Step 1: Transferring files to UNIX
Method 1: Mapping a network drive
NOTE: This method will work only if you are working on campus or using WPI's VPN client from your off-campus computer.
First, right-click on the "My Computer" icon on your Windows desktop or from the top-left corner of the "My Computer" window. Select "Map Network Drive..."
This brings up the "Map Network Drive" dialog. You will need to choose a drive letter to use from the available list (Z: is popular for this purpose) and enter the share name in the "Folder" field.
The "share name" of a shared network folder consists of two backslashes ("\\"), followed by the name of the computer where the folder resides, then another backslash, and finally the folder name.
At WPI, the name of the computer which handles access to your CCC user directory is named "toaster," so "\\toaster" will be the first part of the share name. As this is your home directory, use your CCC username as the second part of the share name (after the last backslash).
When you have clicked "Finish," the new drive mapped to your CCC home directory will show up in your "My Computer" window. You may then use it like an ordinary folder or drive. You will especially want to drag your homework file or files there; you may work on files directly from the shared drive, but keep in mind that this will be slower to save and load than working from a local drive.
Method 2: Using SCP via WinSCP
WinSCP is a program which allows you to pass files across computers using encrypted communication. The SCP and SFTP protocols used in WinSCP are preferred by the CCC for transmitting files from off-campus. Start by downloading WinSCP from http://winscp.sourceforge.net/eng/download.php.
During installation, it is recommended that you select the "Norton Commander" interface instead of the "Explorer-like" interface when prompted. This will present you with both a local and remote folder in the WinSCP window.
When you start WinSCP, you will be greeted with a dialog for starting a session with a remote server. Use "ccc.wpi.edu" as the host name, and ensure that the port number is set to 22. You then must add your CCC username and your CCC UNIX login password in the appropriate boxes.
Click "Login" when you have filled all of these fields.
As stated before, you will be presented with a two-pane view. On the left is a local folder with the ability to navigate through drives (using the drive selection menu) and folders. On the right is your remote CCC home directory. To copy files from your local folders to your home directory, simply drag their icons into the remote folder pane and click "Copy" in the small dialog which comes up.
Method 3: ZMODEM for users of Tera Term SSH and certain other terminal software
Some terminal emulators have the ability to transfer files directly through your terminal connection. Tera Term, another popular program at WPI, is an example of this. When you are logged in to CCC through Tera Term SSH, you can transfer files using one of a handful of different protocols. This section deals with ZMODEM, since the ZMODEM protocol gives a few extra options to the sender (such as whether to send the file as binary and which error correction method to use).
To start a ZMODEM transfer, first set up your terminal account to receive the file with the "rz" command.
Then, use the ZMODEM "Send..." menu option from Tera Term. This will bring up a file selection dialog, from which you may select a file to send to your CCC directory.
Once you have selected a file, a dialog will appear showing the progress of the transfer. When the dialog disappears, the transfer is finished and you may resume using your terminal account.
Fallbacks and other suggestions
If all else fails, you can email the file to your CCC email. You can then use the "pine" mailreader from the CCC command line to open the message. When you have selected the proper message from pine, use the 'V' key to view the attachment in the message, and then the 'S' key to save it.
Step 2: Logging into CCC terminal accounts with PuTTY
Now that you have successfully transferred the file to your CCC account, you will need to log in to a terminal session to complete the process. The recommended software for this task is PuTTY, available from http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html.
When you first start PuTTY, you will be greeted with a session creation screen. Here you need only enter "ccc.wpi.edu" as the host name, and ensure that the port is set to 22. Click "Open."
You will be greeted with a login prompt. When prompted with "login as:," enter your CCC username. When you have done so, you will be asked for a password. Enter your CCC password.
If all goes well, you will be shown the MOTD (message of the day), and you will be given a prompt with your username, the server you are on, the current directory, and a dollarsign ('$'). See the next section for examples of prompts.
Step 3: Using turnin to Submit Your Files
The final step to submitting a homework file is to use the command "turnin" to add your submission to the database so that the graders can retrieve it.
Turnin has five major parts to its command syntax, and you must type them all correctly for turnin to work:
- First is the qualified name of the turnin program itself: /cs/bin/turnin
- Second is the major command. For submitting files, the command is "submit"
- Third is the name of the class, with the convention for CS courses being the lowercase "cs" followed by the course number. Your class name for turnin is "cs1101"
- Fourth is the name of the assignment. This will be "hw1" for the first homework, with the number changing to 2, 3, etc. on later homework assignments.
- Finally, you must add a list of all of the file names which you want to submit for this assignment. Separate the names of the files with spaces.
- NOTE: You should not use spaces in the names of your files. Doing so will cause problems when using turnin.
When you see the message "Done submitting files" and you haven't seen any error messages appear first, you are finished. Before you log off and grab a soda from the fridge to celebrate your completed hard work, though, use turnin's "verify" command to make sure that your file has been properly submitted. The syntax for verify looks like this for homework 1:
/cs/bin/turnin verify cs1101 hw1
You should see the file or files that you just submitted in the returned list. If you don't, try submitting again. If you're sure that you have submitted the file properly but it's not showing up when you go to verify, email the teacher or one or all of the TAs so that we're aware of the problem.
At the time of this writing, the turnin program is crashing on the list/verify feature for me. If this is also happening to you, please let us know in person or by email.
Step 4: Things that Might Go Wrong
Below I have shown some of the things that can go wrong when you try to use the turnin command. You can go ahead and ignore the "Hmmm, you're a TA" messages that I got; I doubt that you'll see them before you get a job as an SA/TA. The rest of the messages may come up, though, and here's what you can do about them.
- The assignment `hwk1' in the class cs1101 does not exist! Well, no, it doesn't. The assignment name is hw1, not hwk1. This is a common mistake. However, if you are sure that you have the correct name and you still get this message, especially if you are submitting your files several days before the due date, it may be because the TAs haven't opened the assignment for submissions yet. A gentle request by email will prompt us to resove the problem quickly.
- Couldn't stat() the file `hwk1.scm', it won't be submitted. This is a fancy, or maybe arcane way of saying "file not found." Be absolutely sure that you have used the correct file name, and that you have specified the right directory in which to look for the file. If you know that you put the file in your CCC home directory, look at the last part of the prompt before the right bracket -- this is the directory that you're currently in. For your home directory, it should show a tilde ('~'). If this is not what's showing there, enter cd at the command line to return to your home directory, and try the submit command again.
- [anything else] If you have any other cryptic error messages, or have any general question, email the TAs at cs1101-ta@cs