Gopher Tag Files

You use Gopher tag files to set up links to other Gopher servers and resources, and to give descriptive names to files and directories on Gopher servers. Gopher tag files are configured by using the gdsset utility. This utility creates hidden tag files (*.gtg) in the \Inetsrv\Gophroot directory. The examples in the following three sections demonstrate how to use tag files to customize the Gopher site.

Changing Filename Display

In this example, you have two Readme files and a subdirectory in the \Inetsrv\Gophroot directory on your server. When a Gopher client accesses your computer, the following menu displays.

Readme1.txt describes the mission of this Gopher site. Readme2.txt describes how to contact the site administrator. And Subdir is a subdirectory that contains the content of this Gopher site.

To change these filenames to a descriptive name format, type the following gdsset commands at a command prompt.

gdsset -c -g0 -f "The Mission of this Gopher Site" README1.TXT
gdsset -c -g0 -f "Contact the Site Administrator" README2.TXT
gdsset -c -g0 -f "Contents of this Gopher Site" SUBDIR

These commands create three hidden tag files in the \Inetsrv\Gophroot directory: Readme1.txt.gtg, Readme2.txt.gtg, and Subdir.gtg. The tag files set up an association between the descriptive name and the filename. The next time a Gopher client accesses your computer, the following menu displays.

When a user clicks The Mission of this Gopher Site, the Gopher client displays the contents of Readme1.txt. Clicking Contact the Site Administrator displays the contents of Readme2.txt, and clicking Contents of this Gopher Site displays the contents of the directory Subdir. The original filenames and directory names are hidden from the Gopher client.

Creating Links to Directories

In this example, you have five subdirectories under the root Gopher directory (\Inetsrv\Gophroot) on your server.

\Inetsrv\Gophroot\Subdir1\Subdir2\Subdir3\Subdir4\Subdir5

When a Gopher client accesses your machine, the user sees the following menu display.

If a user wants to access files in Subdir5, the user must access four additional subdirectories to access Subdir5.

To establish a link to Subdir5 from the root directory and provide a descriptive name format for Subdir5, use the following gdsset commands at a command prompt.

gdsset -c -l -g1 -f "Microsoft Windows Printer Drivers Location" -s \Subdir1\Subdir2\Subdir3\Subdir4\Subdir5 link.subdir5

This command creates a hidden tag file, called Link.Subdir5.gtg, in the \Inetsrv\Gophroot directory.

Note

All link files must start with the prefix "link"; however, do not use the prefix "link" for any other tag files.

The next time a Gopher client accesses your computer, the following menu is displayed.

Clicking Microsoft Windows Printer Drivers Location brings the user directly to Subdir5.

Creating Links to Other Gopher Sites

To link to another Gopher site, add the host name or IP address to the gdsset command. For example, to link to the Greater London, England Gopher Server, you issue the following command from an >ftp command prompt.

gdsset -c -l -g1 -f "Link to the Greater London, England Gopher Server"
-s -hgopher.london.com link.london

The links, files, friendly names, and directories that appear on the server are in alphabetical order.