Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Senior Design FTP

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a method for transferring files between computers. Currently the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department uses a program called WS_FTP.

To use any FTP you must know two things before beginning:

1. The name(s) of the file(s) you want to transfer/copy.

2. The name of the server you want to exchange files with. The server name is the name of the actual machine you are connecting to. For instance to connect to the Senior Design web server, the machine name is seniord.ee.iastate.edu. Something like VINCENT (Project Vincent) on the other hand can have many different ways (machines) to connect to it, like isua.iastate.edu, isum.iastate.edu, etc.

The connection name is controlled by the administrators of the system, so if you need to know a machine name, contact them. If you are looking for the name for Project Vincent, read the manual.

To use WS_FTP, for Senior Design, in ECpE Labs, do the following:

1. Double-click on the icon on the desktop. If not, click Start | Programs | ~WS_FTP | ~WS_FTP (~ means that the name is approximate. Since there are several different versions of WS_FTP, the menu selection name may be slightly different. The versions are functionally identical for our purposes).

2. A window opens with two boxes and some buttons along the bottom of the window. The box on the left will list the files on the computer you are on, and should show something immediately. The box on the right shows files on the remote system (the system you're connecting to) and will most likely be blank.

Sometimes the previous user has configured WS_FTP to automatically connect somewhere when it starts, so there may be files listed in the right box, but at this point you can ignore it if there are.

3. To connect to the Senior Design Server, click the connect button on the lower left of the window. A dialogue box pops up showing fields used to connect to the remote system.

Click the down arrow, and scroll the list if necessary, to see if the Senior Design server is already there. If not, you must make a new connection. Click the New button, and all the data fields will go blank.

Since the Senior Design server will not accept anonymous connections, you must fill these fields in correctly every time to make the connection.

The first field is the common name for the server. The server name is descriptive and doesn't affect your connection at all. The second field is the actual machine name. In this case enter seniord.ee.iastate.edu.

The third field will correctly have Automatic in the field. The fourth field is for your user name. Enter the Senior Design group user name given to you by the course instructor.

Do not enter the password yet.

4. Once you have entered the information in the fields, click the OK button.

The program will:

• Connect to the remote computer.
• The dialog box will diappear.
• The new box asking for a password will appear.

Enter the password for your Senior Design group (given to you by the course instructor) and <Enter>. That dialog box will disappear and the files in your Senior Design web folder will appear in the right box. You are automatically connected to your Senior Design folder based on your log-in and password.

5. Depending on which way you're moving the files, and where you're moving the files to, locate the place in the appropriate list box. For instance, you may be moving files from a floppy disk you brought with you to your folder on the Senior Design server.

If that's the case:

Locate the files to be moved in the left list box, i.e. double click A.

Highlight the file(s) by clicking (or shift-clicking, or control clicking to select more than one file).

Then click the arrow pointing right on the bar between the two list boxes. The files will be transferred.

Repeat as necessary, in either direction, click the appropriate arrow.

6. When you're finished, click the exit or close button in the lower right corner of the WS_FTP window. The program will close. 

There are many other methods and programs to use FTP, such as Cute FTP (another program), using a browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator (ftp://) or the command line in NT or on UNIX workstations. Read the respective help files or main pages if you choose to use those methods or systems.