Editor's Message

Thanks to all who kindly replied to the MTO access survey I sent out toward the beginning of April. Here are the results:


     Access methods      No. of users
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
     mto-serv            54
     ftp                 18   
     gopher              12
     www                 50
     none                33

This was primarily an informational survey; those who expressed concern that www might "elbow out" other methods should not worry! We realize that not everyone has high-end technology easily available and will continue to strive to make MTO accessible to as many as possible, as conveniently as possible.

At the same time, a number of respondents were excited about the prospects of www. We will be moving toward more html documents (in addition to ascii versions) in the future (see below for the first).

As an indication of the usage of the www access method, here is a week-by-week tally of www accesses to SMT documents:


     Week           MTO  SMT  
     ~~~~           ~~~  ~~~
     March 24-31    151  120       
     April 1-6      106  107       
     April 7-14     114  107       
     April 14-21    112  134       
     April 21-28     94   95       
     April 28-May 5  98  128       
     May 5-12       103   80

Robert Judd
MTO Manager
mto-manager@societymusictheory.org
5/15/95

Guide to Web Tools*

This provides information for MTO subscribers regarding

A. gaining access to world-wide web

B. editing documents for www browsers

*This "Guide to Web Tools" is available as www-tools.txt in the pub/smt/mto/docs directory on the host societymusictheory.org. It can be retrieved either through anonymous FTP, or with the MTO FileServer, mto-serv, or at the URL http://boethius.musicl.ucsb.edu/ mto/docs/www-tools.txt

A. Gaining access to www

www is a means for viewing documents via the internet. Those with www capabilities can use graphic interface (mouse) with point-and-click uploading and downloading of documents, including visual and aural images. The usefulness of this technology for MTO seems clear.

To gain access to www documents one needs a "browser," a program that does the work of processing data so that it appears correctly on a local screen.

If you have e-mail capabilities, you can gain access to www documents. The question you need to answer is "which method is best for me?" The answer depends on your hardware and electronic connection methods.

1) web documents via e-mail

All web documents are available via e-mail. Simply send a message to the following address:

     listserv@w3.mail.org

include the text line

     send <full www address>

e.g.

     send http://societymusictheory.org/index.html

The document will be mailed to you.

2) basic browsing connection: Lynx

The most straightforward and "plain" browser is Lynx, which is intended for running on mainframes. It is useful in that it does not require high-power modems or SLIP/PPP connection (more on that later). All you do is log on to your e-mail account and run Lynx, just as you might run your e-mail program. While it does not enable full graphic interface (no mouse or images), it does allow for document reading and enables easy downloading of all graphics and text files. It is quite similar to "gopher" in general appearance.

If you do not have Lynx running locally chances are that your system administrator will load it and make it available if you ask him/her. The Lynx "help" and "commands" pages are essential; be sure to read them, so that you can utilize the program's potential.

3) intermediate connection: SlipKnot

If you have a PC running Windows, a unix e-mail account and a fast modem (9600 baud and up) you can get full graphic access to www through a program called SlipKnot. It is shareware and requires registration after a short trial period. It is available only in a PC version at present.

SlipKnot's primary feature is that it DOES NOT require SLIP or PPP or TCP/IP services.

SlipKnot is being published by MicroMind Inc. as restricted shareware.

The SlipKnot 1.0 distribution file (approx. 1.2 MB) is available for downloading from the following sites:


Site              Directory              File
-----------------------------------------------------
In North America:

oak.oakland.edu   /SimTel/win3/internet          slnot100.zip

ftp.uoknor.edu    /mirrors/SimTel/win3/internet  slnot100.zip

ftp.netcom.com    /pub/pbrooks/slipknot          slnot100.zip

In the U.K.:

src.doc.ic.ac.uk  /computing/systems/ibmpc/simtel-win3/internet   
slnot100.zip

In Australia:

ftp.bf.rmit.edu.au  /pub/pc/www/slnot100.zip

For help on installation, there is a step-by-step procedure both in the included READ.ME file and inside the SlipKnot Help screens. There is also a SlipKnot FAQ file dedicated to installation questions; please retrieve it via anonymous FTP from one of addresses below if you have any problems:


     interport.net   /pub/pbrooks/slipknot    sntfaq1.txt

If you have a WWW browser (lynx and www are fine), then SlipKnot's Home Page can be accessed at:

http://www.interport.net/slipknot/slipknot.html

4) full connection: Mosaic

If you have an ethernet connection, OR your e-mail mainframe allows for SLIP/PPP access and you have a fast modem, you can utilize the fully powered www browsers now available. The most popular browser is Netscape, available via anonymous ftp from the following address:

ftp.mcom.com

(Many other ftp sites have the program available. Ask locally if you need help.) Netscape is available in Mac and PC formats. At the moment (5/15/95) the most effective version is 1.1, released at the end of April. There are many other browsers available (e.g. Cello, NCSA Mosaic, Omniweb), but none as popular.

Q: How do I know if I have ethernet or SLIP/PPP?

A: Ask your local e-mail help contact. (SLIP = Serial Line Internet Protocol; PPP = Point to Point Protocol; both enable more efficient modem communication.) If you are on a public internet-access site such as CompuServe or America Online, SLIP/PPP may be available to you for a hefty monthly fee; you might want to look for newer internet service providers, who can give this type of connection to you for $10-20 a month.

