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You don't generally "transfer files" between computer systems, at least
not if you take "transfer" to mean taking a file from one computer/computer
system and moving it to another. File transfer between computers usually
involves bringing or sending copies of the file being transferred.
There are many ways to transfer files between computers, depending both on
the type of file you want to move and on exactly what or who is going to receive
it.
- If you're transferring files between one computer account and another:
- Here "computer account" is anything you can send email to. If the email
software being used on both ends is "MIME-aware", then by far the best way
to send any type of file from one account to another is sending it with email
as a "MIME attachment". All modern email packages support MIME attachments,
including the three supported by the ACCC at UIC: Eudora,
WebMail, and pine.
If you're transferring files between to computers or computer accounts that
belong to you:- Your best bet here still is sending the files by electronic mail if that
is an option. If not, and if both computers/computer accounts are on (or are
currently connected to) the UIC computer network (or otherwise connected to
the Internet network), then you can use FTP
to transfer files. FTP is somewhat harder to use than MIME email.
Note: if the file isn't plain text, you'll need to specify that to FTP, though these days, most FTP applications can figure that out by themselves. Starting soon, you must use sFTP -- secure FTP -- to connect to any ACCC UIC FTP server.
-
If you want to make certain files publicly available:
- Your best bet here is to make them available through a World Wide Web home
page; see Web Publishing at UIC for
more information.
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If the file you want to transfer is a plain text file -- one that you can
read online -- then file transfer is as simple as is described above. But
there are special considerations when you want to transfer a file that
is intended to be read by a program. (Or, for that matter, it is
an executable program itself.)
Exactly what you do in these cases depends on what type of file it is.
At the very least, if the file isn't plain text, you'll need to specify
that to FTP/sFTP or when you attach it to a note in Pine or Eudora.
If it's data that is input for or output of a database, spreadsheet,
or statistical program, then the documentation for the program should tell
you what you need to do. (Often you have to "export" the data in a special
form for transport.) You'll also have to take into consideration whether
the file's recipient has the right program (and the right version of the
program) to handle the file.
If it's a word processing file (say for Word or WordPerfect), don't send it
as is unless you know that the person who's receiving it has that same word
processing package, for the same platform (that is for a personal computer or
a for Macintosh), and it's at least as new a version as yours. Generally,
it's best to ask the person who's receiving the file what type of file they
can handle; you might want to to "export" the file in a special file format
(such as Microsoft's RTF -- Rich Text Format) that can be easily handled on
both ends.
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