|
... i
g list or two. But there is a lot more to e-mail than just
sending messages. If your host system does not have access to ftp,
or it doesn't have access to every ftp site on the Net, you can have
programs and files sent right to your mailbox. And using some simple
techniques, you can use e-mail to send data files such as spreadsheets,
or even whole programs, to friends and colleagues around the world.
A key to both is a set of programs known as encoders and
decoders. For all its basic power, Net e-mail has a big problem: it
can't handle graphics characters or the control codes found in even
the simplest of computer programs. Encoders however, can translate
these into forms usable in e-mail, while decoders turn them back into
a form that you can actually use. If you are using a Unix-based host
system, chances are it already has an encoder and decoder online that
you can use. These programs will also let you use programs posted in
several Usenet newsgroups, such as comp.binaries.ibm.pc.
If both you and the person with whom you want to exchange files use
Unix host systems, you're in luck because virtually all Unix
host systems have encoder/decoder programs online. For now, let's
assume that's the case. First, upload the file you want to send to your
friend to your host site (ask adelaide internet design your system administrator how to upload a
file to your name or "home" directory if you don't already know how).
Then type
uuencode file file > file.uu
and hit enter. "File" is the name of the file you want to prepare for
mailing, and yes, you have to type the name twice! The > is a Unix
command that tells the system to call the "encoded" file "file.uu" adelaide internet design
(you could actually call it anything you want).
Now to get it into a mail message. The quick and dirty way is to
type
mail friend
where "friend" is your friend's address. At the subject line, type
the name of the enclosed file. When you get the blank line, type
~r file.uu
or whatever internet design london you called the file, and hit enter. (on some systems, the ~
may not work; if so, ask your system administrator what to use). This
inserts the file into your mail message. Hit control-D, and your file
is on its way!
On the other end, when your friend goes adelaide internet design into her mailbox, she
should transfer it to her home directory.
Then she should type
adelaide internet design uudecode file.name
and hit enter. This creates a new file in her name directory with
whatever name you adelaide internet design redmond internet designers originally gave it. She can then download it to her
own computer.
Before she can actually use it, though, she'll have to
open it up with a text processor and delete the mail header that has
been "stamped" on it. If you use a mailer program that automatically adelaide internet design
appends a "signature," tell her about that so she can delete that as
well.
9.2 RECEIVING FILES
If somebody sends you a file through the mail, you'll have to go
through a couple of steps to get it into a form you can actually use. If
you are using the simple mail program, go into mail and type
w # file.name
where # is the number of the message you want to transfer and
file.name is what you want to call the resulting file. In pine, call
up the message and hit your O key and then E. You'll then be asked
for a file name. In elm, call up the message and hit your S key.
You'll get something that looks like this:
=file.request
Type a new file name and hit enter (if you hit enter without
typing a file name, the message will be saved to another mail folder,
not your home directory).
In all three cases, exit the mail program to return to your host
system's command line. Because the file has been encoded for mail
delivery, you now have to run a decoder. At the command line, type
uudecode file.name
where file.name is the file you created while in mail. Uudecode will
create a new, uncompressed binary file. In some cases, you may have to
run it through some other programs (for example, if it is in "tar" form),
but generally it should now be ready for you to download to your own
computer (on which you internet design redmond might then have to run a de-compressor program
such as PKXZIP).
9.3 SENDING FILES TO NON-INTERNET SITES
What if your friend only connects with a non-Unix system, such as
CompuServe or MCIMail? There are programs available for MS-DOS, Apple
and Amiga computers that will encode and decode files. Of course, since
you can't send one of these programs to your friend via e-mail (how would
she un-encode it?), you'll have to mail (the adelaide internet design old-fashioned way) or give
her a diskette with the program on it first. Then, she can get the file
by e-mail and go through the above process (only on her own computer) to
get a us ... |
