• Sending a Document
• Receiving a Document
  

1. If you will be using a modem, dialup and establish a connection to cunix via MacTCP (MacOS 7.5 and lower) or Columbia PPP (MacOS 7.6 and 8.0).

2. Save your document using a name which has no spaces in it. It's a good idea to stick to 8-letter (or shorter) names, in case the person you're sending the document to is not using a system which can handle longer file names. Note the location (folder) where the file is saved. In the following example, Piero (cunix ID pdp) is transferring Paper001 from the folder called Files. Note: The most widely compatible word processing file format these days is probably Microsoft Word Version 6. If you are using a different program or version and are not sure the recipients of your attachment will be able to read your document, you may want to use the File/Save As commands to save your document under a different name (so you don't overwrite your original document) and file type (Microsoft Word Version 6).

3. Launch Fetch (a "file transfer program"), by double-clicking its icon from the AcIS Internet Software folder. [If you are in McVickar Computer Lab, pull down the Application Menu (to the right of the menu bar at the top of the screen where the tiny icon of the current application, in this case MS Word's , is displayed), choose At Ease, and click on Fetch.]

4. The following Window will pop up:



If it is not already there, type as host name cunix.cc.columbia.edu. Tab to the "User ID:" field and type in your cunix ID. Tab to the "Password:" field and enter your cunix password. Click OK.



5. You will see a window resembling the following:



This window shows the contents of your cunix directory. Indeed the directory has as its name your user ID.

To upload your file (= writing it to a remote server) click on the button "Put File...". A new window will open:



This window shows the content of your hard drive and any other mass storage devices connected to your Mac (diskette, Zip drive, etc.). Navigate through your Mac directory "tree" until you locate the folder where your document is saved. Highlight (click once) your document's file name, then click Open. Another window will appear:



If you are sending your attachment to a PC user, make sure "Raw Data" [1] is selected from the Format menu.
If you are sending it to a Macintosh user click down the Format menu in the box and choose "BinHex"[2].
Click OK.

6. Login to cunix and start Pine.

7. Begin composing your e-mail message. Fill in the "To:" field and (if necessary) the "Cc:" field. Move to the "Attchmnt:" field. Type control-T to list the names of files in your cunix directory, and select your document. Type in any message you wish in the message text area. It's a good idea to let the other person know the name of the file you're sending as an attachment, and what type of file it is (Word for Windows ver. 6, WordPerfect for DOS ver. 5.1, etc.). Send the file as usual by typing control-x.

Receiving a Document

1. Login to cunix and start Pine.

2. Read the message which has the attachment you wish to save and transfer.

3. Type V (for View attachment).

4. Use the arrow keys to highlight the attachment you wish to save. Type S (for Save Attachment).

5. At the "Copy attachment to file in home directory:" prompt, if no default file name is offered, type a name for the file. Press Enter.

6. Type E (to exit attachment viewer). You may now quit Pine and logout, if you like.

7. Launch Fetch (see Step 3 in the "Sending" section, above).

8. Locate the filename from step 5 in the cunix file list of the Fetch window. Click on it once to select it.

9. Make sure Binary is selected from the radio buttons at the bottom of the window.



10. Click "Get File..." button. A saving dialog box will appear:



11. On the bottom of the window you will see two slots, Type and Creator. Most likely the content will be automatically set by Fetch (if the suffix is ".doc" Fetch would set the creator as MSWordD). If the slots are blank or the file does not have a suffix that would identify it to Fetch, you might want to choose a document type by clicking on the downward arrow next to the creator slot, and choosing the appropriate application from the pop-up menu.



12. Hunt your way through the Mac file directory tree in the until you locate the folder in which you wish to place the file. Click the Save button (or hit return on the keyboard).

13. Quit Fetch.

14. Start your word processing program and open the file.

15. Can't open your file? There are several reasons why this may be. Try doing the transfer again, double-checking that the Binary button is clicked. It may also be that you are trying to open a document created by a different word processing program, or a different version of your own program, and which your program is not equipped to handle. Ask the person who sent you the file what program and version the file was created for, and try to obtain a conversion utility either from the installation disks for your program or from your program's web site. Or ask the person who sent you the file to save it in a format your program can handle and to resend it to you.

Raw Data is one of the formats available for putting files on another computer. If this format is chosen the data part of the Macintosh file will be sent without any interpretation or conversion. Some Macintosh programs create files with all their information in the data part (e.g. Stuffit!, MicroSoft Excel, MicroSoft Word). Similarly, most cross-platform standard file formats (such as GIF and JPEG image formats) use only the data part. In these cases using the Raw Data format is a simple way to transfer files. However, if the file includes a resource part, that part will be lost. In any case the file type and icon will not be preserved. So the Raw Data format should only be used if the file is strictly a data file that can be used by some other computer (e.g. an IBM PC running the PC version of Excel). If the file will be retrieved by a Macintosh either MacBinary II or BinHex format should be chosen.

[2]

BinHex (sometimes called BinHex4) is a format for representing a Macintosh file in text form. The Macintosh file is converted to a series of lines, each made up of letters, numbers, and punctuation. Because BinHex files are simply text they can be sent through most electronic mail systems and stored on most computers. However the conversion to text makes the file larger, so it takes longer to transmit a file in BinHex format than if the file was represented some other way. The suffix ".hqx" usually indicates a BinHex format file.

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