This page describes:

• browser basics
• viewing source code
• saving files

Browser Basics

Web browsers are the programs you use to view web pages and other data on your own computer or available on the internet.

Browsers can display single images, single pages, or several independant pages in frames (like this page).

Contemporary browsers can display:

• text files: these area also called ASCII (askey) files and are usually saved with .html, .htm, or .txt filename extensions)
• graphic images: all web browsers can display files in the Graphics Interchange (.gif) or J-PEG compliant (.jpg) format; some browsers on some computers can also display Windows Bitmap (.bmp) files, and the latest browsers can display Portable Network Graphics (.png) files.
• animated images: all web browsers can display animated GIF89A (.gif) files, and recent browsers can display Macromedia Flash (.swf) graphics.
• other types of files: using "plugin" programs, your browser may be able to play audio files or display 3D images, other types of animation, video, and so on.

One of the first popular browsers was Mosaic. More recently, Netscape (Navigator/Communicator) held sway. Today's most popular browser is produced by and Microsoft (Internet Explorer). By using Java, JavaScript, VBScript, ActiveX, C/C++, and plug-ins, you can extend the capabilities of your browser.

NOTE: There are several different types of computers and operating systems. This course assumes that some people work with Macintosh computers, while others work in Intel-style or UNIX environments.

Viewing and Saving Source

Browsers display/present text, graphics, audio, and other files (or collections of files) as pages -- either directly from your file system or from an internet/intranet-based web server using a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

The pages you view in your browser can be displayed or saved as "source files" in the original ascii format.

Example 1: Netscape on a PC:

1. click on this text with your mouse
2. click with your right mouse button to display the popup menu
3. pick View, Frame Source to see how the author created the page
4. close the Source... window

When you see a page you want to copy, use the browser menu bar to pick File, Save As (or Save Frame As).

Example 2: Internet Explorer on a PC:

1. click on this text with your mouse
2. click with your right mouse button to display the popup menu
3. pick View, View Source to see how the author created the page in a Notebook window
4. close the Notebook window

Note: In Internet Explorer on the PC it is best to view the source (this opens a Notepad window) and use "Save As" save the file from the notepad File menu to save the file.

Saving Files

Always save HTML pages with a .htm or .html file extension. To prevent later problems and confusion, always save files using lowercase letters, with no spaces or punctuation in the file name.

It's best, actually, to keep file names short (eight characters or less, plus a three-character file extension, like .htm). This makes it easy an dependable to move files between computers or web servers.