CompuServe Messages

Hi, folks– I have been horsing around with CIS' new FTP (the Internet File Transfer Protocol) facility, checking some sites of geo-science interest. FTP sites are roughly the Internet equivalent of forum libraries. Since the library of this forum are currently full, my notes on how to use this follow – I will upload them to the library when space becomes available. Anonymous FTP "ftp.csn.net" has a COGS directory of files from the Computer Oriented Geological Society. I retrieved all the index file from this and its subdirectories, and will upload the combined result when space appears in the library (it is too big for the message board). To give you an idea, the subdirectories of COGS are: COGS/COGS-disks COGS/Dcw COGS/Geochemistry COGS/Geophysics COGS/Graphics COGS/Hydrology COGS/Landsat COGS/Mapping COGS/Mineralogy COGS/Mining COGS/MOSS COGS/Oil_n_Gas I also tried anonymous FTP to "c.scs.uiuc.edu", where one can find MINERALS.TXT and MINERALS.RTF, two versions of a free database by J. Doug McDonald of all the minerals and their formulae. Unfortunately, their software seems incompatible with CIS FTP; the files and directory lists come up empty after I log on. If anyone has better luck, I would like to know about it. Does anyone know of an alternate site with these files? I already have MINERALS.*, using non-CIS FTP from my workplace, but hope to see them made available to everyone on CIS; unfortunately the author is reluctant to give permission for upload to CIS forum libraries, so now I must return to twisting his arm… –Doug How to use the CompuServe FTP facility ————————————– by Doug Mitchell, CompuServe 70621,702 January 1, 1995 FTP, File Transfer Protocol, is a part of the Internet definition that provides a method for one to retrieve (or view) files made available on remote computers (outside CompuServe), the Internet's rough equivalent of a CompuServe forum library. The new CompuServe FTP facility works only under the HMI protocol used by CIM; most general communications programs may be unable to handle this. These directions are for DOS CIM 2.2.3; hopefully WinCIM and MacCIM will be generally similar. 1. Find out the domain name of the remote computer you want to access. –For example, "ftp.csn.net" is a system containing COGS (Computer Oriented Geology Society (?)) information. These are generally strings of letters separated by periods (.), often ending with ".edu" (Educational institutions), ".com" (Commercial outfits), or some nation identifier. –Until CompuServe supplies gopher, archie, veronica, WorldWideWeb, wais or some such searching method (I do not know whether they will or not; watch GO INTERNET), the only method I know of on CompuServe is to ask people. 2. GO FTP –In CIM, this means choose the "Services" menu "GO" option, and in the resulting dialog box, type "FTP" without the quotes and the [Enter] key. –DOS CIM 2.2.3 does not show a "leaving basic services" indicator; I suspect connect charges for standard pricing plan users start after the next step, but the may start at this point for all I know. –The first time, you probably want to select and read the "Help" and "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" options. I would include them here, but suspect they cost less if you use them from the menu. 3. In the resulting menu, choose "Access a Specific Site" –You might want to look at the first two options for "Selected Popular Sites" or a "List of sites", but this procedure is mainly intended for a site not on those lists, which are short at this time. –A new dialog box appears entitled "Access a Specific Site" (surprise!) with fields for "Site Name", "Directory", "User Name", and "Password", with the latter two filled in. 4. Enter the site (domain) name and choose "OK" –Example: type "ftp.csn.net" without quotes followed by the [Enter] key –For anonymous FTP, you can leave the other fields as they are; if you need a specific user name and password for the remote computer, enter these in the appropriate fields. Do not confuse these with your CompuServe user ID or password. –If you want to go straight to a known directory on the remote computer, saving time, you can type something into that field before hitting [Enter]; for example at ftp.csn.net, a good choice might be "COGS/Mineralogy". In the directory field, you probably need to be very careful about uppercase vs. lowercase; "cogs/mineralogy" would not work in the example; also be sure to use "/" to separate directory names, not "\"! Failing to be utterly precise loses any speed advantage and then some. –This dialog box disappears after you finish this, leaving you looking at the menu with "Access a Specific Site" again; give it some time to connect to the remote computer, then a new dialog box should appear. 5. If the next dialog box entitled "Messages from Internet"(?) contents appear like a successful login, choose "OK" –Here follows an example of a successful login message that would appear in this dialog box: 220 FTP Service Ready 331 ANONYMOUS user ok, send real identity as password. 230 ANONYMOUS logged in, directory SYS$SYSDEVICE:[NETDIST.PUB], rest –Again, this dialog box disappears, leaving you looking at the earlier menu, until another dialog box appears entitled "Current Site:" followed by the site name, with two lists, "Directories" on the left, and "Files" on the right (which shows the files in the current directory of the remote computer). 6. To change the displayed directory, click the subdirectory wanted, and then click the "Select" button. –The lists of directories and files should be updated. –Repeat until you find the right directory. 7. Watch for an index file –It may be the first file in the list; it may be named something like INDEX.TXT; it may be named something like README.TXT. –If you are unclear on what the files you want are, retrieve the index file first and read it. 8. To download a file, click the file to highlight it, type the [space] bar to put a triangle to its left, then click the "Retrieve" button. –You can select several files using the [space] bar; in this case the "Retrieve" will fetch each in turn. Changing directories cancels the selections. –This use of the [space] bar confused me until I found it. I earlier tried clicking "Retrieve" after clicking the filename to highlight it, and also tried double-clicking the filename, but these had produced only "No File Selected" squawks. Trying to use "Select" after highlighting a file tries to change directory again. 9. After "Retrieve", a dialog box appears offering a default name for the and directory file to be given as it arrives on your computer; overtype this as desired. –The default directory seems to be chosen from the CIM "Settings" menu "Directories" option Download entry. 10. To exit from the FTP session, click the "Leave" button.