<sect1 id="proxies">

<sect1info>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Krishna</firstname>
<surname>Tateneni</surname>
<affiliation><address><email>
tateneni@pluto.njcc.com
</email></address></affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>

<date>25/11/2000</date>
<releaseinfo>1.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>proxy</keyword>
<keyword>proxies</keyword>
</keywordset>

</sect1info>

<title>Proxies</title>

<sect2 id="proxies-intro">

<title>Introduction</title>

<para>Proxies are programs running on a computer that acts a server on the
network you are connected to (whether by modem or other means). These programs
receive <abbrev>HTTP</abbrev> and <abbrev>FTP</abbrev> requests, retrieve the
relevant files from the internet, and pass them on to the client computer that
made the requests.</para>

<para>When you have configured a proxy, <abbrev>HTTP</abbrev> and/or
<abbrev>FTP</abbrev> requests are re-routed through the computer that is acting
as a proxy server.  However, you can also select specific hosts which should be
contacted directly, rather than through the proxy server. If you are on a local
network, for example, access to local hosts probably doesn't need to go through a
proxy server.</para>

<para>You should only need to configure a proxy server if your network
administrator requires it (if you are a dial-up user, that would be your
internet service provider or <abbrev>ISP</abbrev>). Otherwise, especially if you
are feeling a bit confused about this proxy business, but everything seems to be
fine with your internet connection, you don't need to change anything.</para>

<para>This module in the KDE control center also allows you control the size of
the local cache directory used by <application>Konqueror</application>. Note
that each user account on your computer has a separate cache directory, and this
directory is not shared with other web browsers such as
<application>Netscape</application>.</para>

<para>Storing local copies of web pages that you have visited allows Konqueror
to quickly load their contents on subsequent visits. It will only be necessary
to reload the contents from the original site if they have changed since your
last visit, or if you click the reload button in
<application>Konqueror</application>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="proxies-use">

<title>Use</title>

<para>The proxy and cache settings are separated by a horizontal rule.  Above
the rule, you can see the controls that are related to proxy settings, and on
the top left is a checkbox labeled "<guilabel>Use Proxy</guilabel>". If you need
to configure a proxy, you should select this option. When the checkbox is
enabled, you will be able to use the other controls.</para>

<para>The complete addressing information for the proxy includes both the
internet address and a port number. You should enter these into the relevant
text boxes. The arrow button on the right copies the information from the
<guilabel>HTTP</guilabel> line to the <guilabel>FTP</guilabel> line, in order to
help save some typing.</para>

<para>If there are hosts which you can connect to without going through the
proxy server, you can type the names of these hosts, separated by commas, in the
text box labeled "<guilabel>No Proxy For:</guilabel>". For example, hosts that
are on your local network can probably be contacted directly.</para>

<para>Below the horizontal rule, you can see the controls that are related to
cache settings. If you really don't want any of the web pages you visit to be
stored on your computer, you can disable <application>Konqueror</application>'s
disk cache by clearing the checkbox labeled "<guilabel>Use
Cache</guilabel>".</para>

<para>You can control the size of the cache by typing a number into the text box
labeled "<guilabel>Average Cache Size</guilabel>".  This is the average amount
of space in kilobytes that the cache directory is allowed to use. When the cache
grows too large, <application>Konqueror</application> will delete older files to
reduce the size of the cache directory.</para>


</sect2>


<sect2 id="proxies-author">

<title>Section Author</title>

<para>This section written by: </para>
<para>Krishna Tateneni
<email>tateneni@pluto.njcc.com</email>.</para>
<para>Minor update by Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>

</sect2>

</sect1>
