The National Center for Supercomputing Applications 1/28/92 Anonymous FTP Server General Information This file contains information about the general structure, as well as information on how to obtain files and documentation from the FTP server. NCSA software and documentation can also be obtained through the the U.S. Mail. Instructions are included for using this method as well. Information about the Software Development Group and NCSA software can be found in the /ncsapubs directory in a file called TechResCatalog. THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS GIVES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, FOR THE SOFTWARE AND/OR DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. _____________________________________________________________ FTP INSTRUCTIONS Most NCSA Software is released into the public domain. That is, for these programs, the public domain has all rights for future licensing, resale, and publication of available packages. If you are connected to Internet (NSFNET, ARPANET, MILNET, etc) you may download NCSA software and documentation and source code if it is available, at no charge from the anonymous file transfer protocol (FTP) server at NCSA where you got this file. The procedure you should follow to do so is presented below. If you have any questions regarding this procedure or whether you are connected to Internet, consult your local system administration or network expert. 1. Log on to a host at your site that is connected to the Internet and is running software supporting the FTP command. 2. Invoke FTP on most systems by entering the Internet address of the server. Type the following at the shell (usually "%") prompt: % ftp ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu 3. Log in by entering anonymous for the name. 4. Enter your local email address (login@host) for the password. 5. Enter the following at the "ftp>" prompt to copy a text file from our server to your local host: ftp> get filename where "filename" is the name of the file you want a copy of. For example, to get a copy of this file from the server enter: ftp> get README.FIRST To get a copy of our software brochure, enter: ftp> cd ncsapubs get TechResCatalog NOTE: Some of the filenames on the server are rather long to aid in identification. Some operating systems may have problems with names this long. To change the name the file will have on your local machine type the following at the "ftp>" prompt ("remoteName" is the name of the file on the server and "localName" is the name you want the file to have on your local machine): ftp> get remoteName localName Example: ftp> get TechResCatalog catalog.txt 6. For files that are not text files (almost everything else) you will need to specify that you want to transfer binary files. Do this by typing the following at the "ftp>" prompt: ftp> type binary You can now use the "get" command to download binary files. To switch back to ASCII text transfers type: ftp> type ascii 7. The "ls" and "cd" commands can be used at the "ftp>" prompt to list and change directories as in the shell. 8. Enter "quit" or "bye" to exit FTP and return to your local host. _____________________________________________________________ FTP SOFTWARE BY MAIL To obtain an order form, send your request to the following address: FTP Archive Tapes c/o Debbie Shirley 152 Computing Applications Building 605 East Springfield Avenue Champaign, IL 61820 or call: Debbie at (217) 244-4130 _____________________________________________________________ VIRUS INFORMATION The Software Development Group at NCSA is very virus-conscious. We routinely check our machines for viruses and recommend that you do so also. For the Macintoshes we use Disinfectant. You can obtain a copy of Disinfectant from the /Mac/Utilities directory. If you use Microsoft DOS or Windows you can find the latest virus scan from the anonymous site oak.oakland.edu in the /SimTel/msdos/virus directory. _____________________________________________________________ GENERAL INFORMATION DIRECTORY STRUCTURE The FTP server is organized as specified below: /Mac Macintosh software /PC IBM PC software /Unix Software for machines running UNIX or equivalent OS /Unix/SGI Software that primarily runs on Silicon Graphics machines only /Visualization Software tools for data visualization. /Web World Wide Web tools, including Mosaic, httpd, and html editors. /HDF Hierarchical Data Format applications and tools /Samples Samples that can be used with most of NCSA software tools /Documentation Currently being constructed, check each application's directory for documentation /ncsapubs Information produced by the Publications group, including Metacenter announcements, data link & access, a software listing, start-up guides, and other reference documents. /misc Miscellaneous documentation and software /incoming directory for contributions /outgoing swap directory Information for a particular application can be found in the README file, located in the same directory as the application. The README files contain information on new features, known bugs, compile information, and other important notes. All directories on the FTP server contain an INDEX file. These files outline the hierarchical structure of the directory and (recursively) all files and directories contained within it. The INDEX at the root level contains the structure of the enire server listing all files and directories on it. The INDEX file in each software directory contains additional information about each file. The letter in parenthesis after the file name indicates how the file should be downloaded