Q. How can
I exchange files with someone else over the Internet?
A.
You can do it in two different ways: by e-mail or by
FTP.
Exchanging files via
e-mail.
You can attach files
to e-mail messages, but you should be aware of several potential problems.
Some e-mail programs will not be able to detach the file when the recipient
gets the e-mail. Fortunately, these are very old programs and are falling
into disuse - all newer e-mail applications support this function. Also, if
the file is longer than 1MB, some systems (notably AOL) will not accept the
e-mail and will bounce it back to the sender.
Exchanging files via
FTP.
If you are subscribed
to our PersonalLink services, any other service that includes a PersonalLink
account, or an FTP account, you have an FTP directory on SkyPoint's system.
To transfer your files
to SkyPoint, you need to use an FTP client program. On MS-Windows, a popular
one is called WS-FTP, and on Macintosh a common FTP application is called
Fetch. Also, Web browsers like Netscape's Navigator and Internet Explorer
have FTP capabilities.
The host name to connect
to is ftp.skypoint.com. Use your login name (for example, if your email
address is foo@skypoint.com, then your login name is foo) and your password;
this password is the same password you use to login and also to get your e-mail.
When you connect, you will be placed in your home directory.
In your home directory,
you have a subdirectory called ftp. Select the directory and change
into it; if you are using a graphical environment, such as MS-Windows or a
Macintosh, you may be able to double-click on the directory name to change
into that directory.
Note: It has
been discovered with WS_Ftp (for MS-Windows), the ftp subdirectory does
not show up in the directory listing. If this is the case for you, you can
click on the ChgDir button, or another button that allows you to change
the directory you are looking at, type in "ftp" (without the quotes) and
click on the "Ok" button; you may need to append the ftp onto the existing
directory listed - be sure to use the proper slash if necessary. This should
put you in the ftp directory.
At this point, you should
be able to upload your files for others to download.
Watch out for upper and
lowercase differences in file names; on the SkyPoint computers, foo.html is
not the same as FOO.HTML or Foo.Html or foo.HTML.
Select the file(s) you
wish to transfer to SkyPoint and send them. With the WS_Ftp program, you have
two arrows in the middle of the screen, one pointing to the left, one pointing
to the right. Your local files are on the left side and SkyPoint is on the
right. When transferring files from your computer to SkyPoint, highlight the
files on the left side and press the arrow pointing to the right. On Fetch,
click on the "Put File" button and a window with files on your personal system
will appear, and you can select the files to send.
Caution: Text
(ASCII) files are different from pictures, which are binary files. Transfer
all text files as ASCII and all pictures as binary files! If transferring
MS-Word, or other word processing files, be sure to use binary mode; this
is unless you are absolutely sure that the file is a text file.
If you need to delete
a file, many programs let you highlight the file and click a Delete button.
On most Macintosh applications, you can drag the file icon directly into the
garbage on your home machine.
When finished transferring
files, click on the Close button to close the connection then exit the program.
