BMUG PD-ROM 1995 Fall

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NAVIGATING THE INTERNET: AN INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP Richard J. Smith Assistant Director For Technical Services University of Southwestern Louisiana rs@usl.edu I've demonstrated three major features in Navigating the Internet e-mail, file transfer protocol (ftp), and remote log-in. The three parts cover a multitude of information resources. All three comprise communications that are useful in obtaining needed information; however, new user groups have provided me with the opportunity of using probably the most powerful feature of the network--expertise of the people that are linked to the network. There are many of you that do not have the full array of the features demonstrated in the past weeks. In particular, direct ftp is not available on some of the commercial connections to the Internet. An alternative ftpmail is available, and I've been asked to include that method before ending the workshop. I've never used this feature and was unaware of its existence. I mustered up the courage to confess my ignorance over the Internet, and I asked for enlightenment on this feature to the 800 people that belong to a group called NETTRAIN--a group that involves trainers of users of the Internet. Within a day I got my answer. I've included several of the responses I received from people around the country. I've included examples of how to use ftpmail to retrieve some of the earlier files and directories demonstrated in this workshop. I think this is a perfect demonstration of the real power of the Internet-- People Sharing Information. Rich Smith ---------------------------------------- Hello Richard, I took part in the August Internet sessions. I don't have any access to telnet or ftp, but I learned a lot. I use ftpmail which you can find out about by send the message help to: gatekeeper@decwrl.dec.com There's also a bittftp for Bitnet users. To use ftpmail at dec, you address the mail to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com The body of the message is a little set of commands to do the ftp as in: connect ... binary (if applicable) uuencode (or the like) chdir ... get .... quit (You fill in the blanks) There are examples in the help files. Drop me a line if you don't have success with this. It is pretty easy, except, that it is like the bad old days of computing when you had to drop a stack of cards at the computer center and wait to see if your program bombed or not. Usually the requests take about 2 days, but sometimes they are back in an hour and sometimes several days. People with only email service can sign up with commercial services to get ftp and telnet. The prices vary. Do you have the Kaminski PDIAL list? Have you looked at Delphi's new service? If you need these, I can forward them. (I'm sure your mailbox is already pretty full) Hope this helps. Penny O'Connor aa327@Cleveland.freenet.edu ---------------------------------------- From: "WALT HOWE, DELPHI INTERNET SIG MANAGER" <WALTHOWE@delphi.com> Subject: Re: e-mail resources help Rich Smith said that he was unfamiliar with ftpmail, since with full ftp access, he had no need for it. Yet, there are many people without ftp access who should know about this powerful utility. During the period of time when DELPHI only had email access to the Internet, I often used Digital Equipment Corp.'s public utility FTPMAIL to GET files via email. It didn't matter whether files were text or binary; FTPMAIL could GET them and send them to me in email. If they were binary files to begin with, they would arrive as uuencoded files, which could then be decoded back to their original form. Any file you can GET through anonymous ftp can be retrieved through ftpmail. You can even explore directories with it to find a particular file, but the search process is slow. It is best if you know exactly what directory a file is in before you start the process. Archie by email can help you with this. Uuencode and uudecode are two utilities that will convert a binary file (for example, programs and graphics) into a 7-bit form that can be sent through mail and convert them back after receipt. They are available from many places, such as educational services, bulletin boards, and commercial services. If that is a problem for anyone, feel free to contact me. Bitftp is another utility offered from Princeton that does essentially the same thing. It has recently been restricted to serving only the bitnet community, apparently due to overload. We are EXTREMELY fortunate that these two utilities exist, because they greatly extend what an email only site can do. The ftpmail instruction file from DEC follows as the rest of this message. There are lots of features that I haven't mentioned in this marvelous utility that will become evident when you read the instructions. O-O- J ) Walt Howe, SIG Mgr. ( ) DELPHI Internet SIG ()) walthowe@delphi.com ========================================================================= FTPMAIL HELP FILES FROM DEC help-text,v 1.4 1992/09/29 commands are: reply <MAILADDR> set reply addr, since headers are usually wrong connect [HOST [USER [PASS]]] defaults to gatekeeper.dec.com,anonymous ascii files grabbed are printable ascii binary files grabbed are compressed or tar or both chdir PLACE "get" and "ls" commands are relative to PLACE (only one CHDIR per ftpmail session, and it executes before any LS/DIR/GETs) compress compress binaries using Lempel-Ziv encoding compact compress binaries using Huffman encoding uuencode binary files will be mailed in uuencode format btoa binary files will be mailed in btoa format chunksize SIZE split files into SIZE-byte chunks (def: 64000) ls (or dir) PLACE short (long) directory listing get FILE get a file and have it mailed to you (max 10 GET's per ftpmail session) quit terminate script, ignore rest of mail message (use if you have a .signature or are a VMSMAIL user) >>> notes: -> you should send complaints to the ftpmail-admin address. our postmaster does not handle ftpmail problems and you can save her the trouble of forwarding your complaints by just mailing them to the right address. the "ftpmail-request" address is gone; don't use it. -> the "Subject:" of your request will be contained in the "Subject:" of all of ftpmail's responses to you regarding that request. You can therefore use it to "tag" different requests if you have more than one outstanding at any given time. -> you must give a "connect" command, default host is gatekeeper.dec.com, default user is anonymous, default password is your mail address. -> binary files will not be compressed unless 'compress' or 'compact' command is given; use this if at all possible, it helps a lot. note that many files are already compressed. if you use any of the binary-file qualifiers (compress, compact, uuencode, btoa) without setting 'binary' first, your session will abort in error. -> binary files will always be formatted into printable ASCII with "btoa" or "uuencode" (default is "btoa"). if you don't use the "binary" command, ftpmail will cheerfully try to mail you the binary data, which will absolutely, positively fail. -> all retrieved files will be split into chunks and mailed. the size of the chunk is 64000 characters unless you change it with the "chunksize" command. CompuServe users will need to set this to 49000. there is no way to set it higher than 100000, so please don't ask. -> if you ask for more than 10 files in a session, you will receive an error message and your entire request will be rejected. -> VMS/DOS/Mac versions of uudecode, atob, compress and compact are available, ask your LOCAL wizard about them if you can't locate them (but try gatekeeper.dec.com in /archive/pub/VMS if you're still using a VMS system.) -> several mail unsplitters are hiding on gatekeeper.dec.com in /pub/mail/ua/misc/unsplit. there is one in c, one in perl, and one in VMS DCL. -> there is no way to request only certain parts of a file and we do not plan to add one in the near future, so please don't ask. -> there is no way to delete things from the queue or to find out the status of things in the queue, and we do not plan to add either feature in the near future, so please don't ask. >>> examples: -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get a root directory listing: connect ls quit -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get the README.ftp file: connect get README.ftp quit -> connect to gatekeeper.dec.com and get the gnuemacs sources: connect binary uuencode chdir /pub/GNU get emacs-18.58.tar.Z quit -> connect to ftp.uu.net as anonymous and get a root directory list: connect ftp.uu.net binary chdir /index/master get by-name.Z quit From: lb05gate%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu (Rick Gates) Message-Id: <9212191522.AA03336@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu> To: rjs4808@usl.edu Subject: EMail & FTP Status: R Rich, Glad that Navigating is finished? I like your idea for a reunion. Sounds like a lot of fun. Email access to ftp resources was one of my questions on the Nov92 Internet Hunt. There are 2 sites that are currently maintaining email/ftp servers, Princeton, and Digital Equipment Corp. Basically, you send ftp commands in the body of a message to these servers, and the files get mailed back to you. As some of these could be binary files uuencode or other compression schemes can be specified. This might throw some Navigate users off. You and I know that uudecode is available for Unix, and I think it runs on VAX/VMS as well, but I don't know what else. There are however, versions of uudecode available for msdos, windows, and other platforms. Below are details from the November Hunt. Hope this helps! Have a great holiday, and get some much deserved rest. Rick ============================================================================ 4. (7) Hello, I hope you don't mind questions via e-mail. E-mail is all I have here in my department. I'm interested in getting a program called hppscrpt.zip. I found a description of it in a mail message from a listserv that I'm on. It's at wuarchive.wustl.edu and in the /mirrors2/win3/drivers/printer directory. I've heard there's a way to issue mail commands to get files via ftp. Where do I request this service, and what commands should I use to get this file? Winner's Answer Address email to "ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com" The subject can be anything you want to use to keep track of it. The text must say: connect wuarchive.wustl.edu binary chdir /mirror2/win3/drivers/printer get hppscrpt.zip quit There are possible variations that this may not cover. Before sending a file, check on its location by sending email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with the text HELP. Other Answers ------------- The service is called BITFTP This is how to access it : send a mail to : BITFTP@PUCC.Princeton.edu the body of the mail should contain the following lines: FTP wuarchive.wustl.edu UUENCODE USER anonymous CD /mirrors2/win3/drivers/printer BINARY GET hppscrpt.zip QUIT ------------- Keys: hppscrpt.zip, wuarchive.wustl.edu, /mirrors2/win3/driver/printer Ideas: I've finally learned to check Scott Yanoof first, and then look further if I have to. But I didn't. [P.S. For me, this was the neatest question on this Hunt - after doing it I found myself wondering why the people at decwrl.dec.com would be this nice - I guess I learned something about the Internet ethos and good will.] Answer: MAIL> mail To: IN"ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com" Subject: [Return] Body of Letter: help [You get a note back explaining to you what you do, and you send a second message:] MAIL>mail To: IN"ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com" Subject: November Hunt ? Body of Letter: connect wuarchive.wustl.edu binary chdir /mirrors2/win3/drivers/printer get hppscript.zip