CO311: Introduction to Modern Programming II

Using FTP for file transfers

Because the University will not give everyone their own personal ID and storage on their network, I’ve arranged to give everyone some private space that he/she can access using the Internet and a program called FTP.

FTP stands for “file transfer protocol” and is one of the oldest uses of the Internet, right after e-mail in its antiquity.

This page covers the basics of using either WS_FTP (provided on the University machines) or the command line client provided with Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and NT. If you have some other preferred client, it needs to be capable of doing non-anonymous authentication (which means your generic browser is probably not going to work for downloads, and definitely won’t work for submission or other directory maintenance.)


WS_FTP

  1. “Fire it up”: Launch WS_FTP from the desktop or the Start Menu (you’ll have to hunt for it, because it’s probably not in the same place on any two machines).
  2. You should automatically get a connection dialog that looks a bit like this:
  3. FTP_Connect.gif (6071 bytes)

    Note the host name: ftp.teach.millard.org. This is how the client knows where to connect.

  4. Enter your last name for the user ID
  5. Enter the password that was assigned to you. Checking the “Save Pwd” box will have no effect once you exit the program, so don’t loose it!
  6. Select [OK] to make the connection.
  7. You should then see a dialog similar to the following:

    FTP_main.gif (12867 bytes)

    As the headings indicate, the left side gives you a browser for the local system, while the right side is the remote system (the FTP site). The top window on each side shows the current folder (directory) of each side of the connection.

    You navigate from place to place in the file system by double-clicking in the file display window. In addition to files in the current directory, there are some other special lines available:

    FTP_toParent.gif (915 bytes) Change to the parent directory (Back up one level)
    FTP_toDrive.gif (979 bytes) Change to the indicated drive letter (only available on the local machine)

    The buttons on the side of the file display are additional features of the file system manipulation: you can easily make folders (and subfolders), as well as delete and rename both files and folders. Sending files from one system to the other is accomplished by highlighting the file on one side, then clicking on the arrow button in the middle to initiate transfer.

    Over all, this is one of the nicest FTP clients around.

  8. When finished, click on the Exit button in the upper-right corner.

If you’re having trouble getting the program to display the remote system, there could be several problems that have nothing to do with you: the connection could be down, bad or too slow, or if you’re trying to use it at work, you may have a firewall blocking FTP transfers. The bottom portion of the main navigation window has status messages, and those messages can give you an idea of the problem(s) you may be having.

If all else fails, PRINT OUT your work and hand it in the “old fashioned” way!


Command-line FTP

Normally, you wouldn’t want to use the command line for FTP: It’s hard to navigate, the commands need to be used from memory, and it’s hard to see a listing of files in a given folder. The following information has a specific purpose: to help you download your own copy of WS_FTP for use on a home/work computer where a GUI FTP client isn’t already installed.

Disclaimer: This is only the procedure for making a connection and downloading the software. You take all responsibility for installing it on your system, especially on a work-based machine. The software has been “bullet-proof” for every machine I’ve put it on, but there’s always the possibility of an exception out there!

  1. Open a command shell:
    1. Start arrow_right.gif (855 bytes) Run...
    2. Enter “command” and [Enter].
  2. Change to the directory in which you want to have the installation tool when you’re done:
    1. if you need a different drive letter, type the letter, a colon, then enter (e.g.: H:[enter])
    2. change to the directory using the cd command (e.g.: cd \temp[enter])
  3. Run the ftp client with the following command: ftp ftp.ipswitch.com[enter]
    The display should look something like this:

    cmd_connect.gif (3997 bytes)

  4. Enter “anonymous” for the username

    :cmd_anon.gif (4214 bytes)

  5. Enter your email address for the password (it will not display):

    cmd_prompt.gif (4323 bytes)

  6. Enter “cd /pub/win32”:

    cmd_cd.gif (3657 bytes)

  7. Enter “bin”:

    cmd_bin.gif (3823 bytes)

  8. Enter “hash”:

    cmd_hash.gif (4123 bytes)

  9. Enter “get WS_FTPLE.EXE” (case sensitive!):

    cmd_get.gif (5892 bytes)

  10. Enter “quit” to end the FTP session.
  11. Enter “exit” to close the command shell.
  12. Find the file WS_FTPLE.EXE with the Windows Explorer and double-click on it to begin installing WS_FTP