[Oberon] '<base href=..' for html ?

[easlab at absamail.co.za]

December 2006.
The inclusion of <base href= 'URL'>, eg.
<base href="http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/">
near the beginning of a http-script/web-page allows the hot-link
to show the absolute URL, also after going off-line.

Q- does anybody know the RFC for how this mechanism works ?

As a demonstration:
   HyperDocTools.LinkIndex * 
applied off-line to the saved web-page 
http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/HelpForBeginners.html
shows:
..
RecentChanges	file://mm/RecentChanges
FindPage	file://mm/FindPage
HelpContents	file://mm/HelpContents

But when the saved html is edited with '<base href=.../mm/">' it shows
correct descendant links as : ...
RecentChanges	http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/RecentChanges
FindPage	http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/FindPage
HelpContents	http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/HelpContents

In the old days ( Win 3.1, pre. N-O for me) I used to insert
<base URL..> in order to get the descendant links when viewing off-line.

I considered web-pages which lacked the <base..URL..>
as incompetent, like top-posting, html-email ...etc.
Perhaps the omission is now prevelant, because of the
permanent inet connections which are apparently now normal ?

Q - do users normally expect to go to descendant links, after
going off-line ?  And if so how ?  I use lynx -dump ...

Related to the above, can someone expalin the increasing use
of different 'funny char-strings' used to decode various ascii
special chars, like: "=", "-", "<"; which use eg. a^809C,
&rsquo;, &mdash;,...etc. ?

Q- what is the value of using these [? mime ?] encodings,
instead of plain ascii/iso.. ?

It seems that http has introduced another incompatibility with
normal 'typewriter usage style': no 'new-line'.
This probably to cater for various screen widths ?

Specifically, and annoying for me, the wiki facility:
 http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/mm/SwOberon
doesn't accept my 'new-lines', in any combination of <cr>,<lf>.

I notice too that the existing text, has no short lines, except
when separated as paragraphs, by separating blank-lines, or
when use as 'bullet lines', with a "*" beginning.

A further confusion is that the 'preview page' looks as I intended:
"...
?? can this do EOLs ??
line 1
line 2
line 3"

whereas, the final saved edit, lacking the intended 'new-lines',
looks like: 
"...?? can this do EOLs ?? line 1 line 2 line 3"

BTW ETHoberon 2.4.3 for Linux x86 views these wiki pages nicely, 
provided images are disabled  [to avoid the trap] by editing 
Oberon.Text to: HTMLImages = No

It's much less clunky than any linux or Win browser for eg. scrolling
the nested list-frames and to cutNpaste.

Thanks,

== Chris Glur.

The advantages of collabrative working derive from division of labour.
If you save me from having to self-research how to make new-lines, with 
mm/wiki, I'll tell you the problems [as ususal with ETHoberon due to poor
documentation] re. HTMLDocs.SetImages <args>.