Structure of supplemental materials
The Web site contains a large collection of materials that supplement the text, including figures, animations, digitized photos, data files and code samples. Each item is stored in a separate document to make it possible for the item to be user in multiple ways. The next section explains the mechanisms used to access items; this section explains how the items are stored.
An item is represented in a pair of files: a basic file and a presentation file. The basic file for an item contains the item itself, with no explanation, caption, or other descriptive information. For example, the basic file for a photo consists of the digitized photo without surrounding text. Basic files are not intended for normal viewing. Instead, they have been included for instructors who wish to extract underlying items for classroom presentations or to combine multiple items into new Web documents.
The presentation file for an item consists of an HTML document, called a cover page, that is intended for human browsing. The cover page for an item includes both the item itself, a title, a brief description of the item, and keywords. Thus, when a browser follows a pointer to a cover page, the user sees both the basic item and the descriptive text.
Because the links on the Web site are intended for humans to use while browsing, each link points to a cover page. For example, when a user searches for supplemental materials relevant to a specific chapter, the resulting list of materials consists of pointers to cover pages for the items. Thus, when a user follows a link, the browser will display a cover page that provides a meaningful description of the item being displayed. To reach the basic file for an item, select the item from a cover page.
Indexes on the Web site
The materials can be accessed in a variety of ways. On one hand, a reader may wish to browse all items associated with a given technology (e.g., Ethernet). On the other hand, both readers and instructors may find it helpful to browse the items associated with a given chapter. For example, pictures of network wiring are especially helpful in understanding the conceptual wiring diagrams in Chapter 10. Instructors will also find that the items from a chapter provide a useful way to enhance and reinforce lectures on topics from the chapter.
To make it possible to access supplemental materials in a variety of ways, the Web site contains several pre-defined indexes and automated search tools. To find index and search information, click on What's on the Web site on the first page to view an overview of the Web site. The indexes can be found through the Search link in the Web site overview.
The chapter index lists the materials that are relevant to each chapter, including copies of figures, animations of material, and relevant photos. The media type index groups materials into five categories: figures, animations, photo, data file and code samples. The subject index categorizes the materials according to subject (e.g., listing all the materials associated with LAN technologies, internetworking, and so on). The subject index has two levels - selecting a subject at the top level produces a second index of items relevant to the selection. Selecting a link at the second level displays an individual item.
Keyword Searching
In addition to the indexes described above, the Web site contains mechanisms that use keyword searching to select items. These search tools can be found through the Search link on the Web site overview. In general, the keyword mechanisms prompt a user for one or more keywords; the search mechanism then constructs a list of items that match the specified keywords. Each item is assigned a media type: figure, photo, animation, data or code sample, and the type name is matched in the keyword search. Thus, it is possible to limit a search to a specific type such as figure.
The Web site includes electronic versions of the glossary, the index and the table of contents from the text. The glossary search mechanism operates similar to the keyword search described above. Given a keyword, the glossary search produces a list of all glossary items that contain the specified keyword in a glossary term, acronym or definition. Because multiple glossary entries can match a given search, the result of a search is a list of matching entries.
A keyword search mechanism also exists for the index. The result of searching the table of contents or index is a list of all entries that match the search; each entry contains the page numbers in the text at which the item can be found.
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