is possible to copy files from one machine
on the Internet to another.
World Wide Web: It is an architectural framework for accessing linked documents
spread out over thousands of machines all over the Internet.
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Part II : Understanding the World Wide Web

The Web consists of a vast, worldwide collection of documents, usually just called pages
for short. Each page may contain links (pointers) to other, related pages, anywhere in the
world. Users can follow a link (e.g. by clicking on it), which then takes them to the page
pointed to. Pages that point to other pages are said to use hypertext. Pages are viewed
with a program called a web browser, of which Internet Explorer and Netscape are two
popular ones. The strings of text that are links to other pages are called hyperlinks. Web
Browsers uses URLs (Universal Resource Locator) for pointing pages across Internet.
e.g. the URL http://www.yahoo.com/downloads.html has three parts:
The protocol - http
The name of machine where the page is located www.yahoo.com
The name of the file containing the page downloads.html

Part III : Searching World Wide Web

Web indexes or Web Engines are a common way of locating information on the Web.
There are a number of popular web indexes such as Yahoo and AltaVista, whose brief
description is given below:

Yahoo
Yahoo is well known as one of the original web directories that has been commercially
successful. When a user access the Yahoo home page (http://www.yahoo.com/), he/she is
presented with a simple but versatile search form. A user can use the search form in two
ways:
Type one or more keywords in the text entry field, and then click on the search
button. Yahoo returns a new page with links to documents or categories that contain
all of the keywords.
Click on any of the categories on the home page (which appear as hyperlink). This
brings up another search form with links to subcategories, as well as a text field
where a user can again type keywords for a new search.
One of Yahoos main attractions is that a user can browse through the contents by
category. Yahoo organizes the Web sites in a hierarchy of categories and subcategories.

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AltaVista
AltaVista, a search service run by Digital Equipment Corporation, was launched in
December, 1995, and it has already become one of the most popular sites on the Web.
The reason is that AltaVista literally indexes everything in the Web. The AltaVista
database contains 15 billion words indexed from 30 million Web pages around the world.
Like most Web engines AltaVista home page (http://altavista.digital.com) presents a
search form.
On this page, a user can type one or more keywords and click on the submit or Go button
to initiate a search. Within moments, AltaVista should return with a list of hyperlinks to
other pages that contain the keywords. The words a user type in the search box are
interpreted as keywords.
To find pages containing all keywords, place a plus sign (+) prefix on each keyword. To
exclude pages containing a specific word, specify that word with a negative sign (-)
prefix.
e.g. To locate pages containing the words HTML, authoring, and tools but not the word
Windows NT, a user should type the following keyword:
+HTML +authoring +tool -Windows NT
A user can also choose to use advanced queries by clicking on the Advanced Search
image. With advanced queries, a user can use operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. A
user can also use the NEAR keyword to search for two words that must appear within ten
words of each other in a document. For example, to locate Web Pages that contain any of
the strings:John F. Kennedy or Kennedy, John F or John Fitzgerald Kennedy, type
the following advanced query:
John NEAR Kennedy

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Netscapes Net Search Page

If a user want to access many of the web indexes from a single place, he/she can do so
from Netscapes Net Search page . this page is particularly handy if a user uses Netscape
Navigator Web Browser. All it takes is a click on Netscape Navigators Net Search
button to reach Netscapes Net Search page.
In addition to Yahoo and AltaVista, a user can also access the following:
Lycos (http://www.Lycos.com/), a huge Web index that gets its entries by
automatically searching the Web.
eXcite (http://www.excite.com/), a site that supports concept-based search.
Infoseek Guide (http://guide.infoseek.com/), a popular search service that searches a
variety of indexes including the Web, newsgroups and e-mail addresses.
Magellan (http://www.mckinley.com/), an Internet guide that searches web sites that
have been rated and reviewed.

Part IV : Using Newsgroup Search

The Internet Newsgroup provides a bulletin-board system that spans the globe. Web
browsers such as Netscape Navigator make it very easy to read various newsgroups and
post new items to these newsgroups. Users do need access to a news server to read
newsgroups; they get such access from their Internet Service Providers.

Newsgroup hierarchy
Newsgroups are organized into a hierarchy for ease of maintenance and use. A
newsgroups name reflects its position in the hierarchy. A typical newsgroup name is:
comp.infosystems.www.announce
The format of a newsgroup name is a sequence of words separated by periods. These
words denote the hierarchy of the newsgroup. This name says that
comp.infosystems.www.announce is a newsgroup for announcements (announce) about
the World Wide Web Information System (infosystems.www) and that these subjects fall
under the broad category of computers (comp).
To browse (or read) newsgroups, a user must use a news reader a program that accesses
news items from a news server. Some Web Browsers such as Netscape Navigator,
include an integrated news reader that enables to access newsgroups as a user visit the
Web sites.

