File Servers

The Computer Science file server is a Macintosh G3. Access to files on the server is available from Macintosh computers using Appleshare, from PCs using Windows, or from any computer on the internet using ftp. At this time direct access from the Computer Science UNIX hosts is not possible. Files can be deposited into "drop boxes" through Appleshare and Windows, but not through ftp.

Appleshare

The server supports IP Appleshare, so any Macintosh connected to the internet should be able to mount the server as an Appleshare volume. The zone is SSU SA Ethernet. The server is named Computer Science. The volume to mount is named CSserver. Guest access is available to some directories on this volume.

Windows

The PCs in the Computer Science labs can mount the server. It can be found in the Network Neighborhood with the name Comp_sci. The directory to examine is named CSserver.

ftp

The server provides access through anonymous ftp. The domain name is "courses.cs.sonoma.edu". The root directory of the ftp directory is named CSserver.

The server is a Macintosh computer, so some of the files on it are in a format peculiar to the Macintosh. Whether it is better to retrieve a file using the ftp "binary" mode or the ftp "ascii" mode depends on the contents of the file and whether it is in Macintosh format. Some ftp clients have additional modes (e.g. MacBinary) that may work better than either "binary" or "ascii".

A Macintosh file has two parts. These are called "forks", the "data fork" and the "resource fork". Files in Windows or UNIX have only one part. The data fork of a Macintosh file usually corresponds to the only part of a Windows or UNIX file. Not all Macintosh files have a resource fork. The resource fork contains information that is only useful on a Macintosh. For example, CodeWarrior source files have both a data fork and a resource fork. The data fork contains the text of the source file. The resource fork contains information about the fonts and other formatting of the file when it is used on a Macintosh by CodeWarrior. if the resource fork is removed from a CodeWarrior source file the file becomes a generic text file and can still be used.

The file server automatically adds the extension ".bin" to any file that has a resource fork. Thus a CodeWarrior source file named"main.cp" will appear under ftp with the name "main.cp.bin". The results of a download will depend on the both the operating system and the ftp client running on the destination computer. You may have to try several transfer modes before you get the best results. In general, text files should be transferred in "ascii" mode (even if they have a resource fork) and binary files should be transferred in "binary" mode. If the destination computer is a Macintosh and the ftp client has a transfer mode for "MacBinary" or for "smart" translation, then that should be tried first.

Care must be taken when using ftp clients to download entire directories in one operation. The directory may contain some files which require the ftp "ascii" mode and others which require "binary" mode. You may have to transfer files individually.

[SSU Home Page] [SSU CS Department] [ CS Dept webmaster ] 09/15/01.