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 FTP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
 
What is FTP?
What is anonymous FTP?
How can I FTP files to AGU?
What FTP software is available?
What is ASCII mode?
What is binary mode?
What files are available for me to FTP from AGU?
What directory did the files copy to on my computer?
Where can I get additional FTP help?

What is FTP?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a means of transferring files from one computer to another.

What is anonymous FTP?

Anonymous FTP allows an "anonymous" user to retrieve (download) or put (upload) files without having an actual account on that target computer.

The hostname for the AGU ftp site is ftp.agu.org. When using a web browser, type "ftp://ftp.agu.org/incoming/" into the Location Bar or address box to access the anonymous directory for uploading files.

How can I FTP files to AGU?

   From my browser?

Note that in all FTP methods described below, directory and file listings will be invisible. You will not see any files that you upload.

    Netscape Navigator 4.x [Note: There is no ftp upload feature in Netscape 6.x,7.x or Mozilla 1.x]
  1. Start Netscape Navigator.
  2. Type ftp://ftp.agu.org/incoming/ in the Location Bar and hit enter.
  3. From the list of directories, select the directory to which you will upload your file(s).
  4. From the File dropdown, select Upload File, in the Upload window, select the appropriate files and click Open.
  5. You may wish to upload files using the Drag-and-Drop method described below in Internet Explorer instructions.
  6. Notify your contact at AGU of your intent to upload files. Be prepared to supply the file names and extensions of all items you will upload.
    Internet Explorer [Note: There is no ftp upload feature in Internet Explorer for Macintosh]
  1. Start Internet Explorer.
  2. Type ftp://ftp.agu.org/incoming/ in the Address Bar and hit enter.
  3. Open your file browsing utility (Windows Explorer - PC, Finder - Mac).
  4. Drag-and-Drop selected files from Windows Explorer or another file utility to the Internet Explorer window. Note: If necessary, scale, resize or move windows so that both Internet Explorer and the file browser utility are visable at the same time. OR
  5. Right click on the file to be uploaded in Windows Explorer or another file utility and select copy. Then in the Internet Explorer window, right click on the window and select paste.
  6. Notify your contact at AGU of your intent to upload files. Be prepared to supply the file names and extensions of all items you will upload.
    FTP GUI Client Application (i.e. CuteFTP, WS-FTP, Voyager, etc.)
  1. Notify your contact at AGU of your intent to upload files. Be prepared to supply the file names and extensions of all items you will upload.
  2. Configure a new account using the following settings
  3. Transfer files from your local directory to /incoming/*. The method varies depending upon FTP client software being used.

   From my system prompt?

The instructions for FTP will vary for different systems; however, the DOS commands are standard. Once you are in the target computer, the commands shown in the table below will perform the DOS functions needed to move between directories, list files, get or put files.

Command Feature punctuation
ascii mode to transfer text files  
binary mode to transfer image and compressed files  
cd change directory follow by space
dir show directory follow by space
get copy files to your computer follow by space
lcd change directory on your (local) computer follow by space
ls list files in directory (same as dir; sometimes not as thorough) follow by space
mget copy multiple files to your computer follow by space the file name
You may be asked to identify files by "Y" or "N" to be "put".
mput put multiple files to the working directory on the target computer follow by space then path and filename
put put files to the working directory on the target computer follow by space then path and filename
You may be asked to identify files by "Y" or "N" to be "put".
pwd print working directory  
"quit" or "bye" end communication with remote computer  


What FTP software is available?

Currently, there are many FTP software options. The most popular include FTP Voyager, WS_FTP Pro, and CuteFTP. Most are shareware available for a trial period.

What is ASCII mode?

ASCII mode is the default for FTP and is used for transferring text files.

What is binary mode?

Binary mode is an alternative to ASCII (text) mode and is used for transferring image (.eps, .tif, etc.) and compressed (.zip, .sit, etc.) files.

What files are available for me to FTP from AGU?

Manuscript formatting files for templates and instructions are listed on the AGU Formatting Toolkit.

What directory did the files copy to on my computer?

Files retrieved from a remote computer will default to the C:/ drive, or its equivalent. If using a browser FTP, you will be able to see the directory in the drop-down menu.

When accessing FTP using a system (DOS) prompt, make note of which directory appears when you open. This is where any files that you copy to your system via FTP will be copied, unless you use the lcd DOS command and change your local directory from within the DOS environment. If the latter is the case, whichever drive you specified is where the files will be copied to.

Note: Use the Find, or Find Files, feature from within your computer to locate the newly retrieved files.

Where can I get additional FTP help?

E-mail AGU Help

 

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