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Newsgroup Indexes
Many web indexes that maintain information about Web pages also maintain indexes of
the newsgroups. Some good newsgroup indexes are:
Deja News (http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnq.html) maintain an archive of
newsgroup postings that a user can search using keywords.
AltaVista (http://www.altavista.digital.com/) indexes newsgroup submissions as well
as web sites.

ASSIGNMENT
Search AltaVista and Yahoo on the topics of Web, HTML and Computer Books.

Fig 18.1: Yahoo Search Engine Screen Layout

Fig 18.2: Netscape Home Page

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THEORY
Part I : Understanding Email
Electronic mail or email as it is commonly known, is widely used by millions of people
around the world for exchanging messages and information. The email editors are
programs that helps users to read, compose and send messages. Typically an email
system support five basic functions, as described below:

Composition
It refers to the process of creating messages and answers.

Transfer
It refers to moving messages from the originators to the recipient.

Reporting
It refers to telling the originator what happened to the message.

Displaying
It enables people to read their incoming email messages.

Disposition
It is the final phase and concerns what the recipient does with the message after receiving
it.
In addition to these basic services, most email systems provide a large variety of
advanced features that are described below:
Most systems allow users to create mailboxes to store incoming email.
Corporate managers often need to send a message to each of their customers or
suppliers. This give rise to the idea of a mailing list, which is a list of email
addresses. When a message is sent to the mailing list, identical copies are delivered to
everyone on the list.
Registered email is another important idea, to allow the originator to know that his
message has arrived.
Other advanced features include carbon copies, high-priority email and encrypted
email.

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Part II : Understanding Outlook Express

Outlook Express provides a central location from which a user can create, view and
organize all of the information. In Outlook information is stored in folders. A shortcut
stores the folder location and allows the user to open it quickly. A description of all these
folders is given below:

Inbox
This folder is used to read and send email messages.

Calendar
This folder is used to create appointments, plan meetings and events, and review tasks.

Contacts
This folder is used to store names, addresses, and other data about the business and
personal contacts.

Tasks
This folder is used to make to-do lists and organize assignments.

Journal
This folder is used to review the work history.

Notes
This folder is used to write down ideas and reminders.

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Part III : Using Outlook Express

Reading Messages
After Outlook Express downloads your messages, or after you click the Send/Recv
button on the toolbar, you can read messages either in a separate window or in the
preview pane.
Click the Inbox icon on either the Outlook bar or the Folders list.
To view the message in the preview pane, click the message in the message list.
To view the message in a separate window, double-click the message in the message
list.

Grouping Messages and Their Replies Together

When many people participate in e-mail and newsgroup conversations, the replies to a
given message can be hard to track. You can set up Outlook Express so that message
replies are grouped under the original message. You can then choose to view only the
original message, or the message and all its replies.
When you are in either your Inbox or a newsgroup, click the View Current View
Group Messages by Conversation.
To display expanded conversations for all messages, click the Tools Options
Read tab, and then select the Automatically expand grouped messages check box.

Sending an Email Message

On the toolbar, click the New Mail button.
In the To and/or Cc boxes, type the e-mail name of each recipient, separating names
with a comma or semicolon ( ; ).
To add e-mail names from the Address Book, click the book icon in the New
Message window next to To, Cc, and Bcc, and then select names.
To use the Bcc box, click the View All Headers.
In the Subject box, type a message title.
Type your message, and then click the Send button on the New Message toolbar.

Using Stationery with Outgoing Messages

With Outlook Express stationery, you can create attractive messages for both e-mail and
newsgroups. Stationery is a template that can include a background image, unique text
font colors, and custom margins.
To apply stationery to all your outgoing messages, click the Tools Options
Compose tab. In the Stationery area, select the Mail and/or News check box, and
then click Select.
To apply stationery to an individual message, click the Message New Message
Using, and then select stationery.
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To apply or change stationery after you start a message, click the Format Apply
Stationery, and then select stationery.

Inserting a File in a Message

Click anywhere in the message window.

On the Insert File Attachment, and then find the file you want to attach.
Select the file, and then click Attach.
The file is listed in the Attach box in the message header.

ASSIGNMENT
Create a new email account at www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com
Compose and send a letter to the editor of The Daily Jang newspaper at www.janggroup.com

Fig 20.1 : The Inbox view of Outlook Express

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Fig 20.3 : Using the Message Menu

Fig 20.4 : Using File Menu

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