File Transporting

    Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files: February 21, 1995.
    Heyward Ehrlich (ehrlich@andromeda.rutgers.edu)
    Selected Keywords: upload, download, e-mail, news, files, plain
text, FTP, Unix commands

    The miracle of computing is that once we learn something and our
software package starts to seem natural we stop thinking that there
could be other ways to do the same thing.  Unhappily we still live in an
era of computing Babel in which there are many different ways of work-
ing.  We become acutely aware of this when we need to transport files to
unfamiliar places.

    Different software is good for different things.  The built-in
editor in your mail program is fine for post-card messages.  For any-
thing longer, use Emacs or vi.  For papers and reports, you are probably
accustomed to using a microcomputer word processor such as Word or
WordPerfect.  If you publish a newsletter you are probably using a
desktop publishing program like PageMaker.  If you are comparing all
known versions of A Shakespeare play, you are probably using something
else.

    We work in different ways in Unix, DOS, Windows, Mac, etc.  We also
work on PCs or local machines, on local area networks (LAN) such as the
Novell system at Rutgers, or on wide area networks (WAN) via WWW, FTP,
telnet, and gopher.  To confuse matters, there are many proprietary
software packages such as Word and WordPerfect which may exist in
several flavors or versions.  Finally, much of what has been added
lately to computing is concerned not with the naked information itself
(as in the old typewriter era) but in ways of formatting and presenting
it elegantly on a laser printer with near-professional typesetting
quality.

    Fortunately, there are many ways to transport your information from
one realm to another.  One way to is to plan ahead for it.  Another is
to use features that may already be built in to your present software.
Finally there are special utilities and techniques to help you transport
files.  If you can imagine transporting a file from one place to
another, chances are there is already a way to do it.   Often there are
several ways to transporting files in any direction among editors, mail,
and news, between different platforms or operating environments, and
among different software packages.

    Two words of advice: 1) Use an experienced friend to get you
started.  2) Use helps such an on line doiucmentation and the aid sta-
tion handout to learn more about various file transport operations.

    1.  Files.

    Files are produced by keying into word processing and similar com-
puter programs or by scanning typed or printed text.   Files may be
moved in many ways: between individual computers, uploaded from your PC
to your computer account, included in an e-mail message, or posted to a
bulletin board.  They may also be moved the other way, from postings and
messages to files, and downloaded to your PC.

    2.  Proprietary formats:

    Most proprietary programs such as Word or WordPerfect use a
proprietary format and extended character codes (characters your old
typewriter never imagined).  Different programs don't understand these
These codes the same way.  What's worse, your computer account may
reject them utterly.  To make sure your files can be universally read,
some precautions or procedures are necessary to create or go back to old
fashioned plain text.

--- Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files ---               --- 2 ---

    Here are some options:

    a) Save your files as plain old ASCII, Text, or DOS files without
proprietary formatting.  In WordPerfect, the DOS Text command is CTRL-
F5.  In Word, use the Save As -- ASCII/DOS Text option.  If you also
need a version of the file for laser printing, be sure to name your
plain version something different yet recognizable (perhaps differing
only in filename extension).

    b) Use a built-in file translation utility already in your program
or a separate translation program to remove these codes.  Or limit your
input to plain text as you would on a old typewriter -- even without
underlines.

    c) Avoid formattings such as underlines, bolds, or italics, which
produce proprietary codes.      Forget about proportional typefaces and
rendering headers, footers, and footnotes.

    d) Use a simple text editor such as Ted, VDE, or Norton editor, or a
word processing program that produces plain text (such as Emacs, vi, PC-
Write, or Nota Bene).

    3.  Line endings, filenames, and other Unix-DOS-Windows-Mac
problems.

    Let's say your computer account uses Unix, and your PC uses the
DOS/Windows or Mac system.  These systems handle line endings in dif-
ferent ways.  To avoid upload/download difficulty, it is probably
simplest to make sure that everything you write has "hard returns" at
the end of each line, preferably in column 70 or thereabouts.  Fixed
width fonts like Courier will always be in the same place in column 70,
unlike proportional fonts like Times Roman. Odd line endings of trans-
ferred programs may be a function of your communications software.

    If you use DOS/Windows, keep your Unix or Mac file names under 8
characters with a 3 character extension.  Longer filenames in Unix or
Mac will be truncated to 8 + 3 and additional identifying characters
will be lost (and similarly named files overwritten).

