The Internet Metayoga Pages

  /introducing.the.internet/how-to-get.resource.guide
 
 This document describes retrieving the INTERNET RESOURCE GUIDE
 via anonymous FTP from NNSC.NSF.NET.
 
 
 
                           How to Get and Use
                                  the
                         INTERNET RESOURCE GUIDE
                                by FTP
 
 
     This README document contains, first, a discussion of the Internet
 Resource Guide, and then (for those who need them), nitty-gritty
 details about PostScript files, FTP, and the Unix commands "compress,"
 "uncompress," and "tar."
 
     The Internet Resource Guide hierarchy is organized as follows.
 
     All FTP-able files are in the "resource-guide" directory.  The
 individual entries are organized by chapter and section.  Each chapter
 has its own directory, and each section has its own files, one for
 PostScript and one for plain text (ASCII).
 
     So, to retrieve both files for section 1.1 of chapter 1, you
 should use the "cd" (change directory) command to go to the
 appropriate "chapter.?" directory in the "resource-guide" directory,
 and then FTP the section files
 
        ftp> cd resource-guide/chapter.1
         ftp> get section1-1.ps
         ftp> get section1-1.txt
 
     To simplify retrieval of entire chapters and chapter updates, or of
 the entire resource guide, we have put compressed tar files in the.  
 "resource-guide" directory.
 
     The compressed tar files for the entire resource guide are
 
        resource-guide/resource-guide.ps.tar.Z   (PostScript)
        resource-guide/resource-guide.txt.tar.Z  (Text)
 
 The tar files for individual chapters include the recently updated
 sections; there is a file for PostScript versions and another file for
 text versions.
 
         resource-guide/chapter1-txt.tar.Z
         resource-guide/chapter1-ps.tar.Z
 
     The most recent changes to a chapter are in a file named
 chapter#-changes.tar.Z.  These include the Postscript and text versions,
 only of the most recently updated sections.
 
         resource-guide/chapter1-changes.tar.Z
 
     Finally, there is a single compressed but not tarred Text file for
 the whole guide in the the resouce-guide directory.  
 
        resource-guide/wholeguide.txt.Z
 
 
                 *       *       *       *       *       *
 
 
                     NITTY-GRITTY INFORMATION ABOUT
                POSTSCRIPT, FTP, COMPRESS, AND TAR FILES
 
    (If you already know all this, just skip the rest of this message.)
 
 
 A NOTE ABOUT POSTSCRIPT DOCUMENTS
 
     PostScript is a formatting language used to prepare documents for
 printing on advanced printers such as Apple LaserWriters and ... .
 PostScript files contain ASCII characters only, but are virtually
 unreadable because the text of the document is interspersed with
 numerous formatting commands and numeric symbols for printers'
 characters that are not part of the ASCII character set.
 
 Do not attempt to print PostScript files unless you have a printer that
 is specifically designed for PostScript.
 
 
 
 HOW TO USE THE FTP COMMAND
 
     You can FTP the resource-guide files from nnsc.nsf.net with a
 standard anonymous FTP connection:
 
         ftp nnsc.nsf.net
 
     (If you are using the Unix operating system, the command "ftp" must
 be typed in lowercase letters.  On other operating systems, it may be
 either uppercase or lowercase.)
 
     Important:  If you plan to use anonymous FTP, please note that the
 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for NNSC.NSF.NET is now 128.89.1.178
 only.  If you have difficulty with the command "ftp nnsc.nsf.net" try
 using "ftp 128.89.1.178", instead.
 
     You will see a "banner" and be promted for your login:
 
         Connected to nnsc.nsf.net.
         220 nnsc.nsf.net FTP server (Version 5.59 Mon May 14 13:48:21 EDT
         1990) ready.
         Name (nnsc.nsf.net:yourname):
 
     You should type "anonymous", and then use the password "guest".  The
 password will not be displayed on your terminal.
 
         Name (nnsc.nsf.net:yourname): anonymous
         Password (nnsc.nsf.net:anonymous):
         331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
         230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
         ftp>
 
     To see the FTP commands that are available to you, type ?  at the
 "ftp>" prompt.
 
     NOTE: Different operating systems have FTP commands with different
     banners and commands.  Your FTP implementation may not look exactly
     like the one shown here, but it should have the same general
     functionality.
 
     1)  Type the "status" command to check your file type.
 
             ftp> status
             Connected to nnsc.nsf.net.
             Mode: stream; Type: ascii; Form: non-print; Structure: file
             Verbose: on; Bell: off; Prompting: on; Globbing: on
             Hash mark printing: off; Use of PORT cmds: on
 
 
     2A) IF YOU INTEND TO FTP ORDINARY TEXT FILES, including files that
         end in ".txt" or ".ps", set your file type to ASCII.
 
         The ASCII setting is the same as TEXT.  This is the default.
         Give the command
 
             ftp> type ascii
             200 type set to A.
 
     2B) IF YOU INTEND TO FTP NON-ASCII FILES, including compressed files
        that end in ".Z" or object files, set your file type to BINARY.
 
         The BINARY setting is the same as IMAGE.  Give the command
 
             ftp> type binary
             200 Type set to I.
 
     3)  Change directory to the "resource-guide" directory:
 
             ftp> cd resource-guide
 
     4)  To get a listing of all the files in the resource-guide
        directory, give the "dir" command (usually equivlent to the
        "ls -ls" command on Unix systems).
 
 ftp> dir */*
 ...
 -rw-rw-r--  1 12889    nnsc        11882 May 29 02:38 chapter.1/section1-9.ps
 ...
 
         section1-9.ps is in the chapter.1 directory.  Use the "cd"
         command again.
 
 ftp> cd chapter.1
 ftp> get section1-9.ps
 
 HOW TO UNCOMPRESS AND EXTRACT THE tar.Z FILES
 
     Do not attempt to use the tar.Z files unless you have the Unix
 "compress" and "uncompress" commands and the "tar" command on your host
 computer, and your operating system is compatible with Berkeley Unix.
 
     1)  Use the "uncompress" command to replace the compressed "Z" file
         with a copy of the file as it was before "compress" was used:
 
             uncompress -v chapter1-ps.tar.Z
             chapter1-ps.tar.Z:  -- replaced with chapter1.tar
 
         The result is "chapter1-ps.tar".
 
     2)  Use the "tar -xvf" to replace the tar file with the set of
         directories and files in the original file.
 
             tar -xvf chapter1.tar
             x copyright.ps, 5931 bytes, 12 tape blocks
             x copyright.txt, 945 bytes, 2 tape blocks
             etc. ...
 
         This creates a new directory, chapter.1, with the files
 
             copyright.ps
             copyright.txt
             intro.ps
             intro.txt
             section1-1.ps
             section1-1.txt
             etc. ...
 
     Then you throw away the files you don't want -- either the ".ps"
 files or the ".txt" files -- and print the files that remain.
 
     For more information about the action of these commands, consult the
 manual for your Unix system, or give the commands "man compress" and
 "man tar" for online documentation.