Modem users need "socket" software to enable SLIP/PPP connection. One of the most popular (for PCs) is Trumpet Winsock. If you would like to obtain a copy of this product you can find it at the anonymous ftp site ftp.utas.edu.au. The file, twsk10a.zip, is located in the /pc/trumpet/winsock directory.

A copy of this Shareware product may also be had at the NCSA anonymous ftp server, ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu. The file, winsock.zip, is in the /PC/Mosaic/sockets directory. (There are many other sites that make this program available; ask locally for assistance.)

Q: How do I download files via anonymous ftp?

A: See the MTO Guide for full details on how to use anonymous ftp. To receive the current Guide send the following one-line message:

	information mto-list

to the address:

	listproc@societymusictheory.org

and the Guide will be mailed to you.

B. Editing documents for html browsers

HTML (hypertext markup language) is understood by all WWW browsers. Its purpose is to make documents and links to documents or images easily accessible across the networking spectrum.

For the purposes of MTO, authors need only be concerned with essential style elements: managing titles, headers, footnotes, images (graphics) and the like. MTO articles will not normally contain links to other documents (other than graphics files).

Since HTML is so simple, a few minutes reading one of the guides to html writing is well worth the time spent. The standard starting point is the HTML Primer.

Other manuals and tutorials include Peter Flynn's "How to write HTML";

and Ian Graham's guide to HTML.

The Lynx help file is also useful in this regard.

For more extended editing you might want to consider an HTML editor, which makes it easy to enter the specific codes. The following is a list of a few HTML editors; others are available as well.

Re this list: HTML Assistant (for PCs) and Rick Giles (for Macs) have been used and endorsed by MTO editors. Let us know if you have others you can recommend.

1. Macintosh

 a. Rick Giles (giles@dragon.acadian.ca)
    need SE/30, Mac III or other computer with 68020/compatible
      CPU; System 7 or higher, 2 MB RAM
    ftp: cs.dal.ca
    dir: /giles/HTML_Editor_1.0.sit.hqx

 b. Billy Lee (billy@gizmo.dt.navy.mil)
    BBEditLiet
    at info-mac locations
    get:  bbedit-lite-232.hqx
          bbedit-html-ext-b3.hqx

2. IBM-PC/Compatible

 a. HTML Assistant
    site: ftp.cs.dal.ca
    dir: htmlasst
    file: htmlasst.zip or .exe file (self-extractor)

 b. HotMetal
    site: ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
    dir: /Web/html/hotmetal/Windows
    file: hotmetal.exe

Here is a WWW site for information on HTML Editors.

Here is a document on learning about HTML.

Robert Judd
MTO Manager
mto-manager@societymusictheory.org
5/15/95

HTML Essays

This issue of MTO includes a rudimentary example of an HTML document, William Rothstein's response to John Rothgeb's MTO 1.2 essay on the "Tristan Chord." The musical examples are integrated into the text, and the footnotes, rather than following each paragraph as in the text-only version of MTO, may be viewed by clicking on footnote reference numbers. Links at the end of each foonote lead back to the appropriate point in the text. In addition to permitting such links and text-graphics integration, HTML allows control over paragraph and character formatting (e.g. italics and diacritical markings for foreign-language characters).

Now that MTO is being distributed on the World-Wide Web, I would like to encourage prospective authors to consider submitting essays formatted with the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), not really a computer language but rather a set of "tags" that control the display of text in a Web browser. Robert Judd, MTO Manager, has prepared a document (described above) that explains how to get HTML editors for various hardware platforms. Further questions about HTML editors, or about Web browsers, should be addressed to him.

MTO Database

Subscribers should be aware of the MTO database, which indexes all articles, commentaries, and reviews published in the journal according to author, title, and keywords. The database is updated with each new issue. The database does not include the author-title listings for dissertations postings included in MTO. The file diss.index, alphabetized by authors' last names, is comprehensive listing of dissertation postings.

The MTO Guide explains how to use the database. In brief, to do a search, send an email message to mto-serv@societymusictheory.org. In the body of the message (not in any of the header lines) include the word "path" followed by your full email address (Bitnet-only users must include .BITNET), and one or more of the other lines listed after the "path" line:

path YourEmailAddress
search ITEM=article, review, talk
search AUTHOR=LastName
search TITLE=TitleWord(s)
search KEYWORDS=Keyword(s)
search REFERENCE=ReferenceFile(s)

Don't forget the "equals" sign! The ITEM= line specifies whether the desired item is an article, review, or a commentary (= talk). These can be combined with Boolean operators (or, and). The AUTHOR= line would be filled in with an author's last name. The TITLE= line would be filled in with one or more words from the title of the item, if known. The KEYWORDS= line can include a single word, or may be filled in with two or more keywords linked with Boolean operators. The REFERENCE= line is specifically for locating commentaries on a particular article. The line is filled in with the standard MTO filename of the article for which a user wishes to locate commentaries published in MTO. For complete instructions on searching the database, consult the Guide.

Please report any typographical or other errors discovered in the database to the General Editor (address below).

Lee A. Rothfarb, General Editor
Music Theory Online
University of California, Santa Barbara
mto-editor@societymusictheory.org

Updated 03 July 2013
Brent Yorgason