5.1) INTERFACING WITH Web-Architect
In all the sections below, a
distinction is made between transferring ASCII
files and binary files. This is important -- you
must transfer files in the appropriate
mode.
Perl scripts and HTML
files are ASCII files, along with many others.
If you use a plain text editor to work with a
file, it's an ASCII file. It's not terribly
important to transfer HTML files in ASCII mode,
but it is important for Perl
scripts.
GIFs and JPEGs, as
well as audio and video files, are binary files.
They must be uploaded in binary mode, or
will be corrupted. Files that look like garbage
in a plain text editor and require a more
advanced program to edit are not ASCII files,
and must be transferred in binary mode.
5.1.1) FTP - Graphical
Interface (wu_ftp, fetch, etc.)
Users with graphical
interfaces can run a program such as WS_ftp,
cuteFTP, or fetch to interface with Web-Architect.
Just log into your domain name with the username
and password we provide you. If you do not have
your own domain name, we will provide you with
the name of our host where your username
resides. (Or, follow the instructions in 6.1.3
and note the machine name in the login
prompt.)
See 1.2.1.3) MS Windows Access in Chapter
One for details.
5.1.2) FTP - Shell Interface
For Unix users, at the
shell prompt, type ftp your-domain.com. Then
enter your username and password when
prompted.
ASCII files (text)
Type ascii to make sure you
are in ascii mode.
Type put filename to put a
file.
Type get filename to get a
file.
Binary files
(graphics)
Type binary to make sure
you are in binary mode.
Type put filename to put a
file.
Type get filename to get a
file.
5.1.3) Telnet - Graphical Interface
Simply run the program on
your machine that contains telnet in its name.
Then log onto your-domain.com (or .net or .org)
with your userid and password.
Once logged on, you may use the
following commands (assuming your telnet program
knows or can be taught about ZMODEM, which often
isn't the case):
ASCII files (text)
Type rz to put a
file.
Type sz -a filename to get
a file.
Binary files
(graphics)
Type rz filename to put a
file.
Type sz -b filename to get
a file.
5.1.4) Telnet - Shell Interface
At the shell prompt, type
telnet -8 your-domain.com. Then enter your
userid and password when prompted.
Once logged on, you may use the
following commands:
ASCII files (text)
Type rz filename to put a
file.
Type sz -a filename to get
a file.
Binary files
(graphics)
Type rz filename to put a
file.
Type sz -b filename to get
a file.
5.2) ASCII AND BINARY MODES
Go up and read 6.1. It's
covered there.
So why this section? If
this seems obvious, sorry, but probably the
single biggest type of problem we have to
correct or tell users to do over is problems
caused by having the wrong mode active. We
needed this in big letters so you'd find
it.
Macintosh users:
in Fetch, the binary mode referred to throughout
the manual is 'raw'. The other option uploads
too much data, corrupting the file.
In case you're
wondering what the fuss is about -- aren't text
files standardized? -- here's the explanation.
While ASCII is a standard for encoding text, it
does not specify how to end lines. There are two
obvious candidates in the ASCII character set:
CR and LF. *nix machines, such as the Web-Architect
WWW machines, use LF to terminate lines.
Macintoshes use CR. DOS, Windows, and NT
machines use CR LF (both, in that order). When
transferring files between machines of different
types, you need to account for this, hence ASCII
mode. To avoid damaging binary files (where the
bytes don't have the ASCII semantics) there is
binary mode.
