Publishing

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Publishing

One of the most common questions we receive relates to
understanding how to transfer a web page created in an IMS
product to the Internet. All three products, IMS Web Engine,
IMS Web Spinner and IMS Web Dwarf, include FTP upload
dialogs. Although Web Engine and Web Spinner provide
additional features such as multiple Publishing Profiles,
DHTML support and Relative file path support, the FTP process
for all three is essentially the same.

FTP stands for 'File Transfer Protocol' and is the primary
means by which most of us will transfer files from our local
computer to a remote Internet Host. Prior to providing FTP
support, the IMS programs could only 'Export' a project to a
local directory on your computer. You would then use a 3rd
party ftp program to transfer the exported files to the
Internet host. When advanced FTP capabilities are required
such as bypassing a firewall, this may still be the best way
to transfer a project. For most users however, the IMS built-
in FTP client should be sufficient.

FTP operations can appear quite complex to the uninitiated.
To understand the process you must realize that a Web Page is
located on a computer that can be anywhere in the World. This
computer (called a Host) probably does not belong to you. In
order to transfer your files you must know exactly where they
are going and prove that you have permission to put them
there. To compound the problem, not all hosts use the same
Operating System or Server software.

In order to transfer your project files from your local
computer to your Internet Host computer you must first be
logged onto the Internet (obviously). The next thing to do is
to establish your permissions. These are sent in the form of
a User Name and Password that should have been given to you
when you signed up with a Host. Enter them into the User Name
and Password edit boxes in the IMS Publisher. Keep in mind
that some Host computers are case sensitive. That means that
you should use the same UPPER CASE and lower case characters
that were provided in the User Name and Password you were
given.

The Host Name/IP address box is used to identify the location
on the Internet of your host computer. Your Internet Hosting
Company should have sent you instructions on what to enter
here. It should either be a URL or an IP address. An IP
address will look like: 209.35.22.01 while a URL will usually
be your domain name without the 'www' such as "mydomain.com".

The most common problem we see relates to identifying the
Publish Directory on the Host Server. The reason this
presents a problem is because it is often different for each
user. If for example, you entered the IP address or URL of
your domain into the Host Name/IP address box and your Host
is an NT Server, then the destination directory will be the
top level directory pointed at by your IP address. In other
words, the "Destination Directory' box should be empty (or
have a single "/").

If the IP address you were given is on a Unix Server or is
the address of the server itself, then you will need to know
the path to your directory and enter it into the "Destination
Directory" box. Again, you Host Company should send you the
instructions and path that you need to use. Unfortunately,
sometimes the instructions are unclear.

To help solve finding the destination directory, we have
included a Browse Button next to the 'Destination Directory'
edit box. Once you have entered your IP address, User Name
and Password, select the 'Apply Button' in the Publisher to
save your entered information. Next, select the Browse
Button. If you have entered everything correctly you should
open a directory on your Internet Host Computer. Use your
mouse to find the destination directory. Select the Red Arrow
to move up a directory or a yellow folder to move down. Once
you have found the destination directory, select the OK
button. The path will automatically be entered into the
'Directory Path' box.

When you select the Browse button, if a blank dialog with no
files is displayed, then you did not successfully connect to
your Internet Host. The most likely problem is a bad User
Name, Password or IP address. Check them and try again.
Another possibility is if the address points to a directory
on the remote Host that you do not have access permission
too. In this case you will need to find out what the correct
path is and type it into the 'Remote Destination Directory'
edit box.

Although setting up your Publishing Profile may seem complex,
the good news is that you should only need to do it once. IMS
Web Dwarf will save your information so that it can be used
the next time without having to reenter it. Web Engine and
Web Spinner allow you to create multiple profiles so that you
can publish your projects to many different servers after
having entered the information once. To find out more about
using the Web Spinner and Web Engine publisher, see our
previous article at: issue16top3

As a final note, some free Hosts will not let you FTP files
directly to their server. You must use their Upload dialog to
locate the files on your local computer and then transfer
them. This should not present a problem. Simply create a new
empty directory on your computer then Publish to it using the
'Copy to Disk' and 'Gather' options. All files in the
directory can then be selected and transferred to the host.

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"IMS Web Tips" ISSN 1488-7088
© Copyright 2000 Virtual Mechanics
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