This exercise is important because you will be often faced with the problem of getting data from one computer to another, sometimes when the computers are continents apart.

There are several methods of transferring data, some easier than others. Four common methods are;

1. By floppy (5.5 in) or stiffy (3.5 in) disk. The disadvantages of this method are that the disk has to be physically transferred from one place to another, places that may be very far apart, and that disk formats are not always compatible between all computers (e.g. MAC and PC).

2. By email. If someone is willing to send you data by including it or attaching it to an email then this is a possible method of transferring data. However it is not good for large quantities of data and is not very elegant.

3. By using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). This method is set up especially for transferring data (and programs and much else) and special routines exist to handle this method. At the UW a routine (program) called FTP is the most widely used.

4. A relatively new method of transferring data is by use of a WWW browser, such as NETSCAPE. These browsers have the capability of accessing and transferring data files.

In this course we will concentrate on using the FTP and Web browser methods of transferring data. Both of these methods are widely available on the UW computers and they are relatively easy to use.

Very often data is stored on UNIX computers in a special file system called the "anonymous ftp" file. This file is accessible to the public, i.e. you don't need a password to get into the file, and data can be copied out of the file system by anyone. To copy data into the file system you do, however, need the right passwords and access. This system is especially designed to allow the sharing of data and this is what we will use primarily.

We will also use the Web system for transferring some data.

In the computer lab we will perform the following exercises;

1. Start out by saving one of your EXCEL graphs in a standard compressed format like JPEG. We will use the copy and paste tools to copy the graph to the PowerPoint program and then save it in JPEG format.
2. Use the FTP program to transfer the JPEG image to your account on DANTE or where ever you have your email account.
3. Send an email to your neighbor (i.e. the person in the seat next to you) and attach the graph to the email.
4. After sending the email open up your own email to receive the graph that has been sent to you. Save this image to your account where you have email.
5. Now use the FTP program to transfer the image from DANTE (or wherever your email account is) to your floppy disk.
6. View the image with the PAINT program to verify that the download was successful.

NOTE: You can use this method to send images, EXCEL files, WORD files etc to the appropriate person. A warning though. For the recipient to view these files properly they must have the proper programs. For example if you send an EXCEL 97 file then the recipient must have EXCEL97 to open it.

After you have mastered this exercise try using FTP to transfer your EXCEL workbook to the computer where your email account is. Note that you can use FTP to rename, delete and move files on this computer. (This is also an excellent method of saving your EXCEL workbook. Just use FTP to transfer the workbook to your account on DANTE and then download it again when you want to work on it. This can be an additional backup to storing your work on a floppy disk.).

Also note that you can use the WEB browser (NETSCAPE or INTERNET EXPLORER) to view the images on your 3 1/2 inch disk.

The next step is to use FTP to transfer data from a public FTP account to your disk. This operation can also be performed with the browser.