Syntax of a Hotlink

Template

<A HREF="

<A (Anchor) and HREF (Hyperlink Reference). These tags tell the browser that this is a hotlink to another document or file. They are required in all hotlinks. The text within the quotes contains the link itself.

server://

The term before the colon and two forward slashes tells the browser the protocol used to connect to the server presenting the document. "http:" (hyper text transfer protocol) and "ftp:" (file transfer protocol) are the two most common types of protocols. This is required in all hotlinks, as the browser must know what type of client to use to connect to the server.

site.domain.com/

The machine where the file is stored. It can be omitted when referring to files stored in or under the "www" directory in a WebCom users home directory. If the file the hotlink points to is located on another machine, or when an absolute path is being used (as in this example), then this is required.

userid

The "userid" tells it in which home directory to look for the file the browser is requesting.

/directory/file.extension

The directory where the file is stored, and the name of the file. The extension is used by the server to identify what type of data the file contains. The server then sends the browser this information. If the browser recognizes the file, it will either display the document itself, or automatically launch an application capable of displaying it (for example, Microsoft Word for a Word file).

">Label</A>

The quote ends the link address. When the page is viewed, the link label will be displayed using a unique font and style indicating to the person viewing the page that the link points to another file or document. The hotlink is closed by the closing anchor tag: </A>.

Any standard Unix path can be used in a hotlink. A few examples follow. Select the path link for more information on this topic.

<A HREF="file.html">Label</A>

Point to a file in the same directory as the document containing the hotlink.

<A HREF="subdirectory/file.html">Label</A>

Points to a document or resource in a directory underneath the one where the document containing the link is stored.

Note: Hotlinks cannot refer to files stored in your WebCom account anywhere outside of the "www" and any directories underneath this. This is a security feature that prevents people from accessing files not intended for distribution to the public.

Note: site.domain.com:3002/ would refer to a WWW Server running on a non-standard "port" (Unix uses the "port" number to identify which program a user is trying to connect to. For instance, the standard means of contacting an FTP Server is to connect to "port" 21).