    4.  Upload/download transfer methods.

    Transferring files between your PC and computer account can be done
several ways, none of them entirely convenient, and all depending on
your hardware, software, and skill.

    a.  FTP: From a Newark lab (wired to the network).  Use FTP to
transfer files either way between your account and a local file on your
floppy or on the network.  Use the special command ALT-T to get started
and the ALT-W password.  This method is very fast and accepts wildcards.
You cannot do this on a dial-up: see Kermit.

    b. Kermit:  Kermit is the classic public domain software for moving
files either way between your account and your PC over a dialup line.
Kermit mode is slow but sure and widely available.  Many more advanced
communications programs contain Kermit in more convenient form.

    c. Zmodem:  Zmodem is the preferred transfer mode, much faster than
Kermit.  It is available in the better commercial communications pack-
ages.

    d. Multitasking:  If you use Windows or a similar multi-tasking
environment, open two sessions, one via communications to your account
application, such as files, mail, or news, and the other an active word
processing file.  Mark the text you wish to transfer and copy it from
one session to the other using the Windows Clipboard or a comparable
resource.

--- Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files ---               --- 3 ---

    e. Capture log:  Many communications programs contain a capture log
feature which captures everything on the screen in your account to a
local file on your PC.  This can only be used for downloading.

    f. Mac-DOS.  Some programs that exist in both DOS and MAC versions
allow you to save or import files in a foreign format.  This option can
be found, for example, in the most recent versions of Microsoft Word.
You can also do Mac-DOS transfers via the Novell network at Rutgers
which connects the lab microcomputers.  Thus you can upload a Mac file
(on a Mac machine) to the network and then download it as a DOS file (on
a DOS machine).  Keep in mind that platform and system formats (Unix,
Mac, DOS) are not the same as program formats (Word, WordPerfect).

    g. DOS/Windows/versions problems.  There may also be a difference in
file formats between DOS and Windows implementation of the same program,
and to compound things, different versions of the same program cannot
always read each other (Word for Windows 2.0 cannot read Word for
Windows 6.0 files -- not to mention the fact that versions 3.0, 4.0, and
5.0 of Word never existed).  A special version of WordPerfect 5.1 called
5.1+ can read WordPerfect for Windows files.

    h. Sneaker net.  When all else fails, grab your floppy disk, put on
your sneakers and deliver the disk in person (and let the other person
worry about  it).

    i. Working from typed copy or a printout.  There are scanners in
Hill Hall and Englehard to convert hard copy to an electronic file.
They seem to handle fonts to be found in business correspondence fairly
well.  Dot matrix underlines may be a problem.  The scanners are con-
nected to Macintosh computers with OCR (optical character recognition)
software.  The files made by the scan can be saved on the network
(Desktop -- Macvol -- G:), and from there moved to your account via FTP.

    5. The Novell network.  Most of the computers in the Rutgers labs
are connected to the nodes of the Novell network.  The usual location
for data is G:\GUEST.  On a DOS machine, G:\GUEST looks like a DOS
drive.  On a Mac, it looks like a Mac drive.  There are dozens of nodes
connected to each other at Rutgers, all of which contain both system and
local software.  You can use the disk space on your node of G:\GUEST for
transfer purposes, but be aware that such work is deleted daily and not
secured from interference by other users, so don't leave it there longer
than necessary.

    All Novell-tied computers also support a connection to pegasus and
andromeda via telnet.

    6.  Domains of your account.  Your computer account on Pegasus or
Andromeda has three main domains, which I'll call files, mail, and news.
You can work with files and much else from the command line, which is
the granddaddy of the DOS command line.  You can evoke a file editor, a
remote telnet, a WWW session, and FTP or gopher session, and much else
from the command line.  But your familiar DOS instructions will not work
because Unix, unlike VMS, uses a different command language.

    a. Some Pegasus or Andromeda Commands:

    ls          short directory of files
    ls -l               long directory of files
    ls -l my*   long directory of files starting with "my"
    mv file1 file2      move (rename) file1 to file2
    rm file1    remove (delete) file1 (Warning: no undelete exists)
    more file1  read file1 by screenfuls

--- Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files ---               --- 4 ---

    mm          read mail
    nn          read news
    postnews    send a file to a bulletin board

    kermit              launch kermit
    emacs "filename"    edit "filename"
    "do1" | "do2"       execute a series of "commands"
    "do" "a" > "b"      redirect output of "a" to "b"
    CTRL-D      disconnect (log out)

    b. Mail:

    From MM> or R> prompt:
    copy         copies message to file
    move         moves message to file, deletes message
    forward             forwards message to e-mail address

    While editing file (default editor):
    CTRL-B              insert file into edited message

    Emacs:
    CTRL-E              Launch Emacs from default editor
    CTRL-X i            Insert file
    CTRL-X, CTRL-W              Write file
    CTRL-X, CTRL-C, y   Save and quit
    CTRL-Z              Suspend Emacs session

    c. News:

    G                   goto newsgroup
    U                   unsubscribe or un-unsubscribe [sic]
    N                   next newsgroup
    n                   next posting
    Q                   quit news

    m                   mail posting to e-mail address
    o                   output posting to local file
    r                   reply to posting
    :post                       send new posting to newsgroup
    ?                   help (more list of commands)

    d: Customization

    Since there are no convenient menus or pop-ups, your Unix domains,
such as editor, mail, and news, may seem very unfriendly.  Fortunately,
you can save often used routines as such, and your account startups and
profiles can be customized for you when you reach that level.

    7.  Communications.

    Your Unix account already contains many communications programs of
which Kermit and Zmodem are but two examples.  The networked PC's are
ready to execute telnet and FTP commands.  What remains is to get your
home PC ready.  You will need a modem, access to a telephone line, and
software.  Three familiar software packages are Kermit, Procomm, and
Terminal.

    Kermit is a public domain program used by most universities. Ask at
the aid station.  If you have Windows, you also have Terminal, a basic
communications program.  The older DOS versions of Procomm were
shareware, giving it very wide acceptance, but the current versions are
commercial.

--- Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files ---               --- 5 ---

    You will need to know certain general things to get started.  If
possible let a knowledgeable friend do it for you since the initial step
are usually confusing.

    a.  Modem.  The modem may be internal or external for your machine,
and the most important feature is its communication speed, typically
2400, 14,000 and 28,800 baud.  Some modems also do FAX; don't confuse
communication speed and FAX speed.  The current standard is 14,400,
since such machines cost $100 or less.  Although 28,800 baud modems are
becoming available, not all services at the other end can use them.

    Some software packages have installation procedures to detect what
kind of modem you are using, including brand and speed.  If you must do
this manually, be sure to tell your software what your modem speed is.

    b.  Port.  Your modem uses a serial port whether it is an internal
or external modem.  Your machine may have 1, 2, 3 or more serial ports.
Your mouse, if you have one, also uses a serial port.  Find out which
serial port the mouse uses and use a different one for your modem.  The
different serial ports are physical (visible) if your modem is external
but they are logical (invisible) if your modem is internal.  The serial
ports are called COM1, COM2, COM3, etc.  Your modem won't work if the
wrong port is indidcated.

    Example: Your mouse uses COM1, so you plug your modem into the
receptacle called COM2 and tell the commuinications software that you
have done this.  If you are using Windows you may need to tell both
Windows and your communications program.

    c. Echo, Bits, parity.  If everything works, don't worry about
these. If you get no characters or double characters on the screen when
you type, something is not set up correctly.  Find out where the echo
control is and change it until is looks right.  Most communications use
8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, abbreviated 81N.

    d. Dial-up numbers.  Make a record of the various dial-up numbers
for Rutgers or other services.  The numbers are supposed to "cascade,"
or spill over from one to the next when busy.  But Rutgers is rapidly
expanding its dial-ups, and you may find some numbers work better than
other at a certain time.

    e. Scripts.  Once you have a satisfactory dial-up procedure, you can
automate it as a script with phone number, settings, login, password,
etc.

--- Gradlit Guide to Transporting Your Files ---               --- 6 ---

8.  Future of this guide:

	Please send comments or queries or suggestions as follows:

	a. Mail comments to the author of this guide:
		ehrlich@andromeda.rutgers edu	 

	b. Mail comments to all members of the 350:503 class:
		gradlit@andromeda.ruthers.edu

	c. Post news comments to a bulletin board for those generally 
interested in computing:
		ru.newark.e-world 

	  -- The mail alias is "ru-e-world" for this news group.

	d. Post news comments to members of the 350:503 class:
 		ru.newark.gs.gradlit

	e. Watch for comments on World Wide Web:
		http:/www.rutgers.edu/runedge.html