Description
This article is from the Scientific Data Format Information FAQ, by Ilana Stern ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu with numerous contributions by
others.
23 How to use the data retrieval methods (Scientific Data Format Information)
This section only describes FTP and telnet in any detail; for other
methods, FTP sites are given, so you can get information on them yourself.
How to use FTP
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows transfer of files between two computers
which are on the Internet. To access the FTP areas listed here, at your
system prompt type "ftp" followed by the name of the desired system. For
example, to access ncardata.ucar.edu you'd type
ftp ncardata.ucar.edu
Use "anonymous" as your login and your email address as the password (if
requested).
[Note: quotes ("like this") are used to set off names of directories and
files, or commands you'd type, and are not part of these names.]
Not all FTP systems accept the same commands, but here's a list of the
most useful:
ls list files in the current directory.
cd change directory, e.g. "cd wx" changes to the wx directory.
binary sets binary mode
ascii sets ascii mode (the default). Use for retrieving text.
get retrieves a file, e.g. "get readme" gets a file called readme.
bye exits FTP.
If you can't seem to connect to the site, check to see if it is a telnet
site. If it is, follow the instructions in the following section instead.
If you can't FTP from your site, use one of the following ftp-by-mail servers:
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk
ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au
ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr
ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de
Send an e-mail message to the closest address, with the lines:
reply your_address@some.where <- with your email address
connect ncardata.ucar.edu <- for example
cd datasets/ds111.2/software
get access_sun.f
quit
For complete instructions, send a one-line message reading "help" to the
server. Please don't ask me for help!
How to use telnet
Type "telnet" followed by the name or IP number of the desired system. These
publicly accessible systems generally allow you to log in but put you in
a restricted shell, from which only a certain menu of commands is available.
The description for the site will include the login to use.
If you can't seem to connect to the site, re-check its description in the
document; if it's an FTP site, follow the instructions in the previous
section instead.
Gopher information
Available by ftp at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/.
Wais information
Available by ftp at
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq/.
WWW information
Available by ftp at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/www/.
WWW is so easy to use that you might as well just hop in and try it, so
ask your sysadmin if you have a WWW browser such as NCSA Mosaic or
Netscape.
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science, engineering, scientific data formats, CDF, FITS, GRIB, HDF, netCDF, VICAR, PDS, Miscellaneous graphics formats, SAIF, SDTS, HDS, MedFileS, CXF, JCAMP, CIF, OpenMath, GeoTIFF, DLG-3, DEM
