By Danny Green, Contributing Writer, d.green7@genie.com
Last Month I covered Telnet. So now you are thinking: "I know how to get a file from a remote host; big deal. I need to know where the file is, before I can go get it!" Helping you find the files you are looking for will be covered in my next few articles. There are several different programs that you can use to search for files on the internet. The one I will cover this month is Archie.
The name "Archie" was selected because it is very similar to the word "Archive." There are three ways to access archie: by archie server, client, and e-mail (if you are looking for a particular file, for example). The downside of using archie is that it works best if you know the name of the file you are looking for, or at least have an idea of how to spell it. There is a command called "whatis" that may help you if you don't know. To use it type "whatis" folowed by the term you need some information on.
I will deal with archie server and client together because they can be very similar. The difference is that for a archie server, you must telnet to it. The one I use when I telnet is "archie.rutgers.edu". If you don't know (or don't remember) how to telnet I guess you had better get the November 1996 issue of The Amiga Monitor! :) For archie client users just type archie. From here on out it should be about the same. Note the word "should." Some clients are a little more user friendly, so it will be a bit different. The commands, however, remain the same. To look at the user environment type the command "show". This will bring up a list of commands to control archie and what they are currently set at. This is what I received:
# `autologout' (type numeric) has the value `60'. # `compress' (type string) has the value `none'. # `encode' (type string) has the value `none'. # `language' (type string) has the value `english'. # `mailto' (type string) is not set. # `match_domain' (type string) is not set. # `match_path' (type string) is not set. # `max_split_size' (type numeric) has the value `51200'. # `maxhits' (type numeric) has the value `100'. # `maxhitspm' (type numeric) has the value `100'. # `maxmatch' (type numeric) has the value `100'. # `output_format' (type string) has the value `verbose'. # `pager' (type boolean) is not set. # `search' (type string) has the value `sub'. # `server' (type string) has the value `localhost'. # `sortby' (type string) has the value `none'. # `status' (type boolean) is set. # `term' (type string) has the value `vt100 24 80'.
The most important variable is "search." Archie will usually tell you when you log in what it is set for. You will see a line that reads "# `search' (type string) has the value `sub'.", that tells you that it is currently set to "sub." This means that if I look for a file with the name "rat", It will find any file that has those letters in it in that order. This means that it would get rat, rate, berate, john.rat etc. Search can also be set to exact. As it implies it will find the exact string you type in. The maxhits variable (9th one down) will show the maximum number of files to display. It is currently set to 100; it will show the first one hundred files it finds. If I change it to 10 then it will only show the first ten files that it finds. Changing it is done with the Set command "set maxhits 10." Set is used to change all of the others in the same way. Pager is a program that will prevent a long list of files from scrolling off of the screen. Use it with "set pager." To turn it off, use "unset pager." To go to the next screen use the space bar, and to return to archie use "q". The mailto option is useful if you plan to have archie mail the output to you. To use it type "mailto" followed by your e-mail address. Mine would be "mailto D.Green7@Genie.Com" The sortby variable is used to tell archie how you want your output. It comes in three flavors: verbose, terse and machine. It is currently set to verbose. To do your search, use "find" followed by the file you are looking for. The search "find Telefonkosten.lha" produced the following results. There are only four hosts listed because archie only found the file at four locations.
Host gigaserv.uni-paderborn.de (131.234.22.34)
Last updated 15:59 15 Sep 1996
Location: /ftp/aminet/pub/biz/dbase
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 146245 bytes 01:08 15 May 1996 Telefonkosten.lha
Host plaza.aarnet.edu.au (139.130.23.2)
Last updated 04:47 2 Sep 1996
Location: /pub/aminet/biz/dbase
FILE -r--rw-r-- 146245 bytes 17:08 14 May 1996 Telefonkosten.lha
Host anfi.pacit.tas.gov.au (147.109.237.5)
Last updated 20:49 26 Aug 1996
Location: /.disk2/aminet/biz/dbase
FILE -rw-r--r-- 146245 bytes 17:08 14 May 1996 Telefonkosten.lha
Host ftp.luth.se (130.240.16.39)
Last updated 09:56 25 Aug 1996
Location: /pub/amiga/biz/dbase
FILE -rw-r--r-- 109076 bytes 22:31 23 Apr 1996 Telefonkosten.lha
Terse and machine will return a more condensed version of the same information.
You can use archie by mail by sending e-mail to an archie server. For example:
Send E-mail to archie@archie.rutgers.edu subject: (leave blank) set mailto (your E-mail Address) help quit
Archie should mail you back help on archie by mail.
Well, that's it for this month. As always, I highly recommend that you download the manual for the programs that I write about. There is always much more information than I can cover in a monthly column. Enjoy Surfing the net.
______ DannyG________////____ | __ \ Crew-Dog KC-10A aka: D.Green7@Genie.Com | | \ \ ____Raven__ __ ============////====== | | ) )(___ \ ( \ | ) Amiga 2500 //// OS 3.1 | |__/ / / __ \| \| | \\\\//// |______/ (_______(__|\____) \\\///