WS_FTP Basics

DEFINING TRANSFER

CLIENTS AND SERVERS

ACCESSING FTP 

PROFILE FIELDS

INITIAL DIRECTORY

FINDING FILES

TRANSFERRING FILES

USING THE FTP BUTTONS 

 Defining Transfer

FTP is software that allows you to easily transfer files . Transfer means  "make a copy of". If you transfer a file from your computer to Rice, you are transferring, or copying, the file from your computer to the girltech computer. Two copies of the file exist: the one on your computer and the one on girltech.cs.rice.edu.

Transferring does not destroy a file unless a copy already exists in the place you are transferring to. The new copy may overwrite the old one. Most FTP software will alert you and ask if you really want to do that.

Clients and Servers 

Transferring files involves two computers and two different kinds of FTP programs. 

The FTP program that runs on your computer is the FTP "client". The client program tells the server program what processes are to be performed. The client software allows you to control what the girltech.cs.rice.edu server is to perform. 

The Rice computer, girltech.cs.rice.edu is called a "server" because it serves you by performing whatever file transfer actions your client FTP program demands. 
 

Accessing FTP 

1. Go to the File Manager, select programs, find WS_FTP, select program. 		 WS_FTP
Profile Fields
Profile Name:   Any name you choose 
Host Name:     girltech.cs.rice.edu 
Host Type:   leave on Automatic detect
User ID:   use Anonymous unless you have an account -- which you do 
Password: use the assigned password 
Account:   leave blank 
Save Password:    only check this box if you are on a "safe" machine (ie. at home). 
Click  OK.		 Session Profile
Initial Directory 

On the left you see the initial directory of your home computer hard drive. 

The upper grey scrolling window, or directory listbox, shows the drives and directories available to you.

The lower scrolling window is a listbox showing the files within that selected directory. The picture shows the directory of Slip on the hard drive. 

Double clicking the green up arrow will open the Directory of the C drive. 

The window on the right shows you the directories accessible to you on the girltech. server. The grey scrolling window shows where you are in the server directory. 

 ftp screen
Finding files 
The left top window shows the C drive directory of the home computer.

The right top window shows the directories on the server. 

Find the folder on your C drive that contains your web pages to be transferred. 

Double click. The files should be listed in the left bottom list box. You are now ready to transfer a file.
File Transfer :
Select the file in the file listbox that you want to transfer.

Click on the right pointing arrow.

 tranfer file

USING THE FTP BUTTONS

Buttons on the WS_FTP Main Screen
img1.gif (1156 bytes)
ASCII - Transfer text documents with this selected 
Binary - Transfer all file formats with this selected 
L8 - VMS non-text transfers--some FTP program have auto
 
img2.gif (1040 bytes)  Used to change directories. If you select a name in the directory listbox, this will change into that directory. If nothing is selected, you will be prompted for the path.
img3.gif (1033 bytes)
 Used to create new directories. (Requires permission to do so on that site.)
img4.gif (1031 bytes)
 Used to remove directories. (Requires permission to do so on that site.)
img5.gif (1013 bytes) Allows you to view ascii files on the remote site using the viewer you specify in WS_FTP options. (Notepad is a good choice.)
img6.gif (1014 bytes)  Executes a file that has been selected. If you execute a file on a remote site, it will first be transferred in binary
mode to your Windows Temp directory, then executed.
img7.gif (1040 bytes)
Allows you to rename a file. (Requires permission to do so on that site.)
img8.gif (1034 bytes)
 Allows you to delete a file. (Requires permission to do so on that site.)
img9.gif (1046 bytes)
Updates the remote site. Useful when uploading files.
img10.gif (1034 bytes)
Displays the full UNIX directory information for the selected directory.


 
 
Close-Will close the FTP connection
Cancel - Cancels current transaction
LogWnd - Displays message log. Can also be displayed by double clicking in the narrow scrolling window below the
Help - Displays the online help files. 
Options
  • Program options affect the layout and operation of WS_FTP. 
  • Session Options affect the current session (and session defaults) 
  • Extensions are used for Auto Mode (auto detect binary/ascii) 
  • Associations affect execution by Exec button. 
  • Save Dir Name--Saves the local and remote directory names in the current session profile. 
  • Save Win Loc --Saves the current main window size and location.
  • About - Displays version and author contact information.
Exit - Exit the program. 

Back to Training Materials or Thursday's Schedule

Last Updated June 21, 2000
URL = http://teachertech.rice.edu/Materials/GT2000/Mac/day04/ws_ftpbasic.html

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These pages were developed through GirlTECH , a teacher-training program sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEEE) and made possible by support from the National Science Foundation through EOT-PACI.
Copyright ©  June 2000.

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updated sb 6-21-2k 19:15