quit [I did this fairly late at night and had the response in what seemed like minutes. Too cool.] From: "Jim Milles, SLU Law Library" <MILLESJG@SLUVCA.SLU.EDU> Subject: Re: e-mail resources help X-To: nettrain@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu To: Multiple recipients of list NETTRAIN <NETTRAIN@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu> Status: R ------------------------- Original message follows ------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 21:17:08 PST From: willis@unssun.scs.unr.edu (Glee Willis) Richard Smith <rjs4808@usl.edu> said: > I plead total ignorance. I use ftp and telnet so I never had to > research it. I was hoping someone from this list could offer > suggestions on resources available via e-mail. It is possible to ftp via mail, gopher via mail (therefore, by extrapolation, telnet via mail to a certain extent), X.500 knowbot search via mail, and post to newsgroups via mail. These "workarounds" have been in place for quite some time (with the exception of gopher-by-mail), so those with email-only access aren't as resource-deprived as is often assumed by those of us who have full Net toyboxes. Glee ---------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 12:01:59 -0600 (CST) From: Winship <winship@tenet.edu> Below is an excerpt from a Project Gutenberg file about getting Gutenberg texts via email. The Almanac site has a lot of things other than Gutenberg stuff. The general catalog follows the Gutenberg excerpt. Douglas Winship Austin, Texas winship@tenet.edu The Almanac information server, located at the Extension Service at Oregon State University, allows text retreival both through ftp and e-mail. To retrieve a file via ftp: ftp oes.orst.edu (128.193.124.2) Log in as `anonymous' and your login name as a password. cd /pub/almanac/etext or cd/pub/almanac/guten (dir/ls to check) ls (to get a list of files) bin (to switch to binary mode) get filename (where `filename' was one of the files listed) bye (when done) To retrieve a file via e-mail, first send the following line by itself to almanac@oes.orst.edu send gutenberg catalog This will instruct you how to send further requests, and will list the available files. For example, to retrieve _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_, send to almanac@oes.orst.edu send gutenberg alice Bitnet users can also try BITFTP. It is a server that will take an E-mail message from a BITNET site, and send corresponding commands to an FTP server, then send that file as a mail file to the BITNET user. If anyone wants to try it, send just the word HELP in the body of the message to BITFTP@PUCC. *************************************************************************** Almanac Primary Topic Catalog Extension Service Oregon State University April 2, 1992 This is a list of the primary topics available from the Almanac infor- mation server. There are often sub-topics available within these topics with more specific information. To get a list of sub-topics, send the line: send topic catalog where "topic" is one of the primary topics listed below. To get a complete description of how to send an Almanac request or how to submit your own information, send: send guide You may want to keep a current copy of this catalog and the guide handy for future reference on the effective use of Almanac. ---+--- Topic: market-news Shorthand: mn "market-news" contains periodical information about the market prices of a variety of agricultural products. It is compiled by the USDA and transmitted via satellite to almanac@oes.orst.edu. Note: The Market-News catalog is 123 kilobytes long. If your mailer has size limitations, use the slimit option. Topic: extension-service Shorthand: ext "extension-service" contains information that is only relevant to agricultural extension services. Topic: ms-dos "ms-dos" contains papers on the use of MS-DOS, IBMs, and their accompanying applications. Topic: mail-catalog "mail-catalog" is a file which briefly describes the mailing groups which can be subscribed to through Almanac. Note: "mail-catalog" has no sub-topics. Simply send: send mail-catalog Topic: quote "quote" provides a random quote to provide your day with a dose of profundity. Note: "quote" has no sub-topics. Simply send: send quote Topic: moral-support Shorthand: mor-sup "moral-support" provides a special message customized and hand- crafted to brighten the most gloomy spirits. Note: Moral-Support has no sub-topics. Simply send: send moral-support Topic: sound "sound" contains computer-digitized sounds including music, sound effects, and well-known recorded phrases. Currently the sound files are all in "ulaw" format, as used by Sun Sparc- stations. Topic: picture Shorthand: pic "picture" contains computer-digitized pictures. There are currently no picture files available through Almanac. ---------------------------------------- Well that's quite a lot of information for those with e-mail exclusive connection to the Internet. Ftpmail is a alternative to ftp for those of you that have only e-mail connections. It is not as versatile as direct connections and it takes patience and exactness to get the right information. But it should help many of you in getting needed information. Here are some examples of how to get materials mentioned early in the workshop. ---------------------------------------- Here is how to ftpmail the information guide from SURAnet. bss>mail ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Subject: connect ftp.sura.net chdir pub/nic get infoguide.11-30.txt quit bss> Here is an example of how to get the READ.ME file and a list of the directory from Merit. bss>mail ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Subject: connect nic.merit.edu get READ.ME dir quit bss> ---------------------------------------- Try getting the other files suggested in the workshop. Navigating the Internet: An Interactive Workshop Copyright (C) 1993 by Richard J. Smith, All Rights Reserved.