Introducing FTP-ing for Anna & Others

[Brad Mehlenbacher <brad_m -at- UNITY -dot- NCSU -dot- EDU>]

Anne Halsey expresses an interest in ftp-ing. Attached is a message that
I send to new members of my TechComm list; thought it might answer some
basic questions. Brad.

Hi Folks:

This message introduces you to the wonderful world of FTP-ing, to a brief
list of interesting FTP sites, and to a brief description of basic FTP
commands.

FTP or the Internet's File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program, allows you to
access and get files from all over the world. At the Unix prompt, rather
than entering the command that you normally use to start up your e-mail
program (e.g., elm), simply type the command 'ftp' and the machine address.

For example, type the commands

     ftp ftp.cica.indiana.edu
     cd pub/pc/win3

for Windows software; everything from fonts to games to utilities. You
name it.

Type

     ftp po.cwru.edu
     cd hermes/ascii

for texts on recent Supreme Court Decisions.

Type

    ftp sci.environment

for texts related to science and the environment.

Type

     ftp misc.jobs.contract

for announcements of existing contract jobs.

AND THE LIST OF FTP SITES GOES ON AND ON, trust me on this one.

My normal sequence of commands is ftp <machine address>, ls, cd, get
<filename>, and bye, commands which are defined below.

_Once you've got the 'ftp>' prompt, the following commands are useful:_

ascii: Set FTP to ASCII mode. Default and used for getting text files.

binary: Set FTP to binary mode. For transfering binary files, e.g.,
graphics files, executable programs, or sound files.

bye: Quits the FTP program.

cd <remote_directory_name>: Changes the current directory to a specified
one, e.g., the <pub> directory <cd articles> to the <article> directory.

ls -l: Lists the files in your current directory.

get: Retrieves a remote file and stores it on your computer.

mget: Retrieves multiple remote files and stores them on your computer
(files should be separated by spaces and will support wildcard symbols *
and ?).

mput: Transfers multiple files from your machine to a remote machine
(uses spaces and wildcard symbols as above).

open: Establishes a connection to a remote machine (e.g., open
mac.archive.umish.edu -- gives you access to a Macintosh Software Archive
located at the U of Michigan).

put: Stores a local file on a remote machine.

pwd: Lists the current directory's name on a remote machine.

Hope that the above helps you grab files from computers world-wide!

~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!^~!
 Brad Mehlenbacher           Phone:     (919) 515-4138
 Assistant Professor         Fax:       (919) 515-1836
 Technical Communication     E-mail:    brad_m -at- unity -dot- ncsu -dot- edu

 English Department          Fortunately, your NEW BABY is a fully
 NC State University         lap-size model (Martin Baxendale, 1989,
 Raleigh, NC 27695-8105      _Your New Baby: An Owner's Manual_).

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