go to Menu or E-mail

File Transfer:

send/receive a file in your account to/from a colleague


There are options:

  1. 1 copy the file to a floppy disk or zip disk and mail the disk
  2. 2 send the file by modem: both you and your colleague must have a modem, one set to send, the other to receive
    1. more info.
  3. 3 RECOMMENDED: FTP the file directly to your colleague's computer.  Both computers must have webserver software installed, such as MS PWS (free download, for Windows 95, 98, NT).
  4. 4 RECOMMENDED: send the file as an e-mail attachment, using FTP for downloading or uploading -- see below.
I visualize my little laptop in communication with a giant mainframe computer.  Uploading means sending a file from the little guy to the big guy.  Downloading means the opposite.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.  It is really fast.  We use WS_FTP lite.  It's a free download.  See separate file and this.


Option 4:
There are two steps for sending:
  1. 1  upload the file from your computer to your alpha or lcvax account: use FTP -- it's fast
  2. 2  send the file as an e-mail attachment.
There are two steps for receiving:
  1. 1  you got a file as an e-mail attachment -- save it to your account

    2. 2  download the file from your account to your computer: use FTP -- it's fast.
Note: The instructions below assume that you have an Alpha or Vax account, that you know how to do Alpha e-mail, that the file you want to send is in your account, or that there is a file you received in your account. Example files are named transtxt.txt and transtxt.rtf.

Select Alpha/Unix or VAX below.

Alpha/Unix

1) Dial up and log on. (modem settings)

2) [send file to someone as e-mail attachment]

pine, c, Send to: ... [enter username / e-mail address]
[Attachment: enter transtxt.txt or press ^-t To Files, arrow to the file, Select, Exit Browser
[^-x to send. Don't forget to delete the file in Sent Mail folder.]
Q [to quit Pine]
[See NOTES at end of this file.]

3) [get a message that has a file attached]

pine [find a message with a file attached]
v [to View Attachment]
[if textfile: press v to View]
[on other menu, check out y to prYnt, e to Export to your disc: enter a filename]
[if binary file: press S to save to your Alpha disc, accept suggested filename or change it.]
e [to Exit Viewer], q [to Quit Pine], ls [to see filelist on Alpha disc]
clear

4) [Send a textfile on your Alpha disc to X whose mailer does not have MIME]

[this does not work for a binary file]
mail [use Mail as your mailer]
mail hoffmann@lcvax.lehman.cuny.edu [mail space full e-mail address]
[Subject: you might say Sending file <name of file>]
~r <name of file> [enter this in the message area to read in the file]
[press Ctrl-d or the period at the start of a blank line, press Enter so send]
[or press ~q to abort this message].

6) [View a textfile on your Alpha disc]

more transtxt.txt [read it on screen to check it out], [spacebar [next screen], q [to quit viewing]
[OR]
pilot [select the file], v [view it], e [exit browser].

7) [Housekeeping]

----- rm transtxt.txt [to remove/delete this file on your Alpha disc]
----- [in Pine, delete messages in Inbox or Sent-mail]

8) [Log off]

----- exit [Don't forget to exit from the Alpha!]

VAX

1) Dial up and log on. (modem settings)

4) [send file to someone: send/file filename user]

send/file transtxt.txt in%"username@..."
[^-z to send.]
[See NOTES at end of this file.]

5) [get a file: you get a message when you log in]

receive [type this command twice, once the filename is used, press Enter]

6) [View a textfile on the VAX disc]

type/page transtxt.txt [read the textfile tranfile.txt on screen, page by page], [spacebar [next screen]

7) [Housekeeping]

-----delete transtxt.txt [to delete this file on your VAX disc]

8) [Log off]

----- lo [Don't forget to logout from the VAX!]
Watch out for problems: see file types, formats, fonts etc.
Pine uses Mime to encode all attachments. Your recipient's mailer must have Mime. If your recipient does not (e.g., using Mail on the vax), any file, even a text file, looks like garbage. To send a textfile, use one of the other mailers on the Alpha. To send a binary file, use uuencode to convert it to text and let your recipient know: your recipient will need uudecode to reconvert the file you sent to its original format.

Use fonts that exist on every platform, such as Times Roman or Courier or Helvetica. If an uncommon font is essential to the look of your document, embed it. 

go to Menu or E-mail

Ursula Hoffmann, February 1999 e-mail