The Personal Web Navigator Database
The Personal Web Navigator database (PERWEB.NSF) is stored locally and is used when you browse the Web via Notes. It is used as a page and resource cache, so when you access the same page multiple times, your response time is improved. Normally, if all you do is browse the Web, you don't really need to open the Personal Web Navigator database. The database does have a few useful features, however, if you want to do offline Web browsing, if you want to monitor Web sites, or if you want to control page caching.
The Personal Web Navigator database keeps recently accessed pages, and sometimes it is interesting to review the pages. See Figure 3.16.
Figure 3.16 The Personal Web Navigator database stores previously viewed pages.
Some additional features in this database can make your Web browsing more productive. You can use Notes as your browser, or use Notes with Internet Explorer to get the benefits of the Personal Web Navigator. In the latter case, you must turn on the offline viewing feature manually. Here are some features of the Personal Web Navigator database:
Offline browsingBecause the database caches pages, you can download Web pages for offline viewing. This is great for use on a disconnected laptop.
Page cachingAs mentioned, caching improves performance.
Web AheadThis is related to page caching. Web Ahead is an agent that runs in the background on the Notes client. It checks the links that are located on a particular page and downloads them so that you can read them later. You can indicate how many levels of pages you want the agent to retrieve. To use Web Ahead, click its name in the Navigator pane and double-click the instructions line that appears in the view.
Page MinderThis is a scheduled background agent that runs on the Notes client. You can specify the frequency, from one hour to a day or a week. The agent checks Web pages that you specify to see whether they have changed. If they have, Page Minder notifies you via email. To use Page Minder, click its name in the Navigator pane and double-click the instructions line that appears